Aroeira

Between the beaches of the Caparica coast and the low hills of the Charneca, the resort of Aroeira sits inside one of the largest protected pine woods of the Setúbal peninsula. Conceived in the 1970s around a golf course in the woodland, it remains a green residential quarter of the Almada municipality, half an hour from Lisbon and minutes from the Atlantic.

The Wentworth of Lisbon

The first course was designed by the English architect Frank Pennink and opened in 1973; the British press soon called it the Wentworth of Lisbon, and it has hosted the Portuguese Open and Ladies’ European Tour events since. A second eighteen-hole course followed in the same woodland, and the fairways run beneath stone pines where a wild, protected landscape meets the manicured greens. Golf World magazine ranked the course among the hundred best of continental Europe.

Pines, dunes and the sea beyond

The pinewood of Aroeira extends towards the coast, where the dunes of Fonte da Telha and the beaches of the Costa da Caparica line up under the Atlantic. Apartments and a hotel serve golfers and beachgoers alike, and the walking and cycling paths of the coastal forest connect the resort to the shoreline — one of the rare places where a capital’s golf country borders a wild dune coast.

What to see

• The two championship courses of the pine woodland
• The stone pines and protected forest paths
• The beaches of Fonte da Telha and the Caparica coast
• The dunes and cliffs of the fossil coast nearby
• The resort’s pool, gardens and pine-shaded lanes

Practical information

Aroeira lies in the Charneca de Caparica, in the Almada municipality on the Setúbal peninsula, about twenty-five kilometres from Lisbon. The forest paths are flat and shaded, the beach road winding: bring sun protection in summer, and check the official websites before setting out.

Image credit: Aroeira – Portugal by Vitor Oliveira — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.