Hot Air Balloon Rides
in Cheltenham

Enjoy Stunning Views Ballooning Over Cheltenham

Cheltenham is known as England’s most elegant spa town, its Regency terraces and tree-lined promenades built after a mineral spring was discovered here in the 18th century. Even the town crest features pigeons, in memory of the flocks that first gathered at the spring. Today, another kind of flight rises from Cheltenham: hot air balloons launching from Cheltenham Racecourse on the northern edge of town.

The launch site itself is steeped in atmosphere. From the basket you may see the famous grandstands below, home to the Cheltenham Festival each spring, before the view begins to widen. To the east, the ridges of the Cotswold Hills lift gently from the valley, their limestone villages and patchwork fields glowing in the morning or evening light.

Depending on the wind, flights may drift west towards the Severn Valley, where the cathedral city of Gloucester stands out against the surrounding countryside. Look north and the medieval town of Tewkesbury, with its half-timbered houses and vast abbey, comes into view at the meeting of the Severn and Avon rivers. On some days, the breeze carries the balloon far enough to glimpse the woodlands of the Royal Forest of Dean.

Flights here never quite follow the same pattern. One morning the balloon might edge slowly along the Severn Valley, with Gloucester’s cathedral tower on the horizon; on another, it could rise over the folds of the Cotswolds, where villages of pale stone catch the light. However the wind decides, lifting off from Cheltenham is as much about the quiet moments in the basket as the views themselves — a chance to see familiar country in a way that always feels fresh.