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32 Years of Luxury Trips in Europe Including Legendary Daily Sightseeing by Balloon with the Pioneer of Adventure Travel

The Concept

Founded in 1977, The Bombard Society, Inc., dba Buddy Bombard’s Europe, is an American company headquartered in West Paldm Beach, Florida, with trip operations located in Beaune, France. The 2008/2009 season celebrates the 32nd anniversary of the founding of Buddy Bombard’s Europe that remains today the only vacation experience of its kind in the world. Buddy Bombard delivers intimate, all-inclusive luxury tours in Europe including exclusive private cultural visits and daily sightseeing adventures by balloon scheduled throughout each trip.

Distinctive Locations

Bombard destinations were selected for their combination of great beauty and cultural/historical significance. Eight different itineraries, created by Buddy Bombard, operate each year in five European countries (Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland and Turkey). Itineraries range from five to ten days in length, and include local, low-level sightseeing adventures in Buddy Bombard's balloons scheduled as daily happenings. Optional Trip Extensions, and Trip Combinations joining two or more consecutive Bombard itineraries are also available. Each departure is limited to a maximum of 16 to 24 guests, bringing the total number of guests to fewer than 500 who can be accommodated on the trips in any given year.

VIP Accommodations and Dining

One 5 star or luxury hotel is home base on each trip, including such prestigious brands as Leading Hotels of the World, Small Leading Hotels of the World, and Relais and Château properties. Hotels are selected for their service and local cultural charm. Exceptional dining such as castle dinners in the French countryside prepared by Bombard's own chefs, to Michelin-star restaurants, a private luncheon with nobles in their ancestral Tuscan fortress, or lunch served while ballooning in the winter Alps, excellent cuisine and wine in spectacular settings is the culinary standard on all Buddy Bombard programs.

Europe with Bombard Panache

Buddy Bombard’s gaily-decorated balloons are a dimension unto themselves in the indulgent Bombard experience. Bombard staff pilots drift slowly just above centuries-old castles, chalets, vineyards, lakes, forests and villages low enough for guests to speak to the villagers just beneath the balloon baskets and for the most up close and personal views of the landscape. Approximately one third of each day is devoted to balloon related activities, including sightseeing in the balloon for approximately an hour and a half. The rest of each day is devoted to experiencing local historical and cultural attractions with excellent English speaking guides, private visits with local families and fine dining in imaginative venues. Buddy’s longstanding friendships with some of Europe’s colorful nobility, vintners, hoteliers, villagers and restaurateurs affords his guests an unparalleled “insider’s Europe” experience, including private invitations to dine with Princess Manni Wittengenstein (Salzburg), Prince Girolamo and Princess Irinia Strozzi ( Siena), the Baron and Baroness Ricasoli (Siena) and other noble families at their historic ancestral estates. They, with The Prince of Merode of Belgium are also among some of the European nobility who have joined Bombard guests in the balloons. Buddy has also welcomed such celebrities as Julia Child, Steve Forbes, Joan Rivers, Kirk Douglas, and many other contemporary celebrities and their families. Buddy taught Malcolm Forbes to fly balloons and saw him through the licensing process.

Meticulous Detail – Bombard Style

Always at the helm is Buddy Bombard, recipient of the first annual Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) Adventure Pioneer Award, established in 2006. Buddy hosts every trip and oversees all details including meal planning and wine selection. Bombard staff pilots are fully-licensed and each has more than 5,000 hours of experience piloting balloons, which exceeds the FAA’s 35-hour requirement for a commercial balloon pilot license. Bombard staff balloon pilots have tenure of 17 to 29 years with Buddy Bombard’s Europe. The company’s own in-house maintenance and safety standards also meets or exceeds all FAA annual inspection criteria. Buddy Bombard’s executive staff in the US has more than 27 years experience in the upscale travel business in addition to their professional specialties. The European balloon crew, four assigned to each balloon, are English-speaking university students recently graduated and chosen for their performance and social skills. The guides throughout Europe and Turkey are highly educated in their discipline field, chosen for their regional knowledge, clarity, sincerity and untiring efforts to ensure guests spectacular views and understanding of the places visited.

‘Everybody is Buddy’s Buddy’ - 50 percent Return for More

Each year about 50 percent of Buddy Bombards’s guests are those returning for more. Guests come back two, five, ten, sixteen, even an insatiable 26 times. From singles to honeymooners to multi-generational family reuinions or couples celebrating milestone-wedding anniversaries, Buddy’s guests span all ages and backgrounds. Buddy Bombard's singular and highly specialized model of immersion in beautiful European destinations with scheduled exploration in his own balloons each day, sophisticated private entrée to nobility and their ancestral castles and estates, wonderful regional cuisine in extravagant settings, cultural intermingling with locals from all walks of life, history, scenery, art, serendipity, and fun, does not exist anywhere else. A trip with Buddy Bombard is affirmation that 'It's never too late to have a happy childhood!'