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You’ve forgotten, haven’t you? It happens. Don’t panic, though: from a foraging day to a year’s supply of cinema tickets, here are 18 thoughtful last-minute Christmas gifts you can buy online, sign up for, or book right now – and they’ll never know you forgot.
Our list of experiences, vouchers and subscriptions is also perfect for those who don’t need more stuff, are almost impossible to buy for or enjoy supporting the arts or small food producers. An email may not be as exciting as unwrapping a gift, but an experience or subscription can last months, and they’ll think of you every time they make their subscription morning coffee.
The best last-minute Christmas gift ideas
Getting cultured
Tracey Emin exhibition
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Surprise someone with tickets to an exhibition, play or show. Celebrating four decades of the artist’s work (including My Bed), Tracey Emin begins on 27 February at London’s Tate Modern. A fresh imagining of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream opens on 4 March at the Bristol Old Vic, while the critically acclaimed Tina Turner musical, Tina (from £15), will tour theatres across the UK, including Manchester, Newcastle, Cardiff and Leeds. Meanwhile, comedian Judi Love kicks off a new series of dates for her All About the Love tour (from £33.30) at the end of January, and US essayist David Sedaris arrives in July (from £46) with nine live events in cities from Brighton to Edinburgh …
National Theatre at Home subscription
… or treat the culture-loving homebody in your life to a year’s streaming of National Theatre at Home, which has a wealth of productions to watch from past seasons, as well as adding shows that have recently finished runs at the theatre.
Full of beans
Rise coffee subscription
Yellow Bourbon coffee subscription
Give the gift of great coffee delivered to their door, and support an independent roaster with a subscription. Rise was one of our tester Joanne Gould’s favourites in our recent test of the best coffee subscriptions. It has recycled, plastic-free packaging, and donates 1% of sales to coffee-growing communities in Uganda. Or try Northampton-based Yellow Bourbon’s espresso blend, which we featured in our guide to the best subscriptions.
Creative workshops
Forage and cook workshop
For the person in your life who loves a course, try Experience Days for a range of one-day workshops, from decorating lampshades to candle making and even blacksmithing. Otherwise, a voucher from Forage Box will get your giftee outdoors for a bit of Ray Mears cosplay; try Wild Food UK for other foraging days across the country.
Victoria Richards, who tried different experiences for our gift guide, recommends life-drawing classes if your recipient is artistically inclined: “It reaffirmed my love of the human body, it was deeply absorbing, and nice to exercise the creative side of my brain.”
Life drawing classes start from about £13 (London Life Drawing, Class Bento Manchester, Leeds, Bristol).
A year of art and design
V&A museum membership
National Art Pass
London’s V&A museum offers a year’s membership that includes free entry to all its exhibitions and more. Or give a National Art Pass, which gives access to more than 250 museums, galleries and historic houses across the UK, from Yorkshire Sculpture Park to Brighton’s Royal Pavilion. They’ll also get 50% off major exhibitions at the British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate, the V&A, the Hepworth Wakefield, Compton Verney in Warwickshire and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, to name a few.
Big-screen adventures
Odeon membership or gift card
Picturehouse membership or gift card
With Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Hamnet and Toy Story 5 slated for 2026 release, give someone an excuse to see one (or all) on the big screen. Odeon offers various options, which can be redeemed nationwide, from a £5 cinema voucher to a pass for annual, limitless screenings for £186. Picturehouse cinemas also offer various gift memberships, from £70 for an annual regional membership (student members and over 60s are cheaper), which includes five cinema trips, food discounts and priority booking.
Meal deal
SimplyCook recipe kit subscription, three boxes
SimplyCook’s ready-to-use spice blends, seasonings and marinades, along with recipe cards on how to use them, were hugely popular with readers in our roundup of the best subscriptions. Recipe highlights include the lamb kofta flatbreads, Tamil black pepper chicken and ancho chilli glazed salmon.
Afternoon tea
Champagne afternoon tea for two
It’s a popular gift for a reason. Pick the perfect venue for your lucky recipient, whether that’s London’s Fortnum & Mason (£87 for two), Cambridge institution Fitzbillies (£70 afternoon tea voucher) or the Midland hotel in Manchester (from £45 a person, or £15 per child). The godchild you forgot to buy for might also enjoy the Wizard Afternoon Tea (£40pp) at the Georgian House hotel in Victoria, London, with goblin goo (DIY bubble tea) and werewolf fur (candy floss) on the menu.
