Luxor is one of the world's great ballooning spots, and drifting over the West Bank at sunrise is worth the very early alarm. Pickup is in the dark, a short motorboat hop across the Nile, then you watch the burners roar the great envelopes upright before lifting off just as the sun breaks over the eastern desert. For forty-five minutes to an hour you float over a patchwork you cannot see any other way: the terraces of Hatshepsut, the ridges hiding the Valley of the Kings, the ruined mortuary temples, and the sharp line where emerald sugar-cane fields meet bone-dry desert, all with the Nile shining beyond. It is calm and quiet apart from the burner, and genuinely suitable for families and older travellers since you simply stand in the basket. Flights depend entirely on wind and can be cancelled or rescheduled, so book it for your first morning to leave room to try again.
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