Culture, Shopping, Dining and Coastal Breezes await in the Iberian Peninsula

 

Spend a week cruising the Iberian Peninsula on the lovely 690-seat Azamara Journey, stopping to visit enchanting cities such as Barcelona and Valencia or, to play golf at Valderrama, home of the 1997 Ryder Cup. Enjoy the delicious wine and warm breezes of the Algarve in Portugal, dine in the haunts of legends and savor each moment while basking in abundant sunshine and mild temperatures.

PerryGolf can help you fulfill this dream with two options to the Iberian Peninsula in 2019, one in May and one in September.

Book This Cruise by Feb. 28, 2019 for FREE Wi-Fi plus Your Better Half Saves 50%!

Barcelona, home to more than 1.5 million people, is a great walking city and a cultural powerhouse on the Spanish coast. Explore neighborhoods such as Barri Gòtic and the Raval on foot. There are also multiple modes of transportation, including eight metro lines, an urban rail network and two tram lines.

Breathe in the local culture, exploring museums and cathedrals. Taste a plate of esqueixada, a simple salad of hand-shredded salt cod, tomatoes, onions, olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Those who love coffee would be wise to memorize these three words – cortado (short), copa (regular cup) and jara (large).

Also, note that dinner is served late (10 p.m. on average) and gin tonic is the correct way to order the city’s preferred highball.

If it’s paella you crave, Valencia is the ideal destination. The rice-based dish originated here in the mid-19th century.  Enjoy at La Pepica, requesting a table on the terrace at the famous establishment where Ernest Hemingway and the bullfighters he admired ate, drank and carried on into the night.

Inside the City of Arts & Sciences, you’ll find the largest aquarium in Europe, an opera house, a science museum and a planetarium that offers live shows at night.

Expect temperatures ranging between the mid 50s and mid 70s in May and the mid 60s and low 80s in September.

Flamenco, Fiestas & Tapas are the order of the day in Seville. The Alcázar is another must-see destination. Originally founded as a fort in 913, it’s undergone many enhancements and improvements in the years since. Explore the stunning fortress complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its awe-inspiring palaces, patios, gardens, fountains, chapels, and halls.

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The Algarve region, in extreme southern Portugal along the coast, was once a collection of tiny, modest fishing villages but was transformed in the 1960s into a beautiful menagerie of hotels, villas and restaurants along the rocky coastline.

Delightful wines are produced in the Algarve; the main white varieties are Arinto, Malvasia Manteúdo and Syria, while the oustanding reds are Castelão and Negra Mole.

Interested in taking a dip in the Alboran Sea? It’s brisk, you’ll want to know. The water checks in around 63 degrees in May and 70 degrees in September. Better news lies in the average of nine hours of sunshine daily.

Gibraltar is a territory of the United Kingdom, strategically important due to its location on the northern side of the strait which separates Europe from African where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea. Spain tried numerous times to claim or recover the territory but was unsuccessful, ceding it to Britain in 1713 in the treaty of Utrecht.

Frankie Laine sang about the The Rock of Gibraltar, a 1400-foot high monolithic limestone promontory. Surrounded by the Mediterranean, “The Rock” enjoys a rich history – it was considered one of two Pillars of Hercules. Most of the upper Rock, starting just above the town, is a nature reserve with spectacular views accessible by cable car. Gibraltar measures less than six square kilometres and is inhabited by around 30,000 people made up of Gibraltarians, British, Moroccans, Indians and Spanish. There is a colony of the famous, camera-hogging Barbary apes who run free in a semi-wild state.

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Of course, a PerryGolf cruise also includes wonderful golf. This is a underrated region for enjoyable layouts. Royal Seville Golf Club, designed by the Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, opened in 1991 and played host to the 2004 World Cup (won by Luke Donald and Paul Casey of England). Alvaro Quiros, the long-hitting Spaniard, and Ireland’s Peter Lawrie won the Spanish Open the two times it was played on the flat, straightforward layout that challenges players with its small greens.

Valderrama is the region’s gem, however, equally enjoyable tests of golf are available throughout this cruise. Son Gual, in the heart of Mallorca, opened in 2007 to excellent reviews. Designed in the links style, the course has earned a reputation for being maintained in impeccable condition. Real Club de Golf El Prat located to the north of Barcelona at Terassa. It was the first golf course in continental Europe to be designed by Greg Norman to give it a unique character that places an emphasis both on aesthetic appeal and playability.

