Absolutely unforgettable experience!…read more My friend surprised me with a hot air balloon ride for my birthday, and I honestly could not have asked for a better adventure. From start to finish, Monticello Country Ballooning was absolutely thrilling. We had perfect weather, stunning views, and an incredible crew. Mandy, Chris, and Holly were amazing--professional, knowledgeable, and genuinely fun to be around. They made the entire experience feel exciting, safe, and special, which made the surprise even more memorable. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an unforgettable adventure. If you're even thinking about it--do it. You won't regret it.

The team was absolutely amazing by explaining what we would encounter. Ensuring we felt…read morecomfortable and knew the safety rules. The pilot (Mandy) pointed out key local features. Victoria on the ground crew was engaging and took excellent photos and videos. Your experience was obviously their focus right after safety. The kewlest part was landing, but I suggest you experience that for yourself

For our 20th wedding anniversary we wanted something romantic and unforgettable. This hot air…read moreballoon ride was the perfect thing. (I try not to overuse the word "perfect" but my goodness, in this instance, other words fail.) Early yesterday morning, we met up in a designated parking lot where my husband and I got in the truck with pilot Liana and her ground woman/daughter, Nicole, for the rest of the drive to the launch site. It's a multi generational family business; we absolutely loved the dynamic between these two. They are a delight! ... As Liana started to go over some instructions, I got butterflies realizing this is actually gonna happen! (The website explains that a significant percentage of flights are canceled due to unsuitable weather conditions, but yesterday was, well, PERFECT.) We arrived at an open field where Liana and Nicole set up a balloon called "Renaissance." It looked enormous to us but apparently it's their smallest balloon, mostly reserved for private flights like ours. We got to help a bit which was SO COOL getting to be hands on with some of it. Takeoff was absolutely smooth and beautiful. Anyone fearing heights and/or motion sickness take it from me - I experience both in every day life and neither sensation at any point on this hot air balloon flight. It's a weird disconnect, Liana is good at explaining it, but I was perfectly at ease with the heights the entire time, and never nauseous. If either of those things are holding you back don't let them! You will love being in the basket of the hot air balloon and you will feel so proud of yourself for doing it! The ride itself is almost impossible to describe. Breathtaking views of fog resting above the winding river, the sun rising over the mountains, looking down on the backs of high soaring birds, all the neighborhoods that seem like toys from that height, tiny cars moving along ribbons of highway , ... so much natural beauty it was quite overwhelming to take it all in. A highlight was when Liana brought the balloon down for a "splash and dash", letting the bottom of the basket kiss the top of the water. Our balloon cast a rainbow reflection in the water and a heart shaped shadow on the trees. GUYS!! What could be more perfectly romantic than that!? Nicole met us w the truck at the landing site and was on the ground guiding the balloon with a tether as we came in. We were warned about a potential bumpy landing but it was so gentle and quiet, like a butterfly alighting on a twig. While the balloon was deflating on the lawn, a bald eagle flew over us, as if to tip it's wing to a perfect morning in the skies. Once Renaissance was rolled up and basket & balloon put away in the truck, we headed back to the parking lot for a post-flight toast with nonalcoholic bubbly. Everything about yesterday was even more wonderful than I imagined preflight. I highly recommend this experience and specifically this company and crew to anyone interested in hot air ballooning.

Liana and team made our July 3rd sunrise hot air balloon ride a fantastic experience. The night…read morebefore they have a 8:30PM decision on if the weather looks like it will co-operate. They will text you (or you can contact them) to determine the tentative launch location. We were lucky and the launch was at our hotel (Boars Head Resort)...which made it easy in the early morning so that we did not have to drive to the event. One person in our private group doesn't love heights but had no issues on this trip because Liana did a wonderful job controlling the balloon. Everyone commented how smooth the take off and landing went...it was impressive. We enjoyed smooth sailing over the countryside of Charlottesville. Lots of photo opportunities! We landed in our target area (farm field) and the crew quickly packed up the balloon in the company truck. We were driven back to the hotel in the truck and enjoyed a sparkling grape juice toast (and learned a bit of history on the post-flight toast). I would highly recommend this company to check hot air balloon ride off your bucket list.

Good service and fun event. The people were very friendly. Professionally operated. Fair price and…read moresafe

This was my first time in a hot air balloon and it was amazing! It was a great price and our guide,…read moreRick, was awesome. He knew about the area and could answer any questions we had. He's been doing rides over the Charlottesville/Albemarle are for quite a while and had some great stories about his days up in that balloon. I really felt involved the whole time. My mother and I, along with one other couple, all helped "inflate" the ballon together as well as deflate. He even let me help fly for a short period of time!

