The best travel gifts in 2021 are definitely different from any other year (except for 2020, I guess). I think we can all agree on the fact that 2021 and 2020 were special years for anyone, including travelers. And that is also why the 2021 travel gift guide is special too.
Since most travelers are still staying home or traveling locally, the 2021 travel gift guide includes fun gifts for travelers at home, unique ways to keep them occupied, and dreaming about traveling. Yes, the travel gift ideas for 2021 are focused on easing the pain of not being able to travel, from fun travel-related games to beautiful home decor items for travelers, let’s have a look at the 25 best travel gifts in 2021!
Table of Contents
Save the best travel gifts in 2021
Do you want to help others to find unique travel gifts for 2021 too? Or perhaps you saw a gift you would like to receive yourself? Make sure you share the 2021 travel gift guide with them!
The best travel gifts in 2021 for large budgets
#1 Photography courses
The 2021 travel gift guide will be filled with things to do at home for travelers, and giving a cool course to keep them occupied is definitely a good idea!
Most travelers love taking photos of all the places they visit, so why not give them something to help them take even better pictures!
Udemy offers many great online courses on photography, so pick one that matches their preferences and your budget such as this one to help them take better pictures with their iPhone.
A cheaper alternative to online course are photography course books, such as this one on Amazon.
#2 Online language course
Another great thing to do for travelers when they can’t travel is to focus on their language skills to improve their experience the next time they travel!
Again, Udemy offers many awesome online language courses between 30-200$. Whether they want to learn how to speak Spanish, Turkish, Vietnamese, or Arabic, you can find almost any language online!
#3 Travel-themed games
Another fun way to keep travelers occupied is by playing travel-themed games such as Trekking The World. A strategic game where they have to avoid tourist traps ad discover beautiful destinations.
Another fun travel game is Ticket To Ride. They have different editions so you can pick their favorite destination, such as
#4 DIY international food making kits
Homemade food is always better than supermarket products, especially if it’s imported food!
So if you are looking for the best travel gifts in 2021 for foodies, check out these DIY food kits.
- DIY pretzal and beer cheese for Germany lovers
- The Italian Cheesemaking kit for Italy lovers
- Scottish Haggis kit for Scotland lovers
- Or check out my DIY food kits guide for the 25 best DIY cooking kits.
For people who prefer international drinks over food, check out the next item on this 2021 travel gift guide.
#5 DIY international drinks kits
No worries if you are getting gifts for someone who is not quite a master chef, but who is a master bartender or bar sitter.
These awesome DIY international drinks are the perfect gifts for them:
- Belgian Golden Ale Beer Brewing Kit for the Belgian fans
- Mexican Cocktail Kit for Mexico lovers
- The Sake Making Kit the best gift for Japan lovers
Again, head over to my destination section if you want to find the best DIY drink kit for a certain country.
#6 Rare international chili box
Alright, I probably should have warned you that these 2021 travel gift ideas would include a lot of food gifts. But well, since we can’t travel, we need to find something else to do. And eating international food is almost like traveling. So I am not even sorry about it.
Back to this gift. This is one of the most unique travel gifts for chili lovers! A collection of seven different international chilies. It includes chilies from India, Spain, Syria, Turkey, and more.
Also, check out the chili lover’s gift guide for more inspiration.
#7 Tasting boxes
International tasting boxes are another great gift for traveling foodies who aren’t really great cooks.
With tasting boxes they don’t have to prepare any meal, all they have to do is taste and decide which country’s flavor is their favorite.
Some of the tasting boxes you can think off are:
- Internation tea boxes from my tea lovers gift guide
- Global coffee beans. from my coffee lovers guide
- International Whiskey Taste Box, you probably already guessed it, perfect for whiskey lovers
For more tasting boxes for specific types of foods and drinks, check out the food section of The Best Travel Gifts!
#8 Travel inspired Lego
Lego may be one of the best travel gift ideas for 2021 for people who love building and who need to get out their inner child because that is exactly what Lego does!
There are a few different Lego architecture boxes from across the globe, such as London and New York. For more cities, check out Amazon here.
#9 Local travel experiences
With everyone traveling close to home, you may be able to find a cool local travel experience you can give.
Of course, this only applies if you’re currently in a country that allows travel. Or you could give a voucher for a travel experience of course.
In my post about the 40 best gifts websites, I also mentioned a few that offer local experiences, such as:
The best travel gifts in 2021 mid-budget
#10 World maps
World maps have always been great travel gifts, but even more so in a year when physical travel is limited.
For unique travel gifts in 2021 check out my complete list of 25 awesome world map wall art ideas! It includes this cute map made out of hearts and many more cool ideas, such as glow-in-the-dark maps and stamp maps!
#11 Entertainment memberships
If you are looking for a gift to keep travelers occupied and happy while they can’t travel, a membership or a gift card for a membership to streaming services can be a great gift.
Think of service such as
#12 Travel hacking courses
The 2021 gift guide is all about getting them ready for when traveling is opening up again. And the travel hacking courses on Udemy are perfect for that.
Again they offer a wide range of courses, such as this course about how to travel the world for cheap which is perfect for backpackers!
#13 Travel books
If they can’t travel physically, you can help them to travel mentally through books about travel or books that transport them to the country they love the most.
To give you some inspiration for books, I selected a few of the all-time favorites.
