Hot Air Balloon Rides
in Wetherby

Enjoy Stunning Views Ballooning Over Wetherby

Wetherby sits on the River Wharfe, roughly halfway between Leeds and York, and for centuries it has been a crossing point and a market town. Coaching inns once lined the Great North Road, serving travellers heading north and south, and the town still has the feel of a place shaped by movement. The river runs through its heart, with stone bridges, riverside walks, and a mix of Georgian and Victorian buildings around the centre.

Balloon flights launch from Wetherby Racecourse, just outside the town. The racecourse makes a wide, open setting for take-off, and within minutes of rising the river and rooftops of Wetherby are spread out below. The line of the Wharfe is easy to follow from above as it twists through the countryside, edged by fields and villages.

Depending on the wind, the balloon might drift over the town itself, where you can still trace the outline of the old medieval castle site and the 12th-century St James’ Church. To the north and west the countryside opens quickly, a patchwork of farms and hedgerows leading towards the Yorkshire Dales. Look east and you may catch glimpses of York’s flat plain, with the city’s outline faint on the horizon on clear days.

Flights here are never quite the same. Some evenings the basket floats low, close enough to notice the bends in the Wharfe or the shapes of farm tracks cutting across the fields. Other mornings the balloon climbs higher, until the town, racecourse, and river are only small marks in a wider sweep of Yorkshire. However the wind carries you, a flight from Wetherby shows a quieter, slower side of West Yorkshire — part town, part countryside, always changing.