RANCH TRAVEL GUIDE · THE WORLD ON HORSEBACK
The best way to see a place is from the saddle.
Reviews of the best horseback rides and ranch stays on earth, country by country. White-sand beach gallops in the Caribbean, Red Rock desert trails out West, the Icelandic horse on the lava fields and sunset rides through the Cappadocia valleys. We sort through the listings so you book the right ride.
Worth the airfare
Three rides that belong to one landscape.
You can find a stable almost anywhere. But a canter along the Cabo surf line, the Icelandic horse loose across the lava fields, and a sunset ride through the Cappadocia fairy chimneys happen in these places and nowhere else on earth.
Cabo San Lucas
A White-Sand Canter on the Pacific
The Baja desert runs right down to the sea, so a Cabo ride gives you both in a morning: cactus country and arroyos on the way out, then the horses dropping onto an empty stretch of beach where the guide lets you open up to a canter along the surf line. Most outfits finish with a tequila tasting or a country lunch at the ranch, and the Pacific is in every photo.
- 1 Cabo White Sand Horseback Riding Tour and Tequila Tasting
- 2 Cabo Desert Off-Road & Beach Horseback Combo and Tequila Tasting
- 3 Horseback Riding Tour in Cabo San Lucas
Iceland
The Icelandic Horse on the Lava Fields
The Icelandic horse is its own breed, small and sure-footed with a fifth gait, the smooth running tolt, found almost nowhere else. An hour from Reykjavik you ride them out across moss-green lava fields and black volcanic sand under a huge northern sky, often with steam rising off the geothermal ground. Calm, friendly horses and a landscape that looks like another planet.
- 1 Icelandic Horseback Riding Tour with Pickup Option from Reykjavik
- 2 Icelandic Horseback Riding Tour Including Pick Up from Reykjavik
- 3 Red Lava Horse Riding Tour From Reykjavik
Cappadocia
Sunset Through the Fairy Chimneys
Cappadocia means “land of beautiful horses,” and the best way to see its valleys of wind-carved rock spires is from the saddle. A late-afternoon ride threads the trails between the fairy chimneys as the tuff glows pink and gold, the hot-air balloons sometimes still up overhead. A slow, cinematic ride that ends with the whole valley turning amber at dusk.
- 1 Cappadocia Sunset Horse Riding through the Valleys and Fairy Chimneys
- 2 Horse Riding And ATV Tour With Sunset in Cappadocia (2 Hours)
- 3 Cappadocia Horseback Ride through Valleys — Sunset/hoteltransfer
The ride everyone books
If you only saddle up once.
More travellers reach for this one than any other on the site. A safe first booking in a place you are still getting to know.
The classics
The World’s Most Popular Rides
Punta Cana, Cabo, Red Rock Canyon, Oahu, Cappadocia. The beach gallops and trail rides travellers reach for first, in the places they most want to be in the saddle.
Where to ride
Pick your country.
The American West for working ranches and red-rock trails. Mexico and the DR for white-sand beach gallops. Iceland for the five-gaited horse on the lava, Cappadocia for sunset among the fairy chimneys, Costa Rica for jungle-to-waterfall trails. Each place, with the rides it does best.
Which kind of day
How to spend a day in the saddle.
The kind of ride matters as much as the place. Three ways to spend a day on horseback, depending on the time you have and what you want from it.
The American West
The West was made for the saddle.
This is the country the cowboy comes from, and it still rides like it. Sunset trails through Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas, breakfast rides under the Grand Tetons in Jackson Hole, the green movie-set valleys of Kualoa Ranch on Oahu, and the red buttes of Sedona and Monument Valley. Real working outfits, easy first trails and chuckwagon nights, all under a very big sky.
See the best rides in the USA →Mexico & the Caribbean
The best beach days start in the saddle.
From Cabo and Cancun to Punta Cana and Puerto Plata, the warm-water coasts share one perfect ride: a gentle walk down to the sand, then an open beach where the guide lets you canter with the surf alongside. Add a cenote swim, a jungle stretch or a tequila tasting, and it is the photogenic, beginner-friendly ride almost everyone remembers most.
See the best rides in Mexico →The best part
The best view is the one between the ears.
A good ride is never just the scenery. It is the horse that takes a few minutes to trust you and then carries you all afternoon, the guide who knows which trail catches the light and exactly where you can let it run, and the quiet that settles in once the road is behind you. You come back dusty and a little sunburnt, knowing the country a bit, and the horse a bit better.
Browse every ride →Iceland & the Nordic north
A horse you will not meet anywhere else.
The Icelandic horse has been bred pure on the island for a thousand years: small, sturdy, unflappable, with a fifth gait, the smooth running tolt, found in almost no other breed. You ride them out of Reykjavik across moss-green lava and black volcanic sand under an enormous sky, steam drifting off the geothermal ground. A calm, surefooted horse in a landscape that looks like nowhere on earth.
- 1 Icelandic Horseback Riding Tour with Pickup Option from Reykjavik
- 2 Icelandic Horseback Riding Tour Including Pick Up from Reykjavik
- 3 Black Sand Beach Horse Riding Tour from Vik
By time in the saddle
How long do you want to ride?
Some days you want an easy hour on the beach and a few photos. Some days you want to get out into the desert or the canyon for a real canter. And some days you want to be on horseback from breakfast to dusk on a working ranch. Pick the day, we will point you at the ride.
An hour or two
Just get in the saddle.A short beach or country ride: the coast or the ranch at an easy walk, a few photogenic stretches of canter, and you are back before lunch. The gentlest way in for a first-timer.
Half a day
Beach, desert and a canter.A morning across the sand and up into the cactus country, the guide picking the open stretches where you can pick up the pace, often with a tequila or a country lunch at the turn.
A full day in the saddle
Ride out into the backcountry.High-country trails under the peaks, a real working-ranch pace, lunch in the saddle and the long quiet hours on horseback you plan a whole trip around.
The land of beautiful horses
Ride Cappadocia at the golden hour.
Cappadocia’s name means “land of beautiful horses,” and its valleys of wind-carved tuff spires were made to be seen from the saddle. Out of Goreme the trails thread between the fairy chimneys as the late sun turns the rock pink and gold, the last hot-air balloons sometimes still drifting overhead. A short sunset ride or a longer half-day loop, it is the most cinematic ride in Turkey.
See all 18 rides in Turkey →By destination
Pick a place and saddle up.
Punta Cana for sunset beach gallops. Las Vegas for Red Rock Canyon trails. Cabo for white-sand canters and tequila. Oahu for the Kualoa Ranch valleys. Reykjavik for the Icelandic horse on the lava. Cappadocia for sunset among the fairy chimneys.
By country
Every country worth a day on horseback.
From the American West to the beaches of Mexico and the Caribbean, the Cappadocia valleys to the lava fields of Iceland. Browse by the country you want to ride.
Dawn to dusk
A perfect day in the saddle.
First time somewhere and want a full day on horseback? Here is how it flows, from a cool-morning beach ride to the golden hour as the sun goes down.
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