20+ Awesome Gift Ideas for the Hopeless Romantic

Are you looking for the perfect gift for a birthday, Valentine’s Day, Anniversary, Christmas, or another special occasion? If you’re planning a gift for a hopeless romantic, or are one yourself, here are some awesome ideas for your special someone. There’s a wide range of gift ideas here for every budget. Some of these sweet surprises you can make yourself and are fun, creative, personal, and unique. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to give the perfect gift. Sometimes it’s just a matter of knowing what the recipient loves.

Sometimes shipping times aren’t as fast as we need them. Remember, if you’re not able to finish or receive the gift by the big day, you can always make a handmade coupon that shares about the gift if it’s on the way.

Several of these projects are also earth-friendly. Like repurposing maps for wrapping paper or coasters, reusing scraps of fabric as luggage tags, or keeping an old globe out of the landfill and giving it new life with a painted quote.

Experiences for the Hopeless Romantic

Truly any event can become the perfect gift for your hopeless romantic. All it takes is a little thought and planning. Think about their favorite places, restaurants, parks, hotels, or specific interests. Sometimes it’s just a matter of taking some time to think about the things and places they love the most. Do they prefer art galleries or sporting events? Would they rather hear the symphony or a jazz band? Are they someone who would love a private picnic near a waterfall or maybe their favorite wine in front of a fire in the living room? Knowing the recipient gives you all sorts of clues about what they would love as a gift.

Have you heard of the book, “The 5 Love Languages”? This isn’t a gift to give to your loved one. It’s for you (but they might want to borrow it later). This #1 New York Times international bestseller will help you discover what lights the fire in your hopeless romantic. It provides insights into how the people in your life prefer to give and receive expressions of love. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn about the person that you just haven’t quite been able to figure out.

5 Love Languages

Order the 5 Love Languages from your local indie bookstore.

Author, Gary Chapman outlines these 5 general ways that a person expresses and experiences love. They are through “words of affirmation”, “quality time”, “receiving gifts”, “acts of service”, or “physical touch”. We all have preferences in this area, even if we aren’t aware of them. For example, if you have expensive jewelry and flowers delivered to your hopeless romantic, but don’t take the time to stop by and see them, you might be in trouble.

They aren’t being ungrateful. If their primary love language is quality time and you give them gifts, but no time, the flowers and jewelry won’t speak to their heart. But a well-planned intimate evening together could be just the ticket for the perfect gift for them.

If your gift recipient loves words of affirmation consider leaving personal love notes, poems, or quotes around the house, in the car, on the mirror or send something to their school or office. These words can be absolutely priceless beyond any amount of money spent on a gift for them.

A Day on the Town

I knew a woman who celebrated a special day with her guy by planning an all-day trip on the light rail through town. She scouted out specific places to go within walking distance of the rail stops. First, they sipped their favorite coffees and picked up a breakfast pastry at his best-loved bakery. A few stops later they leisurely browsed in the coolest bookstore in town. Another stop took them to pick up snacks for a picnic at a gorgeous park.

Later she planned a dinner stop at the most romantic restaurant with a spectacular view of the city. On the way home, they walked through their neighborhood hand in hand to end a perfect day. The gift was in the thought and time spent to plan the day, as well as the fact that she set aside a full day to make him feel extra special.

Romantic Getaways

If your hopeless romantic loves quality time, then think about all the things they care about and plan a day, a weekend, or a month that focuses on them.

Book a cozy getaway at a romantic spot. This list of unique romantic destinations will get your imagination going. How about a gorgeous romantic cabin in the woods near Breckenridge Colorado or your choice of the best cabins around the world? You can search for options and availability below.

Are you both J.R.R. Tolkien fans? Then check out The Shire of Montana in Trout Creek. What’s more romantic than gazing up at the stars under dark skies together? Glamping at “Under Canvas Arizona” near the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona gives you a view of the heavens just steps from the comfort of your bed.

Worldwide Adventures

Maybe this is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration that calls for a bit of a splurge. Perhaps an international trip is in order. What cities come to mind when you dream of your hopeless romantic? Maybe sipping champagne on a picnic in Paris, or being serenaded in a gondola in Venice? Possibly a romantic river cruise from Paris to Zurich is more your style.

Perhaps a luxury transatlantic ocean cruise to Europe on the Queen Mary 2 where you’ll relax and read on the deck for as long as you’d like. Nearly anywhere you decide to go, you can find the romantic side of the destination. If you’re still looking for more ideas for your favorite travel lover check out these 25 gift ideas for Father’s Day, birthdays, graduations, and more.

