Calistoga Balloons
Calistoga Balloons
4.6
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Full view
About
Since 2002, Calistoga Balloons has flown thousands of wine country travelers looking to reconnect and restore their mind, body and soul. Experience Napa Valley like never before as morning winds carry you gently above corridors of grapes and between the mountains of one of the most magnificent valleys on Earth. Our chief pilot has been flying for over 30 years and his experienced crew will make sure your flight is safe, educational and most of all relaxing. These balloons are held to the highest levels of safety standards so sit back and enjoy the flight. Fly with the best around and make a memory you will cherish forever!
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Calistoga Balloons
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.6
59 reviews
Excellent
46
Very good
9
Average
0
Poor
2
Terrible
2
Elizabeth G
Auburn3 contributions
Jul 2015 • Couples
Our ground crew was friendly and professional, as was our pilot Larry who recently joined Calistoga Balloons after having flown balloons for over 5,000 hours in exciting places such as the Serengeti. He answered numerous questions and joked with us, BUT was appropriately serious re. safety instructions. We lifted off from the parking lot of the California Old Faithful Geyser just as it blew for an extra treat and after about an hour of gazing the beautiful Calistoga Valley and seeing the coastal fog off past the Santa Rosa foothills, landed so smoothly in a field not too far away (as there was virtually no wind this particular morning) that we didn’t even feel the slightest thump. I was truly impressed with the way Larry “read the subtle signs” and manipulated the enormous balloon without any obvious method of control, and when queried about it, he said it is like “three dimensional sailing”. My wife and I would do it again, but I would heed their instructions to wear a hat, as with my thinning hair, the radiant heat from the burner got pretty hot for those of us near the edge of the basket and not protected by the overhead shields. P.S. they fly all year around, weather permitting, and Larry said that in winter the ambient air is much cooler which means the balloon needs less HOT air to fly P.S.S. the company has recently changed ownership, so consider this when reading previous reviews
Written July 25, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lbgill
Winnsboro, LA26 contributions
Jul 2015 • Couples
This was an awesome event for us! We came thru San Francisco on motorcycles on a 2 week ride and chose to stop in Calistoga just for this! Was amazing. Daniel was our tour guide and he was GREAT! Very friendly and knowledgeable about the area. Would definitely recommend this!!
Written July 28, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steven B
Sacramento, CA1 contribution
Jul 2015 • Couples
The experience was great but our launch location wasn't where I thought it was going to be but this was due to the weather conditions it was not Calistoga Balloons fault.We ended up lifting off from the airport just outside of Santa Rosa but because of low clouds and not enough drift we stayed just over the airport...We saw vineyards but we didn't drift over any..2 other launch locations weren't good.That's why I picked Calistoga Balloons for there launch site near the hot water geysers and beautiful vineyards but mother nature had other plans.The pilot(DAN) was great very safety conscience well experienced and he was funny too.He made the experience GREAT even though we didn't actually float over any vineyards or geysers...I will go again but at a different time of the year...And yes I do like Calistoga Balloons and I will request DAN to be my pilot! I'm telling all my friends to try it. Steve.B
Written July 13, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Joe J
Woodland, CA1 contribution
Jul 2015 • Couples
Please, read this review. The only thing that makes me feel a little bit better about how horrible this experience was, is the hope that maybe someone will read this review and AVOID THIS COMPANY.
The occasion was my 6-year wedding anniversary and the date was 7/11/15. I booked the trip online with Adrenaline365 after reading mixed reviews on Yelp. The booking confirmation, emailed to me from Adrenaline365, looked professional and appeared to have all the information I needed.
