Novel Christmas gift ideas in the Chilterns

1. Become a blacksmith for the day with the Chilterns Open Air Museum. Treat someone to a day in the museum’s rebuilt Victorian forge, making a forged object to take home.
2. Treat your Aunty to a day learning the traditional art of lace-making with afternoon tea and a walk in Marlow, with Bobbie Blue Badge!
3. Improve your partner’s photography skills – learn to photograph the Chiltern Hills on a smartphone with professional photographer, Matt Writtle.
4. Does your mum like painting? She could learn to sketch and paint the Chiltern hills with Pomegranate Arts on a scenic walk through Goring and the surrounding hills.

1. Feel the wind in your hair and take a friend on an unusual vehicle on a Chilterns Trike tour!
2. Treat your kids to a family bushcraft day and learn new skills together.
   • Path Hill Adventures is based at the Hardwick Estate near Madpledurham.
   • Backwoods offers outdoor cooking, axe throwing and art and nature workshops near Stokenchurch.
   • Dave Willis Bushcraft offers wilderness living skills and woodland crafts for small groups near Chalfont St Giles.
3. Take a friend on a half day cycle or e-bike tour with lunch in the Chilterns.
   • Broom Wagon cycle tours offer this near Henley.
   • Wild cycles offers a range of wilder cycling adventures.
4. Book a guided walk or hike with a friend.
   • Walk Works offers guided walks in the Southern Chilterns & Reading area.
   • Nature Kicks offers longer challenging hikes and camping adventures with experienced guide Shameer Shah.
   • Pipsticks Walks offers navigation skills and literary walks.

1. Does your uncle love a local brew? Take your uncle on a brewery tour with Loddon Brewery.
2. Do you have a gin fan in the family? Treat them to a divine distillery tour with Puddingstone Distillery, the Henley Distillery or Griffiths Brothers.
3. Romance your love with an indulgent outdoor forest feast cooked over an open flame with Experience Nomadic. Or go foraging and wild cooking with Secret Adventures.
4. Book your favourite wine afficionado a tour and tasting at a Oaken Grove Vineyard or book them a volunteering experience at Daw’s Hill Vineyard.

If the cost of living crisis is tightening the Christmas purse strings…take friends and family on a country walk. Here are some short recommendations – plan your routes with the links below.

• • There’s a 2.5 mile woodland walk from West Wycombe with beautiful views across adjacent countryside. Kids will love running down West Wycombe hill at the end of the walk and seeking out hot chocolate and cake at one of the wonderful cafes in the village of West Wycombe.
  • Downley Common & Hunts Hill walk is a 2.8 mile scenic and gently undulating walk which takes you through a variety of habitats. It passes through an historic Chilterns common, ancient woodlands and the Le De Spencer country pub tucked away. Part way through the walk Hughenden Manor can be seen in the distance. This is Echo Valley. If you shout then listen you can hear an echo.
  • Enjoy a 4 mile walk from the market town of Watlington in Oxfordshire, taking in rolling chalk downland, beech woodlands and ancient pathways including a stretch of the Ridgeway National Trail. Head to the High Street for a fabulous range of independent shops and cafes. The Granary delicatessen has a good selection of local cheeses, beer and other specialities, with the Orange bakery, Calnan’s Butcher and Tutu chocolates adding to Watlington’s reputation as a foodie destination.
  • Take a 6 mile walk from Watlington to Aston Rowant Nature Reserve.
  • Start our early and enjoy tranquil beauty at an early hour, taking the sunrise walk from the Ashridge Estate.