Catalonia is not the first place most golfers think of when planning a European golf trip. That is a mistake. The Girona province — the interior hinterland and the Costa Brava coastline — holds a concentration of quality golf courses that rivals the Algarve for design pedigree and outperforms it for value. PGA Catalunya Stadium Course has hosted European Tour events and ranked in Golf World's top 100 courses in continental Europe for fifteen years. The courses around it are genuinely good.
I have been sending golfers to Catalonia since 2008. What draws them back is the combination: championship golf within 40 minutes of Girona airport, a food and wine culture that makes Portugal look modest, and none of the package-holiday atmosphere that can make the Costa del Sol feel like a golf factory. The Costa Brava still has some of the most beautiful coastline in the Mediterranean and the inland Girona region is genuinely one of the most attractive parts of Spain to spend a week.
Green fees listed below are 2026 high-season rack rates. Most of these courses run twilight rates from early afternoon that bring costs down 20–30%. Shoulder season — April, May, October, and November — reduces peak rates further and gives you the courses in optimal condition: firm and fast without July's heat.
PGA Catalunya — Stadium Course
The finest golf course in Spain by most serious rankings, and one of the top twenty in Europe. The Stadium Course earned its reputation hosting the European Tour and the Ryder Cup Spain qualifier events, but what sets it apart from other prestige venues is how well it plays for visiting amateurs. Set in rolling cork-oak woodland 30 minutes south of Girona, the layout is characterised by generous landing zones, undulating greens with genuine three-putt danger, and several holes where the view from the tee genuinely stops you. The remodel overseen by Sergio Garcia and Thomas Bjorn tightened the routing and improved the green complexes without losing any of the original drama. Hole 11, a mid-length par-4 played downhill into a valley ringed by oaks, is as good as anything in continental Europe. The clubhouse and service infrastructure are tournament-ready. Green fees at this level are competitive with anything in the Algarve and significantly lower than comparable venues in the UK.
Best for: Serious golfers wanting the best course in Spain. Anyone benchmarking European golf.
PGA Catalunya — Tour Course
Sharing the same estate as the Stadium Course, the Tour Course is the underrated sibling that most visitors overlook because they only book one round. It would be the flagship course at almost any other resort in Europe. The routing is tighter through the woodland, with more elevation change than the Stadium and a different set of challenges. Mid-handicappers often find it more rewarding precisely because the design is less forgiving of loose drives. If you are staying at the PGA Catalunya Hotel for two or three nights, playing both courses back-to-back is the obvious programme. The price differential makes this one of the better-value rounds available anywhere near the Costa Brava.
Best for: Mid-handicappers. Pairs or groups adding a second day at PGA Catalunya.
Club de Golf Peralada
Consistently the most underrated course in Catalonia and the one that surprises visitors most. Robert von Hagge designed the layout across dramatic terrain in the Alt Empordà, with views toward the Pyrenees and the medieval village of Peralada in the background. The course has genuine elevation change, particularly on the back nine, and von Hagge worked the natural ridgelines into the routing rather than engineering them away. The conditioning sits at the top tier for the region. Peralada Golf is part of the Peralada resort, which includes a casino, hotel, and wine cellar; the combination makes it an obvious choice for non-golfing partners. Booking in advance is essential in summer as tee times disappear quickly given the course is not heavily marketed internationally.
Best for: Golfers who want scenic drama and genuine design quality away from the resort belt.
Empordà Golf — Links Course
Empordà comprises two 18-hole courses — Links and Forest — and both are worth playing on a multi-day Costa Brava trip. The Links Course is the more distinctive of the two, built on flatter terrain near the Ter River with wide, wind-exposed fairways that behave differently depending on the Tramuntana wind direction. When the Tramuntana blows — and in Empordà it often does — the Links Course becomes a significantly harder proposition than the scorecard suggests. The Forest Course is the better play in calm conditions, more sheltered and strategic. Empordà is popular with Barcelona-based golfers because it is closer to the city than Peralada or PGA Catalunya, and the quality holds up to scrutiny.