The nightmare started when, per the booking confirmation, we called 707-738-6112 “1 hour before the meeting time to make sure the flight is going ahead as planned”. A fellow named Bob answered the phone, unprofessionally, and did not say anything about the flight not proceeding as planned. He mumbled some words then hung up on my wife. This call was made at 5:30am, exactly 1hr before our scheduled arrival (booking confirmation says, “Time: Please arrive at 6:30 AM”). At 6:04am, Bob called to find out where we were. My wife tells him that our GPS says we are 18 minutes from the meeting location (1458 Lincoln Ave in Calistoga). Bob tells my wife that we were supposed to be at the meeting location at 6am. My wife tells him that our booking confirmation says 6:30am. Bob then, unapologetically, tells my wife that since we are late we are going to have to meet the group at the launch site. To be clear, WE WERE NOT LATE. We were following the instructions on the booking confirmation.
Over the course of the next 45 minutes, Bob proceeded to give poor directions to several different locations, each call ending with Bob hanging up on my wife. The last set of directions had us driving out somewhere near highway 101 with no clear address from Bob on where to go. After this last set of non-directions, I called Bob to ask for a refund. Bob said that I would have to talk to the booking agent and then hung up on me. I called back…he hung up on me again. So, I called my credit card company and disputed the charges.
The booking confirmation says, “Occasionally weather forces an alternate route to be flown, if this is the case you will be given the option of a refund or to reschedule or to go ahead and fly the alternate route.” This is a lie. Bob did not give us this option.
The flight package was supposed to include a Champagne breakfast at Solage. My hope is that you will not only avoid Calistoga Balloons but also Solage and the booking company, Adrenaline. Solage and Adrenaline are just as guilty as Calistoga Balloons because of their choice to affiliate themselves with such a terrible company.
I wish I had listened to the other Yelp reviewers who warned me to STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!
The occasion was my 6-year wedding anniversary and the date was 7/11/15. I booked the trip online with Adrenaline365 after reading mixed reviews on Yelp. The booking confirmation, emailed to me from Adrenaline365, looked professional and appeared to have all the information I needed.
The nightmare started when, per the booking confirmation, we called 707-738-6112 “1 hour before the meeting time to make sure the flight is going ahead as planned”. A fellow named Bob answered the phone, unprofessionally, and did not say anything about the flight not proceeding as planned. He mumbled some words then hung up on my wife. This call was made at 5:30am, exactly 1hr before our scheduled arrival (booking confirmation says, “Time: Please arrive at 6:30 AM”). At 6:04am, Bob called to find out where we were. My wife tells him that our GPS says we are 18 minutes from the meeting location (1458 Lincoln Ave in Calistoga). Bob tells my wife that we were supposed to be at the meeting location at 6am. My wife tells him that our booking confirmation says 6:30am. Bob then, unapologetically, tells my wife that since we are late we are going to have to meet the group at the launch site. To be clear, WE WERE NOT LATE. We were following the instructions on the booking confirmation.
Over the course of the next 45 minutes, Bob proceeded to give poor directions to several different locations, each call ending with Bob hanging up on my wife. The last set of directions had us driving out somewhere near highway 101 with no clear address from Bob on where to go. After this last set of non-directions, I called Bob to ask for a refund. Bob said that I would have to talk to the booking agent and then hung up on me. I called back…he hung up on me again. So, I called my credit card company and disputed the charges.
The booking confirmation says, “Occasionally weather forces an alternate route to be flown, if this is the case you will be given the option of a refund or to reschedule or to go ahead and fly the alternate route.” This is a lie. Bob did not give us this option.
The flight package was supposed to include a Champagne breakfast at Solage. My hope is that you will not only avoid Calistoga Balloons but also Solage and the booking company, Adrenaline. Solage and Adrenaline are just as guilty as Calistoga Balloons because of their choice to affiliate themselves with such a terrible company.
I wish I had listened to the other Yelp reviewers who warned me to STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!
