LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Left it a bit late this year? If you're looking for last-minute Christmas gifts, Experience Days has you covered.

We've updated our comprehensive Last Minute Gift Guide for 2023 - so read on to find out how to treat your loved ones this year, without a late-night dash to the local Tesco. 

Christmas always seems to come around too quickly. Before you know it, it’s December 23^rd and you only have a few days left to sort all your presents!

If it’s any consolation, you’re not alone. Christmas shopping is getting later and later each year. The brilliant thing about our experience gift vouchers is that there’s absolutely no need to leave the house. So, if you’ve been too busy to get to the shops, or simply dreading the thought of heading out into the cold and fighting for the last Lynx box left in Boots, Experience Days are here to put your worries to rest.

With our vouchers, there’s no need to brave the last minute shopping hoards. Just kick back, get the fire going, the chestnuts roasting, and pour yourself a mug of mulled wine, because Christmas shopping has never been easier.

If you didn’t manage to make it in time for the last day of 1^st class post, do not worry, there’s still plenty of time.

You can purchase an instant e-voucher up to Christmas Day itself (if you really like to live your life on the edge). We’ve put together some of our favourite gifts for everyone on your list this year, but if you’d prefer to shop by your giftee’s interests you can shop by different categories here.

Gifts for your parents

I don’t know about you, but when I’m buying gifts for my parents, it’s important I get something good. These people created me, raised me, fed me and gave me free rent until I was 20 years old. I owe them a lot and quite frankly, they deserve a treat for themselves every now and then.

 A Three Hour Cooking Class in Dumfries and Galloway is the perfect way to spoil them with the finer things in life.

Experiences take place in the demonstration room of Scotland’s hottest new cookery school, in the picturesque fishing village of Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway.

The surrounding region is home to several world-class food producers and artisans – some of whose produce your parents will be using. This voucher allows them to choose from a great range of three-hour classes – including introductions to pasta making, vegan cookery, gluten-free baking, and more.

Whichever they go for, all will follow a similar format. On arrival, they'll be welcomed by the resident chef who’ll proceed to cook up a storm while answering any questions.

Next, they'll head to their own workstation, where they'll recreate each dish under the expert guidance of their tutor.

Finally, students can sit down to enjoy lunch – the delicious result of all that hard work!

If they are not based in Kirkcudbright, we have plenty of other Food & Drink experiences available around the country.

This Overnight Spa Break for Two in Reading is sure to give your parents the break they’ve been wishing for all year.

Located at a top hotel and spa, this experience is the best way to relax in style, and allows you to treat them to several experiences all at once.

The voucher includes a stunning double bedroom for a night, full access to all the hotel’s facilities including gym, pool, steam room and sauna, a 25 minute treatment of their choice each, a three course meal in the AA Rosette grade restaurant, and a full English breakfast the morning after!

They will be spoilt in the best kind of way; I doubt they’ll want to come back home.

Gifts for grandparents

Sometimes it can be difficult to know what to buy the older generation at Christmas. If you want to splash out a little more than your standard chocolates and whiskey this year, we’ve hand-picked our top experience gifts for grandparents. With a lot of directions to go down, this isn’t an easy choice – but we’re sure you’ll find something!

A popular experience amongst our older customers, and it’s easy to see why! Yes, a Helicopter ride is a firm favourite on the all-important bucket list, but it’s honestly just a lot of fun. They can also be very relaxing and informative. We sell a huge number of helicopter and fixed-wing pleasure flights across the UK.

We have historical flight tours, scenic flights and city tours, so there really is something for everyone. One of our most popular helicopter flights is the Jurassic Coast Sightseeing Helicopter Tour. This jam-packed sightseeing tour flies along the beautiful southern coastline, from Devon to Bournemouth and back again!

Gifts for Siblings

Do I need to give you more of a reason to buy this experience than the look of pure fear on that woman’s face? Imagine your brother or sister with that expression on their face.

Totally worth it, right? This is the Triple Whammy Experience, and it’s sure to be an exciting adrenaline inducing experience. 

