“Chocolate is a much-loved indulgence; now that we know it keeps the skin young, I keep buying it. Chocolaterie Rohr is the best chocolate shop in Geneva (Place du Molard 3; chocolats-rohr.ch), perfect for Christmas stocking-fillers.
“Confort-shop Chaussures (Quai des Bergues 29) is another favourite and is near our hotel, Le Richemond. It sells shoes and boots that are quite glam, but with thick rubber soles, perfect for rainy English winters.”
Olga Polizzi, director of design, Rocco Forte Collection
“One of my favourite finds is Paperworks in Panjim, Goa. It has the best ranges of hand-made cards, notebooks, wrapping paper, lanterns and folders — basically anything that you can make from paper.
“You can pick up a pack of five cards for less than 50p. It’s tricky to find, though (Pinto Parade, D. Bandodkar Marg, Campal, Panjim), but most taxi drivers should know it.”
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Mandy Nickerson, managing director, Bales Worldwide
“If you happen to be heading for the elegant city of Lucca in Tuscany, pick up some pecorino stagionato, right, at Antica Cacioteca del Fillungo, Via Fillungo — buonissimo! The shop is handily placed for the bike-hire shops for the obligatory circumnavigation of the city walls.”
Alastair Sawday, Alastair Sawday’s Special Places to Stay guidebooks
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“At the museum in the Potala Palace at Lhasa in Tibet you can buy old Tibetan notes (now out of circulation). They cost from about £25 and their unusual colours and large size make a great framed picture. And in a shop called Memory of Time, in Byblos, Lebanon, you can buy 100 million-year-old fossilised fish in limestone. They cost from £3 and are a great gift for fishing enthusiasts.”
Moira Lumsden, sales consultant, Thomas Cook
“I will be buying my Christmas presents from Al Yasmine Papyrus Shop, El Gouna, Egypt. The papyrus designs depict scenes from Ancient Egypt and I believe that they will become collectors’ items as they are not mass-produced. They are in various sizes and range from £25 to £100, depending on their intricacy.”
John Wood, general manager, M?venpick Resort & Spa El Gouna
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“You can pick up some great local art in Cape Town, including paintings and beautiful sculptures. My favourite find is Streetwires (www.streetwires.co.za), an African wire and bead craft company. It was set up in 2000 to provide training, support and raw materials to enable unemployed local people to channel their creative energies into art. It’s very cool and unique to the area. You can buy Streetwires creations in Africa Nova, in the Cape Quarter area of Cape Town (00 27 21 425 5123, www.africanova.co.za).”
Rad Sofronijevic, managing director, Travelmood
“Serious Harry Potter fans should check out Spellbox in Melbourne (17 Royal Arcade, Bourke Street Mall), a serious but also playful shop for those interested in the Wiccan pagan belief system. Buy pre-made spells for courage, new beginnings and birthdays, or have a spell especially made for you in the nearby witches’ house. You can also stock up on wands, pentacles and mortars.
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I always buy shoes in Majorca (home to Camper shoes) and the industrial shoe mecca is Inca, a town in the centre of the island. It is littered with discount factory outlets where you can get shoes for half the price in the UK. Another good make is Yanko, top-quality shoes for men.”
Aidan Forestier-Walker, operations director www.i-escape.com
“The Christmas market in Livigno [in the Lombardy Alps] is a great place to buy your Christmas goodies as Livigno is duty-free. The best panettone is Verona Bauli; and try the pear-flavoured Grappa Williams.”
Bob Ridge, senior product manager Italy, Inghams
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“The best hot chocolate in the world is Caotina and can be bought at any branch of Migros in Switzerland. I always pick up a big tub when I’m in Verbier, priced about 5 Swiss francs (£3). Caotina does a really good white chocolate one, as well as milk and dark. A selection of all three makes a great Christmas present.”
