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Golf guide • France • French Riviera

Golf in Nice: from the Baie des Anges to the high fairways of Mont Agel

Nice is a city base for playing three very different courses within 45 minutes: the Monte-Carlo Golf Club, laid out in 1911 at 850 metres on Mont Agel; the historic Biot course, opened in 1930; and Cabell Robinson's Grande Bastide below Grasse. Golfers come to combine a morning round with an evening in Vieux-Nice, from March to June and from September to November.

Plan this tripUpdated

Nice has no course within its limits, and that is precisely its appeal: you sleep facing the Baie des Anges and choose a direction each morning. To the east, the road climbs towards La Turbie and Mont Agel, where the Monte-Carlo Golf Club has looked down on Monaco for more than a century. To the west, the Brague valley shelters the Biot course, opened in 1930. To the north-west, the hills of Opio and Châteauneuf-Grasse are home to the Grande Bastide, in a landscape of olive trees and hilltop villages.

The three courses complement one another well. Mont Agel is mountain golf, with its slopes, small greens and lies that are rarely flat; Biot is short and walked along the Brague; the Grande Bastide offers wide fairways and water in play. Between rounds, the city takes over: the Promenade des Anglais early in the morning, the market on the Cours Saleya, a drink at the Port Lympia as the façades turn ochre.

The trip suits couples where only one plays, and short breaks: the airport is a quarter of an hour from the centre, direct flights are plentiful, and three to five nights are enough for all three courses. A car remains essential to reach them. Those who want to stay longer will find more first-rate courses further west, at Cannes and Mougins.

The courses

Rolling golf hole behind a pond, white bunkers, olive trees and cypresses, a hilltop village of ochre houses

Monte-Carlo Golf Club

  • Architect: Willie Park Jr.
  • Opened 1911
  • 18 holes
  • Par 71

Opened in 1911 on the slopes of Mont Agel at La Turbie, the Monte-Carlo Golf Club is a Willie Park Jr. par 71, set at about 850 metres above sea level on the French side of the border. The club hosted the European Tour's Monte Carlo Open from 1984 to the early 1990s, with Ballesteros and Faldo in the field. The greens are small, the terrain steep and the lies rarely level: you need a precise iron game. The reward is the setting, with the Mediterranean on one side and the Alps on the other. A course for golfers comfortable with a handicap, to be booked in advance.

Signature hole. The 13th tee, which the club presents as its signature tee, opens up the view over Monaco, the Italian Riviera and, on a clear day, Corsica.

Official website

Golf Club de Biot Antibes – La Bastide du Roy

  • Architect: James Peter Gannon & Percy Boomer
  • Opened 1930
  • 18 holes
  • Par 69

Created in 1930 as the Golf de la Bastide du Roy, below the village of Biot, this course by James Peter Gannon and Percy Boomer is one of the oldest on the French Riviera. King Gustaf V of Sweden was its patron, and the Riviera's aristocracy played here in winter. Short, a par 69 of 4,616 metres, flat and crossed by the Brague, it calls for more precision than power. It is the ideal course for a first day, a late afternoon or a group of mixed abilities, twenty-five minutes from Nice by motorway.

Official website

Golf de la Grande Bastide

  • Architect: Cabell Robinson
  • Opened 1990
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

At Châteauneuf-Grasse, the Grande Bastide was designed in 1990 by Cabell Robinson, a former associate of Robert Trent Jones Sr. A par 72 of 5,722 metres from the white tees, the course unfolds in a bowl ringed by wooded hills, facing the villages of Opio and Châteauneuf. The fairways are wide, the greens well defended by bunkers and seven water features. The gently rolling ground is easy to walk, and the layout suits every level. Allow forty minutes from Nice.

Signature hole. The 18th, a water-lined par 4 that doglegs right and which the club considers the finest hole on the course, makes you choose your line from the tee.

Official website

Where to stay

Le Negresco

Opened in 1913 by Henri Negresco to plans by Édouard-Jean Niermans, the grand hotel with the pink dome is the landmark of the Promenade des Anglais. Its façades and grand salon have been listed historic monuments since 2003, and the Salon Royal keeps its Baccarat crystal chandelier. Jeanne Augier gathered thousands of works of art here, from the 17th century to Niki de Saint Phalle. A renovation carried out in stages since 2020 has added a spa and suites.

