Traditionally, Advent calendars count down the days until Christmas. Some classic options have chocolate, caramels or other sweet treats hidden behind little doors, while others require you to turn on a light or check off a box leading up to the holiday. In recent years, however, Advent calendars have taken on a new life. Now, there’s an option for any holiday you celebrate, and they’re filled with coffee, wine, Legos, beauty products, pet treats and more.
Because Advent calendars are so popular around the holidays, I recommend purchasing those you have your eye on as early as possible — they tend to sell out as we get closer to Christmas and Hanukkah. Below, I rounded up the best Advent calendars of 2026. You can buy them for yourself, but they’re great gifts for loved ones, too.
I’ll frequently update this article throughout the next few weeks as more brands debut their Advent calendars (and sold-out options restock).
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Best Advent calendars overall
I’m loyal to Bonne Maman jam, and every year, I look forward to its Advent calendar, which is filled with new limited-edition spreads. There’s a mini glass jar hidden inside each of the 24 boxes, and the festively decorated calendar opens like a book, which lets me stand it up on a shelf, doubling as holiday decor. This year, you’ll get to try spreads like caramel with salted butter, strawberry with Madagascar vanilla and raspberry with dark chocolate. Don’t worry if you can’t finish every jar before the end of the season — the spreads will last through June 2027, according to Bonne Maman.
You can’t go wrong with a chocolate Advent calendar whether you’re buying it for yourself or gifting it to a loved one. It’s a classic for a reason, and getting to unwrap a new piece of chocolate every day is a small joy that anyone can appreciate. Lindt’s Advent calendar comes with 24 pieces of chocolate, including those shaped like mini bears, chocolate balls and chocolate neapolitans. For the first time this year, Lindt is adding an interactive element to its Advent calendar: From December 1 to 24, you can scan the QR code on the box to unlock the augmented reality experience, with new video drops daily.
“The hot Advent calendar with the five-year-olds who can’t get the Needoh calendar is the Squishmallow calendar, so that’s what I’m buying for my daughter this year,” says NBC Selected commerce editor Bethany Heitman. “As a mom, I appreciate that the smaller-sized stuffies will be easy to contain and don’t add a ton more clutter to our playroom, and my daughter will love seeing which cute character she gets each day.”
This Advent calendar comes with 24 itty bitty Squishmallows stuffies that are 2.5 inches tall. Your recipient gets to collect characters like Junie the Banana, James the Fox, Cam the Cat and Benny the Bigfoot decked out in their holiday apparel.
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After opening this Advent calendar, you or your loved one will have an entire Lego Starwars scene to display or play with. There’s individual packs of Legos inside that come with a total of 293 blocks so you can build mini vehicles like an X-wing and The Razor Crest, as well as mini figurines like The Mandalorian, Grogu, the Blurrg, the Mudhorn and the Bantha. You also get a fold-out playmat to use as a backdrop. Lego says this Advent calendar is best for those ages 6 and up.
Papier’s Advent calendar is as beautiful as it is useful. There’s 24 days worth of desk accessories inside, all of which are items you likely use every day at the office, home or school, like pens, journals, sticky tabs, highlighters, to-do notepads and stationary sets. Each item is individually wrapped in a paper box, which really makes it feel like you’re opening a gift every day. The Advent calendar, which folds open on the top and has three drawers, is designed to be a reusable organizer. Papier is also selling a 12-Day Advent Calendar for the first time this year.
There are 12 Voluspa mini coconut wax candles inside this Advent calendar, each of which comes in a decorative glass votive. You’ll collect candles in a few of the brand’s bestselling scents, like white cypress, forbidden fig and santal vanille, as well as some holiday-specific fragrances like Gingerbread Chalet. The Advent calendar comes with a gold-plated wick trimmer, too.
Anyone who thinks gifting candles is overdone clearly doesn’t know about Baobab Collection. These candles are not just things to make your space smell good: They also offer one-of-a-kind decor that will always be a conversation piece when you host. This 24-day Advent calendar is the ultimate gift — and it’s priced that way. “You could keep half of the items for yourself and gift the other half to twelve people you love, and everyone would be so happy,” says NBC Selected senior editor Shalwah Evans. “I don’t even celebrate Christmas and I want this because I am absolutely in love with this brand’s offerings. Everything it makes looks exquisite and luxe, and yes, the candles smell divine.” You get candles — some that are calendar exclusives — along with hand creams, shower gels and home sprays.
