Golf Breaks from London: The Best Destinations & How to Get There

"Five airports within an hour of central London and we still somehow end up arguing about which one to use." A tradition as old as the society itself.

London societies have the best flight options in the country and somehow manage to make choosing between them the most complicated part of the whole trip. Here's a sensible guide to the main destinations and how to actually get there without it turning into a two-week WhatsApp debate.

Portugal — the default, for good reason

Gatwick to Faro is two and a half hours and the Algarve is waiting at the other end. TAP, easyJet and Ryanair all fly it, which keeps prices competitive. If your group is split between south and west London, Gatwick is almost always the right call — easier than Heathrow and better served for the Algarve route specifically. Lisbon is worth considering if the group wants a city element alongside the golf: Porto is closer to some excellent northern Portugal courses that most Algarve-fixated societies have never seen.

Spain — more options than people realise

Costa del Sol via Malaga is the obvious one but not the only one. If half your group is in north London, Luton to Malaga with easyJet is often significantly cheaper than Gatwick. Stansted has good Spanish connections too. For something different, Bilbao in northern Spain is less than two hours from Stansted or Gatwick, has excellent golf, food that makes the Costa del Sol look like a motorway service station, and roughly half the crowds.

Ireland — underrated for a long weekend

An hour from almost any London airport to Dublin, Kerry or Cork. No passport. Golf that's genuinely world-class — Lahinch, Ballybunion, the K Club. The weather is what it is but a late May weekend in the west of Ireland on a links course with a decent group is one of the better experiences in golf. Prices have gone up but it's still better value than an equivalent standard of course in Portugal.

The airport question

If your group genuinely lives all over London and beyond, the right move is for everyone to book their own flights from their nearest airport and meet at the destination. The savings on not driving across London to consolidate at one airport often more than cover any difference in flight price. GolfTrip handles multi-airport planning specifically for this — you put in everyone's departure point and it optimises around it.