A horseback riding trail winds all the way through Hyde Park.

Hyde and Seek

In Victorian times, London's Hyde Park was the place to be seen - especially on horseback. Upper class Londoners saddled up and paraded through the park's winding paths and along a stretch of land called Rotten Row, dressed in their Sunday best. Today, thanks to nearby horse stables, anyone can ride like royalty along the very same paths.

Rotten Row has been a London landmark for centuries.

The tree-lined dirt paths, open fields, and the winding Serpentine Lake make the surrounding city disappear.

Nestled in the residential Bayswater neighborhood in London, the nearly 200-year-old Hyde Park Stables is just one of many that offer equestrian trail rides through the 350-acre Royal Park. "This is the best way to see it for the first time," says James Harling, one of the stables' guides. "From up here on the back of a horse."

The hour-long journey begins by gearing up in riding boots and a helmet (these are provided by the stables, but you can always wear your own). Then, once you're settled on your horse, guides on horseback lead you and your fellow riders across the busy Bayswater Road and into Hyde Park. There, the tree-lined dirt paths, open fields, and the winding Serpentine Lake make the surrounding city seem to disappear. But you might turn out to be the main attraction as far as other parkgoers are concerned. "As we rode past, people would stop and take pictures of us," says Sharon Clark, a marketing executive from Colorado who recently rode through Hyde Park on a visit to London. "It really made me feel like royalty."

Only two riders are assigned to each guide, and both are always at the same riding level. The stables also have ponies for children as young as 5 to ride. But those who wish to sharpen their equestrian skills can take private or group riding lessons along Rotten Row. A play on the French phrase "Route de Roi" or "King's Road," this broad dirt road was named shortly after William III lined the path with oil lamps in the late 1600s, creating England's first artificially lit highway.

After the trail ride is complete, riders head back to the stables through Hyde Park Gardens Mews, a cobblestone lane lined with old carriage houses - now private homes with price tags up to millions of pounds. One would think that the explosive sound of the horses' hooves clacking on the cobblestones would bother the residents. But then again, they're probably used to it by now. It's something they've been hearing for quite sometime.

Those newfangled automobiles, on the other hand . . .

Posted on September 04, 2006