Balloon ride of a lifetime!

We made it! After booking a last minute balloon ride through a third party, we were anxious about the timing being early enough with a 9:45am flight out of an airport an hour from Göreme. We packed up last night and left our bags in reception for our 4:55 pickup. A short drive to the take-off site and we noted balloons already in the air. It was very exciting to know we were a go. We arrived as they were laying out the balloon so we got to see it go up before a hurried boarding process as we started to lift off. We got a basket segment to ourselves (20 total passengers) and had amazing weather as we floated into the skies. I was certainly a little scared in the beginning as we reached upwards of 300m high but it was so smooth and beautiful, it was hard to stop smiling. Our segment stayed aiming forward for almost the entire trip. We went right over the fairy chimney rock formations and we even got to drop down into Love Valley (the phallic stones made the kids giggle) and float just over the rocks. An amazing ride that we will never forget. A smooth touchdown (after making it to the ground, they floated the basket directly onto a trailer before strapping down, pretty cool) and champagne toast later, we were taken directly back to hotel (about 20 minutes away) where our airport van was already loaded and waiting for us. We had time for some coffee before takeoff to Istanbul where we will have some time before our flight to Heathrow. A beautiful and memorable way to end our Türkiye trip.Read more