Best advent calendars in 2025

The best advent calendars of 2025

The best advent calendar for 2025 varies for different groups of people. There is a large diversity of advent holiday calendars for people of all ages, and in all budget ranges. Let’s take a look at some of the criteria that influence what makes a top advent calendar based on criteria that our Advent Calendars Club experts and visitors highly value:

• Value for money: Advent calendars offer products worth more than the advent calendar costs. With beauty countdown calendars in particular, it’s often the case that the total value of the included products far exceeds those sold separately. For instance, the Cult Beauty Advent Calendar and Liberty London Beauty Advent Calendars hold products that cost 4-5 times more when bought separately.
• Full-size instead of sample items: Items included in holiday calendars are either smaller, sample-sized versions of products, or the full-size item you would buy separately. It’s important to consider how many full-size rather than sample items a calendar contains.
• Exclusivity and limited edition products: Many brands use advent calendars to treat fans of their brand or products with exclusive items that can only be acquired through an advent calendar. Other items may be limited edition items that only appear in Christmas countdown calendars and a select number of other product ranges or locations.
• Packaging and design: Some products’ designs and packaging may be exclusive to the advent calendar or the holiday season overall.
• Freebies and extras: In addition to the items included in the advent calendar box itself, some brands and retailers include additional accessories and items with your advent calendar as a freebie.
• Brand reputation: The advent calendars of already exclusive brands are even more exclusive than most of their other products. Renowned brands see their advent calendar as a collectible to treat their most loyal customers, but still charge a premium price for their highly anticipated advent calendars.

There are some advent calendars that typically always make it into the list of the best advent calendars of the holiday season year after year. Based on the history of the lists of top advent calendars and commonly used criteria, we’ve selected the most anticipated top advent calendars for 2025:

• • Liberty London beauty advent calendar: Great value for money with many full-size items.
  • Cult Beauty advent calendar: High value for money and good content overall.
  • Villeroy & Boch luxury porcelain advent calendar: Items exclusive to the advent calendar.
  • LEGO advent calendar: Calendars are collectibles exclusive to the release year.
  • Ferrero Collection chocolate advent calendar: Diverse chocolate favorites at an affordable price.
  • Bonne Maman spreads advent calendar: High-quality spreads for the whole family.
  • Fortnum & Mason gourmet advent calendar: Wide range of luxury gourmet foods, perfect for gifting.
  • EXIT: The Game advent calendar: Thrilling cooperative puzzle games for teens and adults.
  • National Geographic advent calendars: Fun, educational advent calendars for teens and kids.
  • VAHDAM tea advent calendar: Thoughtful and healthy advent calendar option.

The history of the advent calendar

The origins of the advent calendar take us to Germany and date back to the 19th century. German protestant families would mark chalk lines on their doors, light a candle, add straw to the nativity crib, or hang up a devotional picture for each day of advent. In 1851, there was already a children’s book by Elise Averdieck about a mother telling her daughter Elisabeth a Christmas story, and hanging a new picture on the wallpaper in anticipation of Christmas.

The earliest printed advent calendar was created by Gerhard Lang, who was inspired by his mother’s homemade advent calendar featuring 24 pictures. This first version would see people glue little pictures to a cardboard frame. From there, the advent calendar had little doors hiding bible verses or images.

Starting from the 1950s, advent calendars were filled with chocolates to celebrate the joy of children globally. Cadbury popularized the chocolate advent calendars by mass-producing them in the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, brands like LEGO and Playmobil. Fast forward to 2025, with advent calendars in various forms crafted by prominent brands and small hobbyist craft enthusiasts alike.

The different types of holiday advent calendars

With so many manufacturers and amateur crafters creating advent calendars, there is a great variety in the audience for which they are intended, the items featured in them, their price, and the number of days and items included.