There are three different experiences - these include a 250 ft indoor Zip Wire, a 150 ft abseiling tower, and The Drop, a 150ft leap in the dark (mysterious we know). Located in Rotherham, North Yorkshire, this one’s easily accessible for anyone around Sheffield and Doncaster.

Whether you’re looking to prank your annoying sibling, or give them an exciting adrenaline boost, the Triple Whammy experience is a fantastic experience gift to give this Christmas!

Escape rooms are a terrific way to bond with your siblings. Yes, there’s a strong chance you’ll end up screaming at each other, but that’s what the spirit of Christmas is all about!

We offer a lot of different escape rooms across the country, with loads of interesting themes. We offer bank heist escape rooms, a nuclear bunker and an adults only escape room.

So, whether you want some quality time with your siblings, or you want to show off your impressive puzzle solving skills, this is sure to be an exciting family outing.

Gifts for significant others

Has your significant other told you they don’t want anything for Christmas this year?

They’re lying.

Don’t fall for the trap; we’ve got a load of great gifts for couples, and you can view all of them here.

From romantic boat cruises, to couples’ massages, spa days and theatre shows, this category is full of amazing date days / nights that will leave them feeling spoilt.

There’s even stadium tours if you’re both massive football fanatics.

At the end of the day, what they probably want is to spend some time with you. Gifts that mean you’re suggesting you make some amazing memories together are always bound to go down well.

Date Night Cookery Class for Two in London - it’s all in the name! A cooking experience is the perfect date night. Not only do you get a delicious sit down meal that you can enjoy with a lovely glass of wine (or another drink of your choice), you also get to have fun making the food.

It’s super interactive and a great way to spend that all important quality time with each other. Plus, you’ll get a great recipe under your belt for when you’re hosting all those couple’s dinner parties.

This voucher allows you to choose from a massive range of 3-hour classes available throughout the month! Expect classes such as Peruvian cooking, Bao Making, Best of British and Vegan cooking (there’s a massive list of everything available on the product page.)

Afternoon tea is a great treat to share with your partner. When would you usually ever go out for afternoon tea? It’s always an event that feels like a special occasion.

Treat your partner to an indulgent lunch fit for royalty (while also treating yourself.) We have afternoon tea experiences all over the country, each one just as delicious as the last.

We also have packages such as the Afternoon Tea Cruise on the Thames for Two and London Theatre Show and Afternoon Tea for Two if you want to treat them to something really extravagant this Christmas.

Gifts for your best friend

You know your best friend better than anyone in the whole wide world, right? So why is it so difficult to know what to buy them sometimes? It’s difficult to generalise gifts for best friends.

It’s going to be dependant on their individual interests. Our number one go-to is always alcohol. If they enjoy a drink or two (or three), we have a wide selection of wine, beer and spirit tasting experiences, as well as bar and pub crawls.

Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of stuff for people who don’t like drinking too! Thrill seekers, foodies, petrol heads, you name it. Here are a couple of our top selling experiences that everyone will love!

If you’ve never been on a RIB ride, you should! This is one of the most adrenaline-inducing ways to ride along the river Thames. The London Thames Break the Barrier Experience takes the fun to a whole different level by adding hilarious commentary and all your favourite pop tunes to attempt to sing along to as you feel the powerful wind against your face and your arms go up in the air in pure joy.

I took a RIB ride once a few years ago, and the adrenaline had me laughing the whole way through. Thames Rockets, who run these experiences have been providing expert experiences along the Thames since 2006. They’re not only the highest-rated RIB ride in London, their experiences are rated the top activity to do in the English Capital.

They’ve won attraction awards from VisitLondon and earned an impressive 5-star rating from Timeout magazine! We can safely say if you were going to buy a RIB ride from anyone this Christmas, it should be these guys.

Pottery is an amazing way to get creative and learn something completely new. Way better than buying them a nice plate, bowl or vase from Zara Home, this experience means they’ll create something with sentimental value.

No matter how bad it is, they’ll never want to throw it away because they’ll be proud of their unique creation.

Plus, there’s always the chance you’ll kickstart a new hobby for them and they’ll thank you indefinitely! Failing that, you’ll have loads of fun getting messy together and trying your hand at something new.

