10 BEAUTIFUL RIDES TO TAKE RIGHT NOW

Time to get out and take some Beautiful Rides! We’ve got 10 spectacular suggestions for you, from beautiful balloon rides, to boat and train rides. Start planning your trip! Get moving!

1. BALLOON RIDE OVER LETCHWORTH STATE PARK, NEW YORK STATE

Take a Beautiful Ride in a balloon over a dramatic gorge, deeply carved, by the Genesee River,  through the Letchworth State Park in New York State. Known as the “Grand Canyon of the East,” this giant gorge is flanked by lush forest and embellished with beautiful waterfalls.

2. BALLOON RIDE OVER CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY

Cappadocia, Turkey is a marvelous place for a beautiful balloon ride as you float over the stunning landscape. It was created by layers of volcanic ash that solidified into a soft rock — called tuff — tens of meters thick.

Wind and water then carved away at it, over millennia, forming fantastic, almost magical, shapes that look like  fairy pillars, pinnacles, mushrooms, and chimneys. Some spires are 130 feet high.

You will want to touch down and visit the ground here too. Check out the extensive network of cave dwellings and monasteries excavated from the tufa stone by early Christian monks and the beautifully preserved Byzantine frescoed paintings in cave chapels, dating back to the early seventh century.

3. BALLOON RIDE OVER BAGAN, MYANMAR

The views over the ancient city of Bagan, Myanmar, are positively extraordinary, as seen from a hot air balloon. Take a Beautiful Ride over the more than 2,200 Buddhist temples, pagodas, and monasteries in the Bagan Archaeological Zone.

4. BALLOON RIDE OVER SERENGETI, TANZANIA AND KENYA

For a wild Beautiful Ride, there is nothing better than floating in a hot air balloon over the Serengeti in Tanzania and Kenya. The magnificent wild scenery, and even wilder animals, will totally wow you. There are over 30,000 square miles of Serengeti to explore, with stunning views all around.

5. BALLOON RIDE OVER DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Take a beautiful ride high above some of the highest buildings in the world -- over Dubai -- including the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.

It is breathtaking to see the magnificent city, with its stunning architecture, in stark contrast to its bare sand desert surroundings, with its vast dunes and bordering sea.

6. BALLOON RIDE OVER LUXOR, EGYPT

A hot air balloon ride over Luxor, Egypt, is a beautiful way to take a ride through history. See the sun rise over the Valley of Kings, edging the ancient ruins with pink light. Ride over green fields that abruptly turn into desolate desert. Float over the Nile. Ride through time.

7. BALLOON RIDE OVER MELBOURNE & YARRA VALLEY -- AUSTRALIA

A beautiful balloon ride over Melbourne, Australia, reveals that it is a city dotted with green that sits within a ring of low mountains. Watch as it wakes up and comes alive, just after dawn swirls in, as you glide over the inner city, trains, trucks, and cars starting to roll below.

A sunrise ride over the nearby Yarra Valley, one of Victoria's premier wine regions is a gentler vision, drifting over rolling green hills and valleys, marked off in a patchwork by over 90 vineyards.

8. FERRY & BIKE RIDE BETWEEN SAUSALITO & SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Not up for balloon rides? We have found some other Beautiful Rides options, like this one. Whether you live in the San Francisco Bay area or are visiting, one of the most Beautiful Rides is across the Golden Gate Bridge.

We love to ride bikes one way, from San Francisco to Sausalito. Then, after an afternoon of strolling through art galleries and enjoying dinner on the waterfront, we take a relaxing ferry ride back into the city. Both ways, enjoy spectacular views.

9. ROCKY MOUNTAINEER FROM BANFF TO VANCOUVER

The Rocky Mountaineer is a 2-day rail ride through Canada, from the mountain resort town of Banff in Alberta, through the beautiful Canadian Rockies, to Vancouver.  It’s one of the world’s most scenic train rides. And you can ride in luxury, with white glove service and an awesome observation deck so you won’t miss a single beautiful sight.

10. GLACIER EXPRESS TRAIN RIDE FROM ZERMATT TO ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND

The Glacier Express, which travels from Zermatt to St. Moritz, in Switzerland, offers a 7-hour Beautiful Ride that is a sheer visual feast. Roll past the craggy, majestic frosted Alps, as they stand against brilliant blue skies. Roll through valleys dotted with sweet chalets and, in summer, herds of happy cows and wildflowers.

Read more about Beautiful Rides, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 New Books Deliver Beautiful Thrill Rides, The Wild Nature of Beautiful Rides Now, 10 Beautiful Rides to Beautiful Wines Now and The Art of Beautiful Rides Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Rich Engelbrecht. Red, White & Blue Balloon Festival. Letchworth State Park, New York, USA.
2. Image: by Rich Engelbrecht. Red, White & Blue Balloon Festival. Letchworth State Park, New York, USA.
3. Image: by Clark & Kim Kays. Balloons. Cappadocia, Turkey
4. Image: by yepyep. Cappadocia from above. Cappadocia, Turkey.
5. Image: by Christopher Michel. Burmese Morning. Bagan, Myanmar.
6. Image: by Wajahat Mahmood. Hot Air Balloon Safari. Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Serengeti, Tanzania and Kenya.
7. Image: by Sarah Ackerman. Hot Air Balloon over Dubai. Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
8. Image: by Daniel García Peris. Luxor en globus. Luxor, Egypt.
9. Image: by Justin Tan. Sunrise in Melbourne. Melbourne, Australia.
10. Image: by Daryl Sim. Balloons and Clouds. Yarra Valley, Australia.
11. Image: by Giuseppe Milo. San Francisco cityscape from Sausalito, United States. Sausalito,California, USA.
12. Image: Courtesy of Rocky Mountaineer. Banff to Vancouver, Canada.
13. Image: Courtesy of The Glacier Express. Zermatt to St. Moritz, Switzerland.
14. Image: by Mattia. Glacier Express. Zermatt, Switzerland.
15. Image: by Lassi Kurkijärvi. Ballooning over Göreme, Cappadocia. Cappadocia, Turkey.
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17. Image: by Dennis Jarvis. Ballooning in Cappadocia, Turkey. Cappadocia, Turkey.