Here at Bailey Balloons, we’ve been busy over the Christmas period sending out vouchers to lucky people who will be taking to the skies with us over Bristol, Bath and South Wales. Now that January is here and the balloons are packed away for the winter, our minds have turned to other places in the world where you can take a spectacular balloon flight. Here’s our top 10 picks based on locations we have flown in and places we would love to go, whether it is a country, town/city or a festival…
1. BRISTOL, UK – Clearly the top spot has to go to the mecca of Ballooning and our hometown! We LOVE flying in Bristol and can’t get enough of it! Each flight takes a different route, sometimes over the city where you can spot famous landmarks like the Suspension Bridge, the SS Great Britain and Cabot Tower, other wind directions will take us out of Bristol and over spectacular countryside like the Chew Valley Lakes. Whichever way the wind takes us, Bristol flights are always amazing and in fact there are so many great things about flying in Bristol, that we will be doing a separate blog soon on ‘Top 10 sights to see on a Bristol Balloon Flight’!
Ballooning in Bristol2. BAGAN, MYANMAR – While we sit, shivering in the office and dreaming of sunny days and flying, most of our Pilots are over in Bagan flying balloons over temples and wonderful scenery for the winter! Maybe next year our office can go mobile and we will join them 🙂
Ballooning Over Bagan3. ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – Each year Albuquerque plays host to the world’s largest balloon festival where over 500 balloons from all over the world arrive to launch together over a 9 day event.
Albuquerque Balloon Festival – photo credit pinterest.com4. CHATEAU D’OEX, SWITZERLAND – Flying over the Alps in Switzerland is one of our favourite places – Clive even took Sir David Attenborough up to 12,000ft in our Anana Balloon in 2016 to film his opening sequence to Planet Earth II. The views are fabulous and the ground crew enjoy winding their way through the mountains to the landing site!
Flying over the Alps with David Attenborough – photo credit bbc.com5. KENYA – Many of our Pilots have flown balloons in Kenya over national parks as an alternative to a Safari, spotting wonderful wildlife along the way!
Kenya Ballooning – photo credit pinterest.com6. BATH, UK – Another of our favourite places on home territory. We regularly fly from Royal Victoria Park in Bath between April and October enjoying fantastic views of the Royal Crescent and other famous Georgian landmarks.
Bath Balloon Flight7. CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY – Another place well known for being a ballooning hub, Cappadocia in Turkey offers some amazing views from the skies, a little word of advice though, be very selective about which company you book with as they don’t all have the same safety standards as we do here!
Cappadocia in Turkey – photo credit viator.com8. RIVER NILE, EGYPT – Egypt balloon flights can offer some stunning views of the River Nile – just like Turkey though, do thorough research on the company you book with as the safety standards are not as high as the UK.
River Nile Balloon Flights – photo credit tripadvisor.com9. LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE – Gliding peacefully over the enchanting Loire Valley has got to be the ultimate bucket list item! Balloon-France.com schedule flights twice a day between April and October when the weather is best for flying.
Balloon Flights in the Loire Valley – photo credit balloon-france.com10. CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – Australia is another popular location for our Pilots – besides the weather, the scenery is fantastic, particularly in Canberra. Balloons Aloft Canberra offer various packages for flights in groups or individually.
Ballooning In Canberra – photo credit balloonsaloftcanberra.com.auThat concludes our top 10 list of places to take a balloon flight. 2018 is the year of adventure so why not try a balloon flight with us in Bristol, Bath or South Wales!
