Portugal's Silver Coast
Golfing and a lovely B&B...
We headed to Portugal’s Silver Coast at the end of August. I am not certain there is a “legal” designation for the Silver Coast, but most agree its northernmost point is Aveiro and follows the coast south to Ericeira (about 1 hour north of Lisbon). This area is often discussed as “a great place for real estate speculation”. I can’t speak to that…but I can tell you about the five days we spent there.
Foz do Arelho
We chose Foz do Arelho because it is pretty much in the center of the area. (We had been to Aveiro, Nazaré, and Ericera before. While not on the coast, Óbidos is also considered the Silver Coast. If you are are long-term reader, you know we have also visited it many times.) “Foz”1 is an interesting small town with a population of under 1,400 residents. Friends have purchased an apartment there and from their balcony, you can look south across a calm lagoon to Peniche. If you look due west, you observe waves crashing on the beach.
Just a thirty-minute drive from two of the golf courses we planned to play, we decided this would be our base for the week. As luck would have it Foz was having a weekend celebration, complete with a small carnival in the town square and music at night.
One can’t talk about Foz without talking about the weather. Like San Diego, Foz experiences a marine layer (fog and sometimes misty drizzle on many mornings). Typically this will burn off by 10:00 as the sun and the temperature rise. As luck would have it, the marine layer burned off one day at 13:00 and another day around 17:00. Of course, these were the two days we decided to play golf.
Golf
Our first round of golf was at West Cliffs, a resort course where luxury real estate is being built. It is a beautiful, well-maintained course and today there are no homes directly on the golf course. Five of the holes run along the ocean, and many others offer spectacular views. Golf World placed it on its Top 25 of Europe list the year it opened, which speaks to its beauty, condition, and challenge. While we typically like to walk, we chose to rent a buggy as the distance between holes is a bit extended. During peak season you can expect to pay as much as €140 a round, but we took advantage of their summer rate of €56 per person plus cart for Portuguese Golf Federation members2. While we both agreed the course was in excellent condition with greens that were fast and true, it is a course that needs to be played more than once. Only after playing the course a few times will you be able to identify the correct target line or areas to avoid.
We also played its sister course Praia D’el Rey3. I’ve included a layout of the course above, as this was the day we played in a misty fog throughout our round! Again, several holes ran along the beach and the course was in great condition. (It must be the moisture in the air that keeps the grass so green.) It is an easier course to walk and we rented electric trolleys that day. Unlike West Cliffs, there are several holes where houses line the course…but none are in danger of an errant shot. It is a bit more forgiving than West Cliffs which may be why many people prefer it. It should be noted that both courses say they will only allow players with handicaps below 36. We were asked by the pro shop and the cart attendant what our handicaps were before playing.4
Both courses offer excellent practice facilities, well-stocked pro shops, locker rooms, and full-service restaurants. There are currently six golf courses on Portugal’s Silver Coast, offering plenty of variety and opportunities to play.
Lovely B&B
One final note if you are looking for a place to stay. We happened upon Casa Lagoa5, a 6-room bed, and breakfast that overlooks the lagoon. Owned by a husband and wife (Sandra and Vincent) that moved back to Portugal from Luxemburg one year ago, it is truly a delight. The property was completely renovated in 2017 and the couple redecorated the immaculate rooms (including wonderful artwork by Vincent) in 2021. Vincent, who is French, is also trained as a French chef and previously worked in restaurants. Each morning we enjoyed a breakfast of crepes or pancakes, freshly made pastries, fruit salad, yogurt, and more.
Outside there is a courtyard with a pool and an honor bar stocked with wine and beer. Also on the property is the sweetest German Shephard, Sam. Perfectly behaved…gentle as a lamb, but up for a game of fetch if you are so inclined we looked forward to him welcoming us whenever we returned. It takes just a few minutes to walk to the beach, restaurants, or to the town square from the property. If you are looking for a place to stay we can highly recommend Casa Lagoa.
There are many “Foz’s” in Portugal. Foz is the Portuguese word for “mouth”.
If you belong to a club in Portugal you can also become a member of the Golf Federation. This allows you to track your handicap, play in competitive events, and provide discounts at many courses.
More than 40 golf courses in Portugal, including our home course — Quinta do Vale, belong to an organization called CNIG. As a member of a CNIG, you receive a reduced rate when you book a tee time 48 hours in advance at a CNIG property. We paid the CNIG rate of €36 per player + €15 per electric trolley rental when playing Praia D’el Rey.
It should be noted that we have found more chauvinism in Europe as it relates to golf than in the US. When the caddy master asked Denise for our handicaps (I was inside at the time) she responded “6 and 15”. To which he responded, “Oh your husband is a very good golfer.” You may consider this a one-off…but think again. Many Europeans (male and female) call the forward tees, “the lady’s tees”. In addition, courses are rated only from the back tees. Many times the difficulty of a hole relative to another hole is quite different depending on the tees played. In casual golf, this is not an issue, but when playing match play in a competition the woman may “get a shot” where none is required or visa versa. (If you are a non-golfer, you are probably wondering what all this means. Of course, I suspect most readers don’t peruse the footnotes that I am adding at an ever-increasing rate.)
We never tell a hotel or restaurant about the blog until after our stay as we don’t want to influence the level of service we receive. We also never accept payment or free stuff! In this way, we feel, you can get our unbiased appraisal.
Nancy, you pretty much nailed what our Foz do Arelho town is like. The moment we arrived in this small little town Juliana commented how it looked like Carmel, California growing up. The water views, rolling hills, fog, beaches with very few people on them and the lushness of the vegetation surrounding the Silver Coast. It is impossible to have a view price wise that we ended up with as property prices In Monterey and Carmel are multi-millions. You’ll always have a second home when we get our D-7 approved.
Love your footnotes. From someone who reads all the museum plaques. ;-)