Gift-giving is one of the five love languages and a crucial part of our winter holiday culture. But what do you do when the people you’re shopping for already have everything there is to give?

Experiences can offer the perfect solution for those friends and relatives who claim they don’t need any more stuff. Here are a few of the best ones I’ve given or received over the years. Price and location will vary, but we’ve provided some recommendations.

Concerts

For the music fiends in your life, look for tickets to a concert you know they’ll like. The Baltimore area has a range of venues and stages to fit every taste. I’ve visited just about every one of them, from Merriweather Post Pavilion and CFG Bank Arena to Sound Stage, Ottobar and the 8x10. Nearby Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring also score top touring acts, and are both accessible by train and commuter rail.

Cost will depend on the venue. For decent seats at CFG Bank Arena this past March, I spent just under $200 for two tickets.

Theater

The regional theater circuit offers a great selection of shows for gift recipients of every age in your life. Again, Washington, D.C., is close enough to get to without much hassle and provides a fun “mini-getaway” environment to experience before or after a show. One of my favorite spots there: Ford’s Theatre, best known as the site of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in the presidential box, where I once saw a memorable production of “12 Angry Men.”

The Baltimore theater scene is no less exciting. The city-based productions at the Hippodrome, Center Stage and Everyman Theater are first-rate, and Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia also deserves mention. For the less theatrically inclined people in your life, consider gifting tickets to a lecture, classical musical production or comedy show at the Lyric Baltimore or Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

I’m already looking at “Come From Away” tickets for when it comes to Baltimore in April, starting at about $70.

An upscale meal

Sometimes, the key to the heart really does go through the stomach. There are so many choices for a nice meal in Baltimore that I couldn’t possibly list them all, but my favorite for a fancy night out would have to be Charleston, which offers a large prix fixe tasting menu plus an optional wine pairing. A friend and I gifted this to each other a few holidays ago, and I wouldn’t trade the memory for anything (except maybe another trip to Charleston).

The prix fixe menu at Charleston starts at $89 for three courses.

Zoo experiences

One of the best gifts I ever received was a penguin. No, not to take home, but a 30-minute encounter with a lovely colony at the Maryland Zoo.

The zoo offers ticketed animal encounters with penguins, otters and rhinos and feeding and grooming sessions with giraffes and goats. I was surprised how touched I was by my penguin encounter — it was sort of like meeting a celebrity you’ve long admired for the first time. A thrill!

Tickets for the 30-minute penguin encounter start at $64 for non-members. A similar experience with the otters also starts at $64.

Let’s go O’s (and Ravens)

Baltimore is nothing if not a proud sports town, so you can’t go wrong with gifting seats to a football or baseball game (it’s never too early to start thinking about the Orioles). As long-suffering fan of the Terps, I’d also welcome tickets to a men’s or women’s college basketball game (tickets range but often start at around $45).

Our Washington, D.C., neighbors also have soccer, professional basketball and hockey teams to choose from. Tickets to see the Washington Capitals face the New York Rangers in January start at around $99.

Amtrak or bus tickets

Take advantage of Baltimore’s geographic privilege by sponsoring a day trip to another place, like Atlantic City, New York City or Philadelphia. Far enough out, you can score reasonably priced train or bus tickets anywhere up or down the East Coast.

Train tickets are available from Amtrak and can often start below $100 to get from Baltimore to New York. Bus tickets from Greyhound tend to start at around $35.

Creative “date” nights

Elevated “date” nights, even just with friends, can make for excellent gift-giving opportunities. Whether it’s duckpin bowling, a movie night at The Charles or a trip to any of Baltimore’s museums, there’s no shortage of interesting activities around to treat your loved ones to.

Among the best I’ve gifted: Axe throwing at Urban Axes in Southeast Baltimore and indoor mini golfing at Monster Mini Golf in Gaithersburg.

A game of duckpin bowling at Parkville Lanes starts at $35/hour. Axe throwing at Urban Axes starts at $27.50.

Enrichment classes

Painting, pottery, plant maintenance: You can give the gift of knowledge to your loved ones this year.

In the Baltimore area, there’s probably a class to suit every interest, from yoga and sewing to improv, climbing and even boating.

The best I’ve gone to? Glad you asked: A flower-pressing session at B.Willow, where I took home a framed arrangement that I made myself, and a cooking class at Schola, where I ate so much pasta that I actually became a noodle.

Classes at B.Willow start at around $45. Cooking classes at Schola start around $65.