London vs Scotland? 2-3 days

[philsRHman]

I’m taking a family vacation next month to London, and my wife and son want to add a couple days in Paris. They know I have little interest in that, so they’ve suggested I use that part of the trip for golf. 
 

A few years ago (tail end of COVID) I spent 3 weeks on the trip of a lifetime to Scotland (North Berwick and St Andrews). I dream of going back. Kills me to get as close as London and not sneak up there. But for 2-3 days, that seems kind of crazy, especially with only 2-3 weeks to plan it. 
 

It looks like a lot of great options for world-class Heathland golf around London, which would be a new experience for me. Of course, coming from the U.S., I yearn for Links, but just seems like I’d be wasting a lot of time getting to Scotland. 
 

Can someone chime in with thoughts? Ideally we’d reconnect to fly home, but it’s feasible that they could fly home from Paris and I can fly home from wherever I am (London, Scotland, wherever).
 

One complication is that I’d likely have time for golf on a weekend which probably cuts my chance of many London area courses and reduces chances in Scotland. What about leaving London for a couple days along the coast (where?) maybe near Royal Cinque Ports? Same issue though, pretty sure I’m going to run into problems trying to play on a weekend. 

[El Gringo]

2 hours ago, philsRHman said:

I’m taking a family vacation next month to London, and my wife and son want to add a couple days in Paris. They know I have little interest in that, so they’ve suggested I use that part of the trip for golf. 
 

A few years ago (tail end of COVID) I spent 3 weeks on the trip of a lifetime to Scotland (North Berwick and St Andrews). I dream of going back. Kills me to get as close as London and not sneak up there. But for 2-3 days, that seems kind of crazy, especially with only 2-3 weeks to plan it. 
 

It looks like a lot of great options for world-class Heathland golf around London, which would be a new experience for me. Of course, coming from the U.S., I yearn for Links, but just seems like I’d be wasting a lot of time getting to Scotland. 
 

Can someone chime in with thoughts? Ideally we’d reconnect to fly home, but it’s feasible that they could fly home from Paris and I can fly home from wherever I am (London, Scotland, wherever).
 

One complication is that I’d likely have time for golf on a weekend which probably cuts my chance of many London area courses and reduces chances in Scotland. What about leaving London for a couple days along the coast (where?) maybe near Royal Cinque Ports? Same issue though, pretty sure I’m going to run into problems trying to play on a weekend. 

If it was me I would immediately start looking for times at Walton Heath Old, St Georges Hill, Sunningdale Old, Woking, Addington, Pulborough, Swinley Forest and Worplesdon. If you don’t get enough tee times from that lot try West Hill, Liphook, Hankley Common, Blackmoor and Sunningdale New.

Edited July 26 by El Gringo

[Frank_Kasule]

Failing the above which is a fantastic suggestion, if you really want links then see if you can book on at Royal St George's, Royal Cinque Ports and Princes. 

But yes I'd probably do the above, if you can get on those are really some incredible places to play. 

[El Gringo]

On 7/26/2025 at 8:15 AM, Frank_Kasule said:

Failing the above which is a fantastic suggestion, if you really want links then see if you can book on at Royal St George's, Royal Cinque Ports and Princes. 

But yes I'd probably do the above, if you can get on those are really some incredible places to play. 

Yep, those three links and include Rye above Princes. If you can’t get the amount of links you want try Littlestone. 
 

My guess is many of the named courses will not take visitors on weekends or maybe only pm times. 

Edited July 28 by El Gringo

[st1800e]

9 hours ago, philsRHman said:

Same issue though, pretty sure I’m going to run into problems trying to play on a weekend. 

Only way to know is contact the courses directly. I’d send out the same email (nicely worded etc)  , copy and paste,  to all the courses mentioned above.  That doesn’t cost you anything.  Then you’ll have an idea of what’s possible. 

