Mexico City - Which Hot Air Balloon Tour To Pick for Teotihuacan
So you want to fly in a hot air balloon over Teotihuacan but don’t know which tour company to use? I had this dilemma and did a lot of reading before making my decision - many tour companies have mixed or poor reviews. To save you the effort, I’ve broken down exactly what our hot air balloon day involved, which provider we used and why - read more below.
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Who we used and why
For the exact tour we booked, click here.
The Teotihuacan hot air balloon tour is one of the top rated activities to do from Mexico City, with good reason - even though it blew our backpacker budget, it is an absolute must! After much research, I came to the conclusion that Volare was who I wanted to book our hot air balloon tour with, for 3 reasons.
They are the longest continually operating hot air balloon company in Mexico and have an excellent safety record (safety should be your number one priority).
They are one of the few companies that will actually pick you up directly from the hotel (many will ask you to come to a meeting point which is not logistically easy at 4am (more on that later).
The reviews were excellent (many companies had very mixed or poor reviews for punctuality and professionalism).
No matter what, the absolute priority for your choice of provider should be safety - and some companies don’t have the best safety record. What do I know about hot air balloon safety? Not a lot, but Volare are Safe Travels certified and their pilots all have AFAC Mexico or FAA USA certifications.
How to book your Teotihuacan hot air balloon tour
You can book direct but it actually works out marginally cheaper if you book with Viator - just make sure it’s the Volare tour - this link is the exact one we used.
Full disclosure - we were actually offered a sponsored tour by another company but after reading their reviews, I just felt uneasy - it didn’t seem the most professional outfit and I don’t want to feel obligated to promote something that isn’t up to scratch. So we forked out the full amount ourselves, and I’m so glad we did because it was worth every penny. Read below to find out why.
Do I NEED a tour - transport to Teotihuacan
It is absolutely possible to get public transport to Teotihuacan, but not at 4am in the morning. All of the hot air balloon flights run early, aiming for sunrise, which means an early pick up. If you have hired a car, you can save a bit of money and drive directly to the Volare balloon port yourself. Otherwise, you’re going to need a tour with transport. Most of the hot air balloon companies make you meet at a designated pick up point but, again, you have the same problem with public transport - the metro doesn’t run early enough, so you’d either have to walk or get a taxi/uber to the pick up point. If you book with Volare, they’ll pick you up directly from your hotel. If your hotel isn’t on their list (ours wasn’t), you can choose the nearest option or contact them and request direct pick up (they were happy to do this for us).
Many reviews for other providers stated that they were left waiting for a long time, and missed sunrise because the process was disorganised. Of course, they can’t always help the traffic but our driver was incredibly punctual, waiting at our door for 4.30am, meaning we arrived at the balloon port by 6am.
Refreshments
Most tours will include breakfast after your flight but with Volare, we also had coffee, fruit and biscuits on arrival, which was a nice touch, and just tied us over until breakfast.
Check in
The check in process was very smooth - waiver signed, safety information given and we were instructed to wait outside for further instructions at a certain time. At this point I thought I’d be feeling nervous but honestly, I was nothing but excited. The weather was perfectly still, and seeing the balloons start to inflate while we waited patiently just added to the anticipation. Each group was called forward when it was time to board.
The balloon flight
The balloon ride itself lasted for around 30mins fully in the air and honestly, it was so serene that it felt like so much longer. I don’t know if we were just incredibly lucky with the weather but I was surprised at how stable the basket was. The baskets were bigger than I expected - there’s 16 people in a basket plus the pilot, which sounds like a lot, but it’s divided in quadrants and actually there’s plenty of room. You’re asked for the weight of each passenger when booking and you’re assigned a group in order to ensure the basket will be balanced. Apparently it’s not always easy to determine the direction of the balloon but we flew right over the top of Teotihuacan, which was incredible. We were also the highest balloon in the sky and went far higher than I expected!
To see the video of our flight, check out our instagram page here.
The landing
On landing, we were instructed to hold onto the handles and bend our knees - some people in the group ducked right down but that wasn’t necessary - it was a bit of a bump but nothing too scary. I was mainly impressed that the pilot landed the basket right onto the trailer ready to tow it back to the port.