Poor customer service and communication. Save your money or find another hot air balloon.read more

I had the opportunity to take a balloon ride for our 15th anniversary. It was everything that I…read moreexpected. When I was doing the research, it says that the activity would take 3-4 hours, with the flight time maxing out at an hour. I didn't really believe it, but it's the truth. The time they take to prepare once at the launch site made me feel safe. They even had a backup plan depending on the wind direction. Speaking of wind, it typically has to be around 5 mph or less. The weather is a big limiting factor. We had to call multiple times during the day to check in on the weather forecast. Originally we didn't think we were going to be able to go because of the wind, but it settled down for a great ride. A word to the wise; I asked about the odds of being able to go daily due to the weather, 60% chance of going in the morning and only 30% in the evening. Keep that in mind when booking. There are no refunds due to weather. You only have the ability to reschedule. The group that was supposed to be didn't have the flexibility so we were on the flight by ourselves. We were in contact with the chase van during the entire trip. Once we found a place to land, they were there to greet us, load up the balloon, and head back to our vehicles. I would not hesitate to do it again.

I want to make certain that this review gets on the accurate company... Mark will state that…read more"Virginia Balloon Rides" is a different company. So just to make sure we are accurate I created this listing. My wife purchased a groupon for a "SUNRISE" balloon ride for our anniversary. She called him like asked the night before at 830PM to find out what time we had to meet Mark. She called and was told that we needed to be in Surry at 0545 the next morning. We live in Norfolk, so we left our house at 0430 to make sure we were there at 0545. We arrive and Mark is in the parking lot. He asked us to park across the street, and as we were walking back across the road we here him cussing at his assistant while trying to get the burner on the basket. We thought that we were the only ones on the ride that morning, but after the sun was well up, the other couple that was scheduled on the ride showed up about 0630. SO MUCH FOR A "SUNRISE" ride. During the 45 minutes we were waiting on the other couple to arrive, we had to listen to Mark do nothing but complain about the county of Surry for not granting him a permit to fly. He also proceeded to convince us of us complete disregard of the county ordinances etc etc. He also repeatedly told us he was going to have to stop at the store and get the CHAMPAGNE that he was supposed to have for the mimosas on the flight. (we didn't really care about the champagne, just to further note his lack of preparedness) So, the other couple shows up, of course telling us they hoped they didnt keep us waiting too long, to my thought of, "well you know what time you should have been here at 0545, so you know exactly how long you kept us waiting". However, to avoid an issue a thousand feet up, and the potential for ejecting someone out of the basket, I just saved it for my yelp review. So we get in the van, and drive to a winery property close by for our deployment. We arrive, and Mark and assistant unload the balloon, and basket. Then, Mark asks me and the other male passenger to hold the balloon while he inflates it with cold air via a fan. So, as Mark is standing there admiring his balloon being blown up and smoking his cigarette, the other guy and I are holding this balloon. So the balloon gets blown up and we all hop in the basket and lift off, and Mark's assistant takes off in the van trying to follow us. The balloon ride was pretty amazing. It was my wife and my first ride, and was truly a unique experience. I guess about as close as you can get to just standing in thin air. However what goes up must come down. We came down in a field in behind someone's trailer. Mark asks me to hop out of the basket and pull the balloon to the road. (the "road" he was talking about, was about a half mile away). Once he realized that this was not going to work, he decided to just set the balloon down. Once touched down, Mark disconnects the lead on the top of the balloon, and asks me to pull the balloon to the ground. This is when we learn two things... 1.) he has no ability to track the balloon from the van, and 2.) he nor his assistant have cell phone reception, so we are somewhat stranded in the field hoping that his assistant will figure out where we are. After about 15 minutes Mark decided to walk up the road to see if he can see his assistant driving by. Mark and his assistant finally return with the van about 45 minutes later. Once Mark got the trailer in position, he got out the bag for the balloon and then proceeded to watch his assistant fold the the entire balloon. Once folded, he then asked myself and the other customer to help load the balloon in the bag. Of course after getting the balloon in the bag, we had to help him get the basket and balloon on the trailer. After all of this, he then asks if we want to get some breakfast with him in Wakefield, to which we replied that we needed to get back to our car so we could get home. We were only about 10 minutes from where our car was, however Mark managed to get lost and take another 40 minutes to get us back to our car. Once back at the car we were getting ready to exit the van and Mark was looking at me as if he was waiting for his tip. Although I had many tips for him, I just exited the van thanking him for the ride, and left. This balloon ride was such a thoughtful gift from my wife, and I truly enjoyed the ride. I just wish that Mark had been more professional in every aspect of his business including personal Hygiene. Also, if you are going to sell a "balloon experience" where you participate as part of the launch and recovery crew, state so during the purchase. If you are expecting to just show up and have a nice leisurely ride, do not use Virginia Balloons.