15 experience gift ideas for Christmas
Looking for a Christmas gift for the person who has it all? Experience gifts are the perfect solution.
An experience gift is a brilliant way of creating memories, especially if you opt for an activity for two or more. It's also the perfect way to treat a loved one to something they might otherwise not get to try or indulge in something they're passionate about.
There's so much to see and do, we can guarantee you'll find something to suit. There's also never been more options when it comes to trusted providers of experience gifts, from Virgin Experience Days, Not on the High Street, the RHS and more. Some of our own Country Living Marketplace artisans offer workshops, too.
From off-road driving for the adventurous to fabulous woodland feasts for the foodie, we've rounded up some of the best UK-based experience gifts for Christmas 2024. Keep reading to discover our top picks...
A festive forest feast
Located in a forest in Buckinghamshire, the team at Nomadic Dinners will help you connect with nature. Journey into a magical clearing to be warmly greeted with a winter cocktail and tasty canapés. Then, wrap yourself up with warm blankets and watch as their team of chefs conjure up a sumptuous feast that celebrates the best of the festive season using locally sourced and wild ingredients cooked over live fire.
Dinner in the forest with Nomadic Dinners, Buckinghamshire. From £150 per person.
Wine and dine at Bolney Wine Estate
Nestled in the heart of West Sussex, Bolney Wine Estate is the place to go for English wines. From expert-guided small group tours to intimate tastings, visitors can journey from grape to glass, learning about how each tasty tipple is made.
We think the Cheese and Wine Tasting Tour would be an excellent Christmas gift. It includes a guided tour of the beautiful vineyard and estate, followed by a luxurious wine-tasting experience of five of Bolney's award-winning wines with a food-matching plate. Don't leave without trying a glass of their famous Pinot Noir — it's our favourite.
The Cheese & Wine Tasting Tour is £60 for two people.
Book a relaxing spa break
Spa breaks make wonderful experience gifts. From overnight getaways for couples to solo spa-goers, you'll find pampers to suit all budgets and tastes. Why not book Careys Manor Spa for a loved one, sister to our favouite New Forest hotel, The Montagu Arms. Or send your guest further afield to Bath's Royal Crescent Hotel to soak in its 12.5-metre pool and unwind in the cosy steam room.
4×4 off-road driving
This exhilarating activity offers the adventurous the chance to drive a Land Rover 110 Defender around challenging timber extraction tracks in the outer-estate woodlands of Bovey Castle in Dartmoor.
Test your precision with an accuracy challenge as you negotiate difficult terrains while maintaining control (all under the watchful eye of their BORDA-trained instructors).
One hour off-road driving experience at Bovey Castle, Dartmoor. From £150 for a solo drive, or share the experience with a friend/partner for £75 per person.
Learn how to make your own charcuterie
River Cottage is one of the best places to learn about food. Their curing and smoking course is led by expert, Steve Williams, founder of Good Game (makers of artisan charcuterie and cured meats).
Steve will introduce you to the key techniques and processes of salt-based curing as well as hot and cold smoking. You’ll leave knowing how to make cured sausages like salami and chorizo, and 'whole muscle' charcuterie, as well as simple ham and bacon.
Plus, you get to tuck into a delicious lunch, prepared by River Cottage's skilled chefs.
Learn how to make charcuterie with River Cottage, Devon. £245 per person.
Try canoeing and wild camping
Into The Outside's relaxed yet knowledgeable approach to outdoor trips makes each one an enjoyable and memorable experience.
Their overnight Canoe Wild Camp trip involves canoeing to a secret location, where you'll sleep in a hammock, eat around a campfire and go wild swimming. It's the back-to-nature reset outdoor adventurers need, without having to go too far to get it.
Canoe Wild Camp Trip with Into The Outside, Lake District. £350 for two people, £125 for additional participants.
Annual National Trust membership
With more than 500 places to visit across the UK, a National Trust membership is a gift that keeps on giving.
From incredible country houses to impressive gardens, there's plenty to see and visit all year round. It also includes free parking at National Trust car parks and a subscription to their magazine.
National Trust membership, various locations. From £84 for single membership and £139.20 for joint membership.
