Golf guide • France • Béarn

Golf in Pau: continental Europe's oldest course, facing the Pyrenees

Pau, capital of the Béarn at the foot of the Pyrenees, is home to Pau Golf Club, founded in 1856 by British holidaymakers: it is the oldest course in continental Europe, a technical par 69 beside the gave. A quarter of an hour away, Bluegreen Pau-Artiguelouve, designed by Jean Garaïalde, offers a second, more spacious eighteen holes. Golfers come for golfing history, the view of the mountains and Béarn cooking, ideally in spring and autumn.

Plan this tripUpdated 11 October 2026

In the 19th century, Pau was one of the British upper classes' favourite winter towns. In 1842 the Scottish physician Alexander Taylor published a treatise praising the virtues of its climate, and the English colony flocked in: fox hunting, horse racing, cricket and, from 1856, golf. The Duke of Hamilton and a few officers rented meadows beside the gave at Billère and laid out the first course on the Continent. It is still played today, a few hundred metres from the château.

Golf in Pau remains on a human scale: two eighteen-hole courses within twenty minutes of the centre, on the flat land of the gave valley, with the Pyrenees in sight from most tees. Pau Golf Club is played for its history and the precision it demands, Artiguelouve for its space and its water hazards. Two courses, two registers, and a town where you walk back to your hotel.

Three or four nights are enough: a round on each course, a morning at Henri IV's château, an afternoon in the Jurançon vineyards and, in the evening, a stroll along the Boulevard des Pyrénées as the Pic du Midi d'Ossau stands out against the sky. Biarritz and the ocean are about an hour and a quarter by road if you want to extend the trip.

The courses

Raised green guarded by a bunker and a stream, autumn trees and bluish mountains on the horizon

Pau Golf Club 1856

Architect: Willie Dunn Sr
Opened 1856
18 holes
Par 69

Founded in 1856, the oldest club in continental Europe owes its layout to the Scot Willie Dunn Senior. The eighteen holes stretch across the plain at Billère, along the gave, facing the Pyrenees and within driving distance of the Jurançon hillsides: 5,306 metres, par 69, small, well-defended greens, out of bounds on the right going out and streams coming home. The Victorian clubhouse, dating from 1880, houses a heritage room filled with trophies and paintings. Joe Lloyd, the first golf professional in France, was hired here in 1883 before winning the 1897 US Open. A course of finesse, not force.

Official website

Golf Bluegreen Pau-Artiguelouve

Architect: Jean Garaïalde
Opened 1993
18 holes
Par 70

Opened in 1993 on the Domaine Saint-Michel at Artiguelouve, about fifteen minutes west of Pau and close to the medieval town of Lescar, this par 70 was designed by Jean Garaïalde, the great French champion of the 1960s and 1970s. The first six holes run through a riverside wood beside the gave, the Saligue, and call for precision; the next twelve open onto the plain, with wider fairways, water hazards and palm trees. The view of the mountains is constant. The covered driving range, equipped with Toptracer, allows a serious warm-up before you tee off.

Official website

Where to stay

Hôtel Parc Beaumont MGallery Collection

A member of the MGallery collection with five stars, the hotel borders the Parc Beaumont, a few minutes' walk from the centre and the Boulevard des Pyrénées. The city-side rooms face north: ask for a Parc room or a suite, which face south with a terrace over the century-old trees. An indoor pool, a spa, the Le Jeu de Paume restaurant and the Le Grand Prix brasserie mean you need not go out again after your round.

Hôtel de Gramont

An 18th-century house on Place Gramont, protected within the château's historic perimeter, 200 metres from the château and the Boulevard des Pyrénées. A four-star hotel on the scale of a private house, with a lift and a billiard room. There is no hotel car park: leave the car on Place de Verdun, a hundred metres away, then walk to the château gardens along the Hédas, a stream covered over in the 18th century.

