Everything you need to know to visit the Chateau D’oex International Hot Air Balloon Festival in Switzerland in 2026

In January 2024 I saw a reel on Instagram with colourful balloons floating in the sky above snowy landscapes and it looked magical.

We had just got engaged a month earlier in the snow in Northern Japan and knew we wanted a snowy honeymoon once we were married - this magical reel of the Chateau d’Oex Balloon Festival set those wheels in motion and almost exactly a year later, we were in Switzerland ourselves for our honeymoon.

There are hot air balloon festivals all over the world, but something about this hot air balloon festival in Switzerland was just so unique because it was in the snow capped mountains of Switzerland in winter - I’d never seen a hot air balloon festival in the snow before.

So if this experience sounds just as magical to you, here’s everything you need to know about planning your trip to see the Chateau d’Oex balloon festival next year.

A view from above looking down at many colourful hot air balloons getting staged in a snow field — Chateau d’Oex Balloon Festival

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When is the Chateau d’Oex International Balloon festival?

The Chateau d'oex balloon festival 2026 will be held on 24th January - 1st February in 2026.

Each year the balloon festival, or festival de ballons, takes place in late January. You can follow the festival’s website for their latest updates and announcements.

Where is the balloon festival actually held?

The location of this Switzerland balloon festival is in the town of Chateau d’oex (pronounced “dey”) which is located in the Pays-d’Enhaut Gruyère National Park - yes, that’s Gruyère as in the cheese!

The actual festival itself is held at the Snow Garden Park in the town. You can find the exact Google Maps location here.

Many hot air balloons floating in the sky above Chateau d'Oex which is surrounded by green trees and snowy mountain peaks — Chateau d’Oex

How to get to the Chateau d’oex Balloon festival

The best way to get to Chateau d’oex is to take the train from Montreux.

Obviously if you have a car in Switzerland or if you’re hiring a car then driving there is absolutely an option. But if you’re travelling by train on your Switzerland itinerary, I highly recommend taking the Belle Epoque GoldenPass line from Montreux to Château d’Oex.

A snall wood train station with many snowy mountains in the distance — Chateau d’Oex train station

Where to stay in Chateau d’Oex

If you’re wondering where to stay in Chateau d’Oex for the hot air balloon festival, you’ll need to book early. This is a small town and while there is accommodation, it’s limited due to the town’s small size.

We stayed at B&B Rosaly. Which was a charming, traditional chalet covered in climbing ivy and family-run. The rooms were all solid wood, we had a huge balcony and it was so warm and cozy. The only downside is that rooms don’t come with an ensuite, there are a couple of communal bathrooms per floor. However with only around 5 rooms per floor, this was never an issue for us.

The good news is that thanks to the MOB GoldenPass train line, you can easily stay at another town on the train line and take the train into Chateau d’oex as the trains run throughout the day. Find the timetable here.

My recommendations for other towns to stay in for a day trip to Chateau d’oex:

Montreux
Rossiniere
Rougemont
Saanen
Gstaad
Lausanne and Geneva are also possible but you will need to take a train to Montreux first and then change to the MOB line to get to Chateau d’oex

A bed and breakfast covered in green vines with green shutters on the windows. Snowy mountains can be seen in the distance behind the building — Rosaly Bed and Breakfast

What is the Chateau d’Oex balloon festival ticket price?

The Chateau d’oex balloon festival tickets are surprisingly affordable! With entry being free on weekdays and just 10 CHF on weekends.

If you book a balloon flight, entrance is free. If you buy one of the signature Balloon Festival pins for 25 CHF, entrance is free for the entire festival.

A colourful hot air balloon which has multicoloured small balloons on its exterior flying trough the sky with a snow tree and mountain backdrop — UP Balloon

What is included at the balloon festival?

The festival runs about 10 days, covering two weekends. The ticket includes your entry to the main arena area where you can watch the hot air balloon envelopes being inflated, you can watch tethered flights and balloon flights taking off.

There is also music, food stands, merchandise stores and activities in the hall.

As well as this there is a programme of activities and events throughout the festival. Again check the website for the activities each day. Usually the most activities and performances happen on the weekends, which is the best time to go.

I would recommend going on the weekend, although it’s busier, we found there were far more things to see and do such as acrobatic plane shows, paragliders, helicopter rides and more.

There is also Espace Ballon, an exhibition on the history of hot air ballooning which is in the town centre.

Three colourful balloons laying on snowy ground being staged for flights — Chateau d’Oex Balloon Festival Grounds

What’s on at the festival?

The programme of events for the International Balloon Festival in Switzerland does vary every year, some of the highlights during our visit were:

Balloon flights
Going inside a balloon envelope (the actual balloon material when semi inflated on the ground)
Helicopter flights
Paragliders and Acrobatic plane shows
Special shaped balloon inflations
Tethered flights
Mini balloon shows
Souvenir pictures in a balloon basket

There are also loads of things to do at the balloon festival for kids and families such as tether flights, face painting, themed childrens animations and activities, mini balloon shows, VR experiences and more.

Can you fly in a hot air balloon?

Passenger flights are available throughout the Chateau d’oex balloon festival, weather permitting.

There are usually two flight windows per day - in the morning and in the afternoon. I would recommend booking in the morning as the cold air means you can go higher and on our flight day, the flights actually got cancelled in the afternoon because the winds were too high by that time.

Flights cost 350 CHF per person (this is what we paid in 2025) and the website says that flights last 45 minutes, ours ended up being 1 hour, 20 minutes and we went directly over the snowy mountain tops, up to 2000m altitude - it was spectacular and like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my life before!

