It’s not too late. There’s still time to buy a gift for the traveller in your life, especially if you opt for an “experience” or choose a company that guarantees delivery before the big day.

The options below allow you to print off a voucher for the activity/experience or express-deliver a gift certificate or the item. (Charges start at about £5.) Be warned, though - the cutoff point for many postings is midday tomorrow.

FESTIVE BALLOONS

Although the main ballooning season runs from April to October, many companies offer earlier out-of-season flights when weather permits, drifting over a crisp, frosted or spring-blooming landscape.

You might need to swap the traditional champagne for a hot toddy, and wrap up warm (although not as warm as you might think - you do get heat from the burners), but it’s a fine time to play Andrew Marr and see Britain from the air. Balloons over Britain (01404 822489, www.balloonsoverbritain.co.uk ) has more than 70 launch sites in the UK and rides from £99. Or try Go Ballooning (0845 337 1566, www.goballooning.co.uk ), which has a good geographical spread and flights from £95pp. Both companies will e-mail vouchers.

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PULLMAN POWER

You don’t need to find the £1,550 it costs to put someone on the Orient Express to Venice. The company runs trips on the British Pullman, including Golden Age of Travel, a four-hour journey - part of it steam-hauled - from London Victoria. Prices start at £235pp, including a five-course lunch with champagne, wine and a liqueur, and a champagne reception at Whitstable (0845 077 2222, www.orient-express.com ). The firm will send an e-mail confirmation of the gift (which can be for a specific trip or redeemable against any OE train), with a presentation certificate to follow.

From March, the Kent & East Sussex Railway in Tenterden (01580 765155, www.kesr.org ) will offer steam-powered Pullman dining in its restored carriages; a Saturday dinner for two will cost £154, bookable online.

WISH UPON A SPA

Most spas offer gift vouchers, and some are even affordable. Foxhills in Surrey (01932 704555, www.foxhills.co.uk ), with its swish Elemis spa, offers an hour of personal training followed by an hour of Swedish massage for £89. Vouchers can be sent special delivery or e-mailed as a PDF. At Calcot Manor (01666 891232, www.calcotmanor.co.uk ) in Tetbury, near Bath, the outdoor fire in front of the hot tub will be lit, making it a perfect winter break. Day-spa gift vouchers start at £62.50, with accommodation packages also available, and are guaranteed to arrive in time for Christmas if ordered before noon tomorrow. If Calcot’s not convenient,SpaFinder (0870 121 6066, www.spafinder.co.uk ) has gift vouchers (from £25 to £500) that can be sent as e-cards, covering 5,000 day and residential spas in this country and across the world.

THE TEA SET

Order before noon tomorrow and you can get a gift certificate for tea for two at Brown’s Hotel (020 7493 6020, www. brownshotel.com ), on Albemarle Street in Mayfair, sent special delivery. This was where Agatha Christie took her afternoon beverage when in town. Tea for two costs £70, or £88 if you add champagne. You can also book Brown’s online through Afternoon Tea (www.afternoontea.co.uk ), which offers vouchers for the repast at hotels and tea-rooms across the country. Prices start at £15, but veer sharply upwards - tea for two at the Ritz is £82.

STOCKING FILLER

You’re too late to have them personalised, but Aspinal of London (0845 052 6900, www.aspinaloflondon.com ) can get you a matching pair of swish handcrafted luggage labels in any hue from black croc to candy pink if you order tomorrow morning. A set of two costs £20, plus £4.95 courier fee.

CHRISTMAS DINNERS

Sick of the thought of turkey already? Give a voucher for a fish cookery course at Rick Stein’s school in Padstow (01841 532700, www.rickstein.com ). One day’s tuition costs £181pp, residential packages are available and special delivery of all vouchers or gifts can be arranged.

Or try Eckington Manor Cookery School in the Cotswolds (01386 751363, www.eckingtonmanor.com ). Part of a working farm, it has a variety of courses, including Exclusively Men days, British Classics, bread-making, vegetarian and more. A day typically costs £175pp and gift vouchers can be sent by e-mail.

Further north, in the Trossachs, a Scottish Cookery Day at Nick Nairn’s cooking school (01877 389900, www.nicknairncookschool.com ) costs £320, a less formal session £180. E-vouchers are available from tomorrow, with hard copies to follow.

INTO THIN AIR

Apparently, since the I’m a Celebs arrived in the jungle by tandem parachute jump, demand for the experience has soared. Lastminute.com (0871 472 5005, www.lastminute.com ) can get you a gift certificate for skydiving in Kent, Devon, Lancashire, Northampton-shire, Nottinghamshire and Perthshire if you order by December 23 (if not, you can print it off). The recipient will be jumping from 10,000ft-12,000ft - thermals required - strapped to an instructor. Prices start at £249 and the jumps are offered throughout the year.

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