Dress as if you were going for a walk in the countryside on a cool morning, not as if you were going flying. Balloons launch just after dawn from open fields that are cold and wet with dew, and you will stand in one for half an hour while the crew inflates the envelope. Aloft, the opposite problem appears: the burner a metre above your head radiates real warmth every time it fires. One rule settles every packing question. Dress for the ground, not the sky.
Cold field, mild sky
Almost everyone overdresses for the flight and underdresses for the field. Launch sites are open meadows, soaked at 6 a.m. even in summer, and nothing leaves the ground until the weather check and 30 to 45 minutes of inflation are done. That is where you feel the cold.
In the air the picture flips. You cruise a few hundred metres up, where the air is only 2 or 3 degrees cooler, there is no wind chill because the balloon moves with the wind, and every burner blast warms your head and shoulders. Passengers who shivered on the grass often peel off a layer mid-flight. The first hour of the morning, not the flight itself, decides what you should wear.
The 7 essentials
Everything you need fits on your body and in your pockets.
- Layers. A t-shirt, a fleece and a light jacket you can tie around your waist. You will probably shed one once the burner gets going.
- Closed, flat shoes. Trainers or light hikers with grip. The grass is wet at dawn, and the landing may put you down on stubble or ploughed earth.
- A brimmed hat or cap. It blocks the heat the burner radiates downward and shades your eyes once the sun is up.
- Sunglasses, only if low sun genuinely bothers you. At dawn the light sits on the horizon, right where you will be looking.
- A phone or camera with a strap. You need both hands free to climb in and to land, and nothing may dangle over the edge.
- A small bottle of water. Door to door, the morning lasts 3 to 4 hours, most of it outdoors.
- Light gloves in the cold months. Your hands rest on the basket edge and stay out of your pockets for the whole flight.
Why the hat beats the sunglasses
Stand in the basket and the burners sit roughly a metre above the tallest head. Each blast is loud, bright and warm enough to feel on your scalp like a sudden patch of summer. A simple cap cancels it, and tall passengers notice the difference most.
The cap earns its keep a second time after sunrise. A balloon flies with the sun near the horizon for most of the trip, so the glare comes in low and flat. Sunglasses help some people; a brim helps everyone.
What to leave at the hotel
Four things cause most of the trouble at launch fields. Flip-flops and heels soak through in the grass, and the basket can slide a short distance on touchdown, which is no place for open toes. Loose scarves and floaty layers have no business near a burner frame. Selfie sticks and drones are banned by most operators: anything that slips from your hand at 500 metres falls on somebody's farm, and a drone near an envelope is a genuine hazard. Big bags have no home either, since basket compartments hold people and fuel tanks and nothing else. Leave your bag in the chase vehicle, which meets the balloon at the landing site anyway.
One last note. What you wear never gets a flight cancelled, but weather does, and often. If your dates are flexible, start with the best time to fly and give yourself a spare morning.
Dressed and ready?
See how the morning actually unfolds, from the pre-dawn meeting point to the landing toast.
What to wear: quick answers
Is it cold up in a hot air balloon?
Barely colder than the ground. Air cools by roughly 2 degrees Celsius for every 300 metres of height, and most flights cruise between 150 and 600 metres. Add the burner overhead and the absence of wind chill, and the launch field at dawn is nearly always the coldest part of the morning.
Can I take my phone or camera on a balloon flight?
Yes, and you should. Use a wrist strap or a zipped pocket, keep it attached to you whenever it is over the edge, and stow it for landing so both hands are free to hold the basket. Selfie sticks stay on the ground.
Should I wear long trousers or shorts?
Long trousers win. Landing sites are working farmland: stubble, tall grass, sometimes mud. Trousers also keep you warm during inflation, when you are standing still in the coldest air of the day.
Can I bring a backpack into the basket?
Usually not. Passenger compartments are snug, and everything aboard must stay clear of fuel lines and the pilot. Operators will happily lock a small bag in the chase vehicle, which is waiting at the landing site when you touch down.