Christmas Travel Gifts : Ideas and Inspiration

Looking for the perfect Christmas gifts to set your friends and family on the right track? Look no further. Travel Begins at 40 has your Christmas Travel Gifts covered, as well as some pre-Christmas London suggestions.

Make Your iPhone Safe

It is perhaps a symptom of our society but the most important thing to protect while travelling – apart from yourself and family – is your phone. Nothing ruins a holiday more than seeing your iPhone slip through your fingers while trying to take that perfect holiday snap.

GRAMS28 has created a range of luxury travel accessories at affordable prices, including this 121 MagSafe Leather Case for your iPhone 15 Pro. Stylish, it protects your phone from all elements, while the slightly raised edge means your phone and camera do not come into contact with surfaces. The manufacturers say the case protects your phone from drops of up to five feet. You can also personalise your case with your own initials debossed into the Italian vegetable-tanned Snowflake leather, ensuring your gift case is truly unique.

Read our reviews of GRAMS28 products, such as the 132 Essential Case Pro and the 154 City Pack.

Whisky Jigsaw Puzzle

What could be more Christmassy than competing a jigsaw puzzle and drinking a wee gram? Ginger Fox has combined the two in one with its Whiskies of Scotland jigsaw puzzle. An ideal Christmas present for whisky drinkers it also has a handy information sheet to help you choose your favourite tipple. The jigsaw puzzle makes a great Christmas gift, offering relaxation, satisfaction and education. Now, all you need is to buy a bottle of single malt to go with it.

Sustainable Filter Water Bottle

I am a big fan of Water-to-Go filter water bottles, which have a 3-in-1 water filter technology developed by NASA. It removes 99.99% of all microbiological contaminants in water, as well as reducing the amount of single-use plastic waste.

The company’s latest product is the 55cl Filter Water Bottle made from sugarcane, hence removing Water-to-Go’s previous reliance on fossil fuels. Now the packaging is also made from recycled and recyclable stocks, and vegetable dyes are used for printing. Use the code Trav@40, to get a 15% discount.

What could be a better sustainable travel gift? You can discover more about the inspirational Water-to-Go story here.

Inspire Your Travel with The Artist’s Journey

The first step in setting off on any journey is to decide where to go. While travel websites and guide books can provide you with great information, sometimes you need a little artistic help to set you on the way.

The Artist’s Journey by Travis Elborough features 30 journeys to inspire you as they did the artists who embarked upon them. Follow Turner in Switzerland, Dali in New York or even Kahlo and Rivera on their honeymoon. This will provide a fresh light on even the most familiar journey. The book also makes for a perfect coffee table Christmas gift.

Read our review of The Artist’s Journey: The Travels That Inspired the Artistic Greats.

Walk the Streets of London or Take the Bus

A strictly pre-Christmas suggestion this one. Take to the streets of London with a Christmas Lights Walking Tour by ToursByLocals. Only available until 23 December, the tour shows you the Christmas lights and sights of London as well as Trafalgar Square, Soho and Covent Garden, laced with mulled wine naturally. The route involves Fortnum and Mason, Oxford Street and the Regent Street lights.

If this sounds too much of an effort you can always hop on the Toot Bus for its Christmas Lights Tour. Taking a similar route to ToursByLocals, on the Toot Bus you have a birds’ eye view of the Christmas lights with an expert guide on board. The tours run until 2 December.

It’s a Christmas Cracker

The Christmas cracker is an essential part of the festive spirit. But do you need to go to all that expense – and waste – to buy a box of Christmas crackers when you can make your own? If you need a little push then why not head to London’s Cowcross Yards for a sustainable Christmas cracker workshop on 6 December at 12:30pm? Here you can learn to use old paper, magazines, wrapping paper and even jokes to create your own cracker. Tickets (£10) can be purchased here.

While there you can see the first London graffiti Christmas tree (above) which was made from recycled crates spray painted by the public.