Where is the best place in the UK to fly in a hot air balloon?
A question we often get asked by many of our soon-to-be passengers.
Of course, we love all our 100+ handpicked launch sites, but we do have some favourites.
1. Ashton Court, Bristol:
Known as the hot air balloon capital of the world, we couldn’t choose awesome Brizzle as one of our favourite hot air balloon locations.
Ashton Court is home to the annual Bristol Balloon Fiesta – Europe’s largest free hot air balloon festival, which last year attracted over 500,000 visitors.
As well as the Fiesta held each August, our beautiful red balloons go up, up and away at Ashton Court throughout our flying season (March – October).
Bristol and Bath pilot Mark Simmons aka Nobby is the lucky guy who flies from this iconic location.
He has been with us for 20+ years now and has even had the pleasure of flying Sir Richard Branson himself!
Be sure to fly in this area if you want to hear an amazing story or two!
2. Henley-on-Thames:
We’re country bumpkins here at Ballooning Towers and love our rolling hills and landscape scenes, but beautiful Henley-on-Thames is one of our favourite locations for picturesque town views.
Known for the Royal Regatta – a world-famous rowing tournament held each July, this beautiful location is certainly one of the prettiest towns we fly over.
Set in the incredible Chiltern Hills in Oxfordshire, a majestic balloon flight over here will truly make you feel like royalty.
Mark Shemilt is our experienced pilot who flies from this luxurious location.
Mark has been flying balloons for 28 years now and despite flying in Barbados, Toronto and Switzerland, Henley remains one of his favourite locations.
3. York:
The magnificent historic city of York is best appreciated from the sky.
Renowned for its incredible architecture, this wonderful location is our most popular Yorkshire hot air balloon location.
Your adventure begins at York Racecourse before floating wherever the wind takes you around this wondrous city.
Dave Sutcliffe, aka Sutty – is our Yorkshire hot air balloon pilot and has been flying commercially since 1991.
Ballooning is pure enjoyment for Sutty, who even has a few awards under his belt.
Fly from fabulous York for an unforgettable hot air balloon adventure in the North of England.
4. Lake District:
You may have seen on our social channels a lot of hype around the magical Lake District this season.
The team at Go Lakes Cumbria Tourism hopped into our Lake District basket last weekend and gave us their take on what’s it like to see England’s largest national park from the skies.
“We got some amazing photos, but they don’t do the experience justice,” said Sarah from Go Lakes.
“You really have to take a flight yourself.”
We have five launch sites around Cumbria and the Lake District, with flights flown by Chris Aindow and Chris Oxby – we can’t possibly choose a favourite as they’re all amazing!
Book your Lake District or Cumbria hot air balloon ride today.
5. St Albans:
Last but most certainly not least is one of our newer launch sites, St Albans!
One of the few hot air balloon locations where on clear days you can see the London Skyline from the comfort of our basket.
The colourful, medieval city of St Albans located in Hertfordshire is known for its beautiful cathedral.
Fly over St Albans in a hot air balloon with South East pilot Kerry Coate-Bond who’s had the pleasure of flying all over the world, but seeing Canary Warf from the sky along with the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside is still one of his favourite scenes.
Fly from St Albans for breath-taking town, city and countryside views.
A Hot Air Balloon Ride Near Me?
We are the only balloon operator in the UK with launch sites nationwide, so if you're looking for a balloon ride near me, we'll almost certainly have one not too far away.
Just type in your town or postcode to our Locations Finder for your closest sites or see see our full list of locations here.
Look out for more top five hot air balloon lists coming soon!
See you in the skies! #TakeLifeHigher
