Sporting Holidays In Portugal

You find plenty of sports in Portugal. Often dubbed as the “jardim à beira-mar plantado” (garden planted by the sea), Portugal certainly is a wonderful playground in the southwestern Europe. So, if you are looking to have wonderful sporting holidays in Portugal, go ahead!

Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west & south and by Spain to the north & east, Portugal is known for a wide variety of sports activities, such as football, Golf, tennis, bullfighting, basketball, swimming, futsal, rink hockey, handball, volleyball, rugby, and water sports. You can find numerous sporting sites and venues in Portugal.

FOOTBALL is the most popular sport in Portugal. If you are footballer or football fan, you can plan your holidays in Lisbon or Porto. Lisbon is home to football clubs as S.L. Benfica (Sport Lisboa e Benfica) and Sporting (Sporting Clube de Portugal). Porto is known for F.C. Porto (Futebol Clube do Porto or FCP). FUTSAL, an indoor version of football (soccer), is also very popular in Portugal. You can find many futsal venues in Lisbon, and other cities of Portugal.

GOLF is also very popular among Portuguese. Portugal certainly is a great place for golfing. If you want of enjoy golf, Algarve and the Estoril coast are places with fine golf courses. You can also a find nice golf course near Espinho, south of Porto. Madeira Island has two terrific golf courses located within 29 Kms from Funchal. Some of top golf courses in Portugal are – San Lorenzo Golf Club (Algrave), Praia d'El Rey Golf & Country Club (Obidos, Lisbon), Troia Golf Club -Portugal (Lisbon), Penha Longa Golf & Resort (near the Estoril coast), Oitavos Golfe (Lisbon), and Vilamoura Golf Club (Old course).

MOTOR SPORTS are also popular in Portugal. The Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva in the Estoril, near Lisbon, is the main Portuguese race track where many motorsport competitions, such as the World Motorcycling Championship, A1 Grand Prix and formerly F1, are held. Portugal is also famous for rallying, and Rally of Portugal and, Rally Madeira are one of the most famous rally races in the world.

PORTUGUESE BULLFIGHT is different from the Spanish Bullfighting. It is not as popular as the latter. In the Portuguese bullfight, the bullfighters are on horseback, and bull is not killed inside the ring. The bullfight centre is Santarém in the Ribatejo province. The most famous bullfights are held in Vila Franca da Xira, a suburb of Lisbon.

RINK HOCKEY is also pretty popular in Portugal. You can enjoy playing rink hockey in Lisbon, Porto, and Barcelos. Lisbon is home to the S.L. Benfica, and Sporting CP, the two of most successful Portuguese rink hockey clubs. Porto is home to F.C. Porto, a successful rink hockey club, and Barcelos is home to Óquei de Barcelos, a famous rink hockey club.

WATER SPORTS are everyone’s favorite. You can enjoy playing a wide variety of water sports in Portugal. Algarve beaches, and popular northern and Lisbon coast resorts are best known for a number of water sports activities including surfing and windsurfing, kitesurfing, kayaking and sailing. Windsurf boards are available for rent on most of the places. Guincho, north of Lisbon, is the most famous spot for windsurfing and surfing. Additionally, you can also enjoy fishing at various places. In the north, you need a fishing license that is available from local town halls in Portugal.

Besides, you can enjoy playing rugby at various venues in Portugal. You can enjoy playing tennis at tennis courts at your resort hotels. You can also learn traditional sports and games – "jogos populares" or "jogos tradicionais" in Portugal. These include "jogo da malha", "jogo do pau" and the "petanca" (pétanque), which are played for fun.
James writes for Holiday Velvet, a website providing listings for Hotels, Villas, Sporting holiday apartments in Portugal, and for Travel stays – Barcelona, Rome & Europe.



By James Burrows