Middle Tennessee · Central Time
Sunrise in Williamson County: reserve a Franklin hot air balloon ride package
This trip puts you in Franklin, the county seat of Williamson County on the Harpeth River, for a single night in May. You check in on Friday, May 7, 2027, to a room for two people sharing at a small inn or hotel in town, and you check out on Saturday, May 8, 2027, after a shared sunrise flight with a local balloon company. As a Franklin hot air balloon ride package, it keeps the whole stay inside the same town: your room and the meeting area are both in Franklin itself, so the drive in the dark stays short.
From $395 per person, double occupancy, flight included, lodging tax extra
- Dates
- May 7 to 8, 2027
- Stay
- One night
- Flight
- May 8, sunrise
- Leave at
- 5:05 a.m. CT
Leaving the inn before dawn on Saturday
On Saturday, May 8, 2027, you leave your room at 5:05 a.m. Central Time, while the streets of Franklin are still dark. The office allows 10 minutes for the drive, because the meeting area is in Franklin itself. The office plans your meeting with the balloon company for 5:19 a.m. Central Time, thirty minutes before sunrise at 5:49 a.m. Central Time. Middle Tennessee is one hour behind Pembroke Pines, so a watch still set to Eastern Time will run ahead of the local clock. At the meeting area the pilot reads the wind and the clouds and decides whether the flight goes. When it does, you share a basket with other guests, up to six or eight depending on the company, and spend about an hour in the air, while early May light picks out new green leaves, wet pastures, fence lines and thin mist lying in the low ground. From meeting to the return to your car takes about three hours.
The flight morning, hour by hour
| 5:05 a.m. | Leave your lodging in Franklin |
|---|---|
| 5:19 a.m. | Planned meeting with the balloon company, Franklin area; the company confirms the time the evening before |
| 5:49 a.m. | Sunrise |
| about one hour | In the air |
| about three hours | From meeting to being back at your car |
Sunrise for Franklin; drive 10 minutes from Franklin (a planning allowance inside the town).
Included in the $395 figure for May 8
- One night in a room in a small inn or hotel in Franklin, double occupancy, at the office's planning figure for a room night, before tax
- The shared sunrise flight on May 8, 2027, in a shared basket of up to six or eight guests, depending on the company
- The ride back from the landing field to the Franklin meeting place on May 8
- The office's written quote for May 7 to 8, 2027, then the confirmation
Not in the figure: road, taxes and tips around May 8
- The drive to Franklin by May 7 and home again, which you arrange
- Tennessee sales tax, Williamson County lodging tax and any city tax on one night
- A tip for the chase crew on May 8, if you choose to leave one
- Meals and other outings during one night in Franklin
One Franklin night, no rain date
This stay suits two people sharing a room who want a short Franklin trip and a basket shared with other guests. It also works for a parent with a child, since the office plans this flight for flyers aged 6 and up, and the balloon company asks each flyer what it needs before it confirms the flight. Think twice if a 5:05 a.m. Central Time start sounds hard, or if you want a basket to yourselves. A single night leaves no later morning to move the flight to. If the pilot calls it off for weather, the balloon company offers another date or a refund under its own terms, and the office helps you change or cancel the night.
Settled with the balloon company and the lodging
| Franklin lodging | Rate for May 7 to 8, 2027, and whether it holds the room |
|---|---|
| Franklin balloon company | A place in the basket on May 8; flyers aged 6 and up, as the office plans it; its weather and change rules |
| Basket plan | The company plans each basket by the passengers' combined weight and asks each flyer for their own before it confirms; a shared price assumes an average passenger |
| Weather date | No later flight time inside the stay; the balloon company offers another date or a refund under its own terms, stated in the quote |
| How $395 is built | $325 per person for the flight, plus half of a $135 room night |
Anything that cannot be refunded is marked in the quote, and the total there replaces the starting figure. See balloon vacation package prices and the balloon flight weather cancellation policy.