Wrought-iron balustraded balcony with two chairs, overlooking a park of tall trees at dusk

Where to dine

L'Esberit

At Bizanos, five minutes from Pau, Nicolas Lormeau has set up L'Esberit, Occitan for "the awakened one", in a listed 19th-century house built of pebbles from the Gave: once an Anglo-American school, then the home of Gustave Monod, where Saint-John Perse came to read under the magnolia. Inventive cooking built on Béarn produce, selected by the Michelin Guide. Book well ahead and ask for the terrace under the old oak; closed Sunday and Monday.

Omnivore

A gourmet bistro on Place Gramont, a stone's throw from the château: zinc counter, wood panelling, button-back banquettes and a blackboard of local, seasonal produce, recommended by the Michelin Guide. Locals come for the fish from the auction or the pork shoulder cooked for twenty-four hours. Closed on Sundays and open only for dinner on Saturdays: the place to walk to for dinner from the Hôtel de Gramont.

Beyond golf

Henri IV's château

Henri IV was born in the Château de Pau in 1553, and tradition has it that his lips were rubbed with garlic and Jurançon wine at birth. The château, now a national museum, retains its 19th-century apartments, a remarkable collection of tapestries and the tortoise shell presented as the king's cradle. A morning is enough, before an afternoon tee time.

The Boulevard des Pyrénées

A long balcony linking the château with the Parc Beaumont, the boulevard offers on a clear day a panorama of some hundred kilometres of peaks, from the Pic d'Anie to the Pic du Midi de Bigorre by way of the Ossau. The 1908 funicular runs free of charge down to the station and the gave in two minutes; a viewpoint indicator helps you name the peaks.

The Jurançon vineyards

South of the town, the Jurançon hillsides produce dry and sweet whites from petit and gros manseng, harvested late for the sweetest. The wine route winds between family estates and views of the mountains, twenty minutes from the centre. A sweet Jurançon with foie gras, a dry one with garbure: the Béarn pairing.

Rows of vines in autumn colours and a stone farmhouse with a slate roof, limestone mountains behind

When to go

The climate is mild and often windless, which was already the source of Pau's reputation among the British. Spring, from March to June, brings green courses and snow still on the peaks. September and October are often the finest months, bright and temperate. Summer is hot, sometimes stormy. Winter remains playable, cool and damper; Pau Golf Club is open all year.

Getting there

Pau-Pyrénées airport (PUF), at Uzein, about 7 km north-west of the town, has flights to Paris; allow some twenty minutes to the centre. Biarritz and Toulouse offer more flights, about 1 hr 15 and 2 hrs away by road. The train links Paris with Pau in about four and a half hours, and the funicular climbs from the station to the Boulevard des Pyrénées.

Frequently asked questions

What is the oldest golf course in France?

Pau Golf Club, founded in 1856 at Billère, on the edge of Pau. It is the oldest course in continental Europe and still welcomes visitors.

How many golf courses are there around Pau?

Two eighteen-hole courses within twenty minutes of the centre: Pau Golf Club (par 69) and Bluegreen Pau-Artiguelouve (par 70), designed by Jean Garaïalde.

When is the best time to play golf in Pau?

In spring and in September and October, when it is mild and the mountains are clearly visible. Winter remains playable thanks to the Béarn's sheltered climate.

How many days do you need for a golf trip to Pau?

Three to four nights are enough to play both courses, visit the château and spend an afternoon in the Jurançon vineyards. You can extend the trip towards Biarritz and the Basque coast.

Which airport is best for a golf trip to Pau?

Pau-Pyrénées airport (PUF), about twenty minutes from the centre and both courses. Biarritz is an alternative, about 1 hr 15 away by road.

Tailor-made

Your golf trip: Pau

Tee times, suites, transfers and tables: your concierge replies within 24 hours with a proposal shaped around you.

Hillside green above a turquoise lake beneath limestone cliffs, a village and chalets on the shore, late-afternoon light

Haute-Savoie