Frantic for ideas on what to get your loved ones for Christmas? Worry no more! Visit Bristol’s elves have searched Bristol's sensational shopping selection high and low to sniff out the top Bristol-themed gifts that’ll have your nearest and dearest dancing a Christmas jig for joy. Fact. #MerryBristmas!

Sensational Shopping #MerryBristmas artwork by Andy Council

Experiences | Bristol souvenirs| Bristmas tipples| Food

• Bristol Experiences

Whether you're shopping for someone that's in to adventure, nature, history, culture or food, there are Bristol experiences they'll love. Here are ideas to inspire you and them...   

Say Yuup to Bristol experiences 

Yuup is a new online marketplace where you can book and gift local experiences in Bristol in minutes. Support your local community and discover exciting things to do on your doorstep. Create ceramics in Southville, discover blood and butchery in Bedminster and learn to cook Thai food in Totterdown. Check in regularly to see the latest experiences and uncover limited edition experiences, super special sessions and one-off experiences which you can’t find anywhere else. 

Christmas chill out

Treat someone to a day of pampering and indulgence at one of Bristol’s spas.

Gift vouchers are available from The Lido for all sorts of blissful offerings. Choose between treatment, food or monetary vouchers.

Bristol Harbour Hotel also offer similar gift experiences for more marvellous wellbeing activities.

PURE Spa & Beauty vouchers can be purchased for any of their spa and beauty treatments for any amount, giving you the ultimate choice to create a perfect pampering gift experience.

Image - Bristol Lido at Christmas

O come all ye fur-ful

Gift an animal-lover an adoption package, not only a special present but also supporting conservation work across the globe.

Wild Place Project offer a bear-illiant adoption pack including: fact files, an adoption certificate and a wooden A6 plaque as the perfect keepsake when you adopt their sleuth of European Brown Bears for £25. 

Sister site Bristol Zoo Gardens offers the chance to adopt a whole host of animals from Poppy the penguin to Jock the Silverback Gorilla. All are £50 each and you will receive a special pack containing a ticket to the Zoo, a cuddly toy, an adoption certificate, your name displayed at the exhibit and a fact-file about the animal.

Make an animal-lover’s Christmas with an extraordinary ‘hands-on’ experience.

Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm has a variety of ‘Keeper Experiences’ including a once in a lifetime morning spent as an Elephant Keeper, with their amazing African Elephants. It’s also possible to adopt an animal for a year and receive a special adoption pack and cuddly toy.

Image- Bristol Zoo Gardens

Just the ticket

Bristol’s attractions offer annual membership at fantastic value and are a great way to give a gift that will be used again and again.

Brunel’s SS Great Britain costs £48.00 for a family pass (2 adults and 2 children) and includes unlimited visits for one year.

Return again and again to discover the underwater world with annual membership at Bristol Aquarium (£150.12 for a family of 4). 

Wild Place Project and Bristol Zoo Gardens offer annual membership for their individual attractions (adult £44.40, child £33.45 at Wild Place; adult £53.50 and child £33 between 2-14 years old at Bristol Zoo) as well as unlimited dual entry for both (adult £87.15, child £55.15). Membership includes lots of extra perks such as discounted kids' parties and money off in the gift shop and cafes.

A family of four can visit the fascinating Aerospace Bristol, home of the last Concorde ever the be built and fly, for £48 and tickets are valid for a year.

Slimbridge Wetland Centre annual family membership starts at £72 and offers entry to nine wetland centres across the UK.

Westonbirt The National Arboretum offers joint (£76) or single (£39) membership to its magical tree garden, entitling the owner to 364 days of free entry, early bird booking and free entry for kids when with a parent or grandparent member.

Image - Westonbirt Arboretum

Hot Air Balloon Flight

Planning something super special? Give someone the unforgettable experience of soaring high above over the city in a hot air balloon. Bailey Balloons, Bristol Balloons and Elite Air (UK) Ltd offer flights. Book a private trip, a champagne flight or buy gift vouchers. Read what it’s like to fly in a hot air balloon over Bristol here. Tempted?

Image - balloon flight over Bristol, credit Angharad Paull

Let it spray, Let it spray, Let it spray

If you're looking for a special gift for a budding Banksy, how about a personalised voucher for a street art workshop and tour? Where the Wall offer gift certificates for stencil art spray sessions or adult, student and young person walking tours or you could check out Graft’s personalised gift vouchers for one-to-one, couples and family workshops graffiti workshops.

Image - Graft graffiti workshop

• Bristol-themed souvenirs

All I want for Bristmas is blue

The city used to be one of the most important glass-making centres in Europe, thanks to its distinctive blue glass which dates back some 300 years. With a Studio Shop in Arnos Vale and a retail outlet next to St Nicholas Market (itself a treasure trove of potential gifts), Bristol Blue Glass continues to make beautiful glassware in the traditional way and offers a collection of classy, glassy gifts - from jewellery and wine glasses to perfume bottles, beads, baubles and bowls. Visit the studio and you can see them being made, or learn to blow one yourself!

Image - Bristol Blue Glass

Ship shapes and zoovenirs

The city’s attractions also have excellent gift shops, filled with unique Bristol-inspired gifts.

Brunel's SS Great Britain stocks a boat-load of ship-shape souvenirs, children’s books (look out for The Bristol Giants) as well as maritime prints by local artists, Isambear Kingdom Brunel teddy bears and the Brunel Duck.

