Every year the range of advent calendars available gets bigger and better and the choice harder, but the prices can get pretty expensive. You don't want to open the window to a disappointment each day so it is worth checking out advent calendar reviews.  We have made our own in the past, but this year we are all having bought ones because the choice is so good. If you are looking for an advent calendar for 2021 then check these out reviews.

Our favourite advent calendar reviews

Our Pick of 2021 Advent Calendars

Recommended Advent Calendars for Children

Organix Advent Calendar - Good for toddlers

The Organix advent calendar is great for children aged 18 months to 3 years. It has 24 doors filled with treats, read my full review of the Organix advent calendar. (Gifted).
Buy from Organix, Boots, Tesco or Ocado.

A great advent calendar for babies and toddlers

BIC Advent Calendar - Good for budding writers

The BIC advent calendar is good for young stationery lovers, but look for it on offer as I don't think it's great value when full price. Read my review of the BIC advent calendar.

Polly Pocket Advent Calendar - Good for pre Tween and Tween girls

The Polly Pocket advent calendar has slightly larger size characters than some of the normal Polly Pocket sets, but I think it's a good choice for girls aged 5 to 10. Read my review of the Polly Pocket advent calendar.

LEGO Marvel Avengers Advent Calendar - Good for pre Tween and Tweens (and adults)

The LEGO Marvel The Avengers advent calendar has some great LEGO characters in: Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Thor, Captain Marvel, Thanos and Nick Fury. LEGO calendars can be disappointing if you are expecting something amazing every day, some days there is a small, slightly random item to build, but over all you get a good selection of LEGO to add to your collection. We have bought the Marvel one as my pick of the LEGO calendars this year, but if you have a particular fan of Harry Potter, Star Wars etc you will want to get the relevant themed one.

Playmobil Jumbo Advent Calendar Family Christmas - Good for dolls house fans

Recommended Advent Calendars for Adults

Virgin Wines Advent Calendar - Good for the occasional drinkers

There are lots of alcohol advent calendars on the market, but the Virgin Wines calendar is good value and from my tasting so far the wine is really nice. You can choose all red, all white or mixed. Most doors have a 187ml bottle behind, but Christmas Day it's a full bottle of Prosecco! Read my Virgin Wines advent calendar review. (Gifted). I particularly love this because the bottles are perfect for when we just want a glass of wine with no waste or pressure to finish a full size bottle.
Available from Virgin Wines.

The Virgin Wines advent calendar has a full size bottle of prosecco on Christmas day

Masters Of Malt - good for spirit lovers

The first alcoholic advent calendar I bought was from Masters of Malt about 10 years ago. That was their original Whisky one and another year I bought their Rum advent calendar. They now have a huge range, but each contain carefully thought out and interesting miniature bottles of alcohol. Check out this review of their 2021 Masters of Malt Gin calendar.

Pukka Tea Advent Calendar - good for fruit and herb tree drinkers

I like this calendar because it's not laden with calories or full of plastic tat that I will trend on for months to come (I love plastic tat calendars, but sometimes it's good to have an alternative). The Pukka Tea Advent calendar has 24 tea bags in a wide range of flavours like licorice & cinnamon, three fennel and after dinner. If you open up the envelope it comes it you get a long calendar which hangs up and has 24 individually wrapped teabags attached. You can see in advance what you will get each day so there isn't a lot of suspense, but the fun is in having the cup of tea.

A different cup of tea every day

Reece's Peanut Butter Miniatures Calendar - good for peanut butter lovers

I couldn't not include a chocolate calendar in the list and the Reece's Peanut Butter cup calendar is a big hit in our house. Look for it in the shops for the best prices (we picked our up in Home Bargains). There are 24 miniature cups behind the windows in white, milk and dark chocolate versions.

NOMO Caramel Advent Calendar - good for allergies

NOMO is my favourite dairy free session chocolate. Made by Kinnerton's this delicious and non-bitter allergy friendly chocolate is really good and the caramel drops absolutely need to be tried if you are dairy free or vegan and missing caramel filled chocolate. The advent calendar has 24 caramel drop chocolates in plus a full size bar for Christmas Day. They also have a (cheaper) "milk" chocolate version which my children love and they find most non-dairy chocolate too bitter.

Best price seems to be direct from NOMO website, but check supermarkets too.

Cult Beauty Calendar - good for adventurous beauty product lovers

Cult Beauty is one of my favourite beauty websites because of their range of make up that I have struggled to find anywhere else so I am not surprised that their advent calendar is hugely popular. The initial drop sold out and more will be on sale in November. If you want to find out all the details of what is in it and how much each item is worth (the 38 products add up to nearly £1000!) then check out this review. 

L'Occitane Classic Beauty Advent Calendar - good for traditional beauty product lovers

L'Occitane have a few different advent calendars, but check out this review of their classic calendar. I like that it is a traditional calendar with doors that can't be sneakily opened in advance and that they are all in a cardboard (rather than plastic) tray.

If you love beauty products and can't decide which calendar to get then Beauty Queen UK has a comprehensive list of all the beauty advent calendars for this year, divided into price groups and she tells you what is in them all.

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