Brihuega Hot Air Balloon Ride over the Lavender Fields

The lavender is the reason this flight exists. Brihuega sits on the Alcarria plateau in Guadalajara, and in July the fields around the town run violet in straight rows that make far more sense from the air than from the roadside. That is also the catch worth knowing before you book. Outside the flowering weeks the same ground is ordinary farmland, cut back and brown, so this is a ride to time rather than one to slot in wherever it happens to fit the trip. The group gathers by the monument to the Battle of Brihuega, then moves to the launch field, where you can watch the envelope fill and the balloon come upright before anyone climbs in. Take-off is with the first light of dawn, when the air over the plateau is calm enough to fly. The flight lasts an hour above Brihuega and the farmland around it. Back on the ground the crew opens the cava and puts out a picnic lunch of cheeses and cured meats, and every passenger is handed a flight certificate. July dates go first, so book well ahead if the purple fields are what you are coming for.