Best chocolate and candy Advent calendars
Godiva’s Advent calendar has been one of our team’s favorites for years. It comes with 24 pieces of dark, milk and white chocolate, including dark chocolate caramels, milk chocolate creme puffs and birthday cake bliss white chocolates. There’s also a handful of star-shaped confections in there.
Even Swedish candy makers are getting in on the Advent calendar game. Socketbit is offering two this year: Sweet Days of December and Multi-Color. They both have drawers packed with tasty gummies, letting you sample some of the brand’s most beloved options, all of which NBC Selected commerce editor Mili Godio says are addicting. “I had a Swedish candy phase a few years ago and never looked back — at this point, I’ve tried several dozens of sweet and sour candies from countless brands,” she says. “Sockerbit quickly became one of my favorites. Its mixed candy is perfectly curated, and I specifically love the sour candies because they’re actually sour, unlike some brands that don’t even scrape the sour surface.”
Compartés’ Nutcracker and Winter Forest Advent calendars are back this year, plus the brand added a brand new one: the Enchanted Castle Advent calendar. There’s 24 chocolates inside, and each one has a different filling, like buttered croissant, espresso toffee, pistachio marzipan, cinnamon sugar donut and salted honeycomb. The calendar starts shipping on November 2.
There’s plenty of candy-filled Advent calendars to choose from if you or your loved one don’t eat chocolate. Sugarfina’s is packed with the brand’s gummies, like sugared cranberries, sour rainbow bears, heavenly sours and magic mangos, plus there’s caramel and cereal balls. You get four pieces of candy per drawer for 24 days. Sugarfina is also selling a 12-day Advent calendar this year, as well as a Peanuts themed one.
With this Advent calendar, you’ll get to snack on some of Dylan’s Candy Bar’s bestselling sweets leading up to the holidays, like cotton candy-flavored balls, blueberry candy sticks and fruit gummy stars. There are also seasonal candies inside, including green apple marshmallow Christmas trees, milk chocolate Santa’s helpers, gingerbread man lollipops and fruity gummy snowflakes.
Opening the See’s Candy Advent calendar is the best way to try a variety of the brand’s chocolates and confections. There’s about a pound of sweets hidden inside the box’s drawers, including dark chocolate peppermint patties, chocolate lollypops, dark chocolate marshmallow trees and milk chocolate almond caramels. The box is also decorated with a storybook scene that has 3D illustrations and foil accents, so it’s worth displaying at home.
Best beauty Advent calendars
L’Occitane’s Advent calendar is filled with 24 of the brand’s bestselling skin, body, hand and hair care products, many of which come highly recommended by NBC Selected commerce editor Cory Fernandez. “I love just about everything from L’Occitane, and it’s not only because everything smells amazing,” he says. “The products are also effective — they don’t have a greasy residue and don’t dry my skin or hair. Also, the Advent calendar is great because everything is the perfect sample size.”
This holiday season, you’ll get to unbox L’Occitane’s hand creams, shower oil, exfoliating shower gel, fragrance and more, some of which are scented with the brand’s signature almond fragrance.
Try 24 Sephora-brand skin care, makeup and bath products, as well as beauty tools, leading up to the holidays with this Advent calendar. It comes with 13 full-size and five travel-size items, plus six accessories. Each product is individually wrapped in its own numbered box, including a makeup sponge, hair clips, blush, face masks, mascara and eye cream.
This is the ideal Advent calendar for the person who never leaves home without lip balm and has one in every bag they own. There’s 12 Burt’s Bees lip balms inside in flavors like sugar cookie, cinnamon apple crisp, vanilla bean and peppermint bark, the latter of which is exclusive to Amazon. The lip balms are all made with beeswax and vitamin E to soften and hydrate skin for up to 24 hours, according to the brand.
The Glow Recipe Advent calendar is filled with 12 skin care finds, including the brand’s watermelon glow products, like the niacinamide drops, BHA toner and moisturizers. It also comes with multiple toner pads, a cleanser, a lip treatment and other products to help brighten and hydrate the skin, which is key heading into the winter months.