Try your hand at pottery
Know a fan of The Great Pottery Throw Down? Treat them to a spin on a real pottery wheel.
During this five-week evening course at KO Ceramics, you'll be led through the three main aspects of pottery; throwing on the wheel, turning and glazing, as well as hand-building. Each class has a maximum of six students, so there's plenty of guidance and help available.
Five-week evening course at the KO Ceramics studio, Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire. £200 per person.
Cornish foodie getaway weekend
Cornish chef, Nathan Outlaw, has had his restaurant, New Road, in the top few positions of The Good Food Guide for years – and for good reason. Sitting at the top of the tiny village of Port Issac, it overlooks the cliffs below and serves up Nathan's best dishes.
After recently acquiring the nine-bedroom hotel opposite, Nathan's now offering a foodie weekend trip. The package means you can stay at Outlaw's Guest House and eat at the New Road restaurant, as well as the more casual small plates restaurant, The Fish Kitchen, at the bottom of the village.
Nathan Outlaw's Foodie Getaway, Cornwall. From £695 for 2 nights of dinner, bed and breakfast, as well as afternoon bakes for two people (sharing a room).
Explore a 19th-century Scottish mansion
This impressive 19th-century Gothic revival mansion is set in the most accessible of Scotland's West Coast islands, Bute. Still the family seat of the Crichton-Stuarts, where the current Marquess of Bute lives, it's now owned by the Mount Stuart Trust.
Famed for its lavish interiors – namely its marble hall and chapel – it was also the first house in Scotland to be lit by electricity and boasts the world's first heated pool. They offer a range of private tours, starting before the house opens to the public, or after it closes for the day.
Private tour of Mount Stewart House (National Trust), Isle of Bute, Scotland. From £30 per person.
Weave your own willow sculpture
Join expert willow weaver, Rachel Harwood, on one of her many courses, and create a fabulous 3ft tall willow hare for your garden.
Her hare weaving workshops are suitable for beginners and everything you need is included – along with a lovely lunch, tea and cake.
You can also shop Rachel's willow weaving kits on the Country Living Marketplace.
Willow Hare Workshop, Pebworth, Worcestershire. £105 per person. Other workshops are available.
Annual RHS membership
Keen gardeners and horticulturists will love a RHS membership. The annual pass allows unlimited entry to all of its five gardens, including Wisley in Surrey, Rosmoore in Devon, Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire, Hyde Hall in Essex and Bridgwater in Greater Manchester.
If you purchase a single membership, you can also bring an adult family guest (or two children) with you. The membership also gives you exclusive access to events such as the RHS flower shows in the summer. Plus, get expert advice from the monthly The Garden magazine.
RHS annual single membership, various locations. From £49.70 by direct debit (£71 otherwise).
BUY NOW
Wine tasting and overnight stay
Set just outside the historic market town of Tenterden, Chapel Down is famed for its award-winning wines.
This memorable experience includes a guided tour of the vineyard, where you'll learn about the grapes, as well as a tour of their state-of-the-art winery. Then the fun bit – the tasting, which is accompanied by a tutor who'll guide you through the samples. This experience includes an overnight stay and breakfast at a local hotel.
One night stay and wine tasting at Chapel Down, Kent. £165 for two people sharing a room.
Learn to draw real animals with Wild Life Drawing
A live drawing class with some very special guests. Each of the classes (run by Wild Life Drawing) focuses on a different species. In the past participants have drawn donkeys, tortoises, meerkats, parrots, owls and lizards. As well as drawing the animals, you will hear all about their habitats, behaviour and any conservation issues affecting that species.
Wild Life Drawing is run by Jennie Webber, a London-based illustrator and animal lover, who will be on hand to help and advise on all the artistic elements of the class. This class is informal, relaxed, and open to all levels of skill.
Wild Life Drawing Experience for one, various locations around London. £42 per person.
Journey on a classic steam train
An excellent gift for train enthusiasts. Settle into your seats, relax, and enjoy a silver-service breakfast as you travel through the spectacular Yorkshire Dales on a classic steam train. The 60-minute return journey promises to be an unforgettable adventure.
Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway Steam Train with Breakfast for Two, Yorkshire. £47 for two people.
You Might Also Like
