Festive Shopping in Scotland: Independent Shops & Gift Ideas

Festive Shopping Inspiration Across Scotland

Looking for something a little different this Christmas? Scotland is home to a wonderful selection of independent shops, local makers, and artisan producers, making it the perfect place to find unique and thoughtful gifts.

From charming towns and villages to specialist food shops, galleries, and craft stores, this guide highlights some of our favourite places to enjoy festive shopping near our holiday parks.

From Blairgowrie and Corriefodly Holiday Parks

Sarah Cave is an immensely talented silversmith who designs and makes silverware and jewellery. 

At Tartan Caledonia, you will generally find master craftsman and weaver Ashleigh Slater behind the loom. Pick up something from the beautiful local berries and cherries tartan range of gifts.  

At Cornerstone Deli, you can stock up on local specialities, such as Dunkeld Smoked Salmon, as well as Christmas chutneys and sweet treats.

Established in 1852, James Crockart & Sons specialise in everything shooting and fishing, as well as stocking a wonderful range of country clothing.  

Situated at the foot of Glenisla, Peel Farm is well worth a visit as it has a wonderful selection of unique gifts and antiques from over 30 local stockists. There is also a lovely coffee shop and farm shop. The Reekie Linn waterfall and Lintrathen Loch are within walking distance from the farm and well worth a visit. 

Persie Distillery is very handy for Corriefodly Holiday Park, and they have a range of spaniel and labrador gins! Whilst The Gin Bothy in the village of Glamis has a wonderful range of Christmas and winter spiced gins and a lovely range of gifts.

The Scottish Antique and Arts Centre, at Abernyte, offers an unrivalled selection of antiques and collectables as well as an ever-changing range of gifts, homewares and fashion accessories. Make sure to book a table for lunch or coffee and homemade cake in the Café Circa bistro. 

The town of Dunkeld is just a short drive from Blairgowrie and has a wonderful range of independent shops (too many to mention) as well as several restaurants and coffee shops.  

From Deeside Holiday Park 

Take a drive through Royal Deeside through Banchory, Aboyne, Ballater and even onto Braemar, and you will find a wealth of little independent shops with great quality shopping.  

At Copper and Grey in Banchory, you will find a lovely range of thoughtful and unique gifts. 

At The Sign of the Black Faced Sheep in Aboyne, you will find a welcoming coffee shop and restaurant combined with an intriguing emporium, packed full of beautiful furniture, gifts and homeware.  

The Butterworth Gallery, in Aboyne, is also worth popping in for a browse. 

Throughout Ballater, you will notice decorative signs above many of the shops indicating that they hold Royal Warrants from Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Duke of Rothesay. This is because they supply them whilst in residence at nearby Balmoral Castle. 

Larks Gallery in Ballater showcases leading Scottish artists, as well as some of the best emerging talents in painting, sculpture, ceramics, glass, wood, textiles, photography and jewellery design.  

Dee Valley Confectioners at the old station in Ballater is a long-established family company producing traditional hand-made sweets. Boilings are a speciality, in traditional flavours such as market candy, bullseyes, humbugs, soor plooms and Edinburgh rock. Original open-top copper pans are still used to produce the best and most natural results.  

If quirky and unique is what you’re looking for, then Roaring Stag Gifts, the home of Tweedie Beasties and Roaring Stag Coffee Roasters, is for you. 

At Rowan Antiques, you will find both modern and antique jewellery, gifts, as well as a selection of antique furniture and collectables.  

Deeside Books is predominantly an out-of-print bookshop with a stock of about 10,000 titles. They also have a good selection of new Scottish titles and bestsellers, gifts, greeting cards and souvenirs. 

Castleton Farm Shop at Fordoun, Lawrencekirk, stocks the best of local produce as well as their own Castleton Farm range. You will also find a wide range of gifts, beautiful wrapping papers and cards. 

Westhill Shopping Centre has some lovely little boutique shops, such as Daisychain, as well as the bigger names you would expect. Be sure to stop for a coffee at Cones & Candy, where you will also find some nice gifts. 

From Callander Woods Holiday Park 

To get you into the Christmas spirit, your first stop must be The Nutcracker Christmas Shop. Here you’ll find beautiful Christmas gift ideas as well as German wooden nutcrackers, exquisite wooden nativity figures, Christmas stockings, table decorations, tree baubles, and so much more. 

CCW is a fabulous contrywear and gift shop established by  Bill and Liz Geddes back in 1985. This is their flagship store and is perfect for finding quality gifts for the country bumpkins and outdoor enthusiasts in your family. There is also a lovely cafe upstairs.

Creative in Callander showcases the work of approximately forty local artists and makers at any one time. It is the perfect place for a relaxing browse. Nearby Galleria Luti exhibits bold and distinctive pieces of original art for sale at affordable prices in a relaxed and welcoming environment, and there is also 2 Cross Street Gallery, which also showcases the work of local artists. There is certainly no shortage of galleries in Callander! 

The Old Fudge Shop is a good old-fashioned sweet shop – pick up some stocking fillers and a sweet treat for that person with a sweet tooth in the family.  

Looking for the perfect gift for a Beer lover? With over 210 different Scottish ales from over forty microbreweries, stretching from the Shetlands to the Borders, you’re sure to find the perfect gift at Scottish Real Ale.

From Lomond Woods Holiday Park

At Lomond Shores, you will find all the big brands that you love.  From Jenners and its fabulous range of clothing, beauty and gifts to Leading Labels with its great value big brands as well as small boutique shops, they’ve got pretty much everything covered. 

Lomond Shores Markets also take place on the first and third Sundays of the month. You will find a great selection of stalls selling fruit & veg, meat, cheeses, handmade soaps and candles, craft beers, jewellery and crafts, as well as some yummy hot food vendors. 

Inverbeg Galleries at Luss is one of the largest retail art galleries in Europe and features constantly changing displays of original Scottish, British and International art such as landscapes, seascapes, still life, aviation, wildlife and portraits and includes a wide range of paintings featuring the recent history of Scotland from tramcars in cityscapes to paddle steamers and great ocean liners. 

At Loch Lomond Gift House, you will find lots of traditional Scottish gifts.

Often described as Scotland’s most beautiful distillery, Glengoyne Distillery at Killearn is the perfect place to pick up a tipple for the whisky connoisseur in the family.  

And of course, you could also treat your friends and family to a gift they will always remember – a Wood Leisure Gift Voucher.