Pickleball Passport: The Holiday Built Around Friendship

How Pickleball Is Creating a New Kind of Sports Travel

The final game finishes just before sunset.

Across the hills of Piemonte, the evening light settles over rows of vineyards that stretch towards the horizon. A few players remain beside the court discussing a rally from twenty minutes earlier. Others have already wandered towards the terrace. Someone disappears briefly before returning with a bottle of local wine. The paddles have been put away, but nobody seems in a hurry to leave.

There is no prize money at stake.

No ranking points.

No grandstand.

No crowd.

Yet everyone appears reluctant for the day to end.

For decades, sporting holidays followed familiar patterns. Golfers travelled in search of famous courses. Tennis players booked coaching academies. Cyclists pursued mountain passes and legendary routes. The sport itself was the attraction.

Pickleball appears to be creating something different.

Increasingly, players are travelling not because they want more competition, but because they want more connection. The game remains central to the experience, yet it is often the friendships surrounding the sport that ultimately justify the journey.

That distinction may prove to be one of the most important developments in pickleball’s global expansion.

Because unlike almost every major participation sport that came before it, pickleball’s greatest selling point may not be competition at all.

It may be companionship.

More Than A Sport

Spend enough time around pickleball and a curious pattern begins to emerge.

Ask players why they continue returning to the courts and their answers often sound remarkably similar.

Certainly, they enjoy the game itself.

They enjoy improving.

They enjoy winning.

Yet the conversation rarely ends there.

Sooner or later, people begin talking about the people they have met.

The doubles partner who became a close friend.

The club member who encouraged them when they first started.

The weekly social sessions that evolved into dinners, holidays and lifelong friendships.

Many sports create communities.

Pickleball creates social circles.

Part of that comes from the nature of the game itself.

Courts sit close together. Partners rotate regularly. Ability levels mix more easily than in many other sports. A newcomer can find themselves playing alongside someone with years of experience within a matter of minutes.

The result is a sporting environment that feels unusually accessible.

The court becomes less of a battleground and more of a meeting place.

That dynamic helps explain why pickleball’s growth has often spread through friendships rather than formal structures.

People do not simply discover the sport.

They are invited into it.

And increasingly, they are travelling together because of it.

The Rise Of The Pickleball Trip

Across Europe, club captains are organising weekends away.

Groups of friends are booking tournaments abroad.

Players who once travelled separately now coordinate holidays around events, festivals and training camps.

What began as a few extra days attached to a tournament has gradually evolved into something larger.

The pickleball trip.

It follows a different rhythm to traditional sports travel.

A golf holiday may revolve entirely around the next round.

A tennis camp often centres on intensive coaching schedules.

Pickleball tends to leave space for other things.

Morning play.

Lunch together.

An afternoon exploring a nearby town.

Perhaps another session in the evening before dinner.

The sport provides structure without dominating every moment.

The game acts as a reason to gather rather than the sole purpose of gathering.

That distinction matters.

Because it allows pickleball to blend naturally with experiences that have little to do with sport.

Food.

Wine.

Culture.

Conversation.

Exploration.

The holiday becomes larger than the matches themselves.

A Different Model For Europe

In the United States, pickleball tourism has already begun establishing itself as a recognisable sector.

Dedicated facilities continue to appear. Large tournaments attract travelling players from across the country. Entire resorts are beginning to market themselves around the game.

Europe remains earlier in that journey.

Many pickleball holidays still involve adapting existing infrastructure.

Players stay in hotels.

Courts are rented where available.

Programmes are often built around facilities originally designed for other sports.

Yet Europe’s relative youth may also represent an opportunity.

Rather than replicating the American model exactly, European pickleball appears to be developing its own identity.

A slower identity.

A more social identity.

An identity shaped as much by local culture as by competition.

In many ways, Europe may prove particularly well suited to pickleball travel.

The continent already possesses the ingredients.

Historic towns.

Exceptional food.

World-famous wine regions.

Walkable communities.

Beautiful countryside.

The challenge is finding venues capable of bringing those elements together.

A Farmhouse Among The Vineyards

High in the hills of Piemonte sits Casa Luna, a converted farmhouse surrounded by woods, vineyards and open countryside. The property accommodates groups of players while offering direct access to two floodlit pickleball courts, a relatively rare feature within Europe.  

The setting feels significant.

Not because the courts are exceptional.

Not because the accommodation is luxurious.

But because everything exists together.

Guests can spend the morning playing pickleball before cooling off in the swimming pool. Lunch might stretch into an afternoon overlooking the vineyards. Local wine tastings, village visits and countryside excursions sit comfortably alongside organised play.  

Accommodation for up to twenty-four guests allows entire clubs, friendship groups and associations to stay together rather than dispersing across hotels. Communal indoor and outdoor spaces encourage exactly the sort of interaction that already sits at the heart of pickleball culture.  

In many ways, Casa Luna feels less like a sports venue and more like a social venue where sport happens to be present.

That distinction captures something important about the direction pickleball travel may be taking.

The courts matter.

But they are not the whole story.

Perhaps they never were.

Why Friendship Changes The Equation

Traditional sporting holidays often separate participants according to ability.

Pickleball tends to do the opposite.

Strong players can compete together.

Mixed groups can play socially.

Beginners can join in.

Families can participate.

Grandparents, parents and children can all find a place within the same environment.

Few sports offer that degree of flexibility.

Even fewer offer it while remaining genuinely competitive.

This creates a different atmosphere.

A different pace.

A different purpose.

The focus shifts from performance towards participation.

From achievement towards experience.

From results towards relationships.

That does not make competition less important.

It simply means competition exists within a wider framework.

The friendships survive long after the scores are forgotten.

And when people begin planning holidays, it is often those friendships that drive the decision-making.

Not rankings.

Not trophies.

Not victories.

People travel because they enjoy spending time together.

Pickleball simply provides the reason.

The Future Of Pickleball Travel

As darkness falls across the Piemonte hills, the courts eventually empty.

The final balls are collected.

The nets stand silent.

Tomorrow’s matches can wait until morning.

Yet the day continues.

Conversations move to dinner tables.

Stories grow longer.

Laughter becomes louder.

The community that gathered around the court remains together long after play has ended.

Perhaps that is where pickleball tourism is ultimately heading.

Not towards ever larger facilities.

Not towards ever greater spectacle.

But towards experiences that recognise what makes the sport unique.

Pickleball has already proven that it can bring strangers together.

Now it is beginning to persuade those same people to travel together.

That may sound like a small distinction.

In reality, it could be transformational.

Because the future of pickleball travel may not be built around courts.

It may be built around friendships.

And if that proves true, then a farmhouse among the vineyards of northern Italy offers a glimpse of what comes next.

Further Reading

• Latest pickleball news from around the world
• Tournament coverage and results
• Rankings and player profiles
• Regional pickleball coverage