Above the sofa, most of the time. Now and then in a hallway. Before you buy a panoramic jigsaw puzzle, it helps to know where it will hang, because this format is chosen for the wall first and the picture second.

The panoramic puzzles we stock all have 1000 pieces. The difference is the proportion: instead of the 70 x 50 cm of a classic 1000, they finish at about 98 x 33 cm. Almost a metre long and not much more than a hand span high.

Panoramic puzzles you can buy now

The two Trefl puzzles are photographs. The five Clementoni ones are illustrations with characters side by side, and that difference affects how you work far more than the brand does.

Where a panoramic puzzle looks good

The long proportion solves walls that a normal puzzle leaves looking bare. Above a three seater sofa, a 70 x 50 looks small and lost; a panorama of almost a metre follows the line of the sofa.

The same goes for the headboard, the wall above a desk, or a narrow hallway where there is no distance to step back and look at a tall picture.

A practical rule before you choose: measure the wall with a tape and allow for the frame, which adds a few centimetres on each side. A framed panorama easily comes to 105 to 110 cm long, and you want some wall left on the left and right so it does not look squeezed.

The Manhattan skyline and the Colosseum work in living rooms and offices. The Disney and Pixar panoramas often end up in teenagers' bedrooms or games rooms, and Stranger Things looks just right above a fan's desk.

How to do a panoramic puzzle without losing your mind

The 1000 pieces are the same. The shape changes the work in three or four ways worth knowing before you open the box.

1. Set up a surface more than a metre long. A dining table will do. If you need to clear the table halfway through, the Clementoni puzzle mat measures 105 x 78 cm, so a 98 cm panorama fits with room to spare, and the mat rolls up with the puzzle inside.
2. Expect a more demanding border. On a long rectangle the outer frame has more pieces than on a classic 1000, and the two long sides look almost the same. Sort the top and bottom edge pieces by colour before joining them.
3. Work in vertical strips. In the Clementoni panoramas the characters are laid out side by side, so it makes sense to split the picture into blocks from left to right and finish one before moving on. In the Trefl photographs the sky runs along the top from end to end. Leave it until last and use the line of the buildings as your guide.
4. Sort pieces by area of the picture, in trays or box lids, not in piles all over the table. On a long format the pieces for the left end sit far from the right end, and you waste time walking round the table.

As for time, expect the same as a classic 1000, a good few evenings. The Trefl skies stretch that out. The illustrated panoramas, with lots of characters and strong colours, usually go faster, because each character has its own colours and comes together almost by itself.

Framing a panoramic puzzle

This is where many people get stuck. Standard size puzzle frames tend to be made for classic rectangles, and a 98 x 33 is not always easy to find ready made. It is often worth taking the glued puzzle to a framer and having one made to measure.

The panoramas we stock do not include glue in the box, so you will need to sort that separately. The step by step for gluing and framing is in our guide to framing a puzzle.

Before you order

If you like cities, the city and travel puzzles collection has more photographs of places to fill the wall next to your panorama. The illustrated panoramas are all in the Clementoni puzzles collection.

We ship from Portugal: about 5 days to Spain and about 7 to the rest of Europe after dispatch, and you can follow your order on the order tracking page.