[Hawkeye77]

Scotland would be a bit of a reach. You could take a train down to the southeast coast I suppose. Or just stay in London and venture out - so much to see in London you could also just forget the golf and see more fascinating stuff and explore some good food and the parks.  Or forget the golf and enjoy Paris with them, if you haven't been. We made our second trip to London and while there and before heading for the Yorkshire Dales took an early morning train to Paris, stayed over, caught a late train back the next day - it was about all the Paris I need for the rest of my life, but we really enjoyed it - a good private tour of the Louvre, Notre Dame was incredible. Full disclosure, I did take a train to Sunningdale and played the New one morning. Course was awesome, caddie was awesome, lunch was awesome, sausage roll/sandwich incredibly overrated, haha, met Tony Jacklin's daughter, met Sam Torrance but a pretty bad experience with the pro shop screwing up my caddie arrangements and my rental clubs (all re-confirmed the day before by telephone) and honestly the only person who cared was the caddie master, the young guy in the pro shop was determined to be as unhelpful as possible and that's an understatement.  The caddie master came through at the very last minute with a caddie but the rental set we'd put together on the phone the day before was a complete mystery to them the next morning - ending up with a driver with the flexibility of a pool noodle and a 3w not much better did detract from the experience of playing, even though my swing seemed to have missed the train, lol. 

[hammergolf]

14 hours ago, philsRHman said:

I’m taking a family vacation next month to London, and my wife and son want to add a couple days in Paris. They know I have little interest in that, so they’ve suggested I use that part of the trip for golf. 
 

A few years ago (tail end of COVID) I spent 3 weeks on the trip of a lifetime to Scotland (North Berwick and St Andrews). I dream of going back. Kills me to get as close as London and not sneak up there. But for 2-3 days, that seems kind of crazy, especially with only 2-3 weeks to plan it. 
 

It looks like a lot of great options for world-class Heathland golf around London, which would be a new experience for me. Of course, coming from the U.S., I yearn for Links, but just seems like I’d be wasting a lot of time getting to Scotland. 
 

Can someone chime in with thoughts? Ideally we’d reconnect to fly home, but it’s feasible that they could fly home from Paris and I can fly home from wherever I am (London, Scotland, wherever).
 

One complication is that I’d likely have time for golf on a weekend which probably cuts my chance of many London area courses and reduces chances in Scotland. What about leaving London for a couple days along the coast (where?) maybe near Royal Cinque Ports? Same issue though, pretty sure I’m going to run into problems trying to play on a weekend. 

If you want to stay relatively close to London but want links golf, you’re on the right track to go to the Sandwich area. Being a single, I would send emails to Royal St. George’s, and Princes. If they are full, some other lesser known options are northeast of Norwich: Royal Cromer and Sheringham Golf Club. 
 

https://www.royalcromergolfclub.com/

https://www.sheringhamgolfclub.co.uk/

 

Edited July 26 by hammergolf

[philsRHman]

Thanks everyone, for confirming that there’s more than enough golf in southern England to fill a few days. I’m going to see what’s available. I guess it would be ideal if I could find a little corner where I can spend an overnight since it doesn’t look like any of these are particularly close to London’s West End where we will be staying for the theater scene. 
 

 

[philsRHman]

Would it be insane (I feel like too many of my posts here start with this phrase) …

 

The Highlands were the spot that eluded me on my Scotland trip. Royal Dornoch, Brora, etc. actually provide a lot more flexibility/ availability than I’m finding around London or in Sandwich.

 

Proposed trip:

Family and I arrive on red eye on Saturday morning.
 

Saturday: sight seeing, matinee show West End

Sunday: touristy stuff, maybe Globe show/tour

Monday: Universal Tour day; Theater show at night

Tuesday: flex day if they have more they want to do in London. Tuesday night I depart on a sleeper to Inverness. They depart for Paris

Wednesday: 18 holes afternoon

thursday: 36 holes

Friday: 18 or 36 holes. Drive to EDI and fly home Saturday morning (direct flights to NYC I can’t get from Inverness). 
It looks like I could play Royal Dornoch 2x, then some combo of Brora, Nairn, etc (haven’t gotten deep into research yet but those are on my radar). 
 

