Last year for my birthday I was lucky enough to be gifted tickets for a Virgin hot air balloon ride! At the time with all the rules surrounding Covid and lockdown, I wasn’t able to use them until recently. The moment restrictions were lifted we went online and booked the next available flight! There are a bunch of locations to choose from dotted all over the UK, we decided on Milton Keynes since it was the closest to us without having to travel too far.
There are three different packages available where the price is dependant upon the time and day you choose to fly. The cheapest package is a morning flight on a weekday, which is the one we did and honestly it worked out great. Morning flights are awesome since the weather is usually optimum for flying. Once you have purchased the voucher you have 18 months to redeem it and book a flight.
The day before the flight you have to call the pilot’s line to check if the weather conditions will permit flying. If the weather doesn’t allow for it you may have to re-book. We got super lucky with warm sunny conditions, which was surprising since it had been raining the whole week leading up to the day. You should try to arrive a little early so you can watch the pilot and his colleagues inflate the balloon as well as meet the other passengers. The flight itself was just over an hour and it was surprisingly smooth. In that time you get to enjoy the surrounding landscapes, converse with your fellow passengers and take numerous pictures. Our pilot was super friendly and entertained us with stories from his past trips.
As the flight comes to an end the pilot will land the balloon in a safe open field after which you will assist in deflating and packing it up. Finally, you are handed certificates and a complimentary drink to finish off the experience. The pilot’s colleague follows the balloon in a minivan which is used to take the passengers back to the launch site. The overall experience lasted somewhere between 3-4 hours, which really did fly by (no pun intended).
I would highly recommend this experience to everyone, I had the best time and would totally do it again. This also makes the perfect special gift if you are looking for something unique and exciting. Check out some snaps I captured from the day below!
Let me know if you have done any other unique activities available in the UK that you enjoyed and would recommend!
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