The 23 Best Experience-Based Gifts for the Person Who Has Everything
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After surviving a global pandemic and spending lots of quality time with a screen at home, it seems we’re all looking to indulge our wanderlust with travel and experiences these days. So give the people what they want: a cozy getaway, gourmet dining, tickets to see their favorite artist in concert or sports team in action. Best gifts ever, right?
Experiential gift ideas can be as unique as your family members’ and friends’ interests. Perhaps a simple pleasure such as wine, coffee, cheese, a good book, or flowers showing up at their door each month is the perfect way to remind them how well you know their taste. Or maybe you want to do something for them that they wouldn’t dare do for themselves. There’s no time like the present for a once-in-a-lifetime vacay or adventure. Heli-skiing in Antarctica, anyone?
Show you care about every part of them with a wellness retreat, a gym membership, or a subscription to a meditation app. Challenge their mind with new skills from the practical (a language learning program) to the aspirational (flying lessons). Honor them with a donation to a cause close to their heart.
Send them on one of the most luxurious cruises around. Pack a picnic kit with the essentials, and spend a lazy afternoon together. After all, that’s what experiential gifts are all about—those unforgettable moments or gestures.
We’ve tracked down some of the best experiential gift ideas to consider when you need thoughtful gifts for the ones you love.
Best Experience Gifts for the Person Who Has Everything
An Architectural Tour
Architecture lovers dream of exploring a city where they can stroll or ride among the icons of their preferred style. Sign them up for a walking, bike, or boat tour with Viator. Athens, Greece, is the place for classicists, while Miami is a hot spot for all things Art Deco. And don’t overlook the charm of small towns. For instance, Mason City, Iowa, boasts the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie-style homes.
A Calligraphy Starter Set
Now that dinner parties have made a triumphant return, help the ultimate host or hostess prepare their own place cards and invitations with a calligraphy starter kit. Designed by industry leader Laura Hooper, the kit and accompanying 2.5-hour video tutorial supply all the high-quality tools and detailed instruction needed to master the art of modern pointed-pen calligraphy. Upgrade to premium to add a desk pad, leather nib pouch, and wooden penholder.
At-Home Pottery Making
Encourage your creative friend or kid to get their hands dirty with a Sculpd pottery kit, complete with premium air-dry clay, a step-by-step guide, sculpting tools, white acrylic paint, waterproof varnish, ultrafine bristle paintbrushes, and a potter’s sponge to make four to six items. The masterpieces they produce are limited only by their imagination. For a bit of inspiration, point them to the makes on Sculpd’s Instagram.
A Scavenger Hunt
Looking for a housewarming gift for someone who just made a major move? Let’s Roam acquaints them with the must-sees and secrets of their new surroundings. A handcrafted scavenger hunt engages couples, families, friends, and coworkers in solving riddles, answering trivia questions, learning fun facts, and conquering challenges. The objective is connection to people and place. Choose from themes like ghost hunts, bar crawls, and art walks to suit the recipient's preferences.
Spa Days
Escape with your significant other to a romantic water world inside a restored historic building. In city centers across the United States and western Europe, Aire Ancient Baths draw from soaking traditions of Roman, Greek, and Ottoman civilizations complemented by a careful selection of massages and exclusive rituals. Want your beloved to continue to practice self-care after you return home? A Spafinder gift card allows for pampering when and how they need it.
A Girls' Trip
Treat your mother (or mother figure) or daughter to a shared travel experience with Wild Terrains. The B-Corp certified travel company leads small group tours for women of all ages and exclusively supports women-owned businesses and creators in each of its seven global destinations. In 2024, a trip to France falls on Mother's Day weekend (hint, hint). Or send a recent graduate on a "detour" hosted by a female tastemaker who can pull back the curtain on an Argentine leather shoe atelier experience in Buenos Aires or the food and art scene of Mexico City.
A Private Cooking Class
If you hire a personal chef for someone, you feed them for a day. But if you gift them a cooking class, you help them become a chef. The Chef & The Dish offers more than 100 private classes via Skype with chefs around the world. Pick a specific class you know the foodie in your life will love, or opt for a gift certificate so they can find their culinary passion.
A Wine Subscription
Make the celebration last with a Dry Farm Wines classic membership. Every month or two your favorite wine connoisseur receives a curated selection of rare natural wines not available in stores. Each box can be personalized and features unique grapes, regions, and profiles in their purest form, without the sugar or additives of commercial wines.
A Cocktail Kit
Provide an aspiring mixologist with almost everything needed to craft a fancy cocktail at home. Each monthly kit from Shaker & Spoon contains three recipes and all the ingredients (minus the alcohol) to make 12 drinks.
An Adventure of Their Choosing
Save yourself the stress of hunting the perfect present, and let the recipient choose their adventure (rugged or luxurious) with a Virgin Experience Gifts egift card that never expires. They could soar above downtown Chicago as they learn to fly a Cessna or float over the Arizona desert at sunrise in a hot-air balloon. Perhaps they would prefer sipping and sailing around Newport, Rhode Island, or one of the other thousands of options across the country.
