Hot Air Balloon Rides in the Desert: 11 That Are Worth the Money

1.Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Tour Over the Desert

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 477 reviews · 4 hours · from $280Our pick

Leave Dubai before dawn for a hot-air-balloon flight over the Margham desert. After hotel pickup, coffee, tea, and a safety briefing, you’ll rise as high as 4,000 feet for views of dunes, mountains, camels, Arabian oryx, and sand gazelles. English-speaking pilots and guides, including Hamid and JP, lead the experience.

“Communication was great and was made to feel very welcome from start to finish. Maybe a slightly bigger coffee for the early morning start.”

Check availability →Read our full review

2.Sunrise Balloon Flight with Camel Ride & Breakfast

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 433 reviews · 5 hours · from $305

Leave your Dubai hotel before dawn for a 40 to 70 minute hot air balloon flight over the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. The morning also includes tea or coffee, a Bedouin camp breakfast, a short camel ride, falcon photos, and hotel return. Guides speak several languages, and drivers such as Hanif, Saqib, and Ahmed have earned praise for friendly, careful service.

“Alot of fun. Our driver was efficient, we were looked after from start to finish. Baloon ride was great, we felt very safe”

Check availability →Read our full review

3.Hot Air Balloon Ride Over Dubai Desert inlcuding Transfers

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 233 reviews · from $235Best value

Leave your Dubai hotel around 3:30 am for Sindbad Gulf Balloons in Murqquab. After coffee or water, watch the balloon inflate, then fly 40 to 70 minutes above the desert at up to 4,000 feet. Expect a sunrise, wide dune views, possible gazelle oryx sightings, falconry, and return transport.

“Was a great experience. The crew was very professional and experienced. Smooth landing. I would highly recommend this company.”

Check availability →Read our full review

4.Dubai Hot Air Balloon Ride with Breakfast, Falconry & Camel Ride

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 220 reviews · from $313

Start around 3:30 a.m. with hotel pickup, then fly 4,000 feet above the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve for 40 to 70 minutes. After landing, enjoy a camel ride, falcon photos, and breakfast at a Bedouin-style camp. Captains such as Bashir and Mohammad have earned praise for their flying and humor, though pickup timing can vary.

“We got picked up from the hotel & went to get refreshments while we were there we had an older captain who talked about it through the whole experience & landings which was great . Then we got to the hot air balloon & they started bloRead more”

Check availability →Read our full review

5.Hot Air Balloon Ride with Camel Ride & Falcon Show

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 142 reviews · 5 hours · from $332

Start before dawn with hotel pickup, a 45 to 60-minute balloon flight over the Margham Desert, and an in-flight falcon display. After landing, ride a camel and horse, then enjoy an Arabic buffet at a Bedouin camp. Guides such as Abdullah and pilots including Ramy and Tariq have earned warm praise for their care and clear communication.

“This was amazing from start to finish. I would highly recommend this and the organisers.”

Check availability →Read our full review

6.Hot Air Balloon Ride & Falcon Show Over the Desert

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 122 reviews · 4 hours · from $302

Start with hotel pickup and a 45-minute drive to the Margham desert. After tea or coffee and a safety briefing, you will float for 45 to 60 minutes above the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, watch the sunrise, and see an in-flight falcon show. Pilots Hamada, Ameen, and Pasi have earned praise for calm, clear guidance.

“The balloon flight and the falcon show was a unique experience. Many thanks to the professional team and friendly assistance from Pinal.”

Check availability →Read our full review

7.Hot Air Balloon, Desert Safari, and Quad Biking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 103 reviews · 6 hours · from $384

Start before dawn with pickup in Dubai, a 45 to 60 minute hot-air-balloon flight over the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, an in-flight falcon display, camel and horse rides, dune bashing, 20 minutes of quad biking, and a Bedouin-style breakfast. Guides speak English and Arabic, with Malik and Abdullah praised for attentive service.

“Pontos felvétel, minden úgy volt ahogy leírták, barátságos guide”

Check availability →Read our full review

8.Hot Air Balloon with Camel, ATV, & Horse Ride Options

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 81 reviews · 5 hours · from $272

Leave Dubai before dawn for a 60 to 90 minute balloon flight over the desert and Hajar Mountains. After landing, deluxe and premium packages add breakfast and camel rides, while premium also includes ATV and horse riding. English-speaking crews, hotel pickup, falcon photos, refreshments, and a flight certificate are included.

“I really enjoyed the hot air balloon ride. It’s always been one of my dreams to go on one and I finally ticked it off the bucket list. The only thing that could be changed is the price it could be more cheaper.”

Check availability →Read our full review

9.Noble Life Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride Over Dubai Desert

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 12 reviews · 4 hours · from $258

You’ll leave your Dubai hotel before dawn, ride to the desert, watch the balloon inflate, and float above golden dunes as the sun rises. Noble Life provides an English-speaking team, round-trip transport, tea or coffee, and a 40 to 70-minute flight. Drivers including Imran, Muhammad, and Mehtab have handled transfers for past departures.

“Our pick up driver (Mehtab) was very good. The balloon fight was amazing. However, after an early start of 3.30am pick up and a 1 hour drive to the launch site, then returned to our hotel 5 hours later, in this time we had only offered one small paper cup of coffee in the way of refreshments.”

Check availability →Read our full review

10.Hot Air Balloon, Camel Ride, Desert Safari & More

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 10 reviews · 5 hours · from $375

Start before dawn with a Dubai hotel pickup and a hot air balloon flight to about 4,000 feet. After landing, continue by 4x4 for dune driving, a short quad ride, camel riding, falcon photos, and a buffet breakfast. Guides speak English, Arabic, Turkish, Hindi, Urdu, and Dutch.

“Fantastisch! Zeer professionele piloot, prachtige zonsopgang en vergezichten. Het kon niet beter. En de woestijnsafari met Muhammed Shaleef was ook geweldig!”

Check availability →Read our full review

11.Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Flight, Breakfast, Camel Ride

★★★★★★★★★★4.1 · 8 reviews · 6 hours · from $269

Start before dawn with a shared 4x4 pickup in Dubai, then rise above the desert for 45 to 60 minutes at up to 4,000 feet. After landing, enjoy tea, coffee, water, a gourmet breakfast, a short camel ride, and a falcon photo. The English-speaking pilot provides a safety briefing and flight certificate.

“Excellent communication about booking, pick up times etc. Morning of hot air balloon flight, earlier than stated pick up (which was fine) first attempt failed because of the wind. We tried and again 20 mins later, which was a success! However due to late take up we ended up getting to breakfast later than planned (although chips were stone cold!). This meant that the falcon had to be put away (even though is was out when we got there). We were also later for the camel ride (again they made us try the breakfast first). What should have happened was to phone ahead and confirm whether we could still do…”

Check availability →Read our full review