Kew Gardens
Adult Membership Voucher, £87
Give the aspiring botanists and plantspeople on your to-buy-for list a Kew Adult Membership Voucher and thus gain them – plus a friend – unlimited access to Kew Gardens and Wakehurst in Sussex. Beauty and inspiration on tap. Buy it here.
The Fine Cheese Co.
Gift subscription, £108 for three months
Who amongst us wouldn’t rejoice to receive a monthly delivery of the finest cheese? Each month four hand-selected cheeses (approximately 700g) and a pack crackers will be sent to the recipient, from seasonal favourites to those that have been ripened to perfection. There are tasting notes for each cheese that will make a connoisseur of anyone. Buy it here.
Heywood Hill
A Year In Books, from £235
The Mayfair bookshop that Nancy Mitford once worked in offers one of the best and most personalised book subscriptions available anywhere in the world. Simply choose your plan – the options are many and range from A Mitford Year In Books to A Year In Books For Children, all with hardbark, paperback and frequency options – and then go for a reading consultation with the shop’s delightful bibliophiles. After that, Heywood Hill’s specialists will do the rest. Joy all year round. Buy it here.
Royal Horticultural Society
One Year Gift Membership, £56
For green-fingered friends and family, there is no going wrong with an annual gift membership to the RHS. Armed with one of these, they will be able to book all five RHS gardens for themselves and a friend (or two children); receive a monthly delivery of The Garden Magazine; save on RHS shows; and get free entry to 200 Partner Gardens. Your gift will arrive in a beautiful gift pack including a £5 voucher to spend at RHS Gardens, an annual plant planner and two packets of seeds (UK only). Buy it here.
Condé Nast
The World Of Interiors Subscription, from £19
Do you know an interiors obsessive? No magazine rivals The World of Interiors for unlocking the door for a peek inside the most sublime houses all over the world. The same world-leading authority can be claimed for a whole raft of Condé Nast titles, from Vogue to GQ; Condé Nast Traveller to Vanity Fair. Delight your beloveds with a glossy tome to read month-in, month-out. Buy it here.
Yallah Coffee Roasters
A Year’s Subscription Of Coffee, from £251 for one year
The quality of the coffee we drink has the power to really elevate our mornings. Giving the gift of excellent, single-origin coffee all year round has, surely, to be up there with the best of presents. Yallah’s roasts are traceable and transparent, not to mention thoroughly delicious. Plus, everything is sustainably sourced; farmers are paid a fair price for their coffee; and its freshness ensures flavour (each bag is shipped within 24 hours of being roasted, as you’ll note from the date of roasting helpfully scrawled on the bag). A House Coffee subscription starts at £11; if you get through a bag a week and thus need four delivered each month, it'll be more. Meanwhile the ‘Trust’ range starts at £12.50, while its ‘Explore’ range starts at £15. (There are also options to subscribe for less than a year, too). Buy it here.
Art Fund
National Art Pass, £75; or £45 For Under 30s
No trinket or material thing can ever really rival experience and the creation of memories. The Art Fund’s National Art Pass guarantees both of the latter galore, thanks to giving members free access to hundreds of galleries and historic houses, as well as 50 per cent off major exhibitions. And, after the last couple of years, there has never been a better time to support the arts. Everybody wins. Buy it here.
The National Theatre
National Theatre At Home, £99.99
Anyone who loves the theatre has felt the sore lack of it since the pandemic took hold. Whilst we are delighted that it is now back, there is great reassurance in knowing that with a National Theatre At Home, we can still access world-class theatre at any time, all from home. From War Horse to Romeo and Juliet, there is something to delight everyone, plus new plays are added every month. A perfect gift for theatre lovers. Buy it here.
Bloom & Wild
Monthly Flowers, £70 for three months
What person on your list would not delight to receive a bunch of fresh seasonal flowers every month? The most joyful of presents. Buy it here.
Hotel Chocolat
The Monthly Curated Collection, £25.50 per collection
Here's one for chocoholics. What could be better than a monthly delivery of exquisite chocolates and this is what chocolate aficionados, Hotel Chocolat excel at. Each collection features some of its most-loved recipes, along with some new ones. One thing is for sure: they’ll be too grand for Cadbury’s forevermore. Buy it here.
Beauty Pie
Beauty Pie Subscription, From £10 per month
Does one of your nearest and dearest have a passion for beauty and wellness? Now’s the time to introduce them to Beauty Pie, of which membership allows access to high end brands – all at a fraction of the cost. Do note that the recipient chooses and pays for their monthly products – albeit at a snip. Buy it here.
Pasta Evangelists
Three Months of Pasta, from £60
Pasta Evangelists are evangelists for a reason: their artisan deliveries of the good stuff really do transport you straight to Italy. And who doesn’t long for that? Just tailor your choices to the tastes of your recipient and the quantities needed and they’ll be hoovering up pasta and praising your name every month. Buy it here.
The Cocktail Man
A Three-Month Luxury Cocktail Subscription, £89.95
Put away all thoughts of Dry January; it simply won’t be possible with The Cocktail Man
Delivering premium cocktails to your door every month, its smart letterbox-sized box contains all the spirits, garnishes and equipment you’ll need. The perfect gift for bon viveurs. Buy it here.
By Nancy Alsop
Updated November 2023