Some of Charlotte Tilbury’s most beloved makeup and skin care products are hidden inside this treasure chest-shaped Advent calendar’s drawers. You get 15 items in total, four of which are full-size, including the Matte Revolution Lipstick and Hollywood Beauty Light Wand Highlighter in Pillow Talk, the Unreal Blush Healthy Glow Stick and a Lip Cheat Contour Duo. For the first time this year, the brand added two accessories to the calendar: a gua sha tool and a velvet makeup bag.
Expand your lineup of Laneige skin care beyond the Lip Sleeping Mask with the K-beauty brand’s Advent calendar, which is filled with 12 products in full and mini sizes. You get the lip mask, of course, as well as face masks to put on before bed, moisturizer, cleanser, serums and lip balms. Laneige says the products are formulated with ingredients like peptides, hyaluronic acid and ceramides to help hydrate, plump and nourish skin.
Ulta only put the absolute best of its offerings inside this 25 Days of Beauty Advent calendar, which comes with 31 products total. You’ll get nine full-size products, including a set of Glamnetic Press-On Nails, The Ordinary’s Multi-Active Delivery Essence and NYX Professional Makeup Butter Gloss. The rest of the skin care, hair care, nail care, makeup and fragrances are mini- and travel-size from brands like Amika, Morphe, Tarte, Osea and Peach & Lily.
Best hair care Advent calendars
Kitsch’s 12-day Advent calendar helps you refresh your collection of hair care and styling products. You get full-size items, most notably the brand’s beloved silk pillowcase — I own about six of them and sleep on one every night to protect my curls. The Advent calendar also includes clips, scrunches, a bonnet, hair perfume and shampoo and conditioner bars. There’s also two dermaplaning products for your face: dermaplaners and oil.
The glitzy, glamorous hair accessories in Conair’s Advent calendar are exactly what you need to dress up any look, especially during the holiday season. It comes with 24 products, including bobby and hair pins, ponytail holders, clawclips and a scrunchie with a bow on it. You also get salon clips to help with skin care and makeup application, and a 2-in-1 mini boar slick back brush and taming wand.
Target curated its hair care Advent calendar to cover cleansing, styling and reviving on day two (or day three — we don’t judge). Brands like Kitsch, Mielle Organics, UnBrush, CeraVe and Not Your Mother’s added their bestsellers, including shampoo, conditioner, brushes, scrunchies and serums. You get everything for $20, while the total value is almost $60.
Best nail Advent calendars
You get $316 worth of nail salon-quality products for $139 with this Advent calendar from Manucurist. It comes with 24 full-size products, like eight quick-drying polishes that have a gel-like finish and three polishes that can go on bare nails without needing a base or top coat. Nail and hand care essentials are also included, like a file, cuticle oil and cream, plus a jar of gold glitter.
Olive & June’s Advent calendar will upgrade your at-home manicures with 11 exclusive and previously sold out full-size nail polishes in a rainbow of shades. It also comes with two types of top coats: Sparkle Fairy Top Coat, which has an iridescent effect to it, and Long-Lasting Top Coat, which has a glossy finish.
If you prefer a gel mani but want to do it yourself without the UV or LED light, Dazzle Dry’s Advent calendar is calling your name. It comes with everything you need to prep, paint, finish and touch up your nails, and directions that tell you which order to use all the products in. You get two exclusive full-size nail polish shades, as well as two sparkly minis. The polish is quick-drying and lasts for up to two weeks, according to the brand.
Best wine and spirits Advent calendars
Each of VineBox’s Advent calendars comes with 3.4-ounce sampler bottles of wine from across the world, and you get an insert with tasting notes and food pairing recommendations, a limited-edition art print and access to sommelier-led virtual tasting videos. So you could essentially host your own wine tastings at home.
Vinebox sells three Advent calendars: the 12 Nights Velvet Collection, which comes with eight reds and four whites; the 12 Nights Vine Collection, which comes with six reds, one rosé and five distinctive wines; and the 24 Nights of Wine, which comes with all the wines in the Velvet and Vine collections.
The 12 canned wines in this Advent calendar come from small-batch female- and minority-led wineries, and they have 0 grams of sugar, according to the brand. The cans are each equivalent to about one-third of a bottle, giving you about two glasses to share with someone or enjoy yourself. You get a mix of red, white, rosé and sparkling wines, plus a guide that provides links with in-depth information about each type. The calendar ships November 6.
