Quinta Do Lago: Where World Cup Stars Train

As World Cup mania takes hold, there’s yet another reason for sports-mad families to make Quinta do Lago in the Algarve their go-to holiday destination: the beautiful game. Rebecca Cox arrives at The Campus with her football-mad son for a Football Escapes Camp and discovers a place that will transform even the most reluctant gym-goer into a fitness fanatic (even if you have no intention to ever pick up a golf club).

Quinta do Lago, Algarve, Portugal

Quinta do Lago has a club-toting image. Three championship golf courses, a beautiful stretch of the Algarve coastline in Portugal, a host of buzzy dining destinations and luxury accommodation offerings that keep repeat visitors returning year after year (particularly the owners of the sprawling and ever-multiplying luxury villas and apartments). But The Campus at the heart of the resort is a hub for so much more than golf-lovers; a world-class sporting facility where the likes of Chelsea Football Club comes to train. And beyond it, there is a breath-taking nature reserve for those seeking solitude away from the crowds.

The Campus Tennis Courts

For my son, a 10-year-old football fanatic, this is his Disneyland. We arrived at The Campus in the May half term for the start of the Football Escapes camp – where ex-professional footballers lead the line-up of coaching. Here, the players, aged 5-15, receive two hours of daily structured coaching on the resort’s famous hybrid pitch and a whole lot of out-of-hours fun (video game evenings, mini golf tournaments). What isn’t part of the package, however, are the neighbours training for the World Cup on the pitch behind. Several of the players currently making headlines at the World Cup – Premier League stars using The Campus for pre-tournament preparation – were putting in the work 50 metres away from the Football Escapes cohort; a reminder that the road to the World Cup is paved with a lot of grit (and ample sweat in the Portugal sun). Around The Campus Jack spies other famous sporting faces, cropping up like costumed characters at a theme park – though they are very much on their own family holidays and not wearing giant fuzzy heads or being bothered by us. 

This is the sporting appeal of Quinta do Lago: a destination that operates at a level serious enough to attract professional athletes, while remaining accessible to anyone who books in. The Campus facilities are built to elite standards – state-of-the-art gym, recovery and rehabilitation suites, performance tracking, padel and tennis courts – and open to resort guests (priced individually). The Football Escapes coaching is structured and ambitious; and while he trained I trialled reformer pilates (incredible), padel (super fun) and hit the gym, completing my sportiest week in recent memory. 

The Campus pool

The Ria Formosa Natural Park

For those who want to step entirely away from the sporting energy, there is another Quinta do Lago. The resort sits within the Ria Formosa Natural Park, a protected coastal wetland of lagoons, salt pans, sand dunes and reed beds that runs along one of the most distinctive stretches of the Algarve. The park gives the resort a rare quality of stillness; the sense that beyond the golf courses, the gym classes and padel courts, a wild landscape is perfectly preserved and in no need of PBs or extra training. Walks and cycle routes run through the wetlands, passing rare birdlife, dune paths and the shining glimpses of flying fish as they leap out of the lagoon. Quinta do Lago offers bikes and suggested routes from The Campus, and the Ria Formosa trail along the lagoon edge is best done early, before the heat settles. 

Where To Eat & Drink At Quinta do Lago

The sporting facilities I was expecting, the great food took me by surprise. The resort runs 14 restaurants and the range is serious: Umami was our top pick – precise, beautifully presented elevated robatayaki Japanese cuisine in a gorgeous setting for the sunset. Casa do Lago is seafood on a lakeside terrace where kids (and big kids) can enjoy hitting balls toward a mini island on the lake. The Shack, with live music and laid-back dining is the social heart of the resort but a little crowded for my liking. Restaurante Casa Velha served up the best cocktails on the resort alongside delicious Portuguese dishes and would make for a great date spot, while Pure by the reformer studio has the best healthy options if you’re taking your fitness seriously.

Gareth Billington at Q Farm

Q Farm

A hidden gem at Quinta do Lago is Q Farm – the resort’s on-site organic farm, tucked down a path near Koko’s (another child-friendly dining option where the driving range and large playground will keep kids occupied). Gareth Billington, group executive chef, gives us a tour of the farm alongside Priscilla, the farm manager, and takes a pragmatic but passionate approach to what grows here, reminding us that what’s good for the planet is good for business, too. ‘We look at our ingredients, primarily what’s expensive,’ he tells me, as we pass rows of basil, fennel, wild strawberries and candy beetroot. ‘Curly parsley costs about 35 euros a kilo here. Growing it ourselves makes sense – and the food’s better for it.’ The farm runs across two sites with a greenhouse for edible flowers, beehives and 30 newly-planted fig trees. Last year, three tonnes of produce came out of it. Menus are shaped around what’s seasonal and available, and it shows in the food: salads built around what Priscilla harvested that morning, juices at Pure pressed from farm kale and beetroot, cocktail herbs for the bars grown to order. The goal is to track exactly how much of the menus is grown on-site and raise the bar each year. 

The Magnolia Hotel

We stayed at The Magnolia Hotel, the resort’s budget-friendly accommodation option; a Palm Springs-inspired lodging that sits a short drive or 15-minute bike ride away from The Campus and brings a cheerful, motel-style personality to the wider resort. The heated outdoor pool is busy and happy, the welcome is warm, and breakfast is generous and delicious, with fresh smoothies made from Q Farm produce a must-try. This is not luxury in the grand resort sense – rooms from €116 B&B – and it does not try to be. What it is, rather more usefully, is a well-run, genuinely friendly base inside one of the best-equipped sports and wellness destinations in Europe. And after a busy day at The Campus, the bed is cool and comfy and that’s all we need. 

The Magnolia Hotel

C&TH KEY NOTES

• The meal to book: sushi and robatayaki at Umami. 
• The drink to order: the Algarve Gimlet at Casa Velha
• The class to book: a reformer pilates one-to-one
• Don’t miss: The Ria Formosa cycle trail along the lagoon. Hire bikes from The Campus and go early – it takes about an hour at a reasonable pace and the birdlife is at its best in the morning.
• Keep your eyes peeled for: rare birds and sporting legends
• When to go: May to July for the Football Escapes camps (ages 5-15); September and October for the resort at its most relaxed, when summer crowds thin and the temperatures stay warm.

THE LAST WORD

World-class sporting facilities, top quality food and drinks and a breath-taking nature reserve; Quinta do Lago has hit the ultimate family holiday hat-trick. 

Location & Getting There

• Location: Almancil, Algarve, Portugal
• Nearest airport: Faro (15 minutes)
• Website: quintadolago.com 
• Phone: +351 304 502 129

BOOK IT

The Magnolia Hotel, Quinta do Lago, Almancil, Algarve, Portugal. Standard double room from €116/£98 B&B | themagnoliahotelqdl.com | Football Escapes camp bookings via thecampusqdl.com | Find out more about Quinta do Lago quintadolago.com