Christmas Gift for Traveler's to London?

If you could find a British themed gift bag you could print out one page from this great ticket buying resource, fold a $100 bill inside and put it in the gift bag. https://officiallondontheatre.com/plays-in-london/

You could do the same for an afternoon tea from any one of these nice tea venues. https://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/afternoon-tea-in-london

They can deposit your $, research which activity they’d like and pay for with their cc with $ they deposited from you.

I like your idea of helping them have some memorable experiences in London in May.

Eating Europe does food tasting tours in several places in Europe, including London. There’s currently a Black Friday holiday sale - up to 40% off on gift certificates, good for the normally £79 Borough Market tour, the normally £89 East End tour, or a Soho or custom tour. Here’s the offer announcement I was e-mailed yesterday - see if it’s a possibility for your gift - https://www.eatingeurope.com/holiday-offer/

And their main Website, with more details on the tours they offer - https://www.eatingeurope.com/what-is-a-food-tour/

There are some great ideas for things to do in London- I’m bookmarking this topic for my stay in London in April!

I was going to suggest tickets to a Shakespeare comedy at the Gobe Theatre, but the schedule for May is not out yet.

Maybe they would enjoy Witness for the Prosecution. May tickets are available.

https://witnesscountyhall.com/

And I always recommend a real map, so you can see the actual shape of London, the curving course of the Thames, and the location of its many attractions. A necessity for walking if one wants to do that (London is a wonderful city for walking, especially routing through the parks). This one is gift-worthy:

https://redmaps.com/products/travel-foldout-map-london

Agree with Lola. Tickets to Witness for The Prosecution is a great idea.

Might I also suggest looking at the London Walks www.walks.com website and pre paying for a walk(s) you think the family might enjoy.

EDIT 1: Pam, great minds.

EDIT 2: might I also suggest small leather coin purses. I was gifted one ages ago. Has a snap to keep it closed. Never leave on a trip without it. Fits in my coat or jeans pocket.

EDIT 3: collapsable leather valet tray. Perfect for coins, keys, lipsticks, packs of gum, watches, earrings….. this is the one I pack: https://www.amazon.com/Personalized-Collapsible-Leather-Holder-Optional/dp/B06XXZ7HDN

EDIT 4: Order Oyster Card Holders: you can find them on Etsy.

I did a quick search and did not find the answer but maybe you could get them a gift certificate for a London Walk if you think they would find them interesting? There is an email address to contact the company.

https://www.walks.com/

Do you know where they are staying?

How about a Rick Steves guidebook for London or England? I'm getting my SIL one for Provence as she is headed there next July.

Money belts from Rick's store?

editing to add: Cross posting with Claudia!

I really like that map Lola suggested, nice find! Tuck in in with any gift certificate/bag you give at least one of them.

Or print out the Oyster Card info and give them money toward that.
Find a transport themed gift bag to put it in, along with a map of Central London.

Or buy the Visitor Oyster Cards, which must be ordered in advance. They will be sent to you within 2 weeks of ordering, in time for Christmas. You can pay to pre-load each card with a amount to be ready to use right away, like £10 or £15. Order online in one transaction and you will pay one shipping fee of £9.

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card

They can add more value to the cards as needed. Note that the £5 paid for the card itself is non-refundable, but extra cash value on the card can be refunded. Or saved for another trip.

Great and timely topic. Cyn, I had forgotten about Eating Europe's Black Friday Sale; I just bought us a Christmas present we can use next year in London or Portugal. Or both!

And Pam, thanks for the reminder about London Walks.

And I always recommend a real map, so you can see the actual shape of London, the curving course of the Thames, and the location of its many attractions

Lola, I agree. I was looking at a map of London just last night, and realized how little I know about where the major sights were in relation to each other and to the river. I had the river flowing straight west or southwest through town, and of course, it doesn't. Great ideas here.

hey hey PNW
register for wowcher.co.uk
it's free and many things to see and do. check under london, has meals, afternoon teas 2 for 1, get aways under travel, in the search box type in afternoon teas
b-bakery.com
double decker red bus afternoon tea tour past attractions in london
afternoonteaonline.co.uk
click london and see all the places that are offered and the prices
virginexperiencedays.co.uk
look at the black friday deals
streetsensations.co.uk/markets
a list and map of the different street markets to roam and shop for items or even food stalls.
londonboxoffice.co.uk
look at the theatre shows that are offered
thamesrockets.com
speed boat rides down the thames river
londonxlondon.com
best london gardens
mr-foggs.com
gin parlour in covent garden near leicester square. check out it's gorgeous victorian funiture and room with it's staff dressed accordingly in this quirky bar
jasons.co.uk
boat trip from little venice to camden lock market on the regents canal, past regents park and london zoo.
we also took a taxi ride to beatle's abbey road and crossed the side walk with someone taking our picket.
walk around picadilly circus and trafalgar square, lots of "free" entertainment (bring some pound coins) walk thru the shops, sit and people watch, times can get so crazy and fun
we loved london, it's a big, busy, crowded city, so much to see and do, so many cafes, pubs, variety of food in restaurants, also did a gin tour going to about 6 pubs that they distilled their own gin and made a specialty drink for our group with our own private driver. fun fun night.
saw a tv program about an old tradition of peas and mash pies. made with mash potatoes, sausages or meat with a liquor which is a parsley gravy sauce, all freshly made. try something totally different
mothermash.co.uk
f-cooke-huxton.business.site
manze.co.uk
london.eater.com/pie and mash shops in london
hope this gives you some ideas with things to see and do. have them go have fun
aloha

The Princess always comes through!

hey hey
thanks jane,
gave more options to check out, saw many museums, churches, statues and wanted other activities to do with us friends. the year we went had the oakland raiders play football and it was nuts with so many football fans everywhere. regent street was full with NFL banners, clothes shops, athletic gear, players, bars/pubs, all having a great time.
when PNW says family, who and how old are those going?
register free with them, they offer gift cards
withlocals.com/ london
look at all the different things going on
eatwith.com/ london
click on event type, they offer dinner and lunch in a residents home meeting other visitors
airbnb.co.uk/ london--united kingdom/experiences
you do not have to stay with airbnb to participate in these activities.
enjoy and cheers with drink
aloha

Thank you for all the great ideas!

hey hey PNW
you are so welcome, lots to see and do. don't know ages of family traveling but put them to work, they can research and do internet search with what floats their boat. we also stopped somewhere for fish and chips.
look at aladyinlondon.com and day trips to see and do, scroll down to popular day tips by train
mattbarrett-travel.com/london
a travelers guide to london
aloha