2026 Gift Guide: Viator Writers’ Favorite Tours Around the World

Maybe renting out a yacht for you and your nearest and dearest seems a little bit bougie, but on my last trip to Portugal, my friends and I did just that—and it was one of the top experiences of our entire trip. (Passing the larger boats crowded with people angling for a good spot on the deck—while we lounged on the bow of our own private yacht and snapped photos—was a definite bonus.)

An hour or so before sunset, we turned up to meet our boat captain at the dock. From there, we spent a couple of hours on the Douro, enjoying the views over the city’s tumbling streetscape as the sun set, all while nibbling on a cheese-and-meat platter and sipping a few glasses of ice-cold vinho verde. Basically, it’d be a great gift for the guy or gal who already has everything.

Lauren Cocking is a Mexico City–based writer, editor, and translator with bylines in CNTraveler, BBC Travel, and more. Recent trips have included sampling sardines in Portugal, sipping rosé in Marseille, and eating alfajores in Argentina.

Like leather bags and Chianti wine, ceramics are abundant in Tuscany—but they’re not all created equal. I learned how the good stuff is made on a pottery class and factory tour in Montelupo, a small town near Florence that has produced exquisite ceramics for the Medici family and other noble Florentines for centuries.

After watching artisans in action inside a family-run factory, I sat at a pottery wheel for the first time and made my own (rustic?) fruit bowl out of raw clay. Ideal if you want to give a two-in-one gift to the ceramics lover in your life, this travel experience gift idea starts with a tour and ends with a tangible souvenir shipped to your home.

Sara Cagle worked as a freelance writer for years before landing in Florence, where she pens travel articles, teaches cooking classes, and spends all her money on Italian ceramics.

Ubud is Bali’s cultural capital. And designing and crafting your own piece of silver jewelry—either in town or in the nearby Celuk Village—is one of the signature Indonesia travel experiences. In one fell swoop you unleash your creativity, enjoy a hands-on encounter with local culture, and create a genuinely unique souvenir you can treasure for years—not to mention free yourself from the tyranny of your phone.

I spent a decade living on Bali and always recommend silversmithing to friends and family visiting the island; kids as young as 10 can join in the fun, which makes it a great gift option for families. And should inspiration fail to strike, the instructors have templates you can build on.

Theodora Sutcliffe is a freelance writer who spent four years traveling the world with her then-small son, and 10 years living in Canggu, Bali. She’s now based in Brighton, England, and exploring flight-free.

Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, seems like a place to explore on your own; that way, you can gallivant between steaming geysers and wildlife-filled valleys at your leisure. At least, that’s what I initially thought—until this private tour that took me around Yellowstone’s upper loop (Lamar Valley, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone).

Not only did my guide showcase the park’s highlights and toss out the downsides—the traffic jams, the navigation worries, the crowds, and the wondering where to go—they pointed me to places I might not otherwise have given a second glance, helping to spot wolves, foxes, bears, and other wild creatures. As I realized, getting off the main tourist track is the greatest gift of all, and lets you experience why this spot was once called “wonderland.”

Jacqueline Kehoe is a freelance writer based in Wisconsin. She’s called multiple parts of the globe home, from California to Vietnam, but considers herself most at home in nature, especially in America’s national parks.

I’m heading to Athens this year with my husband for a long weekend in honor of our wedding anniversary—and we’re leaving our 5-year-old at home with his grandparents, which means we’ll have the time and energy to focus on the history of everything we’re seeing, without anyone asking for snacks or complaining.

This feels especially exciting in a historic city such as Athens, where the top landmarks are, on average, a few thousand years old. And, in my opinion, there’s no better holiday gift than actually learning about ancient Greece, alongside a licensed guide who’ll tell me everything I need to know about the UNESCO–listed Acropolis and Parthenon with skip-the-line access (because I definitely don’t want to waste time queuing up).

Lori Zaino is a freelance writer for Viator. She’s traveled to more than 60 countries (and written about most of them), including Greece.

My eclipse-chasing BFF suggested we meet in northern Spain last August to place ourselves in the path of totality. After the eclipse, we spent 10 days driving from Burgos to the coast, checking out Gothic churches and prehistoric cave art along the way. But my one request was that we take a food tour in Bilbao, our final destination and a culinary hot spot.