- Love With a Chance of Drowning. A book about a woman overcoming her fear of water by sailing the ocean with her boyfriend. It’s an inspiring book about travel, not only for women but for men too.
- Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel. A book by the pro of long-term travel to inspire and help them to do the same.
- How To Travel The World on 50$ A Day. Another book written by a long-term traveler, this time it will help them to travel on a budget.
- Nala’s World: One Man, His Rescue Cat, and a Bike Ride Around the Globe. Perfect for people who love cycling and travel
- Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism. An interesting book for anyone interested in sustainable travel and why it is necessary.
- National Geographic’s Destinations of a Lifetime: 225 of the World’s Most Amazing Places. More of a general book about travel and the best places on the earth.
If you are looking for specific books about certain destinations, check out my destination gift guides, as I always include a few cool books to give.
#14 The ultimate 2021 travel gift guide to cookbooks
The best travel gifts for 2021 are things they can do at home, and what’s better than cooking dishes from across the globe? That way they can indulge themselves in travel through food!
Here is a list of all sorts of international cookbooks to help you make a decision.
- In Her Kitchen: Stories and Recipes from Grandmas Around the World. What is it about grandmas and cooking? This book collects all the delicious granny meals from across the globe!
- International Cookbook: Around The World In 80 Dishes. A great international cookbook for the smaller budgets
- The Complete Book of National Dishes: Over 200 Delicious Recipes and their Origins from around the World. Help them discover over 200 national dishes and prepare them at home!
- The International Bar Tender’s Guide: Over 1200 Cocktail, Martini & non-Alcoholic drink recipes. The best cookbook for traveling cocktail lovers is of course a book that will help them make international cocktails!
- Global Baker: Inspirational breads, cakes, pastries, and desserts with international influences. The best international cookbook for people who love baking.
- Oh! 505 Homemade International Cookie Recipes. The perfect book for the sweet tooths and cookie lovers!
#15 Travel-inspired jigsaw puzzles
Jigsaw puzzles are the perfect travel gifts for 2021 since everyone has a lot of time at home to finish them!
There are plenty of travel-inspired puzzles, such as the Santorini one I shared in my Greece Travel guide as well.
Alternatively, check out this world map puzzle, the 2000 travel-related puzzles on Amazon, or check my country-specific guides where I usually share a cool puzzle as well.
#16 Memory box
This is a great gift for travelers who always keep the tickets of everything, but never know what to do with the tickets in the end.
With this box, they can create a beautiful memory box!
#17 Travel Piggy Bank
One of the best travel gifts for 2021 is this cute piggy bank that will help them to save up for when they can get back to traveling. I’ll admit it is not one of the most unique travel gifts for 2021, but it sure is one of the most practical.
The best travel gifts for 2021 for small budgets
#18 Travel-related socks
If you’ve followed The Best Travel Gifts for a while, you probably already knew that I would add socks somewhere in this list. So here we are!
The best travel gifts for 2021 are gifts that take them traveling even when they can’t. And these world map socks might just be right for that purpose. Or just go for socks related to their hobby or favorite county, for that check out my destinations guide!
#19 Vintage travel posters
Travel posters are another way to help them travel without leaving home.
I personally love the vintage travel designs, such as these ones from US National parks.
Check out Amazon for more vintage posters from other countries.
#20 The best travel gifts for 2021: personalized facemask
As I said the best travel gifts for 2021 are a bit different than others, as the face mask has become one of the most important items to bring anywhere you go.
So if you are looking for gift ideas for someone who is still traveling locally, a face mask is a good idea.
Though, instead of a boring one, you can get a personalized facemask or a travel-inspired one, such as this one with a koala for the Auzzie obsessed travelers!
#21 More safety-related gifts: keychain hand sanitizers
One of the most useful travel gifts for 2021, a hand sanitizer holder they can attach to their keychain. So they can clean their hand everywhere and stay safe and healthy!
#22 Photo album gift card
One benefit of not traveling is that travelers finally have time to finish those photo albums from trips they took years ago. So one of the unique travel gifts for 2021 is to give them a gift card to make their own photo albums!
Shutterfly delivers beautiful photo gifts and albums internationally. So with a gift card from Shutterfly, you give them the opportunity to make a photo album online or pick a canvas print of their favorite travel photo.
You can decide on the budget for the card yourself.
#23 Travel coloring books for adults
Adult coloring books are great activity books for adults who like to get creative and who can’t relax without doing something.
This travel-inspired one from the Lonely Planet is perfect for travelers!
Two other adult coloring books I really like were the Swear like an Australian coloring book and the British swear word one.
I shared both of these in my Australian gift guide and UK gift guide as well.
#24 Activity book for adults
If all these travel gifts for 2021 didn’t convince, perhaps this activity book adults might be a good gift.
I think many travelers who can’t travel right now, need some ideas of what else they can do with their lives, and that is when an “I’m still f*cking bored” book comes in very handy!
#25 Travel trivia game
Another fun gift to keep travelers entertained at home is this box of 50 travel trivia questions.
Save the best travel gifts for 2021
Alright, these were all my 25 unique travel gifts for 2021! Let’s hope 2022 will be a better year for travel, so that next year’s travel guide will include more travel gift ideas for people who are actually traveling instead of staying home!
But for this year, which gift did you end up getting? Share it in the comment.
