Organise your ‘pick-me-up’ treat now and you can start the New Year with the knowledge that you have something very wonderful to look forward to. You can book as far ahead in the next 12 months as you like, pick a date which means something to you, or simply celebrate a birthday, Valentine’s day, an anniversary in style. Here at Adventure Balloons we pride ourselves on providing the most unbeatable service tailoring each flight to the individual, creating a moment that will stay with you a lifetime.

You can enjoy an hour’s flight in any of the following locations; Oxford, Reading, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford, Tring, London, Basingstoke, Hartley Wintney, Guildford, Farnham, Godalming, West Meon, Micheldever, Alton, Winchester, Kent, Sussex and Essex. But that’s not where it ends; so that you can make a ‘day of it’ we encourage all passengers to help set up the balloon and take it down again so that they get a real feel for what’s involved in ballooning and how it all works. You will enjoy a champagne toast and finally a flight certificate to commemorate the day and give you a token to remember it by, as if the memory isn’t enough!

We also give you the opportunity to purchase your in flight photo which you can hang on your wall with pride or tuck away in the photo album ready to show your friends and loved ones, along with giving them the exciting story of your day with us. Adventure Balloons were in fact one of the first balloon companies to provide in flight photography for passengers on balloon flights and in 2007 we purchased the world’s top selling digital camera, the Canon EOS400D. We use this camera on all of our balloons to give our customers the highest quality of photography.

For those of you who are more technically minded we are using an f1.8 20mm prime lens to provide better quality images than the standard Canon 18-55mm lens. This way we can guarantee the most professional photograph we can be proud to hand over to our passengers.

If you would like to know more, or would like to make a booking you can do so on our website, or alternatively, you can call us on 01252 844222!

With so many balloon flights companies to choose from, what is it about Adventure Balloons that makes us so popular and why should we be your first choice? Let’s face it, if you’re booking a balloon flight that’s going to take you 3,000 foot in the air, you’ll want to check out the companies policies, track records, testimonials, reliability and more. We expect this and in fact recommend it, and are 100% confident you’ll be happy with what you find here at Adventure Balloons.  Before you browse through our site, we’ve listed in today’s article the benefits to using our company so that you can decide whether or not you’d like to visit the site or call our team.

• Fast Bookings – Not only can you call us to book your flight, but you can easily book online too where you will even be given the option to choose your voucher design. Vouchers ordered online for e-mail delivery will arrive instantly!
• Check Date Availability – Unlike many other balloon flights companies, you can check our flights schedule so that you can see how often we fly from each of our locations (Berkshire, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, London, Oxford, Surrey, Sussex and York)
• Low Prices - Book vouchers from as little as £89 – the best value balloon flight in the UK!
• Birthday Balloons – Enjoy special birthday flights in our one-of-a-kind Birthday hot air balloon which features our Adventure Balloons colours and a giant ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ message!
• Great Reputation – Many Adventure Balloons customers come from personal recommendation – check out our customer testimonials to see why!
• Flexible – Adventure Balloons is also able to cater for any special requirements you may have.
• Various Capacities – We have several balloons with capacities ranging from 4-16 passengers!

Adventure Balloons became so popular and renowned for their quality of service and eagerness to please that the only way left for them to continue growing was to create the group Balloons Over Britain. Balloons Over Britain has 10 member companies each offering flights in different locations across the UK. With over 70 different launch sites across Britain, and from Adventure Balloons humble beginnings, it has to be asked…why go anywhere else? So if Adventure Balloons do not cover the location you were after, take a look over at Balloons Over Britain where you will find a member company that does.

So the New Year is fast approaching and those of you who are more organised and shall I say, more Romantic than the rest of us, will be thinking about what to do for their loved one on Valentine’s Day 2012. Okay, okay, so we still haven’t got Christmas out of the way, but sometimes these things need real planning, organisation and booking in advance. Had you considered the idea of surprising your dearly beloved with a romantic champagne hot air balloon ride? Hot air ballooning is considered one of the most romantic gestures that exists to humankind and is certainly the most romantic way to fly. Maybe you’re planning on making this Valentine’s Day a double celebration and would like to propose to your partner; well what better way to do it than to get down on one knee 3,000 foot high in the air suspended below a hot air filled balloon in a wicker basket?

