How to Play the Best Golf in Costa Brava
An hour north of Barcelona, Catalonia's wild coast hides Spain's most decorated inland course at Camiral, 36 underrated holes at Emporda and the region's 1966 original under the pines at Pals. Everything is public, nothing needs a member's letter, and medieval Girona feeds you like royalty between rounds. Here is how to get on each course and what to expect to pay in 2026.
Photograph: Emporda Golf, Gualta, via Google
The short answer
The Costa Brava is the easiest elite golf trip in Spain to actually book. The flagship is the Stadium Course at Camiral, the resort the golf world still calls PGA Catalunya, a pine and lake framed championship course that has repeatedly been ranked the best in Spain and has hosted European Tour golf including the Spanish Open. It is entirely public: indicative 2026 green fees run from about 152 euro in low season to around 200 at peak, resort guests get the best times, and the one wrinkle this year is a closure from 27 July to 27 September 2026 for course improvement works, so plan around it.
The supporting golf is better than most regions' headliners. Emporda Golf at Gualta offers 36 Robert von Hagge holes, a genuine dunes Links and a pine corridor Forest, at indicative fees of 80 to 115 euro, and Golf de Pals, opened in 1966 as the Costa Brava's first course, posts 2026 rates of 86 euro midweek and 116 at weekends for umbrella pine golf a few hundred meters off the beach. Add the mountain top views at Club Golf d'Aro above Platja d'Aro and the wine country golf at Peralada, and a week here never repeats itself.
Costa Brava's best courses: how to get on, 2026
| Course | How to get on | Indicative 2026 fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camiral, Stadium Course | Public; book online, hotel guests get priority times | About 152 to 200 euro by season | Spain's perennial number one; closed 27 July to 27 September 2026 for works |
| Camiral, Tour Course | Public; book online | Less than the Stadium, confirm directly | The shorter, friendlier second course on the estate |
| Emporda, Links | Public; book online | About 80 to 115 euro | Von Hagge dunescape on the Emporda plain |
| Emporda, Forest | Public; book online | About 80 to 115 euro | Pine corridors; 36 hole day tickets common |
| Golf de Pals | Public; book online | 86 euro weekday, 116 weekend | The 1966 original under the umbrella pines |
| Club Golf d'Aro, Mas Nou | Public; book ahead in summer | Mid range, confirm directly | Mountain top course 300 meters above the sea |
Access rules and indicative green fees verified June 2026 and change by season and without notice. Always confirm current rates and tee times directly before booking. Check Costa Brava tee time availability.
How access works, course by course
Camiral runs like the five star resort it has become: book the Stadium or Tour course online months out for spring dates, or stay at the hotel, ten minutes from Girona's high speed rail station, and let the golf desk stack your tee times. The Stadium deserves its billing, a big, beautifully conditioned examination through Mediterranean pines where water shapes the decisions on half the holes; the Tour Course next door is the wise second round rather than a replay. In 2026 the only real planning constraint on the coast is the Stadium's improvement closure from 27 July to 27 September, which conveniently removes the weeks you would not want to play anyway.
Emporda and Pals could not be simpler: both are public, both sell online, and both undercharge for what they are. Emporda's two von Hagge courses share a clubhouse on the plain behind the Gulf of Roses, the Links rolling through scrub dunes and the Forest threading the pines, with 36 hole days easy to arrange at indicative 2026 fees of 80 to 115 euro per round. Golf de Pals, the grande dame from 1966, publishes its 2026 card plainly, 86 euro midweek and 116 at weekends, and rewards the booking with the prettiest pine golf in Catalonia. D'Aro's Mas Nou course asks only a summer reservation for its balcony views 300 meters over the sea, and Peralada pairs naturally with a cellar visit in wine country.
Where to focus a Costa Brava trip
Split the week between two bases. Start at Camiral or in Girona itself for the Stadium and Tour courses plus the old city's food, then move 40 minutes northeast to the Emporda coast, around Pals, Begur or Torroella de Montgri, for Emporda, Pals and the beach coves between rounds. Barcelona's airport is about an hour and a quarter from Camiral, Girona's budget airport 15 minutes, and the high speed line puts Barcelona itself 38 minutes from Girona for a city bookend. Our Costa Brava green fees guide breaks down the seasonal pricing in full, and the best courses in Catalonia ranking sets the regional context. Play April to June or September to October; the tramuntana wind is the price of the clearest days.
Plan a Costa Brava golf trip
Tell us roughly when and who is travelling, and one concierge holds the Stadium Course tee times, sets the Girona and coast bases, books Emporda and Pals around the beach days and costs the week to the head. We reply within one working day, with no obligation.
Costa Brava golf access questions
How do you play the Stadium Course at Camiral?
The Stadium Course at Camiral, the resort formerly known as PGA Catalunya, is fully public: book online through the resort or stay at the hotel for preferential rates and times. Indicative 2026 green fees run from about 152 euro in low season to around 200 euro at peak. Plan around the closure from 27 July to 27 September 2026 for course improvement works. Always confirm current rates and availability directly before booking.
Is the Stadium Course really the best in Spain?
It is a perennial number one contender. The Stadium Course has repeatedly topped rankings of Spanish courses and stages European Tour golf, with pine framed fairways and lakes that reminded early visitors of a Mediterranean Sawgrass. Valderrama and Finca Cortesin partisans will argue, which is half the fun. On the Costa Brava it is unquestionably the marquee round and worth building the trip around.
What is the best value golf on the Costa Brava?
Emporda Golf's two courses, the dune wandering Links and the pine lined Forest, run about 80 to 115 euro in indicative 2026 fees, and Golf de Pals, the region's 1966 original under the umbrella pines, posts 2026 rates of 86 euro on weekdays and 116 at weekends. Both deliver quality far above those numbers. Always confirm current rates directly before booking.
When is the best time to play golf on the Costa Brava?
Spring and autumn, roughly April to June and September to October, bring warm dry days, green courses and reasonable rates; note the Stadium Course's improvement closure from late July to late September 2026. July and August are hot and busy with beach traffic, while winters are mild enough for year round golf. The tramuntana wind can blow hard across the Emporda plain in any season. Always confirm conditions and rates before booking.
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Access rules and indicative fees verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.