In Good Taste releases numerous wine Advent calendars every year, and it just debuted a Wine Cocktail Advent Calendar for the first time. There’s 24 ready-to-drink wine-based cocktails inside, including an espresso martini, piňa colada, mimosa, mojito and cosmopolitan. You get a 6-ounce serving of each one, as well as daily videos that pair with drinks so you can learn about tasting notes, food pairing suggestions and tips for garnishing.
Straightaway’s Advent calendar comes with 12 pre-made canned cocktails, so you don’t need to be a mixologist to enjoy a margarita, whisky sour, Manhattan or gimlet at home this holiday season. Just crack open an 8-ounce can, sip directly out of it or pour it into a glass and add ice. This is the second year the brand is selling an Advent calendar, and it added four brand-new beverages for 2026 customers.
Best coffee and tea Advent calendars
Instead of drinking the same type of coffee every morning, mix it up around the holidays with this Advent calendar. It comes with 24 K-Cups from brands like Caribou Coffee, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, The Original Donut Shop and Peets, which you can pop into any compatible single-serve machine. In addition to standard, flavored and seasonal coffee pods, you also get hot cocoa and latte pods.
No coffee maker? No problem. Cometeer’s coffee concentrate pods come frozen, and to turn one into a cup of joe, you just melt it with hot water. You can also melt the coffee in its capsule by leaving it in the refrigerator or at room temperature, and pour it over iced water to make iced coffee, or over hot or cold milk to make a latte. Cometeer’s Advent calendar comes with 24 pods from a handful of roasters the brand works with, like Birch, Joe Coffee and Red Bay Coffee. There are rare blends, single-origin roasts and festive holiday varieties. You have to store the calendar in the freezer to keep the pods frozen throughout the month.
There’s 24 2-ounce packets of single-origin beans behind the doors of this Advent calendar, each of which makes about 24 ounces of pour-over coffee. You’ll get to try a new type of coffee every day from December 1 to Christmas Eve, so each one tastes a little different and you can learn about your preferences. In addition to the beans, you’ll get a custom 500-piece puzzle, access to Onyx’s web game and daily brew guides that share information about the coffee you’re drinking, recipes and stories from the Onyx team.
Pukka’s Advent calendar folds out vertically, letting you hang it up and easily remove one tea sachet each day. You get 24 sachets in total, and they’re filled with organic herbal tea in flavors like night time, after dinner, mint, ginger, peppermint and licorice, and turmeric, ginger and orange.
Tea Forte is known for its pyramid-shaped tea sachets, which lets the tea leaves unfurl and steep properly, making your beverage more flavorful and aromatic, according to the brand. There’s 24 sachets in this Advent calendar, including varieties like harvest apple spice, English breakfast, pumpkin spice and Belgian mint. Tea Forte also sells other Advent calendars that come with different types of tea: Winter Chalet (12 days), Warming Joy Herbal (24 days), Volaré (12 days) and Demoiselle (12 days).
This is the only Advent calendar on my list that’s filled with loose leaf tea rather than tea bags, giving you more control over how you make and enjoy it. The teas are packed in 10-gram tins, enough for a single cup, and come in flavors like blooming rose, turmeric chamomile, mint melody and original chai.
Best food Advent calendars
There are 24 all-butter shortbread cookies inside Walker’s Advent calendar, which takes care of dessert (at least somewhat) prior to the holidays. They come in six different shapes and flavors, like shortbread fingers, rounds, hearts and stars, as well as chocolate chip and salted caramel square cookies.
As far as I’m concerned, Fishwife is responsible for making tinned fish a cool ingredient to snack on and add to meals, not something you ignore at the grocery store. The brand launched its first Advent calendar this year, which is filled with multiple cans of tinned fish, like smoked salmon, sardines, tuna and mussels. There’s also a handful of other surprises, like fish-shaped moisturizers from a collaboration with Bag Balm and a mini jar of hot sauce.
Fly By Jing majorly upgraded its Advent calendar this year. It’s filled with a more diverse assortment of spicy surprises, including the brand’s bestsellers, brand-new sauces and beloved spice blends that were discontinued. You also get a unique ornament. Fly By Jing is selling a 24 day advent calendar, too, but very limited quantities are available.
