26 September 2026 · 8 min read
Learning golf in Zurich, Bern, Basel and Lucerne: where the first club lands in your hand
The venues with simulators are where the people live. The four biggest German-speaking cities in numbers, three ways to start, and what happens in the first hour.
Learning golf is easier in a city than in the countryside, for a reason that has nothing to do with golf courses: the venues with simulators are where the people live. Zurich has 21 within 15 kilometres, Lucerne seven, Basel five and Bern three. Here is where the first club ends up in your hand, and what follows after that.
The four cities in numbers
| City | Venues within 15 km | of them indoor | with coaching | within 25 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zurich | 21 | 19 | 12 | 33 |
| Lucerne | 7 | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| Basel | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Bern | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
The count is of published entries in the directory on 26 September 2026, measured from the town centre. The coaching column matters most at the start: that is where somebody shows you the grip in the first hour, instead of leaving you alone in front of a screen with a rental club.
Zurich: the choice is the subject
With 21 venues within 15 kilometres and 33 within 25, Zurich has more indoor golf than any other Swiss region, and the canton accounts for 29 of the country's 126 venues. That changes the question: not whether, but which one.
Three things matter for a first hour. Whether the venue offers coaching, and twelve do. Whether it has rental clubs, because you do not want to buy any on the first evening. And whether you come as two or as four, because the price belongs to the bay and not to the person. Every entry with address, system and price is on the Zurich city page.
Basel: five venues, all with coaching
Basel is small and dense: five venues within 15 kilometres, and all five offer coaching. For a beginner that is the best ratio in the country, because you do not have to choose between the device and the supervision.
What the city lacks is a choice of courses for the next step; those lie in Baselland and just across the border. For the winter that hardly matters, because then the bay is where things happen anyway. The entries are on the Basel city page.
Bern: three venues, but short distances
Bern has three venues within 15 kilometres and five within 25, two of them with coaching. That is fewer than Zurich, but for an hour a week one venue is enough, as long as you can reach it.
In practice: anyone starting in Bern should call ahead. With three venues the January evenings fill faster than in a city with twenty. The addresses are on the Bern city page, and the canton overview with all nine Bernese venues on the canton page.
Lucerne: seven venues, six with coaching
Lucerne sits between the two extremes: seven venues within 15 kilometres, eleven within 25, six of them with coaching. On top of that, two of the country's 16 driving ranges with ball-flight tracking are in the canton of Lucerne, which is the variant with a real ball flight and numbers on a screen.
Learning in Lucerne therefore puts both within reach: the bay for winter and the tracked range for summer. What separates the two is in Simulator or driving range, and the entries are on the Lucerne city page.
Three ways to start in a city
| Route | What it costs | Who for |
|---|---|---|
| An hour in a bay, for two | a median CHF 50 per bay | anyone finding out whether it is fun |
| A bay with a pro, 50 minutes | around CHF 120 for the lesson, plus the bay | anyone who wants to learn it properly |
| A taster course at a club | varies by provider, often in a group | anyone who wants to see a course |
The lesson prices come from the Migros Golf Academy, which publishes CHF 65 for 25 minutes and CHF 120 for 50. The venues' hourly rates are on the price overview, in the operator's own words. What a taster course includes is in Golf taster courses in Switzerland.
By tram or by car
The difference between a venue in the city and one on the edge is rarely the price, it is the journey. Inner-city bays usually sit on a tram line and have no parking; the venues fifteen to twenty-five kilometres out are in commercial zones, have space at the door and often more bays.
For an hour after work the venue on your way almost always wins. The map shows each one with the distance in kilometres, and the venue page gives the address and the opening hours. If four of you come you will be in a car anyway, and then you want the venue with two bays.
When the evenings are free
From November to February the hours between six and nine in the evening are the most sought-after of the year, in Zurich as in Bern. If you want to play spontaneously, go on a weekday afternoon or early evening; if you want a Friday evening, book a week ahead.
A few venues are accessible around the clock with an access code, which is the answer for early mornings and late nights. Which ones is on their venue page, and anyone looking for somewhere open right now will find it under Open now.
What the four cities do not have
A golf course inside the city. The courses are outside, which is why starting in a city happens indoors and only the second step leads out. For the course permit you need both in the end: the practice facility with a bunker and a putting green, and a course to be examined on.
That is not a drawback but an order. The swing is built in the bay, the game on the course. Do one in winter and the other in spring and you save yourself a year.
What happens in the first hour
You are handed a club, usually a 7-iron, and learn the grip and the stance. Then you hit balls, and after each one the screen says how far it flew and where. That is all it is, and all it needs to be: the first evening decides only whether a second one follows.
What to bring: trainers with a clean sole and comfortable clothes. What you do not need: golf shoes, a glove, your own clubs, a course permit, a licence. Almost every venue lends a set, and none asks for paperwork.
More on this: What a golf lesson costs and Platzreife courses compared, Indoor golf in English, French or Italian, Indoor golf parking and getting there by car or public transport.
After the first hour
If you enjoyed it, the next step is not a purchase but a rhythm: an hour a week, one subject an evening, a lesson every second week. Keep that up over a winter and you stand on a course in spring with a swing you did not have in November. The plan for it is in How long it takes to learn golf.
After that the course permit leads onto the course: 40 theory questions of which 28 must be right, a part on the practice ground and a part on the course (Swiss Golf). Then comes the licence through a club, the ASGI or the Migros GolfCard. Both are described in The Swiss course permit and The golf licence in Switzerland.
And if you do not live in one of the four cities: the map shows all 126 venues with the distance in kilometres, and the canton overview lists them by canton.
And one figure that holds for all four cities: in none of them does starting take more than an hour of your time and one appointment. Everything else you decide afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I learn golf in Zurich?
Within 15 kilometres of Zurich there are 21 venues, 19 of them indoor and twelve with coaching; within 25 kilometres there are 33. For a first hour you need neither a course permit nor your own clubs, and the price belongs to the bay, not the person.
What does a first golf lesson cost in the city?
A bay is a median CHF 50 an hour, divided by up to four people. A private lesson with a pro costs CHF 65 for 25 minutes and CHF 120 for 50 at the Migros Golf Academy, plus the bay.
Do I need my own clubs for a first hour?
No. Almost every venue lends a set, and a half set bought before the first lesson rarely suits the swing you have afterwards. Trainers with a clean sole are enough; golf shoes are usually not allowed indoors anyway.
Which city has the most indoor golf?
Zurich. The canton accounts for 29 of the 126 published venues, and 21 lie within 15 kilometres of the city. Then come Lucerne with seven, Basel with five and Bern with three in that radius.
What comes after the first hour?
A rhythm: an hour a week on one subject, a lesson every second week. Anyone wanting to play a course then takes the course permit, with 40 theory questions and a practical part, and buys a licence through a club, the ASGI or the Migros GolfCard.
Sources
- golfsimulators.ch: alle Standorte (Anlagen und Coaching, gezählt am 26. September 2026)
- Migros Golf Academy: Privatlektion
- Swiss Golf: Reglement Platzreife (PDF)