DIY Gifts for the Hopeless Romantic

Does your gift recipient prefer something homemade? Here are some sweet and easy ideas for your hopeless romantic any time of year. Some might only take a few hours, but they’ll be extra special because you took the time to make them yourself.

Heart-Shaped Map Art from “A Gier Design”

Perfect for a wedding, anniversary, or Valentine’s Day, here’s a tutorial on how to make this heart art for your valentine. You can make it with maps from 2 or 3 cities. Where each of you grew up and where you live now or include all the places you’ve lived together. These instructions are for Photoshop users, but I think it can also be done by simply printing the maps that you find online and cutting out the pieces. Find out more about how to make one at Primer Magazine, here. You can even buy a heart-shaped mat and frame from Etsy here.

I Left My Heart In… from “In Between Laundry”

Check out this sweet embroidered pillow that is perfect for a friend or relative who’s across the miles and dearly missed. The lightweight makes it easy to ship too. Of course, you could also fill the outlines with fabric to add a bit more punch of color or use fabric paint instead of embroidery.

Your Favorite Quote on a Globe from “WhipperBerry”

Choose your favorite hopeless romantic quote and add it to a globe. You don’t need to be able to paint beautiful letters either. Vinyl letters can be ordered from Etsy in almost any style, color, and size. The one you see here is on a black globe, but the same thing can be done on any color, of course.

A few quotes for the Hopeless Romantic:

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.” Helen Keller

“I remember the first day I ever looked into your eyes and felt my entire world flip.”

“My favorite place is next to you because you are the world to me.”

“To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.” Taylor Hanson

Disney Luggage Tags

Does your favorite person love all things Disney? Or maybe they’re a Marvel fan. At first, these Disney character luggage tags may not seem like much of a gift for a hopeless romantic, but imagine that one or more of these are packaged with tickets for a flight or a hotel reservation with tickets for their favorite Disney amusement park. The wonderful thing is that the luggage tags will be a sweet memento from the trip for many years. How awesome is that?

Expert Travel Tip for Luggage Tags

Always remember that any luggage tag that you buy should hide your name and home address, especially for children. You don’t want would-be abductors to be able to call out your child by name and you wouldn’t want would-be thieves to see your home address and know that you’re going out of town.

Use Your Camera Skills for a Gift

Your hopeless romantic would likely love a collage of photos of your favorite places and people if you’re handy with a camera or even your phone. How about where you met, where you proposed, where you spent your first date, or took your first adventure? The list is endless. You can be even more creative and make it into a scrapbook or photo book like one of these customized photo albums.

Personalized Gifts

What’s the favorite color or style of your special someone? Do they love mid-century design or cats or the color red? Do they love to write or journal or make lists? Etsy is the coolest website for finding unique gifts that are personal to the tastes of your hopeless romantic. There are literally thousands of different designs in clothes, art, home decor, and even office supplies. These journals are just a small sampling of a few that could be fun for a romantic gift. Write your own note inside as a reminder of your love for them.

Gifts for Pet Lovers

Do you have a pet lover in your life? The possibilities are endless for so much cat fun. Check out all these options for unique and customized gifts at Etsy for your hopeless romantic pet lover. For example this precious custom oil painting of your furry friend for your favorite cat lover.

Is your special someone a homebody? Do they love nothing more than to snuggle in the beautiful home that you’ve created together? Then consider a gift like one of these gorgeous custom house portraits from Etsy that they’ll cherish forever.

Maybe your hopeless romantic’s love language is “Words of Affirmation” but you’re not the best at coming up with the right words. If so, here’s a roundup of hundreds of romantic “love quotes” in all shapes and sizes that you can find on Etsy.

Custom Wrap Your Gifts

If you haven’t considered it yet, no matter what gift you give, you can always wrap it in map paper which makes it look awesome and is happy for the recycling world as well! Choose a place that the recipient loves or maybe a destination on their bucket list. No matter what, they’ll see that you love them well.

Here are some ideas on where to find free or cheap maps

Find unique gift-wrap options for your hopeless romantic with the perfect wrapping paper matching their interests from artists around the world.

I hope this list of ideas and insights for choosing the perfect gift has helped to get your creative juices flowing. The bottom line is that there’s no one-size-fits-all gift that fits everyone on your list, but with a little thought and effort, you can find the one that’s perfect for YOUR hopeless romantic. Use one of the images below to save this article to Pinterest so you can refer to it later. Or maybe you want to drop some hints for your favorite gift-giver by sharing on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Photo credits:

Hopeless romantic couple snuggling in bed – Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Couple by the water – Photo by Justin Groep on Unsplash