Balloon in Tuscany is an expression of the Aerostatic Association of Tuscany.
We offer balloon flights throughout Tuscany with safty and fun.
Our launch sites are in the Chianti area, San Gimignano, Siena and Florence. You can book and purchase your flight in the dedicated sections, or contact us if you need more information.
We wait for you!
About us
Since 1990 we organize hot air balloon flights in Tuscany. We’re the only ones in Italy to have a basket, designed by us and certified, for the transport of disabled people. For us, the balloon is not just a job, but a real passion.
With us, you’ll be welcome, and if you wish, besides the flight, you can have breakfast with us with typical Tuscan products. If you want more information on how our flights work and how to book, visit the dedicated page.
Safety is our priority
We operate only and exclusively with certified equipment and subject to continuous revision.
Click here to learn more about balloon flight safety
Envelope maintenance services
In addition to organizing balloon flights, from November 2019 we’re also certified for repairs and maintenance of the balloons. If you need this type of service you can contact us, below you will find our contacts:
Balloon in Tuscany
Strada del Cerro 3, Barberino Tavarnelle, Firenze, Italy
Email: flyitaly@gmail.com
Tel: +39 348 9228067
A bit of history of ballooning
It is believed that Leonardo Da Vinci was the first to discover the idea of using hot-air “rising” to create lift. But the real pioneers of hot air balloon flying were the brothers Montgolfier. This papermaking family created the first hot air balloons using their paper with seams held together by buttons. The first experiments and public exhibitions took place during the period of the French Enlightenment, leaving speechless masses of onlookers and scientists.
When, in 1783, the first balloon floated above the capital, the French public went into a frenzy. This balloon, comprising almost 4 metres in diameter flew on the 19th September and carried a sheep, a duck and a rooster. The balloon stayed in the air for a grand total of 8 minutes before crashing to the ground with the rooster suffering a broken wing. The first manned ‘flight’ came a few months later, on the 21st November. Flown by Pilatre De Rozier and the Marquis D’Arlandes it flew for 20 minutes and reached a height of 900 metres before landing in the village of Gonesse, close to the modern day Charles De Gaulle Airport. Here it was quickly folded up and taken away by horse and cart to avoid the local inhabitants who attacked it with forks – thinking it was the work of the devil.
Next to France, Italy was indeed the country which gave the greatest impetus to balloon flight. A passenger on an early balloon ride from Rome ” Rome looked like a field which had been seeded with white flakes of plaster, while the Tiber seemed to be a very fine thread”.
Word of these events spread like wild fire across Europe and it was an Italian who made the first flight from London in the UK. The Italian Vincenzo Lunardi rose to the skies in a balloon filled with hydrogen with around 200,000 people in attendance including the Prince of Wales on 15th September 1784. His flight lasted two and a half hours and covered some 30 kilometers.
Imagine what it could mean to fly in those days.
Stefano Travaglia
Today you can do it in absolute safety with modern balloons and technologies that ensure safe flights and beautiful landscapes.
