Top 10 Horseback Riding Vacations - Overall

The most isolated locations in the world are too far to be reached on foot and lack roads to get there by car. That leaves one major form of transportation: the horse. Exploring the vast, isolated regions of our planet takes four hoofs, a saddle, and a good guide. Tours take you to western ranches and cattle drives amid vast plains and deserts, as well as mountain treks over rocky passes. Ancient ruins, beaches, and safaris…your horse will lead the way.

1. Ranches and Cattle Drives, Wyoming

   This sparsely populated state is dominated by equestrian culture. This is Marlboro country where the Great Plains and the Rockies meet, leaving vast expanses of backcountry. Dozens of world class ranches are here, as are a large selection of cattle drives.

2. Sacred Valley, Peru

   The Scared Valley surrounding Cusco is on the most legendary riding environments anywhere in the world. When you're not hitting the trail to the Inca city of Machu Picchu, you'll visit vibrant Indigenous markets, gallop through vast rolling farmland surrounded by snow covered Andean peaks, and search for little known ruins and stone terraces.

3. North Coast, Iceland

   Explore the beautiful shores of Lake Mývatn, before setting off to waterfalls, glaciers, and geothermal pools. More than double the normal amount of horses are taken to this rugged region so the horses don't tire out. As you're at the home of Europe's best whale watching, add an extra day.

4. Atlas Mountains, Morocco

   After getting lost in Marrakech's pink walled Medina you'll follow the ancient trails into the snow covered Atlas Mountains. You'll camp with Berber Villagers and while covering vast amounts of terrain.

5. Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Utah

   Utah's south is full of breathtaking scenery of red hills and geological formations that would make Salvador Dali jealous. Sagebrush trails, twisting gorges, and sandstone cliffs make a perfect place to ride.

6. Black Hills, South Dakota

   Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and the battlefields if the Lakota Sioux are among the attractions of South Dakota's vast Black Hills. You'll still run into Native Americans, even the stray Bison and wild horse on occasion.

7. Snowy River, Australia.

   This is the Aussie Wild West. The land of Ned Kelly. Apart from the wildlife -roos, wild horses, wombats, and emus -you'll traverse the terrain from the film of The Man From Snowy River.

8. Karakorum, Mongolia

   Central Mongolia's Khangai Mountain range is the desolate, rugged, difficult wilderness that many have waited their lives to ride. You'll pass Stone Age tribes who haven't changed a bit for thousands of years and monasteries lost amid the steppe. Time your trip right and you'll hit the Naadam festival in Ulaan Baatar.

9. Uruguay

   Sip maté with gauchos and munch of thick slabs of beef in this small South American nation. Cattle drives and estancias are common throughout the country. End your trip with a ride on the coast at the posh resort of Punta del Este.

10. Killarney, Ireland.

    Ireland's Western coast is the landscape that most think of when they think of Ireland. Rocky cliffs jutting out into wild seas, farmland and stone walls dominating the rolling green hills, and enough pubs and B&B's to keep you cozy.