We have made a tradition of visiting Italy from the UK during the Easter weekend (which in Europe provides 2 extra public holidays – Good Friday and Easter Monday). Just enough time for the 2-3 hour flight to warm climes of Italy at the end of the British winter. Another bonus is that Italy has a fair number of golf courses and nearly every one we have come across is dog-friendly. This year’s expedition was to a longstanding destination on the lista dei desideria – Cinque Terre. Since many places are closed on the Easter holiday itself, we often play a round of golf to celebrate day and burn off our chocolate.

We found Alisei about an hour’s drive down the road. The course is a modest a “6 hole” in a fairly unassuming neighborhood, but it nonetheless exceeded our expectations. A friendly welcome included a well-provisioned little clubhouse with the cheeriest hello coming from their canine mascot, Theo (see photo) who frequents the course regularly.

Walk – As mentioned, the course is only 6 holes, but even if you play them 3 times over for the full 18 hole round, it is all completely flat and the holes are short (mostly under 100m except for a par 4 hole number 1 at 220 yards).

Water – There are two easily accessible water hazards by Hole 1 and by Hole 2, but you are never very far from the clubhouse where a water dish is always waiting with fresh water.

Wildlife – The area is in a fairly built-up area of the seaside and so we didn’t encounter any wildlife or even any meandering seagulls.

Winddown – The course had a small café and outdoor eating area, but we felt like some seaside seafood so we drove the short distance to the shore and ate at Restaurante Europa. Not only was the fritto misto di mare possibly the best fried seafood platter we have had (especially the very tender calamari with very light battering), but it was also dog-friendly evidenced by a number of canine companions in the tables beside us.