Gift vouchers don't have to mean shopping! Give someone peace and quiet this Christmas with walking holiday specialist Foot Trails' relaxing rural escapes vouchers. They can take time out to explore the countryside and hospitality of South West England whenever they choose and it means they'll have something to look forward to when Christmas is over. The vouchers are available in denominations of £25 and £100, and come beautifully packaged in a hand-crafted box, complete with a gift card, Montezuma chocolate and a guide to the walking breaks available.
Know someone who loves relaxing in England's beautiful countryside with a paintbrush in hand? Then give them a weekend art break at Bedruthan Steps Hotel, where they can get creative and be taught the art of painting landscapes in acrylic. Perfect for beginners and budding Hockneys, the two-night break (from £320 per person) will show them how to play with light, colour, movement and mood. Plus they'll return with their own artistic masterpiece and new skills, such as painting clouds, rocks and texture.
Kingston's Rose Theatre runs regular drop-in classes on diverse subjects from Shakespeare to stage-combat for wannabe stars to dip their toes into theatre work. The classes are energetic, interactive and cost from £20 per person. Students can even become part of a choir for the day and join up to 100 people on the Rose stage to rehearse and perform a full public concert. It's challenging and exhausting but the concert at the end of the day makes it worthwhile.
Give a foodie the gift of a Gourmet Weekend (from £380 per room) in Yorkshire at luxury country estate Swinton Park, where fine cuisine and wine are brought together in its award-winning restaurant kitchen and cookery school. The weekend includes wine tastings, meetings with local food producers, cookery demonstrations and a gourmet treasure hunt. Guests also enjoy a five-course gourmet dinner and a Land Rover tour of the stunning grounds to see the deer park. Plus they'll be sent on their way with a foodie gift.
Perfect for dads, lovers of classic slapstick humour and those who think they've had every dining experience under the sun, Faulty Towers is a two-hour interactive production set in a restaurant. Here the audience are the diners who enjoy a three-course lunch or dinner while being entertained and interacting with actors impersonating the comedy series' much-loved characters, including Basil Fawlty and Manuel.
Treat a film buff to getting behind the camera at The Old Rectory Cottages in Devon, where they can pick up essential directing skills from experts with a course in basic film-making. They'll produce their own mini-documentary under the guidance of experienced tutors and will be taken through every stage of the film-making process to produce a five-minute film. The Old Rectory Cottages sit between the thatched village pub and the Saxon church in the village of Kings Nympton in the North Devon countryside. The course costs £400 per person and includes four nights' accommodation and a Devon cream tea for selected dates from January until May.
If you know someone who is impossible to please, this is the perfect gift for them... walking with wolves! The Wolf Conservation Trust's Walk with Wolves is a once in a lifetime experience where you see the animals up close as they interact with the environment, investigating scent trails and swimming in the stream. Annual membership to the Trust costs £100 and includes a wolf walk for two in Berkshire. Volunteers are on hand to answer questions throughout and there is an official talk during the experience. Members can go on additional walks throughout the year for £30 per person.
Jewellery is a popular present to give at Christmas, but how about encouraging someone to make their own? Higham Hall in Cumbria runs a five-day residential course (£355 from 29 March to 2 April) with jewellery designer Sally Rotarides, where guests can choose to learn techniques including etching, texturing, soldering and cold enamelling. They'll come away with unique pieces of jewellery that money can't buy!