Hot Air Balloon First Ride Ever In Costa Brava, Spain Adventure Travel!

Have you dreamed of taking a hot-air-balloon ride in Costa Brava? I had not. My dreams usually involved food, trains and activities where gravity remained somebody else’s problem. Still, there I was before sunrise, preparing to climb into a wicker basket beside a volcano.

Travel has taught me many life lessons, including the deeply inconvenient one that the experiences I most want to avoid sometimes become the stories I remember best. I love trying unfamiliar food, visiting new places and throwing myself into different cultures. Heights are another matter. My fear of them is real, stubborn and considerably less photogenic.

I have never let it stop me from boarding a plane or crossing a bridge, but I have quietly shaped my travels around it. My taste buds have always been far more adventurous than the rest of my body. Put something strange on a plate and I am interested. Ask me to leap from a bridge attached to an elastic band and I suddenly become a passionate supporter of conventional infrastructure.

First, a Small Geographic Correction

This flight formed part of our wider Costa Brava trip, but here is the geographic detail worth getting right: we were not floating over beaches and seaside resorts. We took off inland over La Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park, near Santa Pau and Olot in Girona province.

That distinction matters. La Garrotxa is green, rural and volcanic, with roughly forty volcanic cones and more than twenty basaltic lava flows. The Pyrenees rise in the distance, and on a clear day the views can stretch much farther across Catalonia. The coastline belongs to the wider trip. The volcanoes are what sit directly below the basket.

We flew with Vol de Coloms, a local company based near Santa Pau. They have been flying over La Garrotxa since 1992, which was reassuring. I generally prefer my pilots to have more ballooning experience than I do.

Sleeping Near the Balloon Was the Sensible Move

The night before the flight, Audrey and I stayed at Hotel Mas La Ferreria in La Vall de Bianya. In our video I described it as being “like travelling back in time.” Stone walls, old beams, quiet countryside—the sort of place where staying awake late feels vaguely disrespectful to the building.

More importantly, we were already in La Garrotxa. We did not have to begin the day with a heroic drive from the coast while half asleep and following a GPS down dark rural roads. Staying locally does not make the alarm pleasant. It merely removes several opportunities to make the morning worse.

Coffee, Darkness and an Inflating Balloon

We arrived at Vol de Coloms in darkness and warmed up with tea and coffee while the balloons slowly filled. Watching an enormous envelope spread across a field and rise into shape is half practical briefing, half theatre. The burners roar. The fabric lifts. Everyone takes photos. Meanwhile, the nervous people pretend they are only cold.

I used those final minutes to reconsider the entire chain of decisions that had placed me beside an inflating balloon before breakfast.

My first instinct had been to pass. It was not as though the balloon was essential transportation. Nobody was waiting at the other end with our luggage. I could have remained on the ground, rejoined the group later and enjoyed the rare travel luxury of knowing exactly where my feet were.

That would have been the easy decision—and probably the comfortable one. But the thought of floating over volcanoes with the Pyrenees in the distance kept nagging at me. Fear was offering a very sensible argument. Curiosity, as usual, was louder.

Take-Off: So Much for My Brave Face

Once the balloon was upright, it was time to climb into the basket. Audrey sounded excited. I announced that it was “happening,” which was technically correct and emotionally evasive.

The ground began to slide away. People who had been standing beside us became tiny dots. I did not scream, grab anybody or demand an emergency landing. Instead, I panicked internally like a professional—quietly imagining every possible failure while trying to look as though I was studying the scenery.

Once we were properly airborne, I admitted on camera, “I had a bit of a freak out going up, but now it is okay.” Audrey immediately replied, “Sam is putting on a brave face for the camera.” Then, because she believes in complete and efficient character assassination, she added: “It is all an act.”

She was right. My heroic composure had lasted only until somebody who knew me spoke.

What Flying in a Hot-Air Balloon Actually Feels Like

The strange thing is that the flight itself was far gentler than my imagination. On our morning there was no rollercoaster drop, no aircraft-style turbulence and no feeling that we were charging across the sky. Once the ascent settled, we seemed almost stationary while the landscape quietly rearranged itself beneath us.

