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We booked a hot air balloon tour over Teotihuacan for our extended family’s October trip to Mexico City. I already knew a hot air balloon ride was right for me (blog post forthcoming) and it’s been on my bucket list for a while, so I was excited for the opportunity. We also prepared our five-year-old to join us for the ride, which was an experience in and of itself that I reflect upon in another post and also briefly below. Spoiler alert—she loved it! Eventually 🙂
For our full hot air balloon ride experience (our first-ever!), read on!
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The city of Teotihuacan is the homeland of the Teotihuacan peoples.
Trip Purpose
Experience a hot air balloon ride for the first time as a family
About Our Visit
AGE OF THE KID: 5 years
LENGTH OF VISIT: 4-6 hours (plus travel time)
TIME OF YEAR: October
DAY OF THE WEEK: Wednesday
BASE COST
Total spent in USD: ~$175/person
- Hot air balloon tour (including round-trip transport from hotel), breakfast, and guided tour of Teotihuacan: $2,999 MXN/person age 13+; $2,299 MXN/child age 4-12
Add-Ons
- Hot air balloon tour photos: $1,500 MXN/balloon
- Tip for pilot: $500 MXN/balloon
Pre-Takeoff
We had an early wake-up call the morning of our ride. At 5:30 a.m., our group of 25 (yes, 25!) sleepily boarded the vans provided by the hot air balloon company, Flying Pictures, to take us on the hour-long drive to Teotihuacan, about 33 miles from Mexico City’s Centro Historico. A few of us were able to catch a few more winks on the ride.
When we arrived at the hot air balloon takeoff site, we were escorted to an outdoor/tented holding area where we were assigned our balloons (we were limited to 12-13 per balloon so had to split our group up amongst ourselves). Each of us was given a sticker of our unique balloon to wear for the flight. I believe we also signed waivers at that time. Then we waited about half an hour for the balloons to be ready for take-off!
Thankfully the holding area had an outdoor heater around which we huddled for warmth. Flying Pictures also offered complimentary coffee, tea, hot cocoa, (and alcohol—Cafe Pacifico, anyone?) alongside cookies and fruit for us to fill our bellies as we waited. My family never passes up a moment to take group photos, so folks had fun posing in front of the big hot air balloon posters as other tour groups checked in.
Before our ride began, we weren’t really given an orientation, though I wish we had been able to ask a couple questions before the ride. As you’ll see later, maybe it was for the best to be kept in the dark…
Instead, we were told that we could actually take a group photo INSIDE one of the balloons (I think one of our party may have asked about this, or maybe it was the photographer’s suggestion?). The thing with these kinds of tours and experiences is that there are photographers and cameras that capture the amazing moments for you–more on that later. It was still half an hour or so before sunset, so all was dark except for our phone flashlights as we followed one of the guides through the open field to one of the balloons, which was sitting on its side. We were told to take off our shoes, and enter the half-inflated balloon from the bottom.
My kid was as hyped as I was, running into the giant balloon. This part was so NEAT and completely unexpected, making it even more special. The balloon material felt soft like a flat sheet as we made our way through the dark and into the depths of the balloon. Then once we were all safely inside, the crew blasted off a few pumps from the burners, which is what I imagine it would be like to be faced by a Targaryen dragon. I was a bit worried about the flames/gas but the air smelled fine. We got to take a unique group picture before we split up and boarded our own balloons!
Up in the Air
We took a few more photos and before we knew it, we were being escorted to our assigned balloons and climbing into the baskets, using the small holes on the side as our ladders in. Everything was still dark save for a few bursts of flames from the noisy burners as our pilot prepared us for takeoff. This is the point at which my kid’s initial excitement soon deflated and she promptly crouched at the bottom of the basket, where she would stay for the majority of the ride (she came up, eventually!). Once we were all in and situated, it was only another couple minutes before we were up, up, and away.
For me it was such a rush getting into the air that there was almost no time to be afraid. Plus since the balloon floats so gently, it’s almost like you’re floating in a bubble!
A drone camera followed us on our ascent and we waved to it giddily as everything on the ground turned smaller and smaller as we peered over the edge of the basket. A round of selfies ensued. Then we took photos of each other from across the baskets. We waved hello to the two GoPros situated on either side of the basket, but how I wish we had actually posed for their timed captures because they were our only full group photos in the air! We ended up with mostly unusable candids.
The sides of the basket were higher than I’d expected, about four feet tall, and we were corralled into close quarters within four quadrants of the basket that held three adults each. For most of the ride, our kid opted to sit at the very bottom of the basket and look out the peep holes that we used as a ladder to climb in. She reported being too scared to peer out over the edge of the basket. Even though we checked on her every five minutes or so, she still preferred to stay down below (and even tried to convince the rest of us that it was the best way to experience the ride!).
Our pilot explained to us that the balloon goes where the wind takes us, which was a shock to all of us. It meant we were basically just free-floating in a basket 😀 Check out this explainer on how hot air balloon pilots change a balloon’s direction using altitude and wind!
The pilot steered us very close to the Pyramid of the Sun, which is a view that can’t be enjoyed from any other vantage point! While our excitement eventually calmed down as the ride went on, we were all smiles for the whole ride. Eventually the pilot even busted out some champagne and orange juice for some morning mimosas, and our kid was ready to come up for air and look out at the smiley face balloon.
It was a bit of a cloudy day so sunrise wasn’t as spectacular as some of the more epic photos I’ve seen. But it was amazing to breathe the crisp morning air, to look out at the ancient city of Teotihuacan below us, and to stare off into the horizon with some of the people we love most. All in all we spent about 45 minutes in the air, soaking in the views and the experience together.
Landing
I had no clue how the balloon landing was going to go–I didn’t get that far into my hot air balloon research, oops!
We saw a couple other balloons land before us, and it was fascinating to watch from above. First, the balloons did a soft landing into (hopefully) an open field where a few handlers would run over to help guide the basket down to the ground. Then, the balloon and basket rose a couple feet off the ground for the handlers to steer it to a waiting flatbed attached to a truck. The balloon eventually deflated to the ground where the workers would gather it all up to be put away for its next ride!
After climbing out of our basket, one of the guides gathered our group and handed out commemorative “certificates of completion” to each rider as a keepsake. I didn’t keep the paper, but I did appreciate us all marking the experience together!
I’m not sure where we landed, but it was far enough to warrant a van driving onto the field to pick us up and cart our group back to the holding area. There, we were shown the drone and GoPro footage on large TV monitors, where we could recount the moments and laugh at the thrill of it all. We had the option of purchasing items a la carte but ended up purchasing the whole SD card with all the photos for ~$90 USD, which, split up among our group of 12, didn’t end up amounting to much per person.
Once the rest of our group returned and reviewed and purchased there photos, we packed in the vans to drive to the buffet breakfast that was included with the tour before we set off to visit the pyramids of Teotihuacan.
Our first hot air balloon experience was one for the books! I especially love that our family was able to experience this milestone altogether, and with our five-year-old. Would definitely look forward to trying this again in the future.
Have you ever ridden a hot air balloon, at home or on your travels? Would love to hear about other families’ experiences in the comments!
Angelica (she/her) is of Cebuano(Pilipinx)-descent and was born and raised in Huchiun Ohlone territory (the East Bay Area--pay your Shuumi Land Tax!), where she also now resides with her partner and their toddler. She loves to spend her time sipping on boba and dirty chai lattes (sometimes together), and eating pescetarian goodies at BIPOC-owned cafes and restaurants.
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