 

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Top 5 Golf Courses to Play In The Mediterranean

Valderrama has played host to many European Tour events and the 1997 Ryder Cup. It’s consistently rated as the No. 1 course in Continental Europe.

 

Warm breezes, the fresh aroma of eucalyptus and beautiful scenery make the Mediterranean a desirable destination for golfers any day of the year. PerryGolf offers a variety of Cruises and Custom Tours to the region, enabling travelers to enjoy the arts, architecture and gastronomic delights so readily available. These five golf courses are certain to challenge and enchant all golfers.

Valderrama

Considered the top course in Continental Europe, the demanding layout at Valderrama has been the home for many European Tour events and the 1997 Ryder Cup, which Europe won in thrilling fashion, 14.5-13.5 over the United States. It’s the only time the matches have been held in Spain and is remembered best for the fiery leadership of captain Seve Ballesteros, the nation’s finest golfer. Another native son, Sergio Garcia, claimed the 2011 Andalucia Masters title at Valderrama.

Located in the southern tip of Spain, near Gibraltar, Valderrama enjoys a rich history, opening in 1974 as Las Aves, and taking its current name in 1985. Three-time Open Champion Henry Cotton served as the first golf professional at Valderrama. Tiger Woods played in his first Ryder Cup here in ’97 and was No. 1 in the world when he won the 1999 WGC-American Golf Express tournament on the venerable layout two years later, defeating Miguel Angel Jimenez in a sudden-death playoff.

The signature hole on the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design is the 17th, a 540-yard, par-5 featuring a steep-banked pond that defends the green. Many matches were settled in this dramatic amphitheater during the ’97 Ryder Cup as the world’s best golfers accepted the risk and attempted to reach the green in two shots. The course has earned the reputation for immaculate conditioning year-round.

 

Alcanada 

Robert Trent Jones Jr., a legendary architect as well, designed Alcanada, which opened in 2003. This sparkling gem on the Mediterranean Island of Mallorca winds through pine and olive groves, measuring more than 7,000 yards from the championship tees and delivering sparkling views of the nearby island Alcanada and its iconic lighthouse.

In general, internet reviews describe Alcanada as a tough but fair golf course. Perhaps the stunning beauty of the sea offsets the challenge. Regardless, a round on this hidden gem is certain to be memorable.

 

Oitavos Dunes

Down in the southwest corner of Portugal, 30 miles west of Lisbon along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean lies a breathtaking golf course designed by renowned American architect Arthur Hills. Oitavos Dunes, which opened in 2001, was ranked No. 55 in Golf Magazine’s 2017 World Top 100.

Hills’ natural links rolls and flows through the sand dunes, umbrella pines and coastal transition areas. The course measures 7,010 yards from the tips as a par-71.

“We disturbed little of the environment as we routed the golf course in harmony with a piece of property sculpted by nature,” the architect said.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE6012QWgSU&w=560&h=315]

 

Finca Cortesin

How pure is Finca Cortesin?

So pure it wrested the Volvo World Match Play away from Wentworth in England after a 45-year run, and played host three times (2009, 2011, 2012) in four years.

Ross Fisher, Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts earned titles in the prestigious event which routinely includes many of the world’s top-ranked golfers. Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood praised the immaculate condition of the course, which is located in southern Spain. Garcia even compared the greens to Augusta National’s, which he conquered in dramatic fashion last April.

Cabell Robinson’s design is not for the weary or weak-spirited. The beast measures nearly 7,500 yards from the back tees and features 102 bunkers!

 

Oceanico Faldo

In the Central Algarve region of Portugal, the six-time major champion Nick Faldo designed a fair, yet demanding par-72, that registers more than 7,100 yards and features a slope of 138 from the championship tees.

“I like my courses to be challenging to whoever plays them,” said Faldo, who has more than 50 golf course projects completed or in progress around the world. “There might be easy holes in some places, but they are a challenge because you have to think about them, and that is what I am after. The best compliment you can get in the design business is when players come off the course and say ‘wow, that was a challenge.'”

The resort also features a floodlit par-3 course – just in case there’s not enough daylight to get your fill of golf.

 

 

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