Truly scrumptious
Sous Chef gift voucher
Lina Stores gift voucher
Sous Chef sells everything from ingredients to gifts, tableware and cookware – an e-gift card will ensure the foodie in your life keeps their kitchen stocked with goodies. Otherwise, try a voucher for the beautifully packaged Lina Stores for fresh pasta, olive oil and other Italian treats.
And, relax …
Treatwell gift card
Secret Spa gift card (available in London, Brighton, Manchester)
From a deep-tissue massage to a manicure, the gift of a beauty voucher always goes down well. Treatwell gift vouchers are redeemable at salons and wellness venues across the UK, or with a Secret Spa voucher, they can book a therapist to come to do a treatment at home.
A design masterclass
Create Academy gift cards
If you know someone planning a renovation project, tackling their garden or who wants to learn flower arranging, Create Academy hosts virtual courses with pros from the worlds of gardening and interior design. From Rita Konig’s brilliant decorating masterclass to Sarah Raven on growing cut flowers, each course is broken up into easily digestible (and beautifully filmed) short videos that gently take you through the basics. No homework required.
A fresh brew
Bird & Blend tea subscription, three months
Rare Tea Company subscription
B Corp-certified Bird & Blend has a monthly Tea Tasting Club where members receive a box of loose-leaf varieties to try, enough for 30 cups. A great alternative to booze or chocolate.
Crafty little devils
Willow & Wild Box craft subscription
My Mini Maker craft subscription
Need to get something for a niece or nephew? A letterbox craft kit is a wholesome option. Willow & Wild sends a monthly box with nature-inspired activities for two kids, or try My Mini Maker for themed educational craft kits to keep them busy on a rainy afternoon.
Give, don’t take
Twin their toilet
Concern Worldwide charitable gifts
For the “I really don’t want anything” person in your life, redirect funds to a good cause. Toilet Twinning pairs your recipient’s loo with one in another country to ensure vital sanitation for a family or community; your giftee will receive a certificate to hang in theirs. Otherwise, Concern Worldwide has a range of gifts, including school uniforms (£33), warm blankets and crop growing kits (from £9) for those who need them.
Grape expectations
Majestic wine subscription
Good Pair Days wine subscription
If you want to get them wine but have no idea where to start, treat them to a subscription (or a one-off delivery) of bottles selected by experts.
Bouquet, OK?
Bloom & Wild three-month flower subscription
Freddie’s Flowers flower subscription
A great pick-me-up in the gloomy post-Christmas period, Bloom & Wild’s three-month flower subscription will send them a bouquet of blooms each month until the spring – choose Classic or Statement (depending on your recipient’s taste), and the florist will do the rest.
Or for a little more, Freddie’s Flowers is our favourite flower subscription service (from our test of the best online flower delivery services), with dramatic varieties of blooms that they can enjoy arranging themselves.
Just remember to be cautious if your recipient has pets. Both services offer lily-free deliveries (although other flowers can also be toxic for cats and dogs).
Better than Bake Off?
Gower Cottage letterbox brownies, three-month subscription
Cake or Death letterbox brownies, box of six
Mail-order brownies don’t come more deliciously squidgy than those by Welsh bakery Gower Cottage, which delivers slabs of them in reassuringly homespun brown paper packaging. The original Belgian chocolate flavour is hard to beat, but you can mix it up with chocolate orange, raspberry ripple and blondie flavours, too. Cake or Death also does a subscription box of six or 10 brownies in flavours of your choice, from cookies and cream to Biscoff.
Book ‘em in
Good Book Club subscription
Happily Ever After subscription
Good Book Club selects titles by women, non-binary and queer authors. Or take a look at the Happily Ever After book club, which will send your recipient a new book each month and give them access to virtual author talks and discussion groups.
Liquid to love
Citizens of Soil olive oil delivery
Buy a refillable bottle and the Olive Oil Club delivers a letterbox-friendly refill pouch each month (or two months, depending on how much they need) of carefully sourced small-batch extra-virgin olive oil from regenerative farms.
Want to order a physical gift? You’ve still got time (just)
Several retailers take orders right up to Christmas, so it’s not too late if you get your skates on. Next will still deliver pre-Christmas if you place your order by 22 December at 8pm (this excludes homewares). John Lewis offers next-day delivery (at an additional cost) if you order by 8pm on 22 December.
The organic skincare brand Vanderhoe will deliver up until Christmas Eve (cut off for DHL delivery is 2pm on 22 December), as will jewellery brands Bon Bon Jewellery Club (order by noon on 23 December) and Heavenly London (last orders 2pm on 22 December).
Wine merchants Berry Brothers & Rudd will also deliver pre-Christmas if you order by midnight on 21 December.
For more:
The best experience gifts
The best letterbox gifts
The best forever gifts that last
