Terrace overlooking the Caldera & Fira, copyright PerfectPlaces.com

From PerfectPlaces.com, a 3-bedroom 2-bathroom villa in Santorini (description from their website):

The Blue Angel Villa is located in one of the most extreme and enviable positions on the Caldera in Fira. Perched on the cliff face of the Caldera, the villa is an exquisite sanctuary with a spectacular view of the sea below. Its architectural signature is eclectic; on one hand traditional and on the other, contemporary. The stone exterior blends perfectly with the smooth white lines and the hand-made azure Italian tiles of the interior. (more…)

Entrance to Villa 68, copyright Sea Horse Ranch

This week’s villa has the added advantage of being part of a resort community; you’ll get the best of both worlds, with the space and privacy of a villa complemented by many of the activities of a resort. Sea Horse Ranch, on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic in Sosua, features a tennis center, equestrian center, seaside yoga classes, and a rather large children’s park. During the summer vacation period you’ll also find a summer camp for kids 5 to 14 which takes advantage of all the above amenities and then some. (more…)

copyright, The Resort at Paws Up

If your daughter is a fan of The Saddle Club,  or your son has held onto cowboy aspirations, or you never got over the fact that Santa didn’t bring the damn horse you asked for (we didn’t),  one of the luxury equestrian tours rounded up over at Forbestraveler.com might just be the trip of a lifetime for all of you.

With no skimping on the luxury aspect, these outfitters aren’t just offering just some good old trail-riding followed by a night in a so-so bunk. If you’re on the Aravalli Hill Ride offered by Ghenerao Safari Tours, for instance, you’ll be riding through villages, archaeological sites and farms of Rajasthan, India by day, while spending your evenings in palaces and small mansions that have been converted to historic “heritage” hotels. A bonus? The hotels’ aristocratic owners often live on site and will appear, as the Ghenerao Safari Tours website says, “to bore you with tales of their glorious family history.” (Um, we think something got lost in translation, but we get the drift…)

These top 10 luxury equestrian tours are all over the world, so if India isn’t on your current list of must-visits, how does France, Montana, Chile or China sound? Those are just examples: for the full article with all top ten, click here.