The best Christmas gifts for a friend, ranked
24 picks · one clear winner · in rand · updated September 2026
No. 1 Red Rose and White Lily Bouquet
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Mixed flowersRed roses with white lilies, which works if the friendship is old enough that nobody will misread it. The lilies arrive in bud, so they open through the week between Christmas and New Year.
Skip it if there is any chance red roses would be read the wrong way.
Filed under Mixed flowers at NetFlorist · in the first dozen of its category
Nationwide delivery; check the option and address for same-day availability
The best Christmas gift for a friend is the Red Rose and White Lily Bouquet (R500–750): red roses with white lilies, which works if the friendship is old enough that nobody will misread it. If that is not right, the Hat Box Treat Gift (R200–300) is next. Under R300, get the La Motte Millenium and Lindt Gift (R200–300).
- Picks
- 24
- Price range
- R200–300 to R1 000–2 000
- Under R300
- 6
- Under R500
- 17
- Personalised
- 5
- Delivers nationwide
- 23
Christmas gifts for a friend under R300
The strongest picks at three hundred rand or less.
Christmas gifts for a friend under R500
The best of the list under five hundred rand.
Personalised Christmas gifts for a friend
Gifts that carry a name, a date or a photo, made to order.
Hampers for a friend
Boxes, crates and baskets: several small things instead of one.
The full ranking
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No. 1Red Rose and White Lily Bouquet
Red roses with white lilies, which works if the friendship is old enough that nobody will misread it. The lilies arrive in bud, so they open through the week between Christmas and New Year.
Skip it if there is any chance red roses would be read the wrong way.
Nationwide delivery; check the option and address for same-day availability
No. 2Hat Box Treat Gift
Nestlé chocolates in a hat box, the December gift for a friend you see twice a year and like anyway. Four sizes, and the box gets kept long after the chocolate is finished.
Skip it if they are the friend who brings a fruit platter to everything.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 3Classic Bon Appetit Hamper
Nougat, biltong, dried fruit and a bottle of wine, personalised with a name and a message. It is built for the friend who hosts, and it lands on their table rather than in their cupboard.
Skip it if they are hosting a dry Christmas.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 4La Motte Millenium and Lindt Gift
A bottle of La Motte Millennium with Lindt milk chocolate, the size of gift that does not put a friend on the spot. Add the gift box if you are handing it over in front of other people.
Skip it if they do not drink.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 5Snack Attack
Halaal certified snacks running from biltong and Pringles to biscuits and nuts, all in one box. Good for the friend whose December is one long series of other people's houses.
Not for a friend who does not eat red meat.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 6Nuts About Nuts Crate
A hand-packed wooden box holds nougat, Ferrero Rocher, brittle and Montagu snacks in three sizes. The reusable box suits someone who likes sweet and savoury nibbles.
Skip it if they have a nut allergy.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 7Ultimate Nuts About Chocolate Snack Crate
Macadamia nougat, Lindt truffles, cashews and peanuts set out in a wooden divider box. It sits open on a table and empties slowly through the afternoon, which is the point at Christmas.
Skip it if anyone there has a nut allergy.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 8Personalised Parker Script Mate Pen
Parker jotter with their name on it in a black gift box, quiet and grown up. It suits the friend who started something this year and is signing things they never used to sign.
Skip it if they lose pens as a matter of habit.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 9Personalised Biltong Cutter
Engraved biltong cutter with their name, with an option that adds droëwors and biltong pieces. It stays in the kitchen long after the December snacks are gone.
Skip it if they already own one.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 10Chateau Gateaux Chocolate Nostalgia Cake
Chocolate cake layered with chocolate mousse, biscuit crumble and dark chocolate ganache gives them something to share. It contains wheat, gluten, milk, nuts and eggs, so check those allergens before ordering.
Skip it if they avoid the listed allergens.
Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban only; confirm arrival at NetFlorist
No. 11Personalised Classic A5 Notebook
Hardcover A5 notebook with their name on the cover, in black, blue, red or pink. A small, useful gift for a friend who writes lists on the backs of receipts.
Skip it if they do everything on their phone.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 12Fruity Nuts Assorted Wooden Crate
Turkish apricots, cranberries, mango strips, almonds and roasted peanuts in a wooden crate. The dried fruit keeps for weeks, which suits a friend who goes away for December.
Not for someone who would rather have chocolate.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 13Floral Scarf with Charlotte Rhys Hamper
Vanilla candle, Charlotte Rhys soap and hand cream with a scarf in one of four colours. It covers the friend you have known for years and still cannot buy clothes for.
