If so, we’d love to hear about your own experiences and any tips you may have for future attendees. The rest of the outdoors area is set up on a mix of a flat paved area in front of the main building and on the grassy hill next to the balloon launching field. Parking is free.o Chateaux d’Oex is between the town and Col des Mosses via Note that some parking areas next to the field are for staff, VIP guests, pilots, etc. Want to keep up to date with us and our latest travel tips? The festival is known for its picturesque location in a valley of the Swiss Alps.The Festival International de Ballons is held each January over 9 days and features the daily launch of dozens of hot air balloons. But we have seen it denoted as “Balloon Week”, Festival of Balloons, and Château-d’Oex International Balloon Festival.All the events of the Festival International de Ballons take place within the village of Château-d’Oex. There are other events and activities taking place throughout the festival.We recommend taking time to explore Château-d’Oex between events. The balloons are set up on a small grassy field that is enclosed.

Visitors can learn about the story of this mad adventure at the Château-d’Oex hot air balloon museum. Part of the terrain can be wet, muddy, or snow covered depending on the weather. Hot air balloon Switzerland Flights from Ballons Château-D’Oex.

At the Château-d’Oex International Balloon Festival, dozens of balloons launch over about a 1 hour or so period in the morning. We were able to just walk to and from the event each day which was very convenient.If you are looking for a room or apartment in the area, we also recommend The closest campsite to the hot balloon festival is the The campsite is closed most of the winter, but it opens for holidays and the Château-d’Oex International Balloon Festival. This was the first non-stop around the world balloon flight and it took place in 1999, with the balloon, the Breitling Orbiter 3, launching from Château-d’Oex.

You can stand next to the fencing in the lower part of the festival area near the entrance or walk to a more elevated viewpoint along the hill in the upper part of the festival area.If you want to sit down, you might consider ordering a drink and snack and sitting on the terrace of the TI-Bar for a great view of the balloons being set up and launched.If you are looking for a more distant viewpoint, you can head to the village’s Protestant church, often referred to as The Temple.

Rougemont, Les Mosses, or Gstaad may be good towns to consider as each have a ski center.If your main goal is to be close to the event, we can definitely recommend staying in Château-d’Oex. The festival was also busy on good weather weekend days when balloons were launching, but the crowds were always manageable.The event takes place in the Swiss village of Château-d’Oex.It is about a 5 to 10 minute walk from the parking lots to the festival entrance.You can take a train to Château-d’Oex and the train station is located near the town center. There are several hotels, B&B’s, and apartments in Château-d’Oex. The passenger balloons taking paying customers often leave first.Because the section of the field (the flat part) used for the balloon is fairly small, not all the balloons can set up at the same time. You can see our You may want to plan some day trips if you are going to be in the area for more than a couple of days. It will depend on where you are coming from, but local taxi companies include Given that there are a limited amount of taxi services in the region, it is a good idea to arrange a way back in advance.To our knowledge, there are no rideshare options available in this area.If you are staying in Château-d’Oex, you can simply walk to the event. You will see them advertised in French as The price of a balloon flight (as of the 2020 event) is CHF 390 per adult (age 16 or older) and CHF 195 per child under age 16.If you are not visiting during the festival, you may still be able to arrange a hot air balloon flight from Château-d’Oex with SkyEvent SA (also known as Ballons Château-d’Oex). We had to book two separate single hotel rooms for the first two nights of the first weekend of the festival as we could not find any double rooms available in town. There were both adults and children in our balloon.Château-d’Oex in 1960 and support the balloon festival.After everyone was out of the balloon basket, we all helped the crew get the balloon deflated and packed away which took about 30 minutes. Beverage options included coffee, soda, bottled water, wine, and beer.There were free public toilets available at the event. There are also children’s rides, information booths, and food vendors within the festival area. Espace Ballon is the local museum dedicated to the history of ballooning with a particular focus on the contribution of the local region. The best place to get live updates online in our experience is from the event’s official We’ve been to several hot air balloon events now, and the weather is always the most frustrating and unpredictable factor.

It is about a 87 mile / 140 km drive from Geneva.If you need a general address for your GPS unit, you can input Route de Saanen 2, 1660 Château-d’Oex, SwitzerlandThere are a couple of public parking lots in the village that are used for the event.