Some wedding venues have a pool, but a select few have a court. Not just any court, but one positioned to catch a view most tennis clubs could only dream of. Across Europe, a handful of storied estates and hotels have quietly built tennis into their identity for over a century, long before “tenniscore” had a name. These are ten of the most beautiful, from courts sunk into hillside gardens to ones carved directly into a cliff face. For a wedding weekend, they double as a built-in activity, a photo backdrop, and proof that the aesthetic isn’t borrowed. It’s been there all along.
Photo: Courtesy of Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Kerry Wheeler
Grand Hotel Tremezzo‘s tennis court dates back to 1910, when the hotel’s founders, Enea Gandola and Maria Orsolini Bolla, made their estate one of the first on Lake Como to have one. It reportedly predates the first tennis club in Como by roughly twenty years. Today it’s a red clay court framed by jasmine hedges, with Bellagio glittering across the water. The hotel’s own history ties the court to an early feminist icon: Mariuccia Gandola, the founders’ tennis-loving daughter, kept a diary that later served as an unofficial biography of the hotel’s first twenty years, and in it she idolized none other than Suzanne Lenglen, the same 1920s champion who put tennis and high fashion on the map together.
Photo: Kerry Wheeler
Set on its own private peninsula between Nice and Monaco, Cap Estel is an intimate, 28-room turn-of-the-century estate that has quietly stayed off the see-and-be-seen radar of the Riviera. Its tennis court is suspended dramatically above the Mediterranean, with views expansive enough to distract from the score entirely. The main villa once hosted The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, who found inspiration here for “Michelle.” Between sets, guests can cool off in the saltwater infinity pool built into the tip of the cape, or wander the terraced rose gardens down to a tiny private beach.
Il San Pietro di Positano, Amalfi Coast, Italy
Reached via a small elevator drilled straight through solid rock, Il San Pietro’s court sits tucked into its own private cove, between the cliff face and the sea. It’s a regulation-size court lying between rugged limestone and a pebble beach, arguably the most dramatic setting a serve has ever had. The hotel itself was built directly into the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, with Positano’s pastel houses stacking up the hillside behind. Guests play for free with advance booking, and a private coach is available for anyone who’d rather not be distracted by the view mid-rally.
Photo: Kerry Wheeler, Luke Abrahams
Neuendorf House, Mallorca, Spain
Designed by architects John Pawson and Claudio Silvestrin, this 600-square-meter villa comes with a courtyard, swimming pool, and a sunken tennis court set into the landscaping. The owner has called it a clay court probably unique in the world for being built directly into the ground. One couple who married at Neuendorf House in 2026 described slipping away from their reception mid-meal for an impromptu match in their second-look outfits, a detail that says everything about how naturally the court integrates into the property’s minimalist, low-key luxury.
Photo: Lux Visual Storytellers
Passalacqua, Lake Como, Italy
The sister property to Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Passalacqua is an 18th-century villa with a clay tennis court set among seven acres of terraced gardens leading down to the lake. The estate has hosted Napoleon Bonaparte, composer Vincenzo Bellini, and Winston Churchill over its long history, and post-match refreshments are typically taken in the Winter Garden, decorated by LaDoubleJ. The court sits just below the pool terrace, meaning a match here comes with one of Lake Como’s most photographed backdrops built right in.
Photo: Taaba Club, Yurii Shumansky
Hidden among pines and manicured gardens at this legendary Cap d’Antibes hotel are five clay courts, lit for night matches. The 19th-century mansion has been a Cannes-adjacent hideaway for royalty and Hollywood alike for decades, and its courts carry the same old-money glamour as the rest of the property, right down to the option of cooling off afterward at the hotel’s famous diving board or in cabanas once favored by Greta Garbo.
Photo: Courtesy of Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Courtesy of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Nestled into the hillside overlooking Portofino’s harbor, Belmond Hotel Splendido’s tennis court is one of the property’s lesser-known assets, but arguably one of its best. Originally a 16th-century monastery that became a hotel in 1901, the property has since welcomed Elizabeth Taylor and Ava Gardner among its guests. The all-weather court is surrounded by lush trees and plants, guaranteeing privacy along with sea and hillside views, and a coach is on hand for anyone wanting a lesson between the ceremony and reception.
Photo: Courtesy of Belmond Hotel Splendido
Founded in 1965 by American socialite Michael Graham and his wife Patricia as a private club for their circle of friends, the hotel takes its name from Pelican Point in California, where the couple first met. Perched on a cliff top over the Tyrrhenian Sea, the property includes a tennis court alongside a saltwater pool and an elevator down to a private rocky beach. The result is a wedding weekend where guests can play a set with the sea as a backdrop, then take the lift straight down for a swim.
Photo: Samm Blake, Courtesy of Hotel Il Pellicano
Opened in 1912 and still owned by its founding family, Suvretta House keeps three clay tennis courts at 1,822 meters above sea level, ringed by the Engadin’s lakes and mountains. In winter, the same courts are flooded and frozen into the hotel’s famous ice rink, a seasonal swap that says a lot about how central the courts are to the property’s identity. A tennis professional is on hand for lessons, and the outdoor jacuzzi overlooks the courts, making a match here as much about the alpine backdrop as the game itself. It’s a striking pick for a summer mountain wedding, somewhere between the Alps and Wimbledon.
Photo: Courtesy of Suvretta House
Château de la Messardière, Saint-Tropez, France
Perched on a hilltop above the Bay of Saint-Tropez, this 19th-century château, now an Airelles property, has two sunken tennis courts customized by Lacoste, reached by weaving through the gardens in an electric golf cart. Two padel courts sit alongside them, all wrapped in olive trees with the Mediterranean as a backdrop. Château de la Messardière began as a wedding gift from a Cognac magnate to his daughter, which feels fitting given how many weddings it now hosts. It’s also set to appear as the filming location for the next season of The White Lotus, so this particular stretch of Riviera glamour is about to get a lot more famous.
Photo: Chris Lager
Villa La Selva, Tuscany, Italy
A former Medici family property dating back to the 1400s, Villa La Selva is now a working wine estate in the Valdambra Valley, with a grass tennis court set right beside its Selvamaggio vineyard. Two infinity pools, a small historic chapel, and rolling rows of organic vines round out the grounds, available for exclusive-use hire that can host up to 200 guests outdoors. A match here comes with vineyard views on every side, and federal tennis instructors are available for guests who want a proper lesson between wine tastings.
Photo: Jack Henry, Isidora