Baking cookies around the holidays is a tradition for many, and Williams Sonoma’s Advent calendar comes with lots of the supplies you need to whip up and package a batch. There’s 24 items inside, including cookie and biscuit cutters, piping bags, stencils, decorating tips, gift bags and spatulas.
Bokksu’s Advent calendar introduces you to 32 authentic snacks that the brand’s team handpicked to showcase regional specialties and flavors. You’ll try matcha, hojicha chocolate crunch, savory senbei and buttery chocolate waffle cookies, for example. There are also seven collectible holiday items behind the doors, like pottery and figurines. Your Advent calendar comes with access to a digital guide that helps you learn about each goodie.
Best Advent calendars for kids
After kids open all the doors of Magna-Tiles’ Advent calendar, they’ll be able to use the pieces to build a train that runs along a built-in track and create characters ready to board. It comes with exclusive figures you can mix and match the pieces of, as well as 10 decorated square blocks and three decorated triangle blocks.
The Miffy lover in your life will look forward to finding out what stickers they’ll get from this Advent calendar leading up to the holidays. It comes with 12 sticker sheets; the recipient can use them on notebooks, toys, their clothes and coloring book pages.
If a child (or adult) you know is obsessed with Marvel, they’ll love adding these mini Funko Pop figures to their collection. The Advent calendar comes with 24 figures dressed in their winter gear, including Iron Man, Spiderman and Captain American.
Your little scientist will have 24 days of hands-on activities to do in December with this Advent calendar. It comes with 13 kits for mini experiments and 11 specimens to study, like fossils and gemstones. And on Christmas Eve, they’ll get an extra special surprise: a sparkly piece of fool’s gold.
Kids will take extra pride in decorating their Christmas tree with the ornaments inside this Advent calendar, which they can make themselves. Each day, they’ll open a pack of materials and directions that teach them how to put together the final product. The ornaments they create all move: For example, the reindeer ornament flops forward, the polar bear ornament throws a snowball and the snowglobe ornament has falling flurries. KiwiCo says the calendar is best for kids age 5 and older.
Best Advent calendars for pets
If your dog could talk they might agree that the 24 treats packed inside Wufers’ Advent calendar are as tasty as they are beautifully decorated. They come in festive shapes and when you open the calendar, it starts playing “Jingle Bells.”
Bark’s Advent calendar is packed with 24 goodies for your dog. They’ll get 16 treats and eight plush toys, including those with squeakers, crinkle-textured fabric and strong hairs to prevent shredding.
Consider this Advent calendar a fun way to keep your cat(s) distracted from playing with your real or artificial Christmas tree. It comes with 12 toys: seven plush toys, two ball toys, a catnip toy, silvervine sticks and a teaser toy.
Make playtime more exciting for your cat during the holidays with Chewy’s Frisco Advent calendar, which gives them 12 new toys to swat, kick, scratch and chase. They’ll get plush toys stuffed with silvervine and catnip, springs, plastic balls with bells, crinkle balls, feather teasers and more. There’s also a version for small dogs, which includes squeaky plush toys and several balls for them to play with.
The 24 dog treats that come in this Advent calendar are likely the fanciest ones your pup will ever be offered. They’re made in small batches with natural, human-grade ingredients, and come shaped like bones, truffles and macarons. The treats are decorated with festive “frosting” and “sprinkles,” too.
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How I picked the best Advent calendars of 2026
To recommend the best Advent calendars, I researched highly-rated options across major categories like chocolate and candy, coffee and tea, food, wine and beauty. Every option on my final list comes from a brand we’ve previously covered or have personally tried. Some of the calendars were also sent to us as courtesy samples from brands or ones we bought with our own money.
To evaluate each one, I assessed its contents, price and packaging. Our list includes options that countdown the 12, 24 and 25 days before a holiday.
Why trust NBC Selected?
I’m a reporter at NBC Selected, where I’ve been writing gift guides for more than six years. I’ve specifically covered Advent calendars for the past four years. For this article, I compiled a list of the best Advent calendars of 2026, including highly-rated options, NBC Selected reader favorites and ones our team tested.
Catch up on NBC Selected’s in-depth coverage of tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to stay up to date.
