Middle Tennessee · Central Time
Reserve a predawn hot air balloon flight near Franklin with a Thompson's Station stay
This trip puts you in a small inn or hotel in Thompson's Station, Tennessee, for two nights, two people sharing a room, with a predawn hot air balloon flight near Franklin on Friday morning. You check in on Thursday, June 24, 2027, and head home on Saturday, June 26, 2027. Thompson's Station is a small Williamson County town of farms and new streets south of Franklin. The basket leaves the grass in the dark, so the sun rises while you are aloft. On request, the office checks room and basket space for these dates and replies with a written quote.
From $1,135 per person, double occupancy, flight included, lodging tax extra
- Dates
- June 24 to 26, 2027
- Stay
- Two nights
- Flight
- June 25, sunrise
- Leave at
- 3:35 a.m. CT
A dark start, then sunrise over Williamson County
On Friday, June 25, 2027, you leave the lodging at 3:35 a.m. Central Time, while Thompson's Station is still dark and quiet. The drive north to the meeting town of Franklin takes 25 minutes, past pasture you sense more than see. The office plans your meeting with the balloon company for 4:02 a.m. Central Time, ninety minutes before sunrise, and the company's crew lays the balloon out on the grass while the burner throws short bursts of orange light. The pilot reads the wind and makes the call. If the flight goes ahead, the basket rises in darkness, and sunrise arrives at 5:32 a.m. Central Time, first as a pale band in the east, then as early summer light sliding over hayfields, tree lines, barns and farm ponds, with mist lying low in the hollows. Clocks in Middle Tennessee run one hour behind Pembroke Pines.
The flight morning, hour by hour
| 3:35 a.m. | Leave your lodging in Thompson's Station |
|---|---|
| 4:02 a.m. | Planned meeting with the balloon company, Franklin area; the company confirms the time the evening before |
| 5:32 a.m. | Sunrise while the basket is already up |
| about one hour | In the air |
| about three hours | From meeting to being back at your car |
Sunrise for Franklin; drive 25 minutes from Thompson's Station.
Included in the $1,135 figure for June 25
- Two nights in a room in a small inn or hotel in Thompson's Station, double occupancy, at the office's planning figure for a room night, before tax
- The predawn flight on June 25, 2027, in a basket of at least two guests that lifts in the dark
- The ride back from the landing field to the Franklin meeting place on June 25
- The office's written quote for June 24 to 26, 2027, then the confirmation
Not in the figure: road, taxes and tips around June 25
- The drive to Thompson's Station by June 24 and home again, which you arrange
- Tennessee sales tax, Williamson County lodging tax and any city tax on two nights
- A tip for the chase crew on June 25, if you choose to leave one
- Meals and other outings during two nights in Thompson's Station
A 3:35 alarm in Thompson's Station, and who can face it
This suits two travelers who are glad to set an alarm long before dawn and want to watch the day begin from the basket. The balloon company takes this flight for at least two guests, so a solo traveler would need a companion. 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 3:35 a.m. Central Time departure sounds hard to face. The stay holds one later morning, Saturday, that the flight can move to if the pilot calls off Friday; if that morning is called off too, the trip ends without a flight.
Settled with the balloon company and the lodging
| Thompson's Station lodging | Rate for June 24 to 26, 2027, and whether it holds the room |
|---|---|
| Franklin balloon company | A place in the basket on June 25; 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 | One later morning of the stay, asked to be kept open |
| How $1,135 is built | $1,000 per person for the flight, plus half of a $135 room night for each of two nights |
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.