Debbie Marshall, managing director, Ski Verbier and CV Travel
“Forget Belgian, Swiss and Austrian chocolate, the best in the world is to be found in the Grenada chocolate factory (grenadachocolate.com). Mott Green and his small team make it in a little factory no bigger than a bungalow. Last time I was there, Sir Trevor McDonald had just left with a dozen bars!”
Gerry Copsey, managing director, Just Grenada, www.justgrenada.co.uk
“For something completely different in Istanbul, as well as a wonderful shopping experience, head for the areas of Çukurcuma and Cihangir. I love to wander around the labyrinth of hilly cobbled streets that are filled with unusual shops snuggled between empty and tumbling old buildings, many of which are being restored to their former glory. Here you will find tiny boutiques run by designers selling their wares, hand-carved wooden delights for the home and dozens of antique and vintage shops — Y?cel Tanyeri in Aga Hamam Caddesi, Pied de Poule in Faik Pasa Yokusu — selling anything and everything from bygone times.”
Alper Vural, Istanbul guide for Turkey specialist Exclusive Escapes
“I always make for Poupa Litza in Essaouira, Morocco, for beautiful and super-trendy hand-made bags and accessories from the French fashion designer Litza Chemla’s boutique at 135 bis av. Mohamed el Qouri.”
Olga Pavlova, Morocco expert, Original Travel
“The parent company for Noritake china is based in Sri Lanka (the quality of the clay in Sri Lanka is suitable for the fine porcelain). You can pick up dinner, tea and coffee services, and porcelain mugs for a fraction of the price that you pay in the UK. The showroom in Colombo is at Noritake Tableware, 353, Duplication Road, Colombo 03 (00 94 11-257 3081). However, prices drop even farther if you have time to visit the factory outlet, 17 miles outside Kandy and can be found at www.noritake.lk. There is also a duty-free outlet at the airport.
Brendan O’Donnell, managing director, Reef resort, Sri Lanka
“I always buy specialist jams, such as confiture d’orange, citron et pamplemousse, chocolate-coated almonds and toffees made with fresh local cream and French sea salt at Maison Gosselin, St Vaast-la-Hougue, Normandy (rue de Verr?e; 00 33 2 33 54 40 06, www.maison-gosselin.fr). It’s a delicatessen that’s known among visitors to this small seaside resort as ‘the Fortnum & Mason of the Cherbourg peninsula’. Prices are about €6 (£5) per Cellophane-wrapped pack of almonds or toffees; jams from €3-€5 and there is a huge choice, from rose petal to rhubarb and ginger/apricot. All make perfect stocking fillers or Christmas tree decorations — if you can bear not to eat them yourself!”
Noel Josephides, managing director, Sunvil
“When I’m in Miami I pick up vintage gems to keep my wardrobe full of one-offs, from the city’s best-kept dressing-up secret, C Madeleine’s (13702 Biscayne Blvd, North Miami Beach, 001 305-945 7770). And when I’m in Boston I stock up on retro Lemon Body cream from America’s oldest apothecary, C. O. Bigelow (100 Huntington Avenue, 001 617-236 7257). It’s the best-value freshen-up while travelling.”
Amanda Wills, managing director, Virgin Holidays
“In Beverly Hills there’s a shop called Fashionphile (fashionphile.com), which sells ‘gently-used’ handbags. Many were once owned by celebrities or were given to them by the designers and never used.”
Kimberli Partlow, Beverly Hills, California Tourism
“The Spanish are mad for Nativity scenes, known as bel?n. No self-respecting home is without one. Every bel?n, particularly in Valencia and Catalonia, traditionally has a caganer, or defaecating shepherd. The Christmas market outside the Mercado Central in Valencia will have a huge selection, from €2.”
Timothy Birch, author of Frommer’s Valencia Day by Day
“FM Allen (www.fmallen.com) is just around the corner from the Mark Hotel, Upper East Side, New York, and is a purveyor of the best in American hunting wear, sports jackets, leather jackets and one-off beautiful items, including a bespoke watch. The attention to detail is astounding. Any sartorialist’s heaven.”
James Sherwin, general manager, the Mark Hotel, New York