Christmas gifts for globetrotters

Frequent business traveller, swanky city-breaker or intrepid explorer? Whoever you are buying for, Sophie Lam has the perfect present all wrapped up

Venice in a box

This limited-edition set bundles together six books about Venice, each with a specially illustrated jacket. Titles include Henry James's Letters from the Palazzo Barbaro and Arthur Schnitzler's 1930 novel Casanova's Return to Venice (£60; pushkinpress.com).

Set off in style

Avoid the anxiety of choosing the perfect present with a gift voucher for Style-Passport, the online travel fashion and beauty emporium. Load it up with your chosen amount, then let its recipient ponder what to spend it on. A good tip? The Treatment Range's Beauty Sleep silk pillow slip – it's lightweight and luxurious and will swiftly transform any grotty hotel pillow (£25; style-passport.com).

Where next?

If you're a grown up: use Scratch Map to brag about all the countries you've visited. If you're not: the map is a fun way for children to learn about the world's geography by scratching off places they've been to. A gold foil layer can be removed with a coin to show greater geographical detail and country-specific facts underneath. Measuring 81.9 x 58.2cm, the map comes packaged in a smart tube (£14.95; luckies.co.uk).

Picture this

Create a pictorial timeline of your travels with Magma's Photo Journal. The stylish paperback features elegant illustrations of cameras by Christine Berrie, plus blank pages for your notes and sticky corners for affixing your travel photographs. All that's left to do is to get snapping (£14.95; culturelabel.com).

Box fresh

Banish fusty smells from your suitcase with Capsule de Plume's Parfum de Valise. This natural scent has been created with essential oils including anti-moth and anti-bacterial rosewood, anti-bacterial eucalyptus and calming bergamot. Spritz inside your case once a day to keep your clothes smelling fresh throughout your trip. Ideal for frequent travellers or long journeys (€88; plumevoyage.fr).

Chic set

Add some old-fashioned glamour to your getaway. Aspinal's Revival travel wallet and passport cover evoke the golden age of travel – all fluttering neck scarves and soft leather. The set comes in an elegant cream pebble and smooth tan leather, with a zipped coin compartment, card and pen holder (£195; aspinaloflondon.com).

Scrub up well

Take a Scrubba on your next trip and you can cut down on your packing list. The 5oz washing bag has been dubbed "the world's smallest washing machine" – put your dirty clothes in, fill with water and detergent, zip it up and jiggle it about. Inside, hundreds of "nobules" act as a scrubbing board, cleaning your clothes quickly and efficiently. Rinse, remove and dry, and you're ready to go (A$59.95/£37; thescrubba.com).

Podium position

It might look like a child's toy, but the Breffo Spiderpodium Original has a bit more to it than that. Available in six jaunty colours, Spiderpodium's bendy arms can be tweaked to cradle cameras, mobile phones, tablets, MP3 players, sat-navs or camping equipment so that they stand upright: perfect as a mini tripod, or for free-standing devices in the car, on the beach or on the move. A great stocking filler (from £14.95; breffo.com).

All mapped out

Pore over this nostalgic A to Z of London. Published in 1938-9 before the Second World War, it maps out the capital and its suburbs, much of which is unrecognisable today when bomb-damaged streets have been replaced by council blocks and modern offices. The reproduction hardback atlas comes with the original eye-catching yellow Art Deco-style cover (£9.95; stanfords.co.uk).

Helping hands

Keep toasty on the slopes this winter. Rohan's battery-powered Powerstation Gloves are self-heating and self-regulating, so when your hands reach optimum temperature, the heating elements switch off so the gloves don't overheat (£125; rohan.co.uk).

Flip out

For the gadget geek in your life: the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 13 is a travel-friendly 13in touchscreen tablet with a sleek rubberised finish, 8GB of memory, Intel processor, Windows 8 and eight hours of battery life; enough to watch films, read books, play games or upload photos. When you want to type, the screen flips 360 degrees to reveal a keyboard (from £999; lenovo.com).

On the hoof

Travel beauty kits are everywhere and anywhere, but tend to focus on the hair and body. Cowshed's Cow Slip Manicure Maintenance Kit takes care of your hands with cotton gloves, apricot cuticle oil, hand cream, cuticle stick and emery board, all in cabin-friendly sizes in a smart little bag (£19.50; cowshedonline.com).

Case study

This Liberty-print suitcase should make any little girl happy. Clad in Purple Thorpe-print material, the vintage-style case is just big enough for essential travelling toys, dolls, books and games (£65; liberty.co.uk).

Travel tags

Label your Christmas presents with these vintage-style gift tags. The set of 10 features designs that are based on airmail envelopes and luggage tags (£4.95; papermash.co.uk).

Take flight

Aesop's Ginger Flight Therapy roll-on lightweight oil is aimed at the weary, nauseous or nervous traveller. Macadamia, sweet almond oil, lavender, ginger and citrus notes combine to create a warm, spicy aroma that – when applied to pressure points – is invigorating and enlivening (£21; aesop.co.uk).

Photographic evidence

The Royal Geographical Society now offers prints from its 14,000-strong photographic collection. Images include Tenzing Norgay (left) and Edmund Hillary drinking tea in the Valley of Silence at the foot of Everest, vintage prints of market day in Scarborough, Tobago and more. Sizes available range from A5-A1 (from £16; images.rgs.org).

Coach class

In the days before Megabus and the National Express, there was the Midland Red CM5. Purpose-built in 1959 at the time of the opening of the M1, the motorway coach was resplendent in its leopardskin-print upholstered seats. Today, the London Transport Museum has launched a range of accessories inspired by the fabric. The Daytripper Bag, above, would make a stylish addition to a weekend break (£259, other items from £22; ltmuseumshop.co.uk).

Listen up

Radiopaq QX1 noise-cancelling headphones have a detachable cable so they can also be used without a device just to cut out background noise, while the headphone cups swivel so that they can be packed up neatly. They also come bundled with a Bayan 3XL speaker dock, in a stylish white wood design (£199; bayanaudio.com).