Golf

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Driving the Danube, Hungary-Austria-Germany (Recommended by Jim Lamont)

Golfclub Am Mondsee in Mondsee, Austria, just outside of Salzburg. If the scenery seems familiar, it probably is -- the course is about five minutes from the lake and house where the Sound of Music was filmed.

For linksters with an interest in European history and epicurean delights, the Danube River Golf Cruise may be the perfect blend of golf, sightseeing and conviviality. During the 11 days of the cruise (beginning or ending in Budapest, Hungary), the River Cloud II (sister ship to the original River Cloud) is transformed into a floating country club. This is not the casino lights flashing/all-night buffet cruise ship of the variety that haunts the Bahamas and Cancun. The River Cloud II has just 42 elegantly appointed cabins for a maximum of 84 guests, with a design that fuses 1930’s styling with all the modern amenities one could hope for. “The ship is old-style Europe, a Ritz-Carlton on the river, with European standards of service and cuisine,” Jim continued. “We customize menus and wine lists to use local foods and vintages as much as possible.

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Sperone Golf Club, France (Recommended by Christopher Smith)

The 16th at Sperone, a high point on "the Pebble Beach of Europe."

y RTJ, Sr. standards, Sperone is a relatively short course, coming in at 6,678 yards from the tips. When the wind is blowing off the Straits of Bonifacio, however, the course plays much, much longer. Twelve of the holes are inland, winding through the thick maquis shrubland that’s found on much of Corsica; the other six holes – eleven through sixteen – cling to the coastline, and have earned Sperone the sobriquet (in some circles) of “the Pebble Beach of Europe.”