SELF-DRIVE GOLF FROM THE TUNNEL
Hawtree fairways under the Lion's Mound, a short drive past Calais.
Royal Waterloo's Le Lion runs beneath the battlefield mound where the Hawtrees laid the fairways, and the parkland holes at Château de la Tournette sit twenty minutes south at Nivelles. Load the clubs, take the LeShuttle crossing we include in the price, and you are teeing off the same afternoon.
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The countryside south of Brussels, around the Waterloo battlefield, is Belgium's parkland golf heartland — a tight cluster of mature, walkable courses within easy reach of one another, and an easy drive-and-play from the UK with no flight to book. It is also a natural en-route stop: many of our golfers play it on the way to or from courses further into Belgium or France.
The Waterloo cluster is parkland at its most varied: Royal Waterloo Golf Club, Golf de l'Empereur, La Tournette (with distinct USA and UK nines), Sept Fontaines, Royal Bercuit and the historic Royal Hainaut a little further south, plus the on-course Pierpont and Rigenée. Three to five rounds here never repeats a character, and nothing is more than a short drive from your hotel.
Three bases, three price points. Martin's Chateau du Lac is the five-star flagship, on the lake at Genval — short breaks from around
April to October. May, June and September are the strongest — the parkland drains and firms up beautifully, the evenings are long, and tee sheets are quieter than high summer.
You are golfing on one of history's most famous battlefields: Waterloo 1815, where Napoleon was finally defeated. The Lion's Mound and battlefield memorial sit in the middle of the golf cluster, an easy half-day. Brussels — the Grand-Place, the museums, the chocolatiers — is 20 minutes north.
Brussels is a serious food city, and the Walloon countryside does hearty classics — carbonnade flamande, game in season, and abbey beers brewed nearby. After a round, a terrace, a plate of frites and a Belgian blonde is the ritual.
Hougoumont is the part of the battlefield most visitors underestimate. The walled farm the Guards held through 18 June 1815 has been restored and opened, and it explains the day better than any map. At the Memorial 1815 there is a 3D film on a 26 metre screen and the circular Panorama painting; the Wellington Museum in the town, the old Bodenghien Inn where the Duke wrote his dispatch the morning after, is on the same 1815 Pass. Give it a morning at least. Nearby, the Cistercian abbey at Villers-la-Ville, founded in 1146 and left to the weather since 1796, is quieter and oddly moving. The car you brought over on LeShuttle earns its keep too: Brussels for the Magritte Museum at Place Royale, then dinner, and back before the tee time.
Tight and quick: the courses sit within about 30 minutes of each other and of the hotels, and you keep your own car throughout. Brussels and the battlefield are minutes away; the Bruges coast is around 90 minutes if you want to combine both clusters.
No flight. LeShuttle Folkestone–Calais is 35 minutes, with the Waterloo area roughly 90 minutes' drive beyond. Its position makes it an easy first or last night on a longer Belgian or northern-French itinerary.
Eurozone, Central European Time, English widely spoken in golf and hospitality. Buggies aren't guaranteed at the traditional clubs — ask and we'll confirm. ATOL (for any added flights) and PTS-protected; arranging Belgian golf since 1981.
Every course we can build a trip around. Open one to see which of our hotels play it.
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4.9 from real golfers · PTS Protected · ATOL for flights · Arranging golf since 1981
Golf holidays in Waterloo. The questions our golfers ask most.
Belgium has two main areas of golf interest. Near Bruges in the north (Flanders), you'll find a cluster of excellent parkland courses within easy reach of the historic city centre — perfect for combining golf with sightseeing. Around Brussels, there are some of Belgium's most prestigious clubs including Royal Belgian Golf Club. For most visitors, the Bruges area offers the best combination of golf quality, value and tourist attractions. We'll discuss which area suits your group's preferences and travel logistics.
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch (Flemish) in the north, French in the south, and German in a small eastern pocket. In Bruges, you'll hear predominantly Dutch/Flemish; in Brussels, both French and Dutch are widely spoken. English is spoken fluently throughout Belgium — in hotels, golf clubs, restaurants and tourist attractions. You will have absolutely no difficulty communicating in English anywhere you play golf in Belgium. The country's multilingual culture makes it one of the most visitor-friendly destinations in Europe.
Belgium is part of the Schengen Area, so if you're travelling from another Schengen country, there are no passport checks at internal borders. However, UK citizens travelling from the UK to Belgium do need to show a valid passport, as the UK is outside the Schengen zone post-Brexit. Your passport must be valid for the duration of your stay. No visa is required for UK citizens for stays under 90 days. Border checks are typically quick and straightforward at Brussels Airport and Eurostar terminals.
Our golf holidays are arranged ground-only — hotel, golf and transfers. You can add flights through us, and those flights are ATOL protected as part of your booking.
Every trip is hand-built. Tell us your group, dates and the destinations you fancy, and we build a personal itinerary — hotel, golf and transfers — around them. There are no fixed packages to squeeze into; we shape the whole break to suit how your group likes to play.
It depends on the destination, hotel, dates and how many rounds you want, so every quote is built individually. Many breaks start in the mid-hundreds per person; winter-sun and long-haul trips cost more. Get a free, no-obligation quote and we'll confirm your figure.
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