Every figure on this page is drawn from the whole shelf: the median price, the value multiples, the brands. Read it as the site's index for the season, and the pages under it as the answers.
24 doorsWhat’s inside →The Best 2026 Festive Advent Calendars
Festive advent calendars are the countdowns made for the season rather than dressed for it — 287 new for 2026, 350 across the seasons, which is most of the catalogue: the department-store beauty edits (Selfridges at 5 out of 5, John Lewis, Liberty, Fortnum's), the retailer boxes at four to six times their price (ELLE, Douglas Exclusive, Lookfantastic, Boots), the chocolate from Lindt and Hotel Chocolat, the toys from LEGO and Mattel, the candles, the whisky and the spices. The tag is broad by design — it is the site's shelf of calendars that are Christmas calendars, with the year-round subscription boxes and the PR boxes left off — so the way through it is the shortlist below and the kind and audience pages, where the same boxes are sorted by what is inside and who it is for.
350 calendars, 287 new for 2026, from $13 to $1,400, most of them 24 doors. Full stats
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24 doorsWhich festive advent calendar to get
One for each way of asking. Every row clears the same bar — rated 4 out of 5 or better by an editor, or where none has scored it, an editors’ pick or contents worth more than the box — and nothing older than last season.
First pickSelfridges Beauty 2026Our rating 5/5 · contents worth 5.1× the box price · 25 doors$305
Best valueELLE Beauty 2026Our rating 4.5/5 · contents worth 5.7× the box price · 25 doors£197
Under $50Ankerkraut Gewürz 2026Our rating 4/5 · 24 doors€29.99
Over $200Douglas Luxury 2026Our rating 4.5/5 · contents worth 5.0× the box price · 24 doors€199
For kidsCarlsen Pixi Adventskalender 2026 LeporelloOur rating 4/5 · 24 doors€20
For womenDouglas Exclusive Beauty Highlights 2026Our rating 4.5/5 · contents worth 5.6× the box price · 24 doors€79.99
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One for each way of asking, further down.
A first pick, the best value, under $50, the splurge — and a person to ask if yours is not there.
Make one insteadA calendar that travels in a link.
Photos, videos and notes behind each door. Free, no account.
Why trust the numbersWe opened 621 of these boxes.
Counted, priced and photographed by hand before any of it went up.
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12 doorsHow to choose an advent calendar
- Step 01
Decide what you will spend first
Set the number before you browse, because it decides the shelf more than anything else here. Of the 103 priced in dollars, 43 come in under $50, 38 sit between $50 and $200 and 22 cost more than that — the range runs $13 to $1,400, and half are above $60. Compare the price bands
- Step 02
Match the doors to the days
260 of the 350 here have 24 doors — a 24-door box opens one a day from 1 December to Christmas Eve. The others run 6, 7, 10, 12, 16, 25 and 31, and the shorter ones start partway through the month: a 12-door box opens on 13 December. For someone who will not open one every day, or a gift that will arrive late, fewer doors is the better fit, not the lesser calendar. Every start date
- Step 03
Know which season you are buying
287 of the 350 here are 2026 editions, and 41 are last season's — still sold, often discounted, and with the contents already on the page. The 22 older than that are listed for the record, not for buying. A brand's page keeps every edition together, so check whether the box you are looking at is this year's before you compare prices.
- Step 04
Check what is inside against the price
Every calendar page that we have costed shows what the contents come to against the sticker price. We have done that for 117 of the 350 here: the median box holds 2.6× its own price in product, the spread runs 1.0× to 7.2×, and every one of them comes to more than it costs. Below 1.0× you are paying for the box; none here does that.
- Step 05
Start from the ones we have opened
41 of the 350 here carry an editors' pick — the chip above the grid narrows the shelf to those — and 302 have a written score. Those are the boxes somebody on this site has actually judged. The rest are listed because they exist, not because we are recommending them; being on this page is not a verdict. How we review
Beauty
All 162 beauty boxes162 of the 350 here are beauty. Selfridges Beauty 2026 leads — rated 5/5 by our editors, contents worth 5.1× the box price; ELLE Beauty 2026 and Douglas Exclusive Beauty Highlights 2026 follow.
92 of the 350 here are food. Ankerkraut Premium 2026 leads — rated 4/5 by our editors; Bonne Maman 2026 and Cadbury Dairy Milk Adult 2026 follow.
Self-care
All 57 self-care boxes
57 of the 350 here are self-care. Lookfantastic Grooming 2026 leads — rated 4/5 by our editors, contents worth 5.2× the box price; Holland & Barrett 2026 and Nivea 2026 follow.
50 of the 350 here are toys. Jurassic World Island Visitor 2026 leads — rated 4/5 by our editors; Kosmos Experimentierkasten Adventskalender 2026 and LEGO City 2026 follow.
Still looking?
