The British Isles gave the world golf, surrounded by links courses shaped by coastal wind rather than designed from scratch. Southern Europe offers a completely different, more reliably sunny version of the sport along its coastlines.
The destinations on this list range from historic links courses with centuries of golfing tradition to modern resort courses built specifically around guaranteed sunshine and year-round play. Some require membership connections to access. Others welcome visiting golfers without restriction.
Booking tee times well ahead is essential at the continent's most famous courses, several of which allocate visitor slots through a ballot system months in advance. Caddies at the most traditional clubs can offer genuinely useful local knowledge. Checking forecasted wind conditions before a round also matters considerably, since it can dramatically change how a course plays.