Written July 13, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
brown1419
San Rafael, CA3 contributions
Jun 2016 • Couples
Well to start off our hotel recommended them to us and said we would receive a 10 percent discount. They did not honor their agreement with our hotel. No discount. They were suppose to pick us up at our hotel at 5:30 AM. They didn't come. I finally reached the pilot and he said he was not notified of any pick ups. He sent a van to get us but it was too late to have any of the promised coffee and cookies. Then the pilot told us we could not fly out of Calestoga and they were taking up over the mountain to Santa Rosa. We wouldn't have minded going to Napa but not Santa Rosa. After the long drive over, we arrive out by the air port and find that instead of 12 passengers as promised, there was going to be a crowded 16 passengers. The process of filling the balloon was all very interesting. Finally we were in the air. It is not as scenic as the Napa Valley, Calistoga area. To top it off we flew a ways and then he looped around and came back, so we saw the same thing twice. Back over the winding mountain we went and then on to a very nice breakfast. I don't think we got what was advertised or promised and Master Card would probably agree with us. Disappointing in so many ways.
Written June 25, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
juan v
2 contributions
Sep 2017 • Friends
DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY. The night before our scheduled departure, we received a phone call from pilot stating due to weather we will not be going out, I tought it was his dry humor, since weather was perfect that day. Winds NW 2 mph 0% percipitation and 59 degree at departure time. I called 5 ballon co. The next mornibg, and they all went out that day. I called Susan and she could not tell me why trip was cancelled. She had pilot call me anf he tried to ecplainf it to me, but he was full of BS. He didn't know I own and fly a Cessna 172 and know all about wind and weather. Truth is they only had a few bookings and was nit codtveffective to go out. They cancell you and try to reschedulle everyone together to make the flight profitable. STOP PLAYING GAMES.....DO NOT USE THEM...THEY WILL DISSAPOINT. PLENTY OF HOT AIR BALLON COMPANIES IN THE VALLEY.
Written September 19, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
aahann
Wellesley, MA78 contributions
Oct 2018 • Couples
We had exquisite conditions and had a long and breathtaking flight. This is a dream for photographers especially. Our pilot, Shane, was very experienced and informative. He had fascinating stories about ballooning over the Taj Mahal and in the Alps, among other places. It was a real treat spending time with him. Definitely worth the early alarm clock !
Written October 9, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mish1703
Arequipa, Peru218 contributions
Mar 2017 • Couples
Ballooning over the Calistoga Valley - Tripadvisor
Being huge lovers of both wineries and beautiful landscapes, when we learnt that we could enjoy both of these things at the same time from above.. in a HOT AIR BALLOON, we looked into booking our morning in the sky immediately & after finding Calistoga Balloon’s online, we were able to make our reservation via email quite simply.
As ballooning is heavily dependent on weather and wind conditions, their friendly staff assisted us with choosing a day in advance where flying was looking quite promising & were very accomodating of our travel dates. We received an email confirmation which included all of the information that we needed for the day - including what to bring, wear, and the meeting point location.
The morning of our ballooning experience, we arrived at a historic railway depot in the gorgeous town of Calistoga at 6.30am where we were warmly welcomed by Peter and Daniel. Daniel would be our pilot for the morning, and Peter had prepared for us a delicious pre-flight snack - coffee, tea, and an assortment of sweet biscuits.
After a brief orientation we all jumped into a van with Daniel where we drove to the nearby location where we would be commencing our balloon flight!
With the sun starting to rise over the valley, we watched and had the special option to assist in the setup of the balloon. Daniel and the crew involved us all in the process, with lots of photo and video opportunities of the impressively large balloon being slowly inflated and attached to the basket. Before we knew it, the basket was upright, we were all jumping aboard, and ready for take-off!
Daniel was very friendly, professional, and informative during our flight, answering any questions that we had about the history of ballooning, how it all works, and about the towns of Calistoga, Napa, and the wineries below, whilst also ensuring that we were all feeling safe and comfortable. When we weren’t taking photos of the gorgeous views below and around us, we were enjoying how relaxing the entire experience was. The flight lasted for around one hour before Daniel gracefully landed us nearby a golf-course.