Alternatively, I might have a chance to get on North Berwick, and that was one of the magical places I’ve ever been in my life and might be a little more convenient than the trek to Dornoch. 

[buckI]

Your first sentence may be pretty accurate 😁

 

Just seems like a lot of travel time to get to Inverness area in my opinion.   I love Scotland golf but I’d look a knocking out some of the great England courses rather than do a planes, trains and automobiles venture but you have to do what you want not what others suggest.   
 

Even if you could not get onto the top London area courses you could drive towards the Devon area or even Wales and play Royal Porthcawl or some of the others people have suggested.

[Hawkeye77]

Overnight and long flight followed just a few days later with an overnight and very long and overnight train ride? Sounds dreadful, lol.

 

But you should do whatever is fun in your mind, maybe that's fun for you and if so, have at it.

 

 

[hammergolf]

2 hours ago, philsRHman said:

Would it be insane (I feel like too many of my posts here start with this phrase) …

 

The Highlands were the spot that eluded me on my Scotland trip. Royal Dornoch, Brora, etc. actually provide a lot more flexibility/ availability than I’m finding around London or in Sandwich.

 

Proposed trip:

Family and I arrive on red eye on Saturday morning.
 

Saturday: sight seeing, matinee show West End

Sunday: touristy stuff, maybe Globe show/tour

Monday: Universal Tour day; Theater show at night

Tuesday: flex day if they have more they want to do in London. Tuesday night I depart on a sleeper to Inverness. They depart for Paris

Wednesday: 18 holes afternoon

thursday: 36 holes

Friday: 18 or 36 holes. Drive to EDI and fly home Saturday morning (direct flights to NYC I can’t get from Inverness). 
It looks like I could play Royal Dornoch 2x, then some combo of Brora, Nairn, etc (haven’t gotten deep into research yet but those are on my radar). 
 

Alternatively, I might have a chance to get on North Berwick, and that was one of the magical places I’ve ever been in my life and might be a little more convenient than the trek to Dornoch. 

You summed it up with your first statement…… Overnight train to Inverness, renting a car to drive to Dornoch, playing 4-5 rounds of golf in 3 days, THEN driving to EDI. It’s ultimately up to you, but after 4 days of sightseeing then adding that itinerary is torture in my opinion. 

[hammergolf]

2 hours ago, buckI said:

Your first sentence may be pretty accurate 😁

 

Just seems like a lot of travel time to get to Inverness area in my opinion.   I love Scotland golf but I’d look a knocking out some of the great England courses rather than do a planes, trains and automobiles venture but you have to do what you want not what others suggest.   
 

Even if you could not get onto the top London area courses you could drive towards the Devon area or even Wales and play Royal Porthcawl or some of the others people have suggested.

I agree, there’s so much good golf within 3 hours of London in pretty much every direction. I recommended Royal Cromer, Royal West Norfolk, and Sheringham. An easy 2.5hr drive from London and spectacular cliff side links courses. It’s such a great area for golf that doesn’t get the attention it should.  Royal West Norfolk is a Top 20 course in England and has been #61 rated in the world. Sheringham is Top 70 and Cromer is just below that. Green fees are half to a third of the price of other Top 100 courses. They aren’t as famous for the Barry bag tag guys, but for spectacular views and great links golf you would be hard pressed to find a better collection and value of 3 courses in such a close area.
 

https://www.sheringhamgolfclub.co.uk/

 

https://www.royalcromergolfclub.com/

 

https://www.rwngc.org/

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28 by hammergolf

[philsRHman]

2 hours ago, buckI said:

Your first sentence may be pretty accurate 😁

 

Just seems like a lot of travel time to get to Inverness area in my opinion.   I love Scotland golf but I’d look a knocking out some of the great England courses rather than do a planes, trains and automobiles venture but you have to do what you want not what others suggest.   
 

Even if you could not get onto the top London area courses you could drive towards the Devon area or even Wales and play Royal Porthcawl or some of the others people have suggested.