Champagne toast
After landing, we had a champagne (or sparkling wine toast), as is tradition after every hot air balloon ride. This dates back to when they were first invented - it’s difficult to control the landing location so champagne was a peace offering when balloons landed in farmer’s field to prevent them from attacking with pitchforks out of fear of these unexacting fire breathing objects! Nowadays, it is used to celebrate a safe and successful flight.
Photos and videos
Each balloon is assigned a photographer who will take a few shots as the balloon is being readied, and then flies a drone during your flight. There’s also an insta-360 cam throughout the flight. They do this for every passenger and then offer for you to buy the footage after the flight. It’s completely optional and they aren’t pushy about it. At the time of our flight, there were various packages available, ranging from £50-£100 depending on which combinations of footage you’d like to buy. You can, of course, still take your own photos and videos.
Special events
Another cute touch that Volare offer (for free) is celebrating a special occasion such as a birthday or anniversary. They put banners out as you take off and the recipients are presented with a birthday cake or bunch of flowers during breakfast. If you have a special occasion, notify them in advance.
Breakfast
After the flight, we had a Mexican breakfast in their beautiful courtyard while being serenaded by a mariachi band, who were great fun and not pushy for tips (of course, you can tip if you want to). The breakfast was buffet style with a choice of scrambled egg, beans, chilaquiles, bread, yoghurt, granola, juice and coffee. It was delicious and a lovely atmosphere - the mariachi guys were great craic.
Teotihuacan archaeological site
You then have the option to return to Mexico City straight after breakfast, or to visit the archaeological site on foot. We did this, and I highly recommend - Teotihuacan was the largest pre-aztec city of central Mexico, with the Pyramid of the Sun standing as the third largest pyramid in the world today. The sheer size of the pyramids is not really comprehensible from the sky - just wait until you’re standing at the foot of them. We took a short mini bus to the site (included in the tour) and had around 3 hours there. A guide is optional - we didn’t get one but those that did only had good things to say. You do need to pay 210 Mexican pesos in cash per person entry fee, which is not included in the tour price (but this is very clear on booking). Although you can’t hike up the pyramid of the sun due to preservation reasons, you can climb part way up the pyramid of the moon, which gives a great view of the whole site, and is a unique experience - there are very few pyramids that you can actually do this on.
We departed around 12.45pm and arrived back into Mexico City at 2.30pm (this will depend on traffic and where your hotel is - we actually hopped off at the first drop off location as the traffic is mental, and we were hungry, so we found a nearby taco place before heading back to the hostel via metro.
What to wear
It’s recommended to bring layers and I couldn’t agree more. The morning started off very chilly (I wore a long sleeved top, fleece and thick trousers), but you are kept warm by the balloon flame. If you stay after the flight to visit the Teotihuacan archaeological site (which I thoroughly recommend), you may need a change of clothes. It can get extremely hot and it’s very exposed with no shade (I took shorts in my bag to change into and was very glad I did). Also, remember that you’re at high altitude, where the effects of the sun are much more intense. Bring sun cream and a hat! There’s not much in terms of food available at Teotihuacan so bring plenty of water and snacks if you’ll need them. But you will return to Mexico City in time for a late lunch.
Cost
Although we would consider ourselves mid-range backpackers, we prioritise experiences and I was happy to stretch the budget to cover this, but wanted to make sure it would be worth it. At the time of writing, it cost £256 per person plus around £8.50 per person (210 pesos) entry to Teotihuacan archaeological site. My absolute pet hate when it comes to budgeting, is feeling like something was bad value, especially if you’ve spent that bit more. I can hand-on-heart say that this tour was 100% worth every penny!
Some companies may be slightly cheaper but, to be honest, most of the tours sit around the same price point. For the sake of a few pounds difference, I’d rather know I’m getting a professional service and with Volare, you absolutely are.
Overall thoughts
Volare were extremely professional and well organised (as a type A person, I was very impressed). The hot air balloon ride itself was truly a bucket list experience, but the quality of the tour was top notch and I can thoroughly recommend. It was worth every penny. If your budget can stretch to it, this really is a must-do in Mexico City.
Book your hot air balloon tour here:
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