We jumped out of the ballooning basket, everyone with big smiles on their faces.. but it wasn’t over yet.. back into the van we went and we were driven a short way to our brunch spot. A restaurant that was attached to a five-star resort called Solage, we were greeted with champagne, fresh juice, french coffee, and a menu that spoilt our hungry bellies with choice. We all sat and enjoyed some seriously delicious food while reliving our morning ballooning experience - wishing we could do it all over again!
Once breakfast was over, Daniel drove us all back to the historic railway depot where we said our goodbyes. We could not recommend this experience enough, and are so thrilled that we chose to fly with Calistoga Balloon’s! Their attention to detail, friendly staff and pilot, professionalism, and all their special little touches is what helped make the day so incredible and memorable!
Being huge lovers of both wineries and beautiful landscapes, when we learnt that we could enjoy both of these things at the same time from above.. in a HOT AIR BALLOON, we looked into booking our morning in the sky immediately & after finding Calistoga Balloon’s online, we were able to make our reservation via email quite simply.
As ballooning is heavily dependent on weather and wind conditions, their friendly staff assisted us with choosing a day in advance where flying was looking quite promising & were very accomodating of our travel dates. We received an email confirmation which included all of the information that we needed for the day - including what to bring, wear, and the meeting point location.
The morning of our ballooning experience, we arrived at a historic railway depot in the gorgeous town of Calistoga at 6.30am where we were warmly welcomed by Peter and Daniel. Daniel would be our pilot for the morning, and Peter had prepared for us a delicious pre-flight snack - coffee, tea, and an assortment of sweet biscuits.
After a brief orientation we all jumped into a van with Daniel where we drove to the nearby location where we would be commencing our balloon flight!
With the sun starting to rise over the valley, we watched and had the special option to assist in the setup of the balloon. Daniel and the crew involved us all in the process, with lots of photo and video opportunities of the impressively large balloon being slowly inflated and attached to the basket. Before we knew it, the basket was upright, we were all jumping aboard, and ready for take-off!
Daniel was very friendly, professional, and informative during our flight, answering any questions that we had about the history of ballooning, how it all works, and about the towns of Calistoga, Napa, and the wineries below, whilst also ensuring that we were all feeling safe and comfortable. When we weren’t taking photos of the gorgeous views below and around us, we were enjoying how relaxing the entire experience was. The flight lasted for around one hour before Daniel gracefully landed us nearby a golf-course.
We jumped out of the ballooning basket, everyone with big smiles on their faces.. but it wasn’t over yet.. back into the van we went and we were driven a short way to our brunch spot. A restaurant that was attached to a five-star resort called Solage, we were greeted with champagne, fresh juice, french coffee, and a menu that spoilt our hungry bellies with choice. We all sat and enjoyed some seriously delicious food while reliving our morning ballooning experience - wishing we could do it all over again!
Once breakfast was over, Daniel drove us all back to the historic railway depot where we said our goodbyes. We could not recommend this experience enough, and are so thrilled that we chose to fly with Calistoga Balloon’s! Their attention to detail, friendly staff and pilot, professionalism, and all their special little touches is what helped make the day so incredible and memorable!
Written March 14, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Discover591772
7 contributions
Aug 2015 • Couples
We celebrated our 10 year anniversary by booking a hot air balloon trip through Calistoga Balloons and it was jut amazing. They are professional, courteous and make you feel safe and informed. The trip was flawless and Captain Dan was both funny and very well informed. He made us feel extremely comfortable and the ride was likes dream. Thank you so much for making this trip the best. We will be back with our kids for sure.
Written August 14, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
F B
SURAKARTA213 contributions
Jul 2015
Really great experience, safe, experienced ballon operator. climb to about 1.6 km above the ground, weather was nice, smooth ride.
Written July 31, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Do you open tomorrow?
Written September 29, 2019
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.