The Best Advent Calendars To Eat, Write, And Play Your Way Through Christmas With

Ah Advent, that wonderfully relaxing time in the lead up to Christmas, when you can just be cosy and not think about any of your worldly worries... not.

Christmas might be a time for giving, but that doesn’t have to exclude yourself. Whether you’re shopping for the whole family or just a couple of rellies this Christmas, you deserve a treat. 

Enter: the reinvented Advent calendar. While, in the past, you might have put up with a mid-tier chocolate or even just a picture, today Advent calendars have transformed December into a whole event in and of itself.

From kids’ toys, to food and drink, stationery, supplements, puzzles, and even vibrators, there are 12- and 24-day Advent calendars out there for everyone. 

The HuffPost team has been busy opening ours early, and we’ve managed to find the best of each category to shop now. 

If you’re ready to pounce on the calendar you’ll be opening every day of December (and you should be, those fuckers sell out fast) keep reading for our suggestions.

Best Advent calendars to shop in 2026

Food And Drink Advent Calendars

As if you’re not going to be feasting enough, you can now find (yet another) excuse to treat yourself every day, whether that’s with a canned cocktail, a bag of posh popcorn, or a matching chocolate for you and your lover.

For cocktail lovers, our favourite is the MOTH calendar, which will give you 24 cans of its cult favourite cocktails – that’s enough journey juice for an entire season’s worth of Christmas parties, by our calculations.

But if you’re more into a fancy schmancy calendar, Fortnum and Mason has an entire Feasting Advent Calendar, with enough of its food hall goodies to see you through to... well, January, I suppose.

Toy Advent Calendars

It wouldn’t be very fair of you to wave your couples’ Hotel Chocolat Advent calendar in front of your kids’ faces without treating them to an Advent calendar of their own.

Our Parenting Editor, Natasha Hinde, opened some of this year’s most popular toy Advent calendars with her children, and the Clickeez Advent Calendar and Lego City Advent Calendar went down a treat.

Beauty Advent Calendars

I absolutely dread to think about how much money I spend on beauty products I’ve been enticed to buy through social media each year. 

If, like me, you’re fickle when it comes to buying new beauty products, or simply like to try everything, then it might be time to give in to this years’. 

John Lewis came in top of my list this year, simply because it contains a piece of skin tech that makes the £250 price tag more than worth it.

Obviously, Liberty is always a crowd pleaser, but I’m also partial to Space NK’s for some top brands this year, as well as Holland & Barrett’s, which surprised me.

Sex Toy Advent Calendars

Like I said, Christmas is a time for giving, so naturally you’ll want to give your partner (and yourself) a darn good time, too.

Some of our favourite brands, including Lovehoney and Ann Summers, make Advent calendars every year, and honestly they keep getting better.

My favourites this year include LELO’s first ever couples’ calendar, but if you’re on a bit more of a budget, the Lovehoney couples’ calendar is also exciting.

Scent Advent Calendars

You might argue this is tangential to beauty, but scent lovers take their stuff very seriously. 

I’d never tried any Sentier products, but its Advent calendar has converted me to a lifelong fan. Plus, Jo Malone has a gorgeous calendar stuffed with some of its beloved scents.

Wellness Advent Calendars

It might seem paradoxical to the whole consumption vibe Christmas has going on, but if you’re one of the rare folks thinking about your health in December, there are calendars for you.

Healf has curated another of its sell-out Advent calendars that looks at four pillars of wellbeing, and I’m a big fan of the fact it’s practical, luxurious, and weird in equal measure.

Holland & Barrett’s calendar is technically a beauty calendar, but it also contains some supplements so you can glow from the inside out, too.