Hot Air Balloon Rides in Alentejo & Monsaraz

Monsaraz is a walled village on a hill with a castle at the top and, since 2002, a lake underneath it. The Alqueva is the largest artificial lake in western Europe, and it changed what a flight here looks like: the balloon crosses cork oak country and then a sheet of water that reflects the sunrise.

This is also the darkest sky in Portugal — the Alqueva area holds a starlight tourism certification — which matters more than it sounds. The flights leave before dawn, and the drive out is under stars.