A balloon travels with the surrounding air. The pilot controls altitude by heating and cooling the air inside the envelope, but the wind chooses the direction. There is no neat sightseeing circuit and no runway waiting at the end. You go where the morning allows, while the ground crew follows below.

I would be lying if I claimed I reached sofa-level relaxation. I did, however, unclench enough to take out my camera. That was progress. For the first few minutes I had been mentally preparing my final words; now I was worried about exposure settings.

Audrey described the same flight in her own Costa Brava article with one word: peaceful. She remembered us rising through fog and clouds while the burner periodically broke the silence. Looking down, the towns and villages still appeared asleep. She noticed the calm. I noticed that the basket remained attached.

Volcanoes Below, Cava Above

The view eventually bullied my fear into the background. Below us were forests, patchwork fields, roads, villages and the rounded forms of La Garrotxa’s volcanic landscape. From a car, the geography arrives one bend at a time. From a balloon, the whole thing suddenly makes sense.

Fog covered much of the ground at first, and then we climbed above it. Audrey remembered floating just below 2,000 metres on that particular morning while the sunrise shifted through peach and periwinkle. I would love to tell you I identified those colours myself. I was busy checking the basket.

Somewhere around the halfway point, the pilot produced cava and cake. This was excellent strategy. It is difficult to maintain a full existential crisis while holding a drink and eating dessert above a blanket of clouds.

That was the turning point. I was not suddenly cured of my fear of heights, and I did not begin browsing pilot-training programmes. But for a while I was genuinely okay up there. Better than okay, actually.

Landing: My Favourite Part, for Obvious Reasons

Then came the descent—also known as the part I had been privately looking forward to since take-off. Our landing was so smooth that we barely felt the basket touch the field. I had survived my first balloon ride, remained inside the basket and retained possession of my camera. A flawless personal performance.

My first words on the ground were not poetic: “I have never been so happy to have my two feet back on the ground.”

Audrey again called the flight peaceful and said she would happily do it again. To my own surprise, I agreed.

“With a gin and tonic first,” I added. Courage is important. So is preparation.

The crew then gave us a flight certificate and map. I briefly suggested that it might be our captain’s licence to fly the balloon ourselves. Audrey explained that I still had to earn that. Given my performance during ascent, the authorities made the correct decision.

The Reward for Surviving: A Catalan Brunch

The morning did not end in the field. We returned for a Catalan brunch: bread rubbed with tomato and olive oil, sliced meats, hot beans and—mercifully—more coffee. After waking in darkness and spending the morning drifting above volcanoes, subtle portions were not required.

The current Vol de Coloms experience follows the same generous pattern. Its standard package advertises pa amb tomàquet, Santa Pau beans, botifarra, local dairy desserts, wine and ratafia after the support crew retrieves passengers. Dietary requirements can be accommodated when arranged in advance. This is not an activity where you land, receive half a biscuit and get pointed toward the car park.

La Garrotxa Hot-Air-Balloon Ride: The Useful Facts

How to Book This Balloon Ride

There are three sensible ways to book the flight. The right one depends mostly on whether you already have a car, where you are sleeping and how much suffering you are willing to tolerate before sunrise.

Booking Directly with Vol de Coloms

The operator’s standard shared La Garrotxa flight is the straightforward option when you are driving yourself or staying nearby. Booking direct also gives access to family flights, private flights, adapted baskets and accommodation packages.

Self-Drive GetYourGuide Option

The La Garrotxa volcanoes half-day balloon flight is the easiest bookable match for the experience described in this article. It packages the pre-flight coffee, roughly 1–1.5 hours in the air, cava and cake, ground recovery, breakfast and certificate into a morning of about five hours.

GetYourGuide Option with Barcelona Transfers

Travellers based in Barcelona can book the La Garrotxa balloon flight with round-trip Barcelona transfers. Pickup is brutally early—normally around 5:00–6:00 a.m.—and the full excursion takes about eight hours.

