Golf on England's Golf Coast

The stretch of Lancashire and Merseyside shore around Southport is, quite simply, the finest concentration of links golf in England — six championship links, three of them current Open venues, within a short drive of one town. No golf trip in England packs more history and quality into a smaller area, and — unusually — much of it is reachable by train.

At its heart is Royal Birkdale — widely rated the best links in the country, a ten-time Open host welcoming the Open again in 2026 — with Hillside right over the fence, its back nine among the most dramatic in Britain. A little north, Royal Lytham & St Annes is an eleven-time Open venue returning in 2028, and across the Mersey on the Wirral, Royal Liverpool (Hoylake)is one of the game's cradles and a 13-time Open host — Tiger won here in 2006, Rory in 2023.

Between the giants sit two more gems. Formby is a lovely oddity, a championship links that runs through both dunes and tall pinewoods, home to a famous colony of red squirrels. And Southport & Ainsdale— "S&A," a twice Ryder Cup host — completes the run, with its celebrated sleepered "Gumbleys" bunker. Six world-class links within a few miles of one another.

Southportis the natural hub — Birkdale, Hillside, Formby and S&A are minutes away, Lytham a short drive north over the Ribble, and Hoylake a run down the coast or across the Mersey. It is a handsome Victorian resort town, 40 minutes from Liverpool and around an hour from Manchester airport, and the Merseyrail line links many of the links to a nearby station.

The Vincenton Lord Street is Southport's stylish design hotel, while the grand seafront Prince of Walesis the traditional golfers' choice, long used by visiting Open crowds. For a resort feel with its own courses, Formby Hall Golf Resort & Spa sits just inland. Over on the Wirral for Hoylake, the small hotels of West Kirby and Hoylake put you beside the links.

Bistrot Véritéin Birkdale — a Bib Gourmand neighbourhood French bistro — is the local favourite, and Southport's handsome Lord Street, a mile-long tree-lined boulevard said to have inspired the design of Napoleon III's Parisian boulevards, is lined with restaurants and bars. For a proper pint after a round, the pubs around the town centre fill with golfers all summer.

Liverpoolis 40 minutes away and one of Britain's great cities for a non-golf day — the Beatles trail, the Royal Albert Dock and the Tate, the two cathedrals, and world-class football at Anfield and Goodison. On the coast itself, the National Trust pinewoods and beach at Formbyare famous for red squirrels, and Antony Gormley's Another Place — 100 cast-iron men gazing out to sea — lines the beach at Crosby.

Pair it with Yorkshire across the Pennines, or see the best courses in England.