Lap of luxury

Recommended by RiDE’s contributors, each one is the perfect way to cap off a great riding season

IF you want a bird’s eye view of St Peter Port, climb to the top of Victoria Tower,” John, a friendly local who spotted me thumbing through my guide book, suggested. Finishing my coffee at a café in G

Over the stippled swell of the Firth of Clyde soars a gannet. A pair of long, black-tipped wings catches the late-August light as the bird tilts on the breeze. It’s on fish patrol – curving low then r

Whether it’s the raw beauty of Sark, the gentle charm of Guernsey, or the historic intrigue of Alderney, the Channel Islands promise an idyllic break less than an hour’s flight from Gatwick. Closer to

For one morning each April, the birds of Mallorca have to swallow an annual dose of their own medicine. At an ungodly hour, for once it’s them being woken against their will by thousands of freehubs b

Back to sea. Off to the end of land, away from the pastoral, the pretty order of serene lawns, blackbirds and cottages, farms and ploughed earth. The tide carried us back down the sheltered rivers of