Head to the Bristol Museums Online Shop, combining the delights of what you'd find in the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery and M Shed gift shops like books on Banksy, work by local artists, jewellery, toys and souvenirs inspired by current exhibitions. Arnolfini’s specialist bookshop is also a great place for tomes on contemporary art, design and culture. 

Image - Brunel Duck, Brunel's SS Great Britain

Step into Bristmas

Give someone a gurt lush Christmas with Bristol-themed goodies galore from our online shop. Snap up everything from local sweet treats, to mugs bearing Bristol's coloured houses, prints from local artists and of Bristol's street art.  

• See the top picks from our online shop

Fairytale of Bristol

Discover Banksy’s street art in his fascinating book ‘Wall and Piece’, recreate dishes from your favourite Bristolian restaurants at home with 'The Bristol Cookbook', wow someone special with Colin Moody’s latest photography book 'Glorious Gloucester Road', go on a journey through 'Weird Bristol' with Charlie Revelle-Smith’s book and entertain little ones with the legend of 'The Bristol Giants'. 

• 'Travel' to Bristol with a book - our recommended reading list for books about the city and local authors

Image - Bristol Giants Save Christmas book, by Oliver Rigby, illustrated by Tom Bonson

• Tasty Bristmas tipples

Gin-gle bells gin-gle bells

Boost someone’s Christmas spirit…

...collection with a bottle of 6 O’clock Gin – hand-made and bottled by Bramley & Gage just outside Bristol. Personalised bottles, Gin gift packs, Copa glasses and fruit liqueurs are all available from their online shop. Or you could treat gin enthusiasts further, by booking a distillery tour which includes a tutored tasting.

Prohibition-style speakeasy bar Hyde & Co sell gift vouchers for all of their food and drink establishments. Indulge loved ones with an exquisite dining or drinking experience (including cocktail tours and spirit society) at The Ox, Bambalan and The Milk Thistle.

Image - 6 O'Clock sloe gin

Ding dong Moor-ily on high

Treat your beloved beer lover to a ‘hoppy’ Christmas with a mixed can gift pack customised to their preferred tastes from Bristol’s Moor Beer. Visit Moor Beer’s Tap Room and brewery on Days Road, St Philip’s, to select the goodies.

Bristol Beer Factory also stock their own bottled beer, gift packs, mini kegs, T-shirts and other merchandise in their shop. Or treat a devoted beer aficionado to Beer Club membership, which includes a brewery tour, a mixed case of beers, T-shirt plus special discounts and events throughout the year.

Treat someone to a Bristol Hoppers craft beer walking tour for a taste (literally – walkers get to try seven different drinks from a selection of microbreweries, pubs and tap rooms) of Bristol’s fantastic craft beer scene and brush up on your Bristol knowledge as you go. Gift vouchers start at £25 and are available online. Alternatively, at your own pace explore and learn about Bristol's Old City on foot with  Bristol Hoppers brand new Best of Bristol Audio Tour: A Guide to the Old City and its Brilliant Pubs. The tour can be taken at any time and uses a clever app that tracks your location; telling you about what you are passing at the right time. 

Image - Moor Beer gift pack

• Food

It's beginning to look a lot like Chocolate

‘Tis the season for indulging in one-too-many chocolatey treats and Bristol is the perfect place to get your choccie from – after all, this is where the very first chocolate bar was made! The city’s oldest remaining chocolatier, Guilberts, has been making luxury hand-dipped chocolates and confectionery using traditional techniques since 1910. Best-sellers include fruity Crystallised Fondants or gift boxes of Violet Creams. 

Image - Guilbert's Chocolates

Christmas Pies

The next best thing to Santa whooshing down your chimney with a stocking full of presents has got to be Pieminister turning up at your door with pie gifts. Hand-pick the perfect selection through their online shop. 

There are also gift ideas for pie-fanatic family and friends – pick up pie chutney, tea-towels, mugs, aprons, a pie cookbook, oven gloves or a pie-making kit here. All are British and ethically made, just like the pies!

Image - Pieminister Christmas Pie range

Foodie lovers feast

Please the cheese lovers in your life by popping into Wapping Wharf’s Bristol Cheese shop for local, seasonal cheeses by artisan producers. Pick up some 100% pasture-fed organic meat as well as charcuterie and hams from ethical butchers Meatbox, also in Wapping Wharf.   

The Bristol Food Tour    

Culinary stop-offs, independent producers, mouthwatering foods, and local cultural and historical knowledge are rolled into three-hour(ish) foodie adventures by the Bristol Food Tour. A delicious gift for anyone up for exploring Bristol's award-winning food scene, order a voucher that can be used to book one of the regular tours in three areas – Stokes Croft, South of the River, and East to West. 

• Discover more food and drink experiences that make memorable gifts

Get the rest of your gift shopping done with help from our guide to Bristol’s many Christmas Markets or places to stay in the city’s sensational shopping areas.

More ways to have a #MerryBristmas:

• Christmas events
• Shop local in Bristol: Virtual markets and online shopping
• Christmas light trails and walks
• The Bristol gift guide: Support local artists
• 8 Independent shops for Christmas shopping in Bristol
• The Bristol gift guide: Food and drink