The Ladies European Tour (LET) was established in 1979, some 29 years after the creation of the American-based LPGA Tour, thanks to the slower growth of professional women's golf in Europe compared with America.

The LET is based at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club in the south of England, having previously been located in Cheshire.

The Ladies European Tour is run by a players' council and board of directors, and most of the players are European, although there are a number of players from Australia, America and Asia.

Just as many players on the LPGA Tour do not come from America, not all the players on the LET are necessarily European. As such, the LET schedule includes trips to Australia, China, South Korea, India and Dubai.

A number of Ladies European Tour events are co-sanctioned with other organisations. For example, the two LET majors, the Women's British Open and the Evian Masters, are organised alongside the LPGA Tour.

In addition, the season-opening ANZ Ladies Masters and Women's Australian Open are jointly run with the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour. The Ladies Asian Golf Tour and LPGA of Korea Tour also feature on trips to the Far East.

The player who wins the most prize money at the end of the Tour is awarded the Order of Merit, while there are also awards for the Player of the Year, which is voted for by the players, and Rookie of the Year for the leading first-year player on the Order of Merit rankings.

In 2008 Gwladys Nocera of France won both the Order of Merit and Player of the Year, while England's Melissa Reid was Rookie of the Year.