You wouldn’t be the first to celebrate Valentine’s day in style, at Adventure Balloons we find that it’s one of our most demanded schedule dates and so pull out all the stops to make as many couples dreams come true on the day as possible. Take for example February 14^th 2009 when we flew 3 couples in our smallest 4 person balloon.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather that Saturday as the sun shone dramatically down on the world below us, a breathtaking sight for us all, we were left speechless. The flight was done in two legs, with the first flight taking 4 passengers for their serene hours flight, which was followed by an “intermediate landing” on a friendly farmer for a change of passengers and more fuel. We were thankful for the balloons co-operation as it stood patiently upright awaiting its next happy couple. Then off the last couple went for their own intimate hour’s flight over the rolling landscapes. “It was just like the flying we used to do on our ballooning weekends in the West Country in the mid 1980’s” said company pilot Kim Hull. Back then Kim was faced with the challenge of only having a two person balloon and having to try to fly 8 people each weekend which was of course a challenge!

The happy couples went away mesmerised, each one presented with an additional complimentary Valentines bottle of champagne to take home, plus a shortbread and chocolate Valentines heart from our local bakery which the guys presented on their knees‼ Perfect.

If you’d like to discuss booking your very own romantic flight, get in touch with us here at Adventure Balloons on 01252 844222 or go ahead and book online.

Lindstrand Balloons has a proven and renowned track record of project management, and also boasts the highest available approval rating from the British CAA and the American FAA, and EASA, for the manufacture of lighter-than-air craft! And with the advent of pan-European legislation for balloon maintenance this year, who better to do the checks and walk us through any needed changes than the Managing Director of Lindstrand Balloons himself!?

Due to their high levels of excellence, Lindstrand Balloons make all of our balloons that way ensuring the absolute highest quality aircraft. Then each year their trained inspectors thoroughly check over our fleet of hot air balloons making sure they are up to the British CAA, the American FAA, and the EASA standards. Adventure Balloons have been working as a technical partner with Lindstrand Balloons since they started in 1993, and were in fact one of their first customers.

When Simon Forse the Managing director came to inspect our balloons back in 2009, we were delighted to be told that the burner we’d purchased back in 1993 was in excellent health! Simon was curious to know how many flights it had done since it left the factory and so was obviously more than satisfied when we told him it had flown for 15 seasons with hardly any major replacements! With this he asked if he could put an advert in the UK’s balloon magazine about the burner and of course we were more than happy for him to go ahead! Any publicity’s good publicity right!

So bear in mind that while other balloon operator’s may boast modern equipment, our partnership with Lindstrand Balloons ensures even more than that. Our teams combination of the most modern and the most reliable equipments makes for a ballooning experience you can trust.

For more information about Adventure Balloons or Lindstrand Balloons, please call us on 01252 844222, or simply visit the website where you will find a wealth of information to answer a full range of customer enquiries. For bookings call us on the same number, or simply book online for fast and easy payments and date availability checks.

Are you looking for a new and exciting way to capture your audience’s attention? The best way to do this is to stand out from the crowd. To be different to your competitors gives you a unique selling point, it enables your audience to remember you. Sure, all advertising is good advertising, but if you use the same old approach, you will just blend into the crowd and become the same as all the rest. With a quirky slogan, a catchy tune and some clever marketing, you brands image could be the first thing to crop into potential customers minds when they’re shopping for your area of product or service.

Picture the bill board advert now; what kind of image is likely to draw in your audience base? Have you considered a hot air balloon? At Adventure Balloons, our baskets have recently been used for video and photography shoots for McCains Chips (three nuns floating over the roof tops) Sheila’s Wheels Car Insurance (Pink trim on the basket of course) and now it seems some of our baskets have aspirations to break into flim!

Just look at the image above, if you saw this spread across the typical 14” x 48” billboard, there’s no doubting it would draw you in! Well this is what music photographer Paul Heartfield thought when he wanted to do a photo shoot with The Leisure Society. After contacting us, to hire one of our balloon baskets, we were only too happy to help and with baskets of various sizes, accommodating the seven piece band was not a problem at all. All that was left to do, was combine all the band member on their available dates, with a beautiful blue sky and the perfect countryside setting! And as you can see from the photograph; mission accomplished!

Alternatively, you could always use our balloons to advertise your product, service or new feature by plastering it’s basket in a banner with your company colours, logo, or slogan? Better still, we could even have the balloon itself designed in the shape of your product. Nothing captures passes by more than a hot air balloon, wherever you are and no matter how much of a hurry you’re in, everyone will stop to look up! Research has found hot air balloon advertising as a very effective and cost effective method of marketing your business. Interested? Then why not give us a call on 01252 844222.

