Segovia Hot Air Balloon Ride Over the Roman Aqueduct

Most visitors meet the Roman aqueduct from below, standing in the plaza and looking up at the granite. From a balloon it reads as a single line ruled straight through the city. The old town and the aqueduct are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and an hour in the air puts them in the same frame as the Alcazar on its rock and the Sierra de Guadarrama ridge behind. Take-off is on Calle 3 de Abril, inside Segovia, so there is no transfer to build into the morning and nowhere else to set out from. Passengers arrive for a departure at around 8am, when the air is at its most stable, and can help with the setup while the envelope fills. The pilot goes through the route and the safety rules once everyone is aboard. After that the balloon simply goes where the wind takes it, the pilot working up and down through altitudes to find the currents that steer it, so the city keeps rearranging itself below: cathedral tower, tiled roofs, then the aqueduct again from a different side. Landing is the last stretch of the flight, and the ground crew meets the balloon with the support vehicle. Cava follows, along with a picnic of Spanish ham, chorizo and cheese, served with soft drinks and water. Every passenger gets a participation certificate and a photo report, and the flight is filmed in HD and sent on later. The largest balloons carry ten passengers and the pilot. The whole thing runs about three hours, and cancellation is free up to 48 hours before departure.