Best quirky advent calendars for Christmas 2024: tried and tasted

With Christmas drawing ever closer, millions of us will be celebrating the countdown with an advent calendar. But beyond the traditional chocolate treat to enjoy behind the door each day, there are a host of alternative, quirky options that can make the lead-up to Christmas truly special.

Flapjackery Advent Calendar 

Indulge your sweet tooth this Christmas with an inventive advent calendar from Flapjackery. The perfect treat for the build-up to the big day, this calendar features a different flapjack to try on each day of December. All flapjacks are gluten-free and vegetarian, as well as individually wrapped. And if you have enough willpower (a tricky challenge given how delicious these treats are) the flapjacks also have a shelf-life of two months and are suitable for home freezing.

A stand-out is the fudge flapjack, with a perfect ratio of creamy fudge to soft oats, and not overly sweet. But myriad other flavours can be enjoyed, including those with a festive twist, like mince pie or florentine, to get you in the Christmas spirit. flapjackery.co.uk; £65

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Bonne Maman Advent Calendar 

This delightfully unique advent calendar is a perfect treat for the festive season. Behind the door of each day is a mini jar of high-quality and delicious jam, preserves or spread, featuring limited-edition flavours such as pineapple and passionfruit, vanilla caramel and mirabelle plum with linden. A surprise gift also waits to be revealed on Christmas Eve, while every order comes with a complimentary jar of Crunchy Hazelnut Chocolate Spread and Caramelised Apple Spread to enjoy into 2025. This charmingly designed calendar is made all the better by the high-quality and all-natural ingredients, making every day a delicious surprise. This calendar is a must-have for jam lovers to experience tastes they cannot find elsewhere. bonnemaman.co.uk; £33

BrewDog Distilling Co.'s 12 Cocktails of Christmas 

This new offering from BrewDog Distilling Co. is perhaps one of the most eye-catching advent calendar offerings of the year, providing an interesting twist on the classic door-opener. The impressive line-up of 12 pre-made cocktails includes iconic favourites such as the passionfruit martini – perfect served chilled and shaken, and a toasty, warming old-fashioned, as well as a festive twist from the chocolate orange espresso martini. It's an almost note-perfect advent calendar for the Christmas season, either to open for a tipple treat in December, or on the all-important day to offer a host of drinks at the mere flick of a can. brewdog.com; £40

Drinks by the Dram Sherry Cask Whisky Advent Calendar

This whisky advent calendar from Drinks by the Dram is ideal for the whisky enthusiast in your life. Packed with 24 sherry-cask-aged drams, each day reveals a spirited surprise of different flavours. Whether it is a whisky flavoured with warm spices, one with rich caramel, or one with dark fruity notes, every bottle showcases the versatility of this spirit from top distilleries across the world. The calendar is elegantly packaged in a beautiful box, and makes the perfect pre-Christmas treat for whisky lovers to expand their palate. drinksbythedram.com; £129.95

Bird and Blend Tea Advent Calendar 

There's nothing as British as a good cup of tea, and with this advent calendar, you can enjoy cuppas in abundance during December's chilly days. Every day, this calendar provides two tea bags, meaning you can savour 48 cups of tea in total this festive season. With everything from the traditional black teas, to herbal teas, rooibos and oolong, there's something for every palate in this quirky advent calendar.

The flavours are equally festive, with highlights including gingerbread chai, mince pie and mulled cider. Bird & Blend uses this calendar to showcase exclusive previews of blends coming up in the next year, so for those who want a sneak peek into 2025, this calendar is a tea-riffic way to do so. And for those who would rather lay off the caffeine, the caffeine-free calendar is equally enjoyable. birdandblendtea.com; £38

Tony's Chocolonely Countdown Calendar

For the chocoholics who will feel cheated by anything less than a cocoa-filled calendar, this generously sized option from Tony's is a safe bet. The colourful calendar is filled with 10 varieties of milk, white and dark Fairtrade chocolate, individually wrapped in 25 brightly hued mini paper packages. It's hard choosing a favourite flavour (all of them are dangerously addictive), but our top picks are the moreish dark chocolate with almonds and sea salt, and the creamy milk chocolate with tiny chunks of sticky honey nougat. The white chocolate with raspberry popping candy is a fun addition, too. A word of warning: once you've opened the first window, you may be tempted to devour the whole lot. The Dutch brand's mission is to end exploitation in cocoa and make 100% slavery-free chocolate, so it's a win-win. oxfam.org.uk; £14.99