Looking to play golf in Austria? Flying in to Salzburg or Klagenfurt gives you a whole range of options. During the summer months we are seeing more and more people trying out the golf courses near St Michael im Lungau and, more often than not, they come back full of surprise...

Austria is probably best known for its skiing and winter seasons but during the summer it enjoys more than its fair share of hot, sunny days (tempered with cool evenings). Here in St Michael we're only an hour from northern Italy and we enjoy a very similar climate. What's more, we have some truly excellent golf courses. Here's a quick summary we prepared for some recent visitors:

Our nearest championship course is Golf Club Lungau (where our guests get a 20% discount). It's a great course, despite looking a bit plain from the club house. Most people say it’s a very enjoyable and interesting track and, even better, it is only 2km from the chalets! We usually book on your behalf but most people there speak good English. Usually you pay a fixed green fee and play as many holes as you like within the day, which makes it pretty good value. Call +43 6477 7448 or visit their website.

We also have an arrangement with Golf Club Murau (+43 3537 22221), which is about half an hour away by car.

Golf isn’t cheap in Austria but it isn’t what you’d call expensive either - especially if you play at the two courses just mentioned, where we can provide a discount. In our experience the courses are mostly empty and most of them have wonderfully scenic mountain backdrops.

To the south we understand that Millstätter See near Spittal (+43 4762 82548) is a great course while, to the north, there is Radstadt (+43 6452 5111). Here there is a hole of such elevation that it requires a trip in a cable car, which is novel!

You can see directions and details to the nearest courses by clicking here. We have played Lungau and Gastein (+43 6434 2775), which are both very nice.

If you are willing to drive for an hour to an-hour-and-a-half, we can thoroughly recommend two courses near to Salzburg. We have played Mondsee (+ 43 6232 38350) ), which is an absolute treat - beautiful and centred around a large lake. We have also been told that Gut Altentann Golf & Country Club (+43 6214 60260) is fantastic. The reviews on this site only rate it as ‘good’ we had guests recently who said it is really wonderful. It was also the first course Jack Nicklaus designed in Europe, which is possibly a bit of a talking point. You can see some pictures here.

If you want somewhere slightly closer, Golf Club Berchtesgadener (+43 8654-69020) is a touch south of Salzburg (whereas Mondsee and Gut Altentann are north east) but we have never played it, so can't really vouch for it. You can find directions and information for the Salzburg golf courses here.

What may also be of interest is the fact that, if you stay here at St Martin Chalets, you can rent golf clubs. The airlines have started charging up to £80 to bring your clubs out and back, which many peopkle find a bit steep. Here a the chalets we have several sets available for hire or, for those looking for something special, we have a deal with the local golf school, where you can hire the latest and greatest.

For non-golfers among you, there are plenty of other activities available here. There are hundreds of fabulous walks and we can thoroughly recommend a trip on the e-bikes (the battery makes a lengthy cycle a possibility for any level of fitness). We regularly do trips up into the mountains, where we visit one of several traditional Alm guesthouses for a beer and some home-made cheese and butter. Delicious! There’s also fishing (Lungau is crossed by a lovely clear river containing some big trout, although we’ve never fished for them ourselves), pony trekking and schnapps tasting or, for the younger and more adventurous, white water rafting and climbing. There’s an example of the summer Austrian activity programme here.