If you think your friend would love a creative gift this Christmas, but pottery isn’t on the top of their list, you can check out all our arts & craft experiences here.

Gifts for Secret Santa

The office Christmas party is fast approaching, and of course you’re doing secret Santa as you do every year, but in the manic rush of Christmas shopping you’ve completely forgotten to pick something up.

Whether your secret Santa is amongst a group of colleagues or friends, it’s easy to leave it to the last minute. You always have the illusion that you’ll quickly pick up something fun from town on your way home, without needing to worry.

However, finding a good gift for £10, £15 or £20 (if you're a really bougie office) is quite a lot of pressure, whether it’s for your best friend or your boss. Here are our top choices:

If they're a bit of a home chef - or aspiring to be one - this Ann's Smart School Online Cooking Lesson is a great, affordable option. 

During this 30 or 60 minute online cooking lesson, they'll join a professional chef via a live video feed to craft a recipe from scratch. Under the chef's expert guidance, your giftee will create their chosen dish with incredible results. 

After redeeming their voucher online and booking a date, your Secret Santa giftee will be provided with an ingredients and equipment list, so they know exactly what they need for the class. All they need from there is to make sure they sign in to the Zoom session on the date of the experience, and follow along with the chef. 

They’ll guide your giftee through the process step-by-step, so before they know it, they'll be sitting down to a delicious meal they'll be amazed they cooked in their very own kitchen! Dishes vary depending on the class chosen, but they can expect to make anything from delectable Asian cuisine, to Italian dishes, to mouth-watering Spanish tapas. 

They'll pick up plenty of tips and tricks along the way, which they can put to use in their kitchen for years to come.

Send your giftee on an incredible sea-faring adventure in the form of this Mallaig to Inverie ferry cruise. This one-of-a-kind experience will take them on a scenic journey to 'the end of the world!' (Not literally, don't worry.)

The trip begins in the charming port town of Mallaig, heading out across Loch Nevis to Inverie. Holding a Guinness World Record for being home to the ‘most remote pub in Mainland Britain’, Inverie is a lone village on the Knoydart Peninsula which has no access to the road network, and can only be reached by ferry. 

On this trip, your giftee will get a true taste of this remote way of life as they share the ferry with a mixture of other visitors and locals. 

As they approach Inverie, they'll experience the dramatic view of the rolling green hills dotted with trees and punctuated by quaint white houses at the bottom. They can then disembark and enjoy exploring this wholly unique place, maybe even enjoying a pint or two at The Old Forge: ‘The pub at the end of the world’?

Explore the thrilling world of Manchester City Football Club with this Manchester City Stadium Tour—an unforgettable blend of history and excitement! Get an insider's look at one of football's most prestigious clubs.

Kick off your journey in the press room, where cutting-edge tech lets you virtually interact with Pep Guardiola himself. Walk the players' tunnel, sit in the dugouts, and feel the stadium's electric energy. Get an inside peek at the home team's dressing room and unravel matchday rituals through immersive audio-visuals. Snap a selfie beside your favourites player's shirt for a lasting memory. The tour peaks in the press conference room, where a virtual Pep Guardiola interviews you, giving you a taste of a sports journalist's role.

Did you know you can get a 60-minute pole dancing class in London for only £19 this Christmas? Because you can, and I assure you it’ll be a great secret Santa gift for anyone who’s up for a little fun.

This is a great chance for them to express themselves on the pole, and with both men and women welcome, this is a great gift for all, and a wonderful way to get into the seriously difficult art of pole dancing. This is an enjoyable gift to receive, as well as an exciting experience that’s sure to be a laugh.

Even if pole dancing isn’t for them, they can always exchange their gift for anything else on the site that might take their fancy. This means you can enjoy the look on your boss’ face when he opens a pole dancing gift certificate, but he can exchange it for a brewery tour experience if that’s more his thing.

Thank You for Reading and a Very Merry Christmas from Everyone Here at Experience Days!

We hope you managed to get your last-minute Christmas shopping in, and most of all we hope it was relaxing. If you haven’t found what you’re looking for you can view all of our available Christmas gifts online here.