You’ll need to arrive a couple of hours before your scheduled passenger flight, when you book your balloon flight, you’ll get a confirmation email with all the times and information on where you need to be.

I would make sure you allow half a day for this, if not more. We arrived at 8.30am as per our instructions but the wind was a bit too high for inflations to start, so balloons didn’t start inflating until around 9.30am and flights didn’t start until 10.30am. By that time there was a backlog of passengers to get through and we didn’t get into the balloon basket until 11.30am.

In the balloon basket, there are 4 sections with a section in the middle for the pilot. Each section can fit 4 people, so there’s up to 16 passengers in a basket. We had 12 people in ours. You’ll be helped into the basket and told how to brace with your knees bent for landing too.

The flight was 1 hour and 20 minutes and we landed around 40 minutes away from Chateau d’oex - it’s not possible to control exactly where a balloon lands so this bit will be a surprise on the day. You need to allow the time for the driving crew to come to your location and pack up the balloon which took about 1 hour for us and then obligatory post-flight glass of wine supplied by the crew before the 40 minute drive back to the Balloon Festival site.

All in all, our Switzerland balloon flight itinerary from arrival on site in the morning, to the return to the festival site, took 7 hours.

Dramatic snow coved mountain range extending into the distance — Hot air balloon views

How to book passenger flights at Chateau d’oex balloon festival

You can book your passenger flight for the International Balloon festival in Switzerland on the festival website here.

For 2025, only the morning flights were possible to book online, the website said afternoon flights could be booked at the festival itself on the day. But we did not want to risk not getting a flight, so we booked a morning flight - they all cost the same.

Once you book, you’ll receive a confirmation email which is available in French, English and German. This will serve as your booking confirmation and your festival ticket.

On the day before your passenger flight, you will be emailed with a number to call at around 8pm the night before. This is an automated phone line that tells you whether they expect your flight to go ahead in the morning, based on weather conditions. You then call this phone number again at 7am on the day of your flight and again, it will give you an update on whether your flight will be able to go ahead based on the weather conditions.

We had our original passenger flight cancelled due to bad weather and it was rescheduled for two days later, for this reason I would recommend being in the area for several days during the balloon festival as the weather can be changeable and mean you’re not able to see flights or even see the balloons inflate on some days.

More on my tips for visiting the Chateau d’oex balloon festival in Switzerland below.

When is the best time to visit the balloon festival?

Obviously you’re dictated by the dates of the festival each year, but I would really recommend visiting on one of the weekends as there is so much more going on, more air shows and events, more performances and more balloons to see.

Yes, the weekend is more crowded but you’re definitely seeing more for your money (which is probably why the festival is free to visit during the week).

If you’re keen to do a passenger flight in a hot air balloon, I would probably suggest planning to stay in the area for Saturday-Monday (at least) especially if the weather is looking iffy during your trip.

We were in the area for 3 days but only saw the balloons fly on one of those days and it was the same day we had our passenger flight, so we didn’t even get to spend that much time at the festival site which was a shame - but flying in the hot air balloon was more than worth it!

Tips for visiting the International Balloon festival at Chateau d’oex

These are my tips for visiting the Switzerland hot air balloon festival in Chateau d’oex:

Allow at least 3 days in the area to see the festival. As I’ve mentioned, balloons were cancelled on 2 of the days we were there due to bad weather, thankfully on our third day we were able to see the inflations and ride in a hot air balloon.
Book a morning hot air balloon flight for more chance of getting a spot and for the flight going ahead
There are helicopter rides for just 65 CHF (amazingly cheap!) on weekends and usually Wednesdays - we missed them due to weather but if you’ve never been in a helicopter before, this is a great chance for a short ride
Head up the hill to the Church of Chateau d’oex for incredible views of the festival site and balloons lifting off
Allow 5-7 hours for your whole hot air balloon flight from start to finish - it’s not a quick, 2 hour experience!
Keep an eye on the festival Instagram and Facebook pages for regular announcements on the weather and what events are going ahead or cancelled each day.
Just because the weather is bad in Chateau d’oex, it doesn’t mean you have to cancel all plans for the day. Weather is weird in the mountains and on the day with low cloud, high winds and rain that caused the balloons to be cancelled for a second day, we took the train 20 minutes to Gstaad where we took the gondola up the mountain and went winter hiking for several hours in the most beautiful, bluebird day - it was stunning and the best turnaround for a day that we thought was a washout!
We found that the festival website updates its programme and information quite late in the year (it said in the fall, but we didn’t see an update until November) so keep checking the website for all the latest events and passenger flight prices.
If you do a passenger flight - dress warmly! While the flame from the burner definitely helped to keep me warm, there are approximately 12-15 people in a balloon basket and you’re standing still for 1 hour+ at high altitude. Wear lots of insulating layers, bring gloves and a hat and good insulating shoes if you get cold feet easily.

Helena in a red jacket in a hot air balloon with a snow mountain range in the background — Helena in a hot air balloon

Summary:visiting the International Balloon Festival in Switzerland

Did our trip go to plan? No, but we can’t control the weather and I hope you’ll have more luck for your trip! Do I regret going? Absolutely not, flying in a hot air balloon over the snowy Swiss Alps was one of the most memorable, surreal and spectacular moments of my life.

We both agree it was the highlight of our honeymoon (and that’s saying something, because it has a lot of other highlights to compete with!)

It is totally surreal and a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list experience to see colourful balloons against the backdrop of snowy mountains, hearing the roar of the burner in the silence of the snowy mountains and to get to experience such a unique event in a unique location.