Hot Air Balloon Rides London

Hot Air Balloon Rides over London City

The first flight made by man in the UK was from London in a balloon. Taking off from the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company near Moorgate, Italian Vincenzo Lunardi rose to the skies with around 200,000 people including the prince of Wales on 15th September 1784. His flight of 24 miles and 2 and a half hours duration was about twice as long as those covered today by passengers flying with Adventure Balloons on their hot air balloon flights from Central London . A flight over London is without doubt the ultimate balloon flight you can make as a balloon passenger in this country.

London's sky line is a mix of old and very new. From St Paul's Cathedral to the nearly completed Olympics 2012 development the views on London hot air balloon rides span 300 years of architectural history and variety. Depending on the wind direction on the day aerial views can include Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, Canary Wharf and the Tower of London as well as the many suburban areas laid out by the Victorians.

Of course a flight over London by balloon is no easy thing to organise. The weather conditions have to be absolutely spot on to enable the balloon to fly within tightly controlled limits and thus stay out of the way of the aircraft gliding into Heathrow just a thousand feet above the balloon. Consequently don't think about doing one unless you are happy to accept some cancelled dates due to unsuitable conditions. And just to make it harder, they are only possible at sunrise before Heathrow gets busy. But if you can put up with that, you will join an exclusive few to have done so.