If you cannot decide, get ELLE Beauty 2026
The best value among the calendars here that we have rated this season: contents worth 5.7× the price, rated 4.5/5, £197, 25 doors. Twenty-seven pieces from 25 brands behind 25 drawers, twenty at full size with a 30 ml Murad Retinal, a 30 ml Zelens serum, MAC's mascara and Shiseido's primer among them, priced line by line to 1,132 GBP against 197 GBP. The magazine calendar with the best skincare on the UK shelf; the Charlotte Tilbury door is a 30 ml mini and the Tatcha a 15 ml one, whatever the label says.
25 doorsEditors’ pickThe festive shelf, by the numbers How each one is countedEvery figure is computed from the records at build time and says how many it is drawn from. Door price is the price on the box over its doors; the value multiple is what the contents come to at retail over that price; full size is the retailer’s own marking. Dollar figures use rough rates and are for ranking only. Where a record cannot support a figure, it is left out rather than guessed.The definitions, one by one →
287 festive calendars for 2026, a median of $2.55 a door, 2.6× their price in contents, 163 brands we had never listed before.
| Pick | Calendar | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First pick | Selfridges Beauty 2026 | £250 | 25 | £10 | 36 | 5.1× | 5/5 |
| Best value | ELLE Beauty 2026 | £197 | 25 | £7.88 | 24 | 5.7× | 4.5/5 |
| Under $50 | Ankerkraut Gewürz 2026 | €29.99 | 24 | €1.25 | — | — | 4/5 |
| Over $200 | Douglas Luxury 2026 | €199 | 24 | €8.29 | 24 | 5.0× | 4.5/5 |
| kids | Carlsen Pixi Adventskalender 2026 Leporello | €20 | 24 | €0.83 | 1 | — | 4/5 |
| women | Douglas Exclusive Beauty Highlights 2026 | €79.99 | 24 | €3.33 | 23 | 5.6× | 4.5/5 |
| — | Lookfantastic Beauty 2026 | £120 | 25 | £4.80 | 25 | 5.5× | 4.5/5 |
| — | Flaconi 24 Love Brands 2026 | €129.95 | 24 | €5.41 | 24 | 5.0× | 4.5/5 |
| — | Boots 24 Days of Luxe 2026 | £150 | 24 | £6.25 | 26 | 4.7× | 4.5/5 |
| — | John Lewis Beauty 2026 | £250 | 25 | £10 | 38 | 4.6× | 4.5/5 |
Median price $60 across the 286 priced; door price across 286; value across the 93 with both figures. Rough dollar rates, for ranking only.
Best value this season
- GLOSSYBOX 2026GLOSSYBOX · 24 doors7.2×
- M&S Beauty 2026M&S · 25 doors6.0×
- ELLE Beauty 2026ELLE · 25 doors5.7×
- Douglas Exclusive Beauty Highlights 2026Douglas · 24 doors5.6×
- OK! Beauty Box by Hannah Martin 2026OK! Beauty Box · 25 doors5.6×
Against 2025, on the 34 boxes we hold both years: up 4% per door.
And the least, by the brand’s own figure
- Tatcha 12 Ways to Love Your Skin 2026Tatcha · 12 doors1.0×
- Origins 12 Days 2026Origins · 12 doors1.2×
- Missoma Solid Gold 2026Missoma · 6 doors1.3×
- Beer52 Craft Beer 2026Beer52 · 24 doors1.4×
- Bird & Blend Matcha 2026Bird & Blend Tea Co. · 24 doors1.5×
Drawn only from boxes whose value is the retailer’s own count, so a low figure is the brand’s claim and not our miscounting. Across 93 with both figures.
What is behind the doors — 3,069 items across 160 boxesSkincare105Serum93Fragrance93Eau de parfum89Accessory84Makeup82Not yet typed73
How big the boxes are — all 35024 doors26025 doors5712 doors25Other sizes8
Frequently asked questions
Are there festive advent calendars in 2026/2027?
Yes. 287 of the 350 festive advent calendars we list are 2026 editions. The other 63 are 2025 and 2024 boxes, which some retailers still stock.
How much do festive advent calendars cost?
Festive advent calendars run from $13 to $1,400, with the middle of the range at $60. That is across the 103 of the 350 we list that carry a US price.
How many doors do festive advent calendars have?
Most festive advent calendars have 24 doors — 260 of the 350 we list. The rest run 6, 7, 10, 12, 16, 25 and 31.
Which brands make festive advent calendars?
209 brands make the 350 festive advent calendars we list. Lindt has the most with 24, then Boots with 7 and Funko with 6. The other 206 have up to 5 each.
Are festive advent calendars worth the money?
We have priced the contents of 117 of the 350 festive advent calendars we list against what they charge. The median box holds 2.6× its price in product, and every one of them comes to more than it costs.