I looked into Royal Porthcawl, and it won’t be available. I did Wales about 15 years ago and it was great. 
 

 

[Malvern]

Go with the family and play golf around Paris, you probably won't crack Morfantaine but you can probably do Le Golf National, Chantilly, St Cloud, Saint Germain, Fountainbleau. I've done a couple of trips there, its' old world golf on brilliant courses (Le National aside)

 

Presume you are from the States so driving will be easier. Paris traffic will seem a breeze rather than hiking it up to Scotland

[Hawkeye77]

31 minutes ago, Malvern said:

Go with the family and play golf around Paris, you probably won't crack Morfantaine but you can probably do Le Golf National, Chantilly, St Cloud, Saint Germain, Fountainbleau. I've done a couple of trips there, its' old world golf on brilliant courses (Le National aside)

 

Presume you are from the States so driving will be easier. Paris traffic will seem a breeze rather than hiking it up to Scotland

Paris traffic a breeze compared to Scotland? I wouldn’t drive ten blocks in Paris - have enjoyed driving extensively in Scotland. 

[philsRHman]

Thanks for the reality check, everyone. Being from the states, it seems like London to Scotland is a no brainer since I’m already there. But then I really didn’t math and the train from London is slower than the flight from NYC. 
 

ideally I’ll hear back from a few of the emails I sent this weekend. So far I’m striking out around London (Sunningdale, Woking, St George’s Hill all unavailable) but will see about the others. I think my best shot is Royal Cinque Ports and Princes (doesn’t look like Royal St George’s, especially because Sandwich/Deal seems to be described very similar to the vibe i loved in North Berwick. Maybe you could chime in on whether the family would even enjoy a day or two there (looks on the map between London and Paris but seems like maybe trains don’t stop nearby?) 

 

thanks again, everyone. 

[philsRHman]

51 minutes ago, Malvern said:

Go with the family and play golf around Paris, you probably won't crack Morfantaine but you can probably do Le Golf National, Chantilly, St Cloud, Saint Germain, Fountainbleau. I've done a couple of trips there, its' old world golf on brilliant courses (Le National aside)

 

Presume you are from the States so driving will be easier. Paris traffic will seem a breeze rather than hiking it up to Scotland

I know there’s great golf in Paris, it’s just not all that interesting or intriguing to me. But I will at least give it a look. 

[El Gringo]

Norfolk isn’t a bad shout. But I would try for Hunstanton over Cromer and Sheringham. Both are good courses, but not in the class of Hunstanton and Brancaster. In fact, I would choose Royal Worlington over those two as well. It’s in Suffolk so on the way. You could also try Aldeburgh and Westbridge. Lovely part of the world. 
 

There are so many options. I hope it works out for you. England is far and away the best country in UK&I for golf. It gets seriously overlooked because it isn’t marketed like Scotland and Ireland.

[hammergolf]

9 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Paris traffic a breeze compared to Scotland? I wouldn’t drive ten blocks in Paris - have enjoyed driving extensively in Scotland. 

Exactly, I actually returned my rental car after driving a day in Paris. Hands down the worst drivers of any city I’ve driven in. Yes, roads are narrow in Scotland but the people don’t drive like maniacs.

[Hawkeye77]

9 hours ago, philsRHman said:

Thanks for the reality check, everyone. Being from the states, it seems like London to Scotland is a no brainer since I’m already there. But then I really didn’t math and the train from London is slower than the flight from NYC. 
 

ideally I’ll hear back from a few of the emails I sent this weekend. So far I’m striking out around London (Sunningdale, Woking, St George’s Hill all unavailable) but will see about the others. I think my best shot is Royal Cinque Ports and Princes (doesn’t look like Royal St George’s, especially because Sandwich/Deal seems to be described very similar to the vibe i loved in North Berwick. Maybe you could chime in on whether the family would even enjoy a day or two there (looks on the map between London and Paris but seems like maybe trains don’t stop nearby?) 

 

thanks again, everyone. 