Best for: Golfers who enjoy links-style conditions and want a day away from the more tourist-heavy resorts.
Club de Golf de Pals
The oldest course in Catalonia and one of the oldest in Spain, Pals has hosted the Spanish Open four times. Frederick Hawtree laid out the original design through stone-pine forest in 1966 and the track retains a classical, unhurried character that modern resort courses frequently lack. There are no gimmicks here: just a genuine golf course built with integrity in a beautiful natural setting. The par-73 layout is unusual, with two par-5s on each nine. It can play firm and fast in summer, which rewards bump-and-run over high approach shots. The nearby medieval village of Pals is one of the most attractive in Catalonia and well worth an evening visit after your round.
Best for: Golf history enthusiasts. Golfers who prefer classical design to resort architecture.
Club de Golf d'Aro — Mas Nou
The most accessible of the Costa Brava coastal courses, positioned between the resort towns of Platja d'Aro and Sant Feliu de Guixols. The layout uses modest elevation change across woodland terrain and suits a wide range of handicaps. It is not the most challenging course in Catalonia, but the combination of decent conditioning, reasonable prices, and proximity to the beach resorts of the Costa Brava makes it a practical choice for groups where golf is one activity among several. The clubhouse is well-equipped and the staff experienced with visiting international groups. Transfer times from Barcelona airport are around 90 minutes.
Best for: Groups mixing golf with a wider Costa Brava holiday. Higher handicappers wanting a relaxed round.
Club de Golf Costa Brava — La Masia
The original Costa Brava golf club, established in 1968 in a converted farmhouse estate. La Masia is a compact par-70 that plays shorter than any other course on this list but compensates with tight tree-lined fairways and greens that reward accuracy over distance. It is not a course you book when the ambition is to test yourself against a championship layout. It is a course you book when you want to play relaxed golf in an atmospheric setting, have a long lunch at the clubhouse, and enjoy the Costa Brava without the pressure of the flagship venues. Excellent value and genuinely enjoyable.
Best for: Casual golfers and those looking for a relaxed, low-pressure round in a beautiful setting.
How to plan a Catalonia golf trip
The logical base is Girona city or the area between Girona and the coast. PGA Catalunya is 30 minutes south of Girona; Peralada is 40 minutes northeast toward the French border; Empordà and Pals are on the coast between the two. A single rental car and one accommodation base covers all of them without moving hotels. The coastal towns of Begur, Palafrugell, or Calella de Palafrugell make excellent bases if you want beach access between rounds.
A well-planned Catalonia golf trip plays 4–5 rounds over 6 days. The standard programme we organise for groups of 4–8: two days at PGA Catalunya (Stadium and Tour courses), a day at Peralada, a day at Empordà or Pals, and a rest day built around Girona city, the Dalí Triangle, or the coast. That schedule gives you variety of design, difficulty, and landscape without ever driving more than an hour.
Best time to visit: April through June and September through November are the optimal windows. July and August are perfectly playable but the Tramuntana wind, which blows predominantly from the north, can add considerable difficulty on the exposed courses at Empordà and Pals. Temperatures in peak summer regularly exceed 32°C by midday. Morning tee times are essential from late June onward.
Getting there: Girona airport (GRO) is served from London, Dublin, and several European cities by Ryanair with very competitive fares. Barcelona El Prat (BCN) is the alternative with more flight options; PGA Catalunya, Peralada, and Empordà are all reachable in under 90 minutes from either airport. Car hire is straightforward and the roads in the Girona interior are excellent.
For groups, coordinating tee times across PGA Catalunya, Peralada, and the Costa Brava courses simultaneously requires dealing with three separate booking systems in two languages. A golf travel specialist handles all of this, along with transfers and accommodation, in a single conversation — and typically accesses preferred rates unavailable through public booking channels.
See our Complete Guide to Golf Holidays in Spain for information on the Costa del Sol and Andalusia, or use the Journey Designer to build a Catalonia itinerary matched to your handicap, travel dates, and budget.