The Best Golf Courses in South of France

Start in the hills behind the Riviera. Terre Blanche, above the village of Tourrettes, is the best golf address in the region and it is not a close call: two championship courses laid through a protected estate of pine and granite, a serene five-star hotel, and a spa that non-golfing partners tend to remember longer than the golf. The courses reward thought over muscle. Generous from the tee, exacting around greens that fall away on every side.

Twenty minutes down the road, Domaine de Saint Endréol near Le Muy is the more theatrical round, a valley course with big elevation changes, water in play and a downhill par three that gets talked about at dinner. Then there is Golf de Barbaroux at Brignoles, a Pete and P.B. Dye design of sculpted bunkers and bold shaping. Be honest with yourself here. From the tips it will chew up a 20-handicapper, so play it forward and enjoy the architecture. The Hotel Mercure Brignoles, from £395 (≈ €455) (≈ $535) (≈ CA$735) (≈ AU$745) (≈ NZ$895) (≈ CHF 425) (≈ kr 5,005) (≈ kr 5,105) (≈ kr 3,445) pp, sits right beside the course, keeps the morning drive to nothing, and is where we would put you.

Inland from Cannes and Antibes the country softens, and the golf pairs naturally with the perched villages of the arrière-pays. For a first morning we would send you to Château de la Bégude near Valbonne, from £495 (≈ €575) (≈ $675) (≈ CA$925) (≈ AU$935) (≈ NZ$1,125) (≈ CHF 535) (≈ kr 6,275) (≈ kr 6,395) (≈ kr 4,315) pp: parkland wrapped around a restored eighteenth-century farmhouse, walkable, full of character and never overlong. You finish it smiling. Royal Mougins and Cannes-Mougins supply the pedigree, and Le Mas Candille in Mougins remains the quiet hilltop stay for those who prefer their comfort understated.

This is the part of the week where golf and the rest of the holiday mix best. A morning round, an afternoon in Mougins or Saint-Paul-de-Vence, dinner under the plane trees. We pace it so the golf improves the holiday rather than running it.

West towards the Alpilles the air turns drier and the history turns Roman. Château de Servanes, from £495 (≈ €575) (≈ $675) (≈ CA$925) (≈ AU$935) (≈ NZ$1,125) (≈ CHF 535) (≈ kr 6,275) (≈ kr 6,395) (≈ kr 4,315) pp, plays through silver olive groves beneath the limestone ridge that carries the citadel of Les Baux, and if you only manage one round in this corner, make it this one. Graceful, walkable, and the view from the course is among the best in French golf. For the stay we would choose Domaine de Manville, from £450 (≈ €525) (≈ $605) (≈ CA$835) (≈ AU$855) (≈ NZ$1,025) (≈ CHF 485) (≈ kr 5,705) (≈ kr 5,815) (≈ kr 3,925) pp, a restored five-star estate with its own course at the foot of Les Baux, ahead of the bigger spa hotels; it is the more personal address. The Moulin de Vernègues at Mallemort, from £550 (≈ €635) (≈ $745) (≈ CA$1,025) (≈ AU$1,045) (≈ NZ$1,255) (≈ CHF 595) (≈ kr 6,975) (≈ kr 7,105) (≈ kr 4,795) pp, is the sensible alternative when Manville is full, a former mill with a proper spa and easy road access.

Eat well here. The Hostellerie de l’Abbaye de la Celle keeps a celebrated kitchen in a former abbey, and the small Hotel du Poête at Fontaine de Vaucluse makes a quiet base beside the spring. Do not underestimate the mistral: it funnels down this valley in spring and autumn, and a windy March day at Servanes is a different examination from a still one in June.

For the last leg, follow the coast west into the Languedoc, where the golf turns breezier and more maritime. The Palmyra Golf Hotel at Cap d’Agde, from £425 (≈ €495) (≈ $575) (≈ CA$795) (≈ AU$805) (≈ NZ$965) (≈ CHF 455) (≈ kr 5,385) (≈ kr 5,485) (≈ kr 3,705) pp, is the one to play: a Ronald Fream layout threaded with maritime pines and sea views, and the evening light off the Mediterranean is worth the trip on its own. Be realistic about the geography, though. Cap d’Agde is a good three hours’ drive from Nice, so if the Languedoc is your priority we would route you through Montpellier or Béziers rather than bolt it onto a Riviera week.

Pair it with the Hotel Imperator in Nîmes, from £420 (≈ €485) (≈ $565) (≈ CA$785) (≈ AU$795) (≈ NZ$955) (≈ CHF 455) (≈ kr 5,325) (≈ kr 5,425) (≈ kr 3,655) pp, a grand old address with the Roman amphitheatre a short walk from the door. Ending a Provençal week with a coastal round gives the trip its shape: the hills, the villages, the Alpilles, then the sea.

Here are the courses we know first-hand and route into a week, with the stay we build around each. Every price is per person and ground-only.

Guide prices Per person and ground-only, drawn from our current live packages; your specialist confirms the exact courses, hotel and dates.

We build a South of France golf tour by hand, around whichever dates suit you, rather than boxing it up in advance. We route courses across four distinct pockets of the region: the resort golf of the Var (Terre Blanche, Saint Endréol, Barbaroux), the pastoral Riviera hinterland around Mougins, the olive-grove golf of the Alpilles (Château de Servanes), and the Languedoc coast at Cap d’Agde.

A typical week is three to five rounds with your own room. On the ground it starts from £265 (≈ €305) (≈ $355) (≈ CA$495) (≈ AU$505) (≈ NZ$605) (≈ CHF 285) (≈ kr 3,355) (≈ kr 3,425) (≈ kr 2,305) pp at Valescure and climbs to a five-star resort week at Terre Blanche, with the hotels, golf and transfers arranged, and flights added from your preferred airport with ATOL protection where they are included. Your specialist sequences the courses, the hotels and the drives so the week reads as one trip rather than a list of tee times. Browse the region and its stays on our South of France golf holidays pages, then tell us which of these courses matter most to you and we will build the week around them.