It costs more than reaching Santa Pau independently, but it removes the rental car, the dark rural drive and the possibility of becoming lost before dawn while arguing with your navigation app. That is real value, especially when nobody in the vehicle has had enough coffee.

Why the Alarm Clock Is So Cruel

The savage alarm is not tourism-industry sadism, although it may feel personal at 5:30 a.m. Balloon pilots favour the cooler, more stable air around sunrise, before daytime heating creates stronger currents and less cooperative winds.

The trade-off is a wake-up time normally associated with airport misery. The reward is soft light, quiet countryside and villages that can still appear asleep beneath you. I dislike mornings, but even I have to admit that noon would not have looked the same.

Weather Can Cancel the Whole Thing

Ballooning is not an activity you bully into happening because it fits your itinerary. Rain, poor visibility or unsuitable winds can postpone the flight—occasionally after you have already dressed, driven out and begun congratulating yourself for being awake.

Vol de Coloms normally contacts passengers with the forecast, but the pilot still makes the final call on the morning. A cancellation is frustrating. A company willing to launch into bad conditions would be considerably worse.

Book the flight near the beginning of your stay, not on the final morning before a train or flight. A spare day gives the operator somewhere to move you. Shaking your fist at the clouds does not.

Afraid of Heights? Here Is the Honest Version

I cannot tell another nervous traveller, “You will be fine.” Fear does not work like a hotel amenity, and one reassuring blog paragraph is not a medical guarantee.

What I can say is that my worst moment was the initial climb. Once the balloon settled into the wind, the physical sensation became far calmer than expected. There was no stomach-dropping plunge, and the basket felt more solid than the ridiculous flying picnic hamper I had imagined.

Tell the crew you are nervous. Listen to the briefing. Look toward the horizon before staring straight down, and give your brain a few minutes to stop writing disaster films. Most importantly, do not waste energy pretending to be fearless. I tried. Audrey exposed me almost immediately.

Children, Pregnancy and Accessible Baskets

Vol de Coloms currently advises pregnant travellers and children under five not to fly. Family packages are available for older children, with juice replacing the cava. Probably sensible. A six-year-old does not need rosé to appreciate a volcano.

Accessibility is one area where this operator stands out. Its regular baskets have doors, so passengers do not necessarily have to clamber over a high wicker wall. Vol de Coloms also offers an adapted balloon experience with a fully opening door, adjustable seating and adapted return transport.

“Accessible” never means identical for everybody. Contact the operator before paying, explain the passenger’s mobility and transfer needs clearly, and let the crew confirm what can be done safely.

What to Wear Without Overthinking It

• Layers: The field can be cold before sunrise, while the basket becomes warmer once the burner starts working. Dress like somebody who expects the temperature to change.
• Closed shoes: You may land in a damp or uneven field. This is not the morning for sandals, polished loafers or footwear chosen mainly for Instagram.
• A small bag: Basket space is limited. Bring what you need, not the complete contents of your hotel room.
• A secure camera strap: Dropping a camera from a balloon would improve neither the photograph nor the farmer’s morning.
• Personal essentials: Bring medication, glasses and anything you cannot comfortably leave behind for several hours.

Get the obvious photographs early: the basket, other balloons, volcanoes, villages and sunrise. Then put the camera away. I say this as somebody capable of turning a beautiful moment into a small unpaid media assignment.

Getting to the Launch Site

The launch base sits beside Croscat volcano at Ctra. del Volcà Croscat s/n, 17811 Santa Pau, Girona. Customers have private parking, which is useful because the balloon is early enough without adding a roadside parking scavenger hunt.

A car is the easiest independent option. Buses reach Olot and other towns in La Garrotxa, but public transport was not designed around tourists who need to stand beside a balloon at 6:30 a.m. Arrive the day before and sleep around Santa Pau, Olot or La Vall de Bianya.

