As far as active family activities go, golf is a stellar option. Anyone can play; it doesn’t require a certain body type and, with the right guidance, it’s fairly easy to pick up. It’s also a rewarding learning curve for children and gets them out of the house.
According to global travelers, these are the very best destinations when it comes to family-friendly golf courses.*
Dubai, UAE
Dubai's skyscrapers and beaches make a glamorous golfing backdrop
Dubai doesn’t do anything by halves, and golf is no exception. The UAE’s futuristic and most populous city hosts global golf championships, is home to numerous world-class courses, and
provides a glamorous backdrop of vertiginous skyscrapers and sculpted, palm-shaped islands.
Lots of Dubai accommodations offer special, all-inclusive family packages, like the JA Jebel Ali Beach Hotel, part of the Jebel Ali
Golf Resort. This 5-star beach resort offers friendly service with value for money. The hotel rooms and suites are spread across five levels, with standing balconies and terraces overlooking the golf course, gardens, marina, beach and Arabian Gulf. A private beach, temperature-controlled swimming pools, several restaurants and bars plus a vast selection of leisure and sport facilities make this hotel a great Dubai beach holiday destination.
Orlando, USA
Disneyland isn't the only family-friendly thing about Orlando
Orlando is a popular destination for family travel, and not just thanks to the presence of Disneyland Florida. There are endless family activities to fill an action-packed holiday here; Universal Orlando theme park, a giant ferris wheel, waterparks, and a lot of labyrinthine mini
golf courses.
Once you’ve graduated from the mini golf, try
out one of the hundreds of full-size courses for keen golfers. From public, semi-private and resort greens, there’s an outstanding selection to choose from, many located within family-friendly resort complexes like
Quinta do Lago, Portugal
Enjoy a sunny beach and golf holiday in Portugal's Algarve region
An exclusive golf resort in the sunny, coastal Algarve region, Quinta do Lago is one of the best places in the world to brush up on your swing or halve your handicap. The resort has hosted the Portuguese Open several times but this part of Portugal isn’t just an attractive setting for teeing off, it’s also a prime destination for golfing families.
The caramel-coloured sandy beaches, dunes
and pine forests that make up the surrounding Ria Formosa nature reserve are a natural playground for children. Encouraging an active outdoor lifestyle year-round, the resort organises lots of family-oriented activities and has many child-friendly facilities. Check into the family-friendly, seafront Hotel Quinta do Lago, with its own private beach.
Novo Sancti Petri, Spain
The golf resort town of Novo Sancti Petri has seafood tapas, fine weather and family-friendly beaches
Keen golfers will appreciate the choice of courses at this resort town in the sun-soaked, southern Spanish region of AndalucÃa. A coastal area of whitewashed villages studded all over the hills and national parks, it’s appealing for its fine weather, seafood tapas, ice-cream parlours and family-friendly beaches, with or without the golf. But it would be a shame to come to Novo Sancti Petri and not set foot on its springy-soft greens.
Covering an area of about 4000 hectares, these naturally-beautiful golf courses offer a fantastic range of 9-hole, 18-hole and 36-holes; if you’re looking for a prestigious course, you can’t do much better than the Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri. For enthusiastic novices can book a private lesson, and there is also a children’s club. Stay at Vincci Resort Costa Golf, right next to the Novo Sancti Petri Golf Course and just a few minutes' walk from the beach.
Myrtle Beach, USA
Myrtle Beach is a must-visit for keen golfing families
For seasoned golfers, Myrtle Beach is probably already on your must-visit list. And, although it’s easily one of the world’s most cherished golfing destinations, there is an abundance of options for golfing newbies of all ages, too. This seaside destination in South Carolina has about 60 miles of bright white sandy beaches and hundreds of golf courses, designed by the biggest names in the industry.
For family members who are just getting started, there is a plethora of par-3 courses that are easy to book onto and welcome rookies. With a water park, bowling alley, arcade and more, Coral Beach Resort is a particularly family-friendly accommodation in Myrtle Beach.
** Data has been provided by our holiday partner Booking.com whose analysts looked at endorsements for ‘golf’ by customers. They then found the destinations that were most highly-rated for this endorsement.