For more about Leisure Society try http://www.theleisuresociety.co.uk
and www.myspace.com/theleisuresociety

For band photography go to http://www.paulheartfield.com/

With the London 2012 Olympics fast approaching, unfortunately we will not be able to offer you the chance to enjoy a romantic hot air balloon flights over the UK’s Capital during 2012. Latest discussions with the Department of Transport have made it clear that because of the security arrangements both at launch sites and in London’s airspace required for the Queens Diamond Jubilee Celebrations and the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, we will not be able to take bookings for our Central London Hot Air Balloon Rides during the 2012 season. So if you were waiting for the thrill of seeing our beloved London from 3,000 feet in the air, you will now have to wait until 2013! Tickets for 2013 flights will go on sale in November 2012. So whatever anyone else tells you, you will not be able to see London from a balloon during 2012, unless from a very long way away!

Considering this news, it was a good job our 2011 London flights ended on such a high; we all remember the rather shoddy and un-summery weather we had during August, however our balloon flights over London had a rather spectacular finish! With so many factors to take into consideration including wind speed, visibility, precipitation and so on, it can be expected that flights will be cancelled and re-scheduled from time to time. But at Adventure Balloons our last 3 scheduled flights of the London season all went ahead as planned! When you factor into this that statistically a flight in most areas has about a 1 in 3 chance or better of going ahead each time, I’d say we got lucky! In fact you could say it was a minor miracle; London balloon flights require far more precise weather conditions and so you have more or less a 1 in 6 chance of your flight going ahead!

This luck even spread to our foreign tourists who were in the capital for just a few days, given them just one opportunity to take a flight. With passengers from Spain, Brazil and Saudi Arabia all flying on their first and only dates, I’d say we earned ourselves a shining review! However we did tell our lucky visitors not to tell their colleagues back home that London hot air balloon rides happen just like that, as we also had one passenger who had 33 attempts in 4 years before he was flown this June! It really is down to mother nature, and maybe a touch of the luck of the draw.

In January this year Adventure Balloons experienced the breathtaking experience of flying a balloon during some of the most beautiful weather conditions! With January 2012 fast approaching, we can only dream of having an equally amazing experience! We flew from France through the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Mondovi in the Piemonte region of Italy a place famous for its annual balloon festival which was being held. This part of Italy produces Barolo and Asti Supmante wines, delicious truffles and quality balsamic vinegar.

As the area lies between two mountain ranges, the winds tend to be very light. Thanks to the time of year, the beautiful landscape was sprinkled in snow making the buildings in the city sparkle and shimmer, a magical look that took our breath away. We flew with up to 30 other balloonists over the town and surrounding countryside and found that the Italians are extremely welcoming with a huge fondness for the Balloon Festival. Wherever you end up landing, you can be sure that you will be welcome and you could see balloons as far as the eye can see flying low among the roof tops for all the people to see.

It really was an experience like no other; in fact on one occasion we flew past a church tower as the midday bells were ringing, far too beautiful for words. Spotted by the bell ringer, every bell in the tower began to chime in an amazing peal; we’re still not sure whether this was to warn us off or to participate in our enjoyment!  The whole area was dotted with churches, we were bound to land near one, however our inspiration came from the Cathedral or “Sanctuary” at Vicoforte near Mondovi which has the largest elliptical dome in the world, or so we were told; what a sight it was!

If you’d like to enjoy Adventure Balloons wealth of experience, we are renowned for giving an experience second to none. What gives us our job satisfaction is tailor making every passengers balloon flight to be individual, stunning and ultimately a wonderful experience, one you will never forget. Perhaps you’d like more information? Simply browse our site where you can even book online, or call us on 01252 844222.

Adventure Balloons are the UK’s leading hot air balloon rides company who began taking to the skies in 1985 as one of Britain’s first balloon flights companies. Offering a new and unique service, the company boomed and soon became the largest, most popular and widely recommended flight co-ordinator in the British Isles! The company have a range of balloons each designed to carry differing numbers of passengers so that the company are able to offer a selection of different types of flights. So whether you’re looking for a party booking or an intimate affair, Adventure Balloons will have a hot air balloon to suite your requirements.

As the company grew, it soon became clear that they would need to cover a wider area in order for the business to meet its true potential. Satisfying the customers, Adventure balloons expanded from their original base at Hartley Wintney, in Hampshire to then cover areas in various other locations too such as Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, London, Oxford, Surrey, Sussex and York!

Have you considered surprising your loved one, family member or friend to a hot air balloon ride this Christmas? A Champagne Balloon Flight would make the perfect surprise gift for that special person, a fabulous present they’d have never received before and an opportunity to fulfil one of their dreams. It’s not too late to consider the idea, however with just a month to go until the big day, it’s certainly time to get your act together.

We have some fantastic offer’s on for Christmas so that you don’t have to feel the pinch too much. Take advantage of £16 off per person on our Weekday Morning Champagne Balloon Flights, or alternatively the same saving on our Weekday Champagne Balloon Flights. Finally enjoy another £16 off our Standard Champagne Balloons Flights. Simply order online, or call us on 01252 844222 to book the gift of a lifetime.