Skip it if scented products give them a headache.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 14Johnnie Walker Man Crate
Whisky in a wooden crate alongside biltong, droëwors, cashews, mango and Lindt gold, with Johnnie Walker Black in the standard. This is the gift for the friend who did something big for you this year.
Not for a friend who does not drink spirits.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 15Munch Mania
Cashews, biscuits, Pringles, almonds and Ferrero Rocher in one box, meant for picking at. It is the gift for the friend who arrives with snacks and leaves with the empty bowl.
Skip it if they are trying to eat properly over the holidays.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 16Bro Got the Munchies Bucket
Oreos, droëwors, peanuts and Nestlé chocolate make a casual bucket of snacks to share. The mix suits a relaxed gathering where people can graze.
Skip it if anyone sharing it avoids meat or nuts.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 17Biltong & Wine Bro Bucket
Droëwors, nuts, Pringles and a small bottle of Beyerskloof Pinotage in a bucket. Aimed at the friend who ends up at the braai holding the tongs, and it needs no wrapping.
Skip it if they do not eat red meat.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 18Golden Treat Crate
Ferrero Rocher, peanut brittle and Montagu roasted nuts in a crate, in four sizes. Made for sharing, so it suits a household rather than one person on their own.
Skip it if anyone there cannot eat nuts.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 19Gold Box of Pongracz
Pongracz Cap Classique with Ferrero Rocher in a gold box, ready to hand over as it is. Good for the friend hosting the lunch you were invited to.
Skip it if the house is dry.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 20Large Chocolate Filled Hatbox
Chocolates from Nestlé filling a hat box tied with black satin ribbon, in three sizes. Made for sharing, so it works better going to a house than to one person.
Skip it if they are the only one there over Christmas.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 21Biltong and Chocs Treat Box
Sliced biltong, droëwors and a Lindt Lindor cornet with a name added at checkout. Small enough to hand a friend without either of you feeling awkward about it.
Skip it if they are vegetarian.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 22Black Box of Rothschild
Red wine in a black gift box, with a version that adds sixteen Ferrero Rocher. Rupert & Rothschild Classique rather than a bubbly, which covers the wine drinker who never orders sparkling.
Skip it if they drink white and red sits in the rack untouched.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 23Red Snack Hamper
Mixed snacks in a red hamper, three assortments, no thinking required. The right call for a friend you like but whose taste you have never been able to read.
Skip it if you want something that outlasts the holidays.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
No. 24My Best Friend Duo
Ferrero Rocher, Montagu biltong and nuts packed with wine in a large box, built for two. It suits a couple you both know, so neither of them has to divide it up.
Skip it if only one of them drinks.
Nationwide delivery; confirm arrival for your option and address
Nothing in that price band here. Try another.
How to choose a gift for a friend
Prices on this page run from R200–300 to R1 000–2 000; 6 of the 24 picks are under R300 and 1 are R1 000 or more. This list leans towards things to eat and hampers and crates. 23 of them deliver nationwide; the rest are metro-only, and the retailer page shows the next delivery date for your area. Start from the price band you have in mind, then read the note under each pick: it says who the thing is really for and who should skip it. Where a pick is filed for a friend by the retailer itself we say so; where a page borrows from a neighbouring list we say that too.
Where this list comes from: we read NetFlorist's whole catalogue, keep only what it files for a friend itself (Mixed flowers, Chocolate & Nougat, Gourmet among the categories here), rank by where NetFlorist places each item, what its buyers have said and how the price sits, and write our own note on who it suits and who should skip it. We have not handled these products and do not say we have. Commission never touches the order. Price bands come from NetFlorist's prices on 7 September 2026; the retailer page is the truth on the day. The full method.
Quick answers
What is the best Christmas gift for a friend?
The Red Rose and White Lily Bouquet (R500–750) is the best Christmas gift for a friend in our ranking: red roses with white lilies, which works if the friendship is old enough that nobody will misread it. Runners-up: Hat Box Treat Gift (R200–300), Classic Bon Appetit Hamper (R500–750).
What is a good cheap Christmas gift for a friend?
Good inexpensive Christmas gifts for a friend that still made our ranking: Hat Box Treat Gift (R200–300), La Motte Millenium and Lindt Gift (R200–300), Personalised Classic A5 Notebook (R200–300). None of them looks cheap.