After basing our decision on the reviews and menu options, the one we chose didn’t disappoint—and it’d make the ideal gift for the foodie in your life, especially one who wants to go beyond Gehry’s Guggenheim to get a real “taste” of Bilbao. After all, the guide paced it perfectly, kept our group of 12 engaged with anecdotes, and satisfied our palates with sweet and savory delicacies.

Rebecca Winke is an Italy travel expert who embraces the freedom of remote work to explore the globe. Her most recent adventure was a road trip through northern Spain to catch the solar eclipse.

Santorini’s volcanic soils and 3,500-year winemaking history make it one of Europe’s most exciting wine destinations. This small-group tour is a delicious way to discover it, whether your intended recipient is a wine buff or a wine beginner—no designated driver required.

Not only will they, like I did, get to taste everything from sparkling brut to caramel-rich Vin Santo at three different Santorini wineries—beachfront Gaia, where we sipped crisp Assyrtiko meters from the waves; sleek and modern Anhydrous, built on an old open-air cinema; and historic Santo Wines, perched on the caldera edge—they’ll learn about the wine-making process, too. And there’s generous meze provided at every stop to keep hunger at bay.

Elise Morton is a London-based arts, culture, and travel journalist who used to live in Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki. She has a penchant for retsina—Greece’s divisive pine-infused wine.

Gifting culture and company has never been easier, as this tacos, beer, mezcal, and lucha libre experience in Mexico City felt more like a night out with new traveler friends than a curated tour—in all the best ways.

When I took the tour, the guides knew just when to give important context and when to step back and let the group gel. (Plus, there were tacos and drinks involved—what’s not to love?) The culture part came in via the luchas themselves, a theatrical form of Mexican wrestling with a fascinating history, which would make this tour a great option for anyone who wants something a little different, or a night on the town while in the capital.

Zanny Merullo is a multilingual freelance travel journalist who spends time in Mexico each year. Though she can’t drink beer, as a dedicated foodie she loves washing down tacos with mezcal.

The only downside to escaping to Buenos Aires during the bleak London winter was missing Christmas with loved ones. But I needn’t have worried—my mum flew out to spend a couple of weeks with me in Argentina for the holiday season. And I repaid her with a gift that not only showed my gratitude but also offered the perfect introduction to the capital’s culinary traditions.

This rooftop asado experience, a more personal alternative to dining in a restaurant, also let us cook alongside locals in a small group and included a whopping seven courses (plus free-flowing wine). You’ll leave seriously stuffed and satisfied—plus, as an already tried-and-tested gifted experience, I can confirm it’s a hit.

Jade Harvey is a London-based travel writer and (soon-to-be) psychotherapist who recently returned from a 6-month stint of eating steak and dancing tango in Buenos Aires.

After four years of living in Iceland, I’d become a bit blasé about the northern lights. I preferred stumbling across them while exploring after dark, partying in downtown Reykjavik, or soaking in a hot tub. But this northern lights tour reminded me how exciting the chase could be—and it would be a great gift for any outdoorsy person in your life.

On a freezing December night, our guide shared stories, hot chocolate, and snacks as we waited in a quiet lava field. When a green glow finally stretched overhead, the anticipation made the sight so much sweeter. A fellow traveler even seized the moment to propose to his partner. (So maybe, inadvertently, you’ll even be giving the gift of a fun future anecdote, too.)

James Taylor is a travel writer specializing in Iceland and Spain who has spent the better part of a decade clambering over glaciers, feasting on tapas, and watching volcanoes erupt in the name of work.

Many travelers head to New Zealand’s South Island in winter to ski, but you don’t need to be a snow bunny to experience nature’s best in the Southern Alps, as I well know. I recently took a mid-winter tour to Mou Waho Island on Lake Wānaka from Wānaka town, and it’s a gift I recommend anyone give to themselves or a loved one—whatever the time of year.

The tour started with a 30-minute boat ride across the glacial lake, steep-sided mountains emerging from the water as we advanced, until we reached the uninhabited Mou Waho Island. There, we took a guided hike through native New Zealand bush up to a viewpoint with incredible views of the mountains and lake—including the Arethusa Pool, a little lake atop the island.

Elen Turner is a New Zealand–based travel writer and editor who equally loves hot summer days on her local beaches around Nelson and winter trips to the snow-covered mountains down south.