Hôtel La Pérouse

Set against Castle Hill at the end of the Quai Rauba Capeu, the Hôtel La Pérouse looks out over the whole Baie des Anges on one side and Vieux-Nice on the other. Fifty-three rooms and suites, a pool carved into the rock, a patio planted with lemon trees for dinner and a rooftop bar for the blue hour. An address away from the noise, five minutes' walk from the Cours Saleya.

Hôtel Villa Rivoli

A Belle Époque townhouse from 1890 in the Quartier des Musiciens, about a hundred metres from the Promenade des Anglais. Twenty-four individually decorated rooms and the atmosphere of a family home: a simple, well-kept address for those who spend their days on the courses and prefer charm to grand-hotel service.

Belle Époque façade with blue shutters on a palm-lined promenade, blue chairs and a pebble beach under a stormy sky

Where to dine

JAN

Some twenty covers near the Port Lympia, on Rue Lascaris, and a Michelin star since 2016. The South African chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen serves a single menu that weaves together his roots and Riviera produce, sourced from within 500 kilometres. One sitting per evening: book early for your last-night dinner.

Bistrot d'Antoine

On Rue de la Préfecture in Vieux-Nice, a tiled bistro with a chalkboard menu, awarded a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide. Honest, traditional cooking: hand-cut steak tartare, grilled veal kidney, pork casserole and creamy polenta. It is much in demand with the people of Nice themselves, and closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Le Plongeoir

On a rock out at sea on Boulevard Franck Pilatte, just beyond the port, the Plongeoir's platform stands more than six metres above the water. Seasonal Mediterranean cooking, sharing plates and sunset over the Baie des Anges. The restaurant follows the season: check opening dates before a winter trip.

Beyond golf

Vieux-Nice and the Cours Saleya

Between Castle Hill and the Paillon, Vieux-Nice keeps its narrow lanes, ochre façades and Baroque churches. In the morning, the flower and vegetable market on the Cours Saleya sets the tone; on Mondays, the stalls give way to antique dealers. Try socca, pissaladière and courgette-flower fritters, then walk up to the Castle Hill viewpoint to take in the whole bay.

Matisse in Cimiez

Henri Matisse lived in Nice for almost forty years and is buried in the cemetery of the Cimiez monastery. Right next door, in the Villa des Arènes, among an olive grove and the Roman remains of Cemenelum, the Musée Matisse traces his career from the first canvases to the paper cut-outs. The museum closes between exhibitions: check the dates before heading up.

The Promenade des Anglais

Since 2021, Nice has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List as the winter resort town of the Riviera. The villas, the Belle Époque and Art Deco hotels and the seven kilometres of the Promenade des Anglais tell the story of the city the British invented in the 19th century. Walk it early in the morning, when the blue chairs are still empty.

Lane of ochre façades with green shutters, washing at the windows, a flower stall under a parasol in the foreground

When to go

Spring is ideal: from April to June, temperatures reach 18 to 25 °C and the courses are in top condition. September and October extend the summer without the crowds, but autumn can bring violent bouts of rain. Summer is hot and very busy on the coast; it is the season for the cooler Mont Agel. Winter stays mild in town, around 13 °C in the afternoon, but Mont Agel can be lost in the clouds.

Getting there

Nice Côte d'Azur airport (NCE) is seven kilometres from the centre: a quarter of an hour by taxi or half an hour by tram to the port. From Paris, the TGV reaches Nice in about six hours. Plan on a car: Biot is twenty-five minutes away, Mont Agel thirty-five and the Grande Bastide forty.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course near Nice?

The Monte-Carlo Golf Club, opened in 1911 on Mont Agel at La Turbie, is the most spectacular, with views of the sea and the Alps. It hosted the European Tour's Monte Carlo Open.

How many golf courses are there around Nice?

Three 18-hole courses lie within 45 minutes: the Monte-Carlo Golf Club at La Turbie, the Biot course and the Grande Bastide at Châteauneuf-Grasse. Cannes and Mougins, further west, offer more.

Can non-members play the Monte-Carlo Golf Club?

Yes. Visitors with a handicap are welcome by reservation, by telephone or email. The clubhouse is reserved for members and players who have paid their green fee.

When is the best time to play golf in Nice?

From March to June and from September to November. Summer is hot and crowded on the coast, but Mont Agel, at 850 metres, stays cooler; autumn can be wet.

Which airport is best for a golf trip to Nice?

Nice Côte d'Azur airport (NCE), a quarter of an hour from the centre. The three courses are then 25 to 40 minutes away by road.

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