If anyone was going to cross the English Channel in a Hot Air Balloon it had to be Adventure Balloons and my how patient we were! Being the only UK balloon flights company to possess a ‘Happy Birthday’ balloon, of course we had to choose this for the trip!

We exceedingly patiently waited on standby from the beginning of October 2010 for the first Channel Crossing by hot air balloon since 2005! But low-and-behold, October and early November simply didn’t provide the North Westerly winds required to blow us to France by the shortest route (from Dover to somewhere close to Calais). In a normal passenger flight scenario, we leave room for enough gas to get us through an approximate hour flight. Making the crossing did not entail the addition of any passengers and so we obviously had more room for gas, however a crossing with a speed or direction in excess of 2 hours would be tricky and could even result in a rather unfortunate wet dip if the fuel ran out. Obviously not wanting to take this risk, we had to wait it out until the ideal weather conditions arose.

As you can imagine, the organisation and preparation required for an event such as this is quite staggering! It was all hands on deck! Another Balloons Over Britain member company Airborne Balloons (http://www.airborneballoons.co.uk/cross_channel.php) organised the event, leaving the matter of getting the balloon ‘ship shape’ in our hands. This involved the addition of further fuel tanks without compromising on space, radios, cameras, sandwiches and of course the essential ingredient, chocolate. We also had to organise immersion suits and a self inflating 4 person life raft (just in case) which was hired from http://www.aerosafe.co.uk/index.html. To save space the life raft was attached to the outside of the basket as was one of the fuel tanks!

Our hopes were raised on Monday April 4^th when weather conditions appeared spot on; however it wasn’t until a few days later that the event went ahead. At five o’clock in the morning we arrived in the dark at Lydden Hill Motor Racing circuit for the mass ascent and an attempt on the world record for the greatest number of balloons flying the channel! Palletways sponsored the event and were very hopeful. At 6am we had our safety briefing which was shortly followed by the very much anticipated balloon take off at 7:15am. Our balloon, carrying probably the youngest person to ever fly over the channel by balloon, then flew over Dover Castle, overtook the ferry as we sped along at speeds of up to 30knots at 1,000 feet (nearly twice the speed we could safely fly passengers) and having flown over Calais Harbour we landed at Calais Airport at 8.45am, covering about 25 miles in a hour and a half!

What an achievement and what a memorable morning it was!

If you’re reading this then I’m guessing you’re toying with the idea of hot air ballooning. Many people purchase a hot air ballooning trip for themselves as a sort ‘life ambition gift’. Most of us dream of hot air ballooning one day and sadly a great deal of those will never actually fulfil the goal; it gets put off and put off until frankly, it’s just too late. Those of us who take the leap and join the world of ballooning then realise just why so many of us Brits dream of taking to the skies in this way. It is an experience like no other, exhilarating, breathtaking, relaxing, inspirational, euphoric, tranquil and emotional even. Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?

Ballooning is also a gift given to others. This could be as a birthday present, anniversary surprise, congratulations or reward gift, a romantic gesture, a Christmas present; for many their doesn’t have to be a reason! To receive those ‘golden’ tickets that will allow you the life time chance of taking to the skies in a hot air balloon, is in itself an exciting thing. Just picture the look on their face when they realise what’s in store for them!

At Adventure Balloons we cover various flight locations across Britain, for example Oxford, Reading, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford, Tring, London, Basingstoke, Hartley Wintney, Guildford, Farnham, Godalming, West Meon, Alton, Winchester, Kent, Sussex and Essex.

Our south Hampshire area is one of our most popular spots. Flying from Anstey Park in Alton, from West Meon, from Micheldever near the railway station and from the City of Winchester, there’s plenty of ‘flight paths’ to choose from. However do bear in mind, the exact course you end up taking is completely wind dependent! Our customers commonly see the impressive Winchester Cathedral and are in awe of its staggering beauty from above! Be seduced by the rolling Hampshire countryside, the River Test, the pretty little villages such as Laverstoke, Whitchurch, and the Candovers. You can often see the large estates of Leckford on the River Test where Waitrose produce a lot of their food, the Mid Hants Steam Railway that runs from Alton to Alresford, and many a time we’ve had the rather unusual experience of seeing a glider circling around Lasham airfield, or microlights flying from Popham airfield.

Book your chance to fly in a hot air balloon with Adventure Balloons and you will receieve a 12 month voucher which will entitle you to select your date from anytime (depending on which voucher you buy) over the 12 months following purchase! Book online or call us on 01252 844222.