BEST ADVENT CALENDARS OF 2026
Our Tried and Tested Guide to this Year's Top Advent Calendars
Count down to Christmas with our ultimate guide to the most original and exciting advent calendars of 2026.
We've tested the most extraordinary calendars, from luxury fragrances and artisanal chocolates, to fitness treats, and gourmet spices and rubs for the grown ups, plus exciting Marvel, LEGO, Magna-Tiles, vitamin, and Clickeez calendars for the kids.
Dive in below for the ultimate countdown.
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Melt Advent Calendar
Melt is the final boss of chocolate advent calendars.
This year, they have surpassed themselves with four stunning houses and cabins, filled with luxury chocolates, handmade in their Notting Hill boutiques by master chocolatiers.
We tested the log cabin, inspired by Ralph Lauren’s iconic Colorado lodge. Doors on each side open up to reveal beautiful, refillable boxes filled with stunning, festive treats, from Gingerbread Caramel and Cinnamon & Oat Cup to Speculoos Praline.
There’s also a pastel Portobello Road calendar, complete with striped awnings, and a grand Notting Hill house, filled with miniature, choc-filled pastel house.
And for the ultimate in luxury advent calendars, you need to see their show stopping, 6kg Holland Park calendar. It’s a giant, red brick building of treats, including pralines to truffles, bars to spreads .
They are also gorgeous reusable decorations, which can be reused each year - although no other chocolate but Melt with do, once you’ve tried these.
BUY FROM MELT CHOCOLATES. Log Cabin, £79.99, Portobello Road £49.99, Notting Hill £79.99, Holland Park £299
Chilli No 5 Advent Calendar
This is the hottest advent calendar of the season, and sells out every year.
Add some luxurious heat to the chilly, Christmas countdown with this Hot Sauce and Spice Advent Calendar.
Each of the 24 gourmet goodies in the countdown has been awarded a Great Taste Star.
Using only the finest ingredients, sourced from around the world, to ensure every drop delivers maximum flavour and quality, it includes amazing treats, like the Chinese Hot & Sour Sauce, Hot Spicy Ketchup, Jamaican Jerk Spice Rub and the hit Wicked Wasabi Sauce.
There’s a spice for every taste from around the world, including Devilish Dijon Honey, Habanero Flakes, Perfect Piri Piri Sauce, Cheeky Chimichurri, Mexican Fury Hot Sauce, and the epic White Truffle Sauce.
And if you want to melt snowmen with one breath, you can even try the Limited Edition Pure, a super-hot Ghost, Scorpion & Reaper Sauce.
BUY FROM SELFRIDGES £125.00
ARRAN Sense of Scotland advent calendar
Trust us, you will spend all of December sniffing your man like a truffle pig, after he’s completed ARRAN Sense of Scotland’s stunning, perfume and fragrance calendar.
It’s brimming with more than £200 worth of their most-loved perfume and fragrance collections in mini sizes, including After the Rain, Island Dusk, Glenashdale, Seaweed & Sage, Lochranza and Kildonan.
And there’s a special surprise behind door n umber 25 - no spoilers, but it’s a new and exclusive miniature product, not available anywhere else.
It also includes two limited edition Christmas scents: Pomegranate & Plum and Bitter Orange & Clove, which are divine.
As you’d expect from this luxury brand, the calendar is the final boss of Christmas elegance, in royal purple and gold, with beautiful Christmas carousel detailing.
Pull the ribbon and open it up for the best smelling Christmas countdown this side of the moon.
BUY FROM ARRAN £90
Bimble and Bolt advent calendar
Perfect for passionate runners, park run joggers and fitness lovers of all kinds, this advent calendar sells out every year.
It's packed with everything you need to hit the ground running in the shiny, new year, from three pairs of their best-selling Soft Stepper socks, running accessories, energy boosters and hydration essentials, to snacks.
You can tailor your calendar, ordering male or female editions and opting for extras, like Day 25 gloves and leggings.
MAGNA-TILES Advent Calendar
Children can build a playable Christmas world each day of advent, with this beautiful new advent calendar, containing 34 exclusive, festive magnetic tiles.
Window surprises include Father Christmas, train conductor, festive decorations and even a build-your-own train to carry all the presents.
The calendar opens up to reveal a magical MAGNA-TILES world, with cosy, snow-topped building facade and train tracks outside for your locomotive to chuff along.
It also features exclusive figures, mix and match heads, bodies, and headpieces to craft unique characters to bring their festive stories to life.
And as a cheeky bonus, all pieces are compatible with and complementary to all other MAGNA-TILES sets, including their Space, Pet Playhouse, Downhill Duo and Classic sets.
BUY FROM ARGOS £39.99
Clickeez Advent Calendar 2026
This is the calendar your girls will be racing downstairs to open each December morning,
Sproglets are invited to collect Christmas-themed Clickeez characters for 24 days - Clickee is a single keyboard key that clicks and clacks when you press it - they’re not real keyboard keys.
You can connect your favourite characters together to create your own keychain and take them on the go.
This pack contains 20 Clickeez, 2 Keychains and charms and 2 stickers for a very Merry Clickmas.
BUY FROM THE ENTERTAINER £29.99
Personalised VistaPrint Advent Calendar
This personalised advent calendar is a gorgeous way to look back on special moments, while counting down to the big day.
VistaPrint has a gaggle of design templates you can choose, from photo uploads to personalised graphic designs.
And you can fill each window with their favourite chose, from Kinders and Lindor goodies to Toblerone, Celebrations and Milkas.
You can also get them to design it for you for an additional £12.
BUY FROM VISTAPRINT From £27.50
Tonic Kids Vitamin Countdown Calendar
Looking for a healthy alternative to choc-filled advent calendars, full of healthy treats they’ll love?
Enter stage left: Tonic Kids Vitamin Countdown Calendar.
It’s the world’s first vitamin calendar for children, with vitamin gummies and a daily activity behind each of the 25 doors.
Perfect for lurgy season, and we love the daily activities, encouraging kids to move, draw, dance or do something kind, making the countdown about more than just what’s behind the door.
With the average kids’ chocolate advent calendar containing around 12 teaspoons of sugar, it’s an ingenious alternative for a countdown without the morning sugar rush.
Marvel 24 Days of Super Heroes
Unwrap a secret, sealed story each day until Christmas Eve inside this heroic advent calendar.
It’s a wonderful alternative to chocolate calendars, making every day of advent super, with exciting stories of courage, friendship and adventure which can be revisited every Christmas.
We loved that this calendar looks like a chunky book - and fits bookcases - but each page contains a story, which is the perfect length for little attention spans and features characters including Spiderman, Thor, Captain America and Black Widow.
BUY FROM AMAZON £19.99
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