Hot Air Balloon Ride Over Teotihuacan from Mexico City

This is the Teotihuacan flight built around Mexico City. Pickup is from one of four points in the capital, the first at the Palacio de Bellas Artes at 4:30 am and the last at the Angel of Independence roundabout at 5, picked when you book. From there a minibus takes care of the genuinely awkward part of ballooning here: reaching the launch field before sunrise. There is coffee at the field while the envelope fills. Then you climb into the basket. The flight runs 30 to 60 minutes depending on the weather, over the Teotihuacan Valley. The Avenue of the Dead is the line everything else hangs off, with the Pyramid of the Moon, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl set around it. What you actually pass over is the wind's decision: the route shifts with it, and the balloon does not always end up directly above the ruins. Bad weather can move the departure, with 12 hours notice, and a cancelled flight is refunded less 420 MXN a head for the ground transport. On landing there is a sparkling wine toast and a buffet breakfast at La Higuera, and a certificate if it was your first flight. The day then keeps going. Two hours on foot in the ruins, with an expert in Mexica culture along if you take the guided version. Then a craft workshop on obsidian and agave that covers how aguamiel is processed and how silver is worked, and a tasting of pulque, tequila, nopal liqueur and mezcal. The minibus runs back to Mexico City. Budget 8 hours from pickup to drop-off. Two practical notes. The fare covers passengers up to 99 kg, and above that it is 3 USD per extra kilo, paid at the launch field. The flight-only option really is only the flight: no transport, no guide, no entrance ticket, no breakfast, and you get yourself to San Martín de las Pirámides by 6 am.