One type of advent calendar that has come up over the past years and deserves more clarification is the the number of doors and the quantity of items included in the countdown calendar:

• 24-door advent calendars: Featuring 24 doors, one for each day of advent, counting from December 1 until December 25.
• 12-door advent calendars: Calendars featuring 12 doors count the 12 days after Christmas, from December 25 until Epiphany on January 5.
• Calendars for two: Advent calendars typically contain one item of each, though some come with a double of each item so couples can share them. The Dandelion Chocolate advent calendar, for example, comes with two chocolates of each.

2025 trends in advent calendars

Each holiday season, hundreds of new advent calendars are released. Even the most well-known brands come up with something innovative and unique to ensure they meet their biggest fans’ anticipation and expectations. Some of the advent calendar trends we’re seeing for the 2025 holiday season:

• Early launches and wait lists: A continued trend over the past years is that brands open the wait list and reveal the first details about their advent calendars early, year after year. As early as July 2025, brands like Fortnum & Mason, Harrods, and The White Company launched their advent calendars and preorders.
• Niche calendars: Year after year, more specific niche advent calendars are being released. Brands like Harvey Nichols don’t just have one beauty advent calendar but offer a perfume advent calendar as an extra choice.
• Design and themes: Advent calendars stand out with their unique packaging and overall design. We’re seeing increasingly more brands adopt a unique theme for their advent calendars. The Vosges Haut-Chocolat 2025 advent calendar, for example, takes us on a trip through Le Jardin de Cacao, a dreamy natural paradise with references to Christmas and wildlife.
• Collectibility and fandom: Each year, many brands release an updated version of their advent calendar for their fans to collect. LEGO, Pokémon Trading Card Game, and Holland & Barrett are brands that release a new version of their holiday countdown calendars yearly, and clearly state the version year on the advent calendar box.
• Sustainability and reusability: Combined with their collectibility, many advent calendars are crafted to store items or be used as decorations.

Trending advent calendar brands

Some brands are evangelized for their holiday countdown calendars, while some respected brands faced backlash due to a poor advent calendar in the past. For some brands, their advent calendar collection is a key product line and key to marketing their brand during the holiday season.

Popular brands and franchises like Disney, Fortnite, and Harry Potter collaborate with experienced advent calendar manufacturers to ensure they deliver the experience their fans expect.

These are some brands that have become popular advent calendar brands over recent years:

• Mini Brands
• Funko Pop!
• Lovepop
• Squishmallow
• Cinereplicas
• MAGNA-TILES

How to get your favorite advent calendar

1. Join the wait list

The most desired advent calendars sell out before the shipping date. By joining the wait list for the advent calendar, you’ll be updated as soon as it’s available to order or preorder. It’s crucial to join the brand’s wait list, and it’s highly recommended that you subscribe to our newsletter to be in the know about advent calendar releases.

2. Preorder your calendar

As soon as the wait is over and the advent calendar is available to order or preorder, you should act quickly to ensure you secure your advent calendar. The advent calendars of some brands like Dandelion Chocolate are only available to those who preorder.

2. Verify your order

Brands typically indicate an exact date or period of 1-2 weeks in which the first ordered advent calendars start shipping to customers who ordered in advance. You’ll want to check and ensure your preorder made it through, and follow up on the shipping and arrival of your calendar.

Timeline for ordering advent calendars

The specifics around the announcement, launch, and preorder process of advent calendars tend to differ across brands. The most exclusive advent calendars are announced early in the summer, with the ordered calendars shipping as early as September. Beauty advent calendars are typically among the first to be shipped, while chocolate advent calendars are shipped closer to the advent period to ensure the freshness of the chocolates.

• June-August: Brand wait lists are open for bestseller advent calendars, with announcements about the contents and release dates of the best advent calendars.
• September-October: Release and shipping of exclusive advent calendars to those who preordered.
• November: The Majority of advent calendars are released and are generally widely available.
• December: Some advent calendars start selling out, and shipping delays may occur due to the holiday craze.
• January onwards: Discounts and advent calendar deals become available in clearance sales.