If they are taking the channel train, there’s no stop. 

[hammergolf]

6 hours ago, El Gringo said:

Norfolk isn’t a bad shout. But I would try for Hunstanton over Cromer and Sheringham. Both are good courses, but not in the class of Hunstanton and Brancaster. In fact, I would choose Royal Worlington over those two as well. It’s in Suffolk so on the way. You could also try Aldeburgh and Westbridge. Lovely part of the world. 
 

There are so many options. I hope it works out for you. England is far and away the best country in UK&I for golf. It gets seriously overlooked because it isn’t marketed like Scotland and Ireland.

I lived in Suffolk for 8 years and always loved the seaside cliffs of Norfolk. It’s got such good golf but as you said is overlooked and never gets the attention it should. A 3 day lineup of West Norfolk, Hunstanton, Cromer, and Sheringham would be such a good lineup.

[philsRHman]

good news … looks like I can do the combo of Royal St George’s, Royal Cinque Ports and then possibly add a third round at Princes. Will be perfectly convenient and fit into the 2-3 days they are visiting Paris. 

[scott_Donald]

6 hours ago, hammergolf said:

Exactly, I actually returned my rental car after driving a day in Paris. Hands down the worst drivers of any city I’ve driven in. Yes, roads are narrow in Scotland but the people don’t drive like maniacs.

 

Just the BMW drivers......

 

3 hours ago, philsRHman said:

good news … looks like I can do the combo of Royal St George’s, Royal Cinque Ports and then possibly add a third round at Princes. Will be perfectly convenient and fit into the 2-3 days they are visiting Paris. 

 

wow some trip.my club do a match every two years at Princes and they play the big three as part of the trip. I am determined to get on it one day....

[Malvern]

23 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Paris traffic a breeze compared to Scotland? I wouldn’t drive ten blocks in Paris - have enjoyed driving extensively in Scotland. 

Paris traffic is generally diabolical, I meant a few hours sitting on the Periph would be easier than driving up and back to Scotland

[philsRHman]

On 7/28/2025 at 4:29 PM, scott_Donald said:

 

Just the BMW drivers......

 

 

wow some trip.my club do a match every two years at Princes and they play the big three as part of the trip. I am determined to get on it one day....

Damn if that rotation gets your seal of approval I must be on the right track!

[scott_Donald]

6 hours ago, philsRHman said:

Damn if that rotation gets your seal of approval I must be on the right track!

 

They all had a great long weekend in the last match. Was very jealous hearing the stories and their weather was perfect in May last year. 

 

I put my name down and was not selected! controversial selections! well not really. You get priority if you host the home match so I will certainly try and play the homemade match next year! I can't complain I play Nairn away and The Old Course away in September.

 

On a side note I was practicing on the short game area next to Olazabal yesterday so cool, shame our greens are poop right now. He was awesome to see him strike an iron in the net and all his shots around the practice green

[Hawkeye77]

On 7/28/2025 at 12:00 PM, philsRHman said:

good news … looks like I can do the combo of Royal St George’s, Royal Cinque Ports and then possibly add a third round at Princes. Will be perfectly convenient and fit into the 2-3 days they are visiting Paris. 

 

Sounds . . . rational! 😉

 

A couple of good castles in the area, transport museum, white cliffs of Dover - also things to take in off a golf course over there - beautiful area.

[AntLockyer]

On 7/28/2025 at 6:00 PM, philsRHman said:

good news … looks like I can do the combo of Royal St George’s, Royal Cinque Ports and then possibly add a third round at Princes. Will be perfectly convenient and fit into the 2-3 days they are visiting Paris. 

You'll have a great time. I live on the South East coast and am a member at Littlestone. Princes would be a good addition. Very different to the other two courses in pretty much every way.

[El Gringo]

15 minutes ago, AntLockyer said:

You'll have a great time. I live on the South East coast and am a member at Littlestone. Princes would be a good addition. Very different to the other two courses in pretty much every way.

Littlestone is bloody good!