Golf holidays in Versailles
Versailles, on the western outskirts of Paris, is world famous for its château and formal gardens: an iconic vision of French pomp and circumstance at its height under the reign of Louis XIV - the Sun King. All of this regal splendour is beautifully preserved today and open for visiting: a must during any holiday to Versailles or Paris - even a golfing holiday!
Aside from all the culture, Versailles has a lot to offer golfers with a plethora of high-class golf courses in the surrounding countryside west of Paris. And with so many tourists in town it makes a lively base for a French golf holiday with its many bars and restaurants of all persuasions. Plus the bright lights of Paris are just down the boulevard...
Versailles golf courses
These days, Le Golf National is perhaps the best-known golf course close to Versailles; it was built as the home course for the French Open back in the eighties and, more recently, hosted the Ryder Cup in 2018. Spanish, Germans and Scandinavians might point out that only one singles match has ever been played by a French golfer in the Ryder Cup (answers on a postcard please).
More traditional golf exists too in the shape of the timeless St. Germain and La Boulie Golf Clubs; both absolutely delightful bastions of ye olde golfe; plus the region's other 'mature' Golf Club the hilly Fourqueux with its characteristic windmill - no you don't have to put through the sails!
Other golf courses around Versailles are more modern in flavour with the 36 holes at Stade Fran¸ais and the 18 holes at the, astoundingly aquatic, Golf Parc Nantilly being amongst the most striking you will see anywhere. The supporting golfing cast is strong too with pleasant parkland golf courses at Feucherolles, Les Yvelines and Château de Maintenon.
Sightseeing and dining in Versailles
Try saying Versailles without thinkig of a humungous glittering chateau and formal gardens: impossible isn't it? And in truth, the chateau is why most people visit Versailles. In the Summer the queues are long to enter the main building, but the gardens are free to stroll if you don't want to delve too deeply into all the pomp and circumstance of France's most famous rulers - the Louis.
The town of Versailles itself has a pleasantly touristic feel with two main areas of outdoor dining and drinking. One is the 'Latin Quarter' a small stretch of streets to the left of the chateau. The other is the market square which is bedizened by brasseries that invade every square inch of available pavement around the market hall. Both are buzzing every evening throughout the year with diners and drinkers absorbing all the Versailles victuals voraciously.
More gentle pastimes abound as well, a stroll in the chateau gardens maybe or a row on the lakes perhaps?
Getting to Versailles by car
For many living in the southeast of the UK, the easiest way to get to your golfing holiday in Versailles will be via the Eurotunnel or P&O ferries to Calais. From here it is about a three-hour drive to Versailles, skirting around Paris to the West. Alternatively, ferries to Le Havre or Caen allow you to access the swift autoroute connections to the capital (in fact many Parisians commute from Rouen).
There are some very good golf courses on the way down too; so consider breaking your journey with a game of golf (or a even a night's stopover) en-route at: Belle Dune, Rebetz or up on the coast in Normandy.
Flying to Versailles
If you prefer to fly, then the closest airport is Charles de Gaulle to the North of Paris, although Orly to the South of Paris is not much further to drive if flights are more convenient for you?
There are a huge number of flights every day into Charles de Gaulle and Orly; we can advise on the best schedules and airfares for your golf holiday in Versailles. Then include them in your holiday, or you can book them yourselves if you prefer.
