60th birthday gifts for mum, dad and friends

By the Great Gifts team · Updated 5 October 2026

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A birthday cake covered in lit red candles

A 60th often comes with big life changes — grandchildren, retirement on the horizon, more time for hobbies. The best presents celebrate the family they’ve raised and the next chapter ahead.

A star certificate, “Sarah’s Star”, framed beside wrapped presents and a card
We make this

A star for their 60th

Name a real star. A heartfelt gift they’ll cherish forever. Our sister company, The Star Naming Co., dedicates a real catalogued star to their name, with a dated certificate for the mantelpiece, a sky chart and a live viewer the grandchildren can use to find it. It’s symbolic rather than official, and a lovely gift from the whole family.

£9.99 delivered in minutes, or £19.99 as a printed Gift Pack posted free in the UK.

See birthday stars

Family keepsakes

Sixty years in photos

A photo book or framed collage running through every decade, with captions from the family. It becomes the centrepiece of the party.

Collage frames on Amazon

Their story, recorded

A guided “tell me your story” journal — or a service that sends them a question a week and turns the answers into a book. It’s a gift for them and, eventually, for the whole family.

Memory journals on Amazon

For the next chapter

Binoculars on Amazon

Experiences

A trip to somewhere meaningful, a theatre break, afternoon tea at a grand hotel, a steam train dining experience — ideally with family coming along.

Red Letter Days · Virgin Experience Days

A little nostalgia

A newspaper from the day they were born, a print of the year’s headlines, or the records they danced to as teenagers — on vinyl.

Birthday newspapers on Not On The High Street · Birth-year prints on Etsy

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