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Travel bucket list ideas:

Last updated: 05 September, 2023

If you’ve never done one, flying in a hot-air balloon is a uniquely serene, almost spiritual experience, where time seems to stand still.

Add to that a mesmerising moonscape or a dune-filled desert all around, or a look down onto turreted chateaux, ancient temples or villages unchanged for thousands of years – and you have a truly special experience.

Here’s our round-up of the world’s best to grace any travel bucket list.

Table of Contents

Hot-air balloon flights over Bath

Bath, Somerset, United Kingdom (UK)

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Bucket List Experience

The city of Bath is a scene of Georgian architectural splendour, bedecked in honey-hued stone buildings, with twisting cobbled streets. Green hills and the tranquil River Avon frame the cityscape.

Best for ages: 13+ | £120 | 4 hours

Hot-air balloon flights over Cappadocia

Goreme, Central Anatolia, Turkey

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Bucket List Experience

Arguably the world’s greatest hot-air balloon flight, over Cappadocia‘s spellbinding moonscape-esque landscape of arches, honeycombed hills, striking spires and eye-popping, giant protuberances resembling gigantic mushrooms.

Best for ages: 10+ | £75 | 4 hours

Hot-air balloon flights over Dubai's desert

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

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Bucket List Experience

Drift over an ocean of rolling, golden dunes surrounding this extraordinary city at sunrise, see their crisp curves glinting under the Arabian sun. The occasional oasis punctuates the solitude, as does the occasional traversing camel.

Best for ages: 12+ | £250 | 4-5 hours

Hot-air balloon flights over Marrakech

Marrakech, Marrakech-Safi, Morocco

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Bucket List Experience

Drift above evocative Marrakech, awash with vibrant colours, geometric patterns, and labyrinthine streets. Then it’s out over dramatic, arid landscapes of the Atlas Mountains, looking down onto traditional Berber villages.

Best for ages: 10+ | £150 | 5+ hours

Hot-air balloon flights over the Sossusvlei Dunes

Namib-Naukluft National Park, Erongo, Namibia

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Bucket List Experience

Float over towering ochre-red dunes of Namibia‘s Sossusvlei, a sea of crimson curves stretching to the horizon, suspended in serene stillness. The desert below humbles with its immense, undulating beauty and dazzles with colours that change with the sunrise.

Best for ages: 7+ | £450 | 4 hours