The Best Golf Courses in France

Harry Colt laid La Mer through the dunes south of Le Touquet in 1931, and the restoration work of recent years has returned it to something close to his original intent. It is a proper links: crumpled fairways, blind moments, greens defended by the ground as much as by sand. When the wind gets up off the Channel it is the hardest examination in northern France, and the second course, La Foret, is the gentler recovery round among the pines.

Stay at Le Grand Hotel, five minutes from the first tee, with breaks from £515 (≈ €595) (≈ $685) (≈ CA$965) (≈ AU$975) (≈ NZ$1,185) (≈ CHF 555) (≈ kr 6,565) (≈ kr 6,665) (≈ kr 4,495) per person, or make it a grand weekend at the Hotel Barriere Le Westminster from £645 (≈ €755) (≈ $855) (≈ CA$1,205) (≈ AU$1,225) (≈ NZ$1,475) (≈ CHF 695) (≈ kr 8,225) (≈ kr 8,345) (≈ kr 5,635) per person. The town itself, all belle epoque villas and serious restaurants, is half the reason to come. See the course in full at Le Touquet La Mer.

Tom Simpson’s Vineuil course at Golf de Chantilly is routinely ranked the best inland course in France, and standing on its first tee you understand why nobody argues. This is golf from another age: vast scale, deep bunkering, a clubhouse that looks across to the chateau, and a membership that treats visitors kindly provided they respect the place.

Chantilly pairs naturally with Apremont and the International Club du Lys for a three-round long weekend under an hour from the tunnel autoroute. The Auberge du Jeu de Paume, a Relais & Chateaux house in the heart of Chantilly, anchors breaks from £530 (≈ €615) (≈ $705) (≈ CA$985) (≈ AU$1,005) (≈ NZ$1,215) (≈ CHF 575) (≈ kr 6,765) (≈ kr 6,855) (≈ kr 4,625) per person; the Mercure Chantilly does the same job comfortably from £380 (≈ €435) (≈ $505) (≈ CA$705) (≈ AU$725) (≈ NZ$865) (≈ CHF 405) (≈ kr 4,845) (≈ kr 4,915) (≈ kr 3,315).

The Albatros at Le Golf National staged the 2018 Ryder Cup and hosts the French Open, and it plays exactly as it looks on television: water everywhere, spectator mounding, a finishing loop that has ruined better cards than yours. It is the closest thing Europe has to a stadium course that ordinary golfers can book, and every serious golfing CV should include it.

The course is closed for renovation over the summer of 2026 and reopens in September, which makes autumn the moment to book it. We base Albatros trips in Versailles, ten minutes away, and price them to your dates; the same stay puts the Saint-Cloud and Fontainebleau clubs in reach for the rest of the week.

Bill Coore designed the Chateaux course at Golf du Medoc before the wider world had learned his name, and it remains the south west’s benchmark: open, windswept, firm underfoot, a links temperament twenty minutes from the Medoc’s grandest wine estates. The second course, Vignes, makes it a genuine 36-hole destination.

The on-site Medoc Golf Resort, now flying the Cabot Bordeaux flag, packages four nights with golf from £825 (≈ €965) (≈ $1,095) (≈ CA$1,545) (≈ AU$1,565) (≈ NZ$1,895) (≈ CHF 895) (≈ kr 10,525) (≈ kr 10,675) (≈ kr 7,205) per person. For the full Bordeaux picture, our golf breaks in Bordeaux guide covers the city, the vines and every course we sell around them.

Tom Doak has built very little in Europe, which makes the Grand Saint-Emilionnais a pilgrimage in its own right. It is minimalist architecture among the vines: short walks from green to tee, greens that reward thought rather than force, and not a water hazard in sight. Play it on the same trip as Medoc and you have sampled the two best modern arguments in French golf.

Chateau des Vigiers, a sixteenth-century chateau with 27 holes of its own on the Bergerac side, holds five-night breaks from £1,095 (≈ €1,275) (≈ $1,455) (≈ CA$2,055) (≈ AU$2,085) (≈ NZ$2,515) (≈ CHF 1,185) (≈ kr 13,975) (≈ kr 14,175) (≈ kr 9,565) per person and makes a handsome base for both.

South of Bordeaux the golf runs along the surf coast. Hossegor is a 1930 pine-forest classic beside France’s surfing capital, quiet, sandy and endlessly pleasant to walk. Forty minutes further south, Chiberta at Anglet mixes true seaside holes with pines, another Tom Simpson design with the Pyrenees on the horizon.

Base at Hotel 202 in Hossegor from £545 (≈ €635) (≈ $725) (≈ CA$1,015) (≈ AU$1,035) (≈ NZ$1,245) (≈ CHF 585) (≈ kr 6,955) (≈ kr 7,055) (≈ kr 4,755) per person, or golf Biarritz on a budget from the Golfers Hotel from £255 (≈ €295) (≈ $335) (≈ CA$475) (≈ AU$485) (≈ NZ$585) (≈ CHF 275) (≈ kr 3,255) (≈ kr 3,295) (≈ kr 2,225) per person with Biarritz Le Phare five minutes away.

For winter golf, head south. Terre Blanche carries two Dave Thomas courses, the Chateau and the Riou, across a private Provencal estate; the Terre Blanche Hotel Spa Golf Resort is one of the finest golf hotels in Europe, with short breaks from £895 (≈ €1,045) (≈ $1,185) (≈ CA$1,675) (≈ AU$1,705) (≈ NZ$2,055) (≈ CHF 975) (≈ kr 11,425) (≈ kr 11,585) (≈ kr 7,815) per person. Nearer Cannes, Royal Mougins squeezes remarkable golf into a valley of umbrella pines, and the Royal Mougins Resort keeps you on the property from £650 (≈ €755) (≈ $865) (≈ CA$1,215) (≈ AU$1,235) (≈ NZ$1,495) (≈ CHF 705) (≈ kr 8,295) (≈ kr 8,415) (≈ kr 5,675) per person.

Both play beautifully from October to April, when the north of France has put its clubs away.

North of Paris, drive: the tunnel puts Le Touquet ninety minutes from Folkestone, four to a car keeps the cost down, and there is no baggage carousel between you and your own clubs. Bordeaux and the south are flying country, with direct services from most UK airports. Every break we sell is ground-only with green fees and transfers arranged; where we add flights they are ATOL protected. France golf breaks start from about £220 (≈ €255) (≈ $285) (≈ CA$405) (≈ AU$415) (≈ NZ$505) (≈ CHF 235) (≈ kr 2,805) (≈ kr 2,845) (≈ kr 1,915) per person, and the full picture is on our France golf holidays page.