Golf near Venice: what's close, and which airport actually gets you there

Closest to the terminal: Prosecco Hills, 51 km

Prosecco Hills & Asolo is the nearest itinerary to Venice Marco Polo, 51 km out. Asolo Golf Club anchors the itinerary with 27 holes in the hills above the UNESCO-listed Conegliano-Valdobbiadene vineyards, and four of Prosecco’s most recognised names sit inside the same ground: Villa Sandi 9.4 km from the course, Bisol 1542 and Nino Franco in Valdobbiadene, and Masottina in Conegliano. From Verona the same itinerary is 96 km, noticeably further: Marco Polo is the right airport for this one.

The other close call: Euganean Hills & Abano, 52 km

A kilometre further out, Euganean Hills & Abano is the itinerary with the deepest bench of course pages on this site: Golf Club Terme di Galzignano anchors it, with Golf Club Padova 2.1 km away, Golf Club della Montecchia at 10.6 km and Golf Club Frassanelle at 12.4 km, all four playable inside a single short loop around Padua. GB Thermae Hotels Abano anchors the spa side, the historic grand spa of one of Europe’s oldest thermal towns. Further out, at 51.8 km, Albarella Golf Club plays 18 holes on a private island in the Po Delta, the only Italian course surrounded by the river’s own lagoon. From Verona, Euganean Hills is 70 km.

If Lake Garda is the plan, land at Verona instead

This is the number that changes a Veneto golf trip: Lake Garda & Valpolicella sits just 14 km from Verona airport, against 128 km from Venice Marco Polo. Gardagolf Country Club and Chervò Golf San Vigilio anchor the golf side, Masi, Allegrini and Zenato cover Valpolicella and Lugana, and Aquaria Terme di Sirmione or the more secluded Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda handle the spa half. Flying into Marco Polo for a Venice stay and then adding Garda as a day trip means driving past two other itineraries to get there; flying into Verona for a Garda-based trip is a different, shorter journey entirely.

Worth the longer drive: Trentino, South Tyrol and the Dolomites

Both Venice airports sit roughly the same distance from the Alpine itineraries: Trentino & the Dolomites is 139 km from Marco Polo and 115 km from Verona, and South Tyrol & Merano is 140 km from Marco Polo and 126 km from Verona. Golf Campo Carlo Magno, played since 1923 at 1,700 metres in Madonna di Campiglio, is the standout course, and Ferrari Trento, Foradori and San Leonardo cover the Trentino side of the cellar list. South Tyrol adds Kellerei Cantina Tramin, whose Werner Tscholl-designed glass cube is one of the region’s architectural landmarks, and Terme Merano for the thermal stop.

Before you leave the terminal

For the months this stretch of the Veneto plays best, golf in Italy in September has Prosecco Hills posting its best reading of the year at 22.8 degrees, ahead of the summer months when rain days climb into double figures. If the trip runs later in the year, golf in Italy in October has Lake Garda at its own peak, 19.3 degrees with washout days down to 6.8, the driest ratio of its whole season.