Skydiving over the Grand Canyon
In search of a gift tailor-made for adrenaline junkies? How about skydiving over the Grand Canyon? Purchase a gift voucher from Paragon Skydive so they can enjoy unparalleled views of this natural wonder from 16,000 feet. Give those who want to keep their feet on the ground an annual pass that will allow them to explore all the national parks and federal recreational lands.
Heli-skiing in Antarctica
Assist the friend looking to cross visiting the seventh continent off their bucket list with a life-changing 10-day ski trip with Pelorus. Two helicopters will drop them off at one summit and carry them to the next, taking them farther inland than man has skied before. Instead of one glorious vacation, grant a ski junkie's wish for a season on the slopes with Epic Pass, which entitles them to access to world-class resorts in North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan.
Stand-Up Paddleboarding
Introduce lake life lovers to a new way to spend time on the water: stand-up paddleboarding. Sign them up for a half-day class from the outdoor experts at REI, and they'll be balancing, paddling, and remounting in no time. Paddleboards, paddles, and safety equipment are provided. Keep in mind participants must be at least 13 years old.
Thrills Behind the Wheel
Venture off the beaten path with a gift certificate for car enthusiasts to develop their driving skills in a Land Rover of their choice. They can navigate steep inclines, descents, side slopes, and streams for four hours with an expert instructor at an experience center in California, North Carolina, or Vermont. If a Porsche is more their speed, surprise them with a weekend rental of any model in the company's fleet.
Glamping Gift Certificates
Your outdoorsy friends don’t have to rough it (or disconnect completely) to spend the night under the stars. In extraordinary places across the United States, Under Canvas's safari-inspired tents come with luxe linens, organic bath products, a private deck, and a wood-burning stove. USB battery packs are even available for charging electronics. Or trade up to a fully outfitted Airstream with Autocamp’s take on glamping in a growing list of locations.
Vacationing like Royalty
Gather the royal fanatics among you, and book a castle on Airbnb for a fairy-tale European vacation. Find a small country château with an unbelievable library in the Czech Republic, a Medieval tower house in Ireland, and a pink castle with a private forest full of animals in Poland. Look for a property run by a Superhost, who has a rating of 4.8 or above, a less than 1 percent cancellation rate, and at least a 90 percent response rate.
Building an Art Collection
Support budding art collectors with a Saatchi Art gift card. They can fill that nagging blank space on their wall with a new original painting, photograph, drawing, sculpture, or NFT. If they struggle to make decisions, splurge on an art subscription to set them up with a personal curator to aid them in selecting one new piece every month for a year.
Video Lessons from the Masters
Promote lifelong learning with an annual membership to MasterClass. New online classes taught by the world’s best are added each month for a taste of a variety of topics such as interior design and architecture with Corey Damen Jenkins, tennis with Serena Williams, and building and owning your personal style with Karla Welch.
A Language Learning Program
Everyone—young or old—could benefit from picking up a new language. A Rosetta Stone subscription makes it easy. Both the 12-month single language plan and the lifetime unlimited plan, which includes 25 languages, comprise bite-size lessons online and offline, a fully immersive environment for long-lasting learning, speech recognition technology to perfect their accent, and an award-winning app.
Floral Design Workshop and Classes
Gabriela Salazar’s path to becoming a floral designer began when she gifted herself an arranging class for her birthday. If you’ve got a green thumb, then register for an intensive two-day workshop in Salazar’s one-of-a-kind garden in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. You’ll connect with flowers and discuss everything from how to grow them to how to produce floral designs for an event. Or enroll in her online floral design school, where you can go at your own pace and receive lifetime access to videos with instruction and participation in a group Zoom series of your choice.
Date Night Ideas
Forgo the traditional gifts for newlyweds. Give them no excuse to skip date night with The Adventure Challenge Couples Camera Set. A book of 50 ideas to spark spontaneity, romance, and excitement and an instant camera to document the memories compose the set.
A Showstopping Broadway Experience
Present a couple of musical theater die-hards with this exclusive experience: a two-night stay in a Rosewood suite, dinner for two at Dowling’s at The Carlyle in NYC, a pair of VIP tickets to a top Broadway musical, a backstage tour with the opportunity to meet a cast member, and a signed copy of the playbill. Kick in a one-month or yearlong subscription to BroadwayHD streaming service so they can watch shows anytime anywhere.
Discovering the World of 007
The assignment: Score one of only 60 limited-edition trips so the movie buff you love can go behind the scenes of James Bond’s Europe. To mark the 60th anniversary of the film series, luxury travel company Black Tomato curated a 12-night journey that opens in London and continues through Paris, Monaco, and Lake Como before a spectacular finale in Venice. A bespoke tour can be designed around someone’s particular interests—be they places, experiences, or films.
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