Without a car, the Barcelona transfer package is the cleanest answer. You can also ask Vol de Coloms about current pickup possibilities around Olot, Santa Pau or Girona before building the rest of the trip around an assumption.

Where to Sleep Before the Early Start

For the least painful morning, stay near Santa Pau. Hotel Cal Sastre in Santa Pau places you in the village close to the launch area. Hotel Mas La Ferreria is the atmospheric countryside option Audrey and I actually experienced. For more restaurants and services, Hotel Riu Fluvià in Olot is another practical base inside the volcanic region.

Readers who prefer to compare location, cancellation terms and live prices can browse places to stay in Santa Pau, hotels in Olot or accommodation across La Garrotxa. Compare the map, not just the room photos. A beautiful hotel becomes less charming when the alarm is set for 4:45 a.m.

What to Do Afterward—Without Ruining Your Afternoon

The balloon and breakfast consume most of the morning. Resist the travel-blog urge to schedule six more “must-do” experiences before dinner. You woke up in darkness, flew above volcanoes and drank cava in the sky. The day has already justified itself.

• Croscat volcano: The launch facilities sit beside the park’s youngest volcanic cone, making it a logical landscape to explore from ground level after seeing the region from above.
• Santa Margarida volcano: A popular crater walk with a small Romanesque chapel inside the crater.
• Fageda d’en Jordà: A beech forest growing over an old lava flow, offering a striking contrast to the open aerial view.
• Santa Pau: A compact medieval village near the launch area, well suited to a slow walk rather than an over-engineered itinerary.

Check the official natural park visitor information before setting off. Access rules and path conditions can change, and volcanoes are not improved by ignoring local guidance.

La Garrotxa Hot-Air-Balloon FAQs

Is this balloon ride actually on the Costa Brava coast?

No. The balloon launches inland over La Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park near Santa Pau and Olot. It fits naturally into a broader Costa Brava and Girona Pyrenees trip, but the scenery directly below is forest, farmland, villages and volcanic terrain—not beach umbrellas.

How long does the experience last?

The flight normally lasts about one to one and a half hours. Once you include coffee, inflation, briefing, the flight, recovery, breakfast and the certificate, most of the morning is gone. Do not schedule a 10:00 a.m. museum ticket and expect the wind to respect it.

Is the route always the same?

No. The pilot controls altitude, but the wind chooses the direction and landing area. The support crew follows below and collects passengers after landing. Think expedition, not city sightseeing bus.

Do flights operate throughout the year?

Yes, when the weather cooperates. Flights operate throughout the year, including winter. Colder mornings can produce excellent visibility, but they also require clothing and a level of pre-dawn enthusiasm I do not naturally possess.

Can passengers with reduced mobility fly?

Potentially, yes. The regular baskets have doors, and a specially adapted basket offers adjustable seating. Contact Vol de Coloms before booking so the crew can assess the passenger’s actual needs rather than forcing everybody into a vague checkbox.

What happens if the flight is cancelled for weather?

The operator postpones the flight and offers another date when conditions are unsuitable. This is why the first morning of your stay is smarter than the last. Clouds do not care about your checkout time.

Can dietary requirements be accommodated?

Yes, when notified in advance. The operator says it can adapt the in-flight food and post-flight breakfast for allergies, intolerances, vegetarian diets and vegan diets. Mention it when booking, not when the botifarra reaches the table.

Would I Do It Again?

Although I was delighted to be back on solid ground, I was already considering another flight. That surprised me more than anything. The fear had been genuine. So had the reward.

Had I stayed behind, I would have missed the fog, volcanoes, sleeping villages, sunrise, cava, cake and the deeply satisfying moment when the basket touched the earth again. Fear would have protected me from discomfort and quietly stolen the entire morning.

Would I do it again? Yes. Would I still prefer a gin and tonic first? Also yes. Growth has limits.

This post was brought to you as a result of the #EuroFoodTrip campaign, created and managed by iambassador in partnership with Costa Brava & Girona Pyrenees and Emilia Romagna Tourism. As always, all thoughts remain my own.