Best Christmas hampers for 2019: From Fortnum and Mason, to M&S and Aldi
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Ring the bells and deck the halls, Christmas is nearly here. A time for joy and goodwill, it’s also a time to indulge in as much of the finest food and drink you can get your hands on until you’re forced to change into something with an elasticated waistband.
Whether you’re heading to see family this Christmas or hosting Yuletide at home, there’s nothing like diving into a box full of gourmet treats - either to be shared with loved ones or to guzzle all to yourself (hey, no judgement here).
So, to help you celebrate in style, we’ve gathered the finest Christmas hampers in all the land. Below you'll find everything from coveted F&M-stamped wicker baskets to compact chocolate and gin hat boxes that would make a well-received gift.
We've even got gluttonous dairy-free vegan options that would turn the staunchest carnivore green with envy.
There are hampers available at a huge variety of price points so to make it easier to decide which one is for you, we’ve divided them into three categories:
Shop Christmas Hampers – jump to each section below:
However be warned: the toughest part of hamper shopping isn’t which to buy - it’s deciding who to give it to.
See our favourites below
John Lewis & Partners Beer & Nibbles Small Gift Box
Highlights: Mr. Trotter's Cracked Black Pepper Sausalami and the Staffordshire Brewery ales.
You would do well to consider giving a hamper as a gift; an impressive bundle of goodies is sure to delight.
This selection has been designed with ale lovers in mind. Inside the striking monochrome box are two 500ml glass bottles of Staffordshire Brewery's finest ales: Double Sunset and Rudyard Ruby Premium Ale.
There's also a handful of snacks to complement the ales; think stout-flavoured popcorn, giant chilli corn and a meaty sausage/salami hybrid speckled with cracked black pepper for a bit of spice.
Warming and easily devoured over the course of a single evening, this box of joy will leave your recipient a very happy chappy indeed.
£30 | John Lewis | Buy it now
The Port Selection Gift Hamper
Highlights: we could munch the Cornish cruncher biscuits forever
If you or someone you know lunges for savoury over sweet every time, this is the perfect food-laden gift.
Designed to enhance and celebrate the flavours of that oh-so Christmassy tipple, port, a wooden crate comes bearing savoury bites such as Cornish cruncher biscuits, roasted and salted almonds and a delicious apple and fig chutney.
There is chocolate, but its a single origin dark type from the Dominican Republic, rich but not quite sweet. Wash it all down with a 20cl bottle of M&S's special reserve port, ABV 20 per cent.
£30 | M&S | Buy it now
Shop all Christmas hampers at M&S including a vegan hamper
Virginia Hayward Love from Santa
Highlights: Mince Pie Fudge, Cabernet Sauvignon Southgrapes South Africa 75cl.
You may think Father Christmas has enough on his plate, what with overseeing the elves, taste-testing new mince pie recipes and preparing to sleigh his way around the world on Christmas Eve.
But the man is magic, you know. He's still found time to inspire this cheerful red sack hamper, filled to the brim with festive foods and drinks including a bottle of red and a cracker filled with melt-in-the-mouth chocolate.
Gather friends, family or flatmates together and dive into this in the days leading up to Christmas to jump-start those festive feels.
£29.99 | Virginia Hayward | Buy it now
Aldi Pamper Hamper
Highlights: Hot Cloth Cleanser, Cleanse Toner and Cleanse Moisturiser
Aldi has a selection of food-focused Christmas hampers at the low prices that it's famous for, but this year the budget supermarket has brought out something that combines two of our favourite activites: eating and pampering.
The Pamper Hamper is brilliant in more ways than just its name. It's been designed especially for the dead week between Christmas and New Year when you're dazed and still digesting that mountain of food from the 25th.
Everything inside has been chosen to pep you up, from the Prosecco DOCG and Moser Roth Truffles to a Luxury Collection candle to soothe you while you're in the tub.
Our favourite pieces are the skincare products; the hot cloth cleanser is an admirable dupe of pricier brands but at just a snip of the cost.
£39.99 | Aldi | Buy it now
Thornton's Signature Flavours Chocolate Hamper
Highlights: the delicate Sicilian mousse truffles
For people who could live on nothing but chocolate, this huge Thornton's choc-only hamper is guaranteed to be greeted with open arms.
It's a collection of the finest flavours and confections from Thornton's range; everything from family-size chocolate boxes to packets of honeycomb crisp and vanilla fudge and chocolate bars to snaffle solo.
All the sweets come carefully packed into a maroon Thornton's presentation box, making it ready to hand over as a gift to someone special.
£35 | Thornton's | Buy it now
Cartwright & Butler Salted Caramel Extravaganza Luxury Christmas Hamper
Highlights: food coma by way of salted caramel
Aside from truffle, salted caramel has been the flavour du jour for the last couple of years. So, it only seems fitting to end the decade with a celebration of salty-sweet lingering on your tongue.
Enter Cartwright & Butler's Salted Caramel Extravaganza Luxury Christmas Hamper, packed with rich and indulgent goodies to keep you as stuffed as a Christmas turkey until New Year's.
The selection includes satisfyingly thick milk chocolate coated salted caramel biscuits, all-butter salted caramel fudge, sea salt-covered almonds and shortbread, plus a few other treats.
For an additional fee you can also get the hamper personalised with a message - if you can bear to part with it, that is.
£45.96 | Cartwright & Butler | Buy it now
Selfridges Selection Honey and Cheese Gift Box
Highlights: truffle honey
With gourmet gift options ranging from a modest £14.99 to a faint-inducing £5,000 hamper (loaded with Beluga caviar, honey laced with truffle and the finest champers, natch), Selfridges' Christmas hamper selection has something for everyone.
Designed to elevate the cheeseboard part of your Christmas feast to the next level, this gift hamper includes a wheel of creamy Brillat-Savarin cheese, truffle honey (which comes with a dipper for easy drizzling, very important) all offset with sea-salt biscuits.
The assortment is finished with those two favourite cheese sidekicks, fresh figs and a bunch of grapes. Everything comes carefully packed in a pale wooden box, easily carried with a braided rope handle.
At £50, it's not exactly a budget buy, but it’s a great gift to take along if you’re being hosted for Christmas. And when it comes to taste, the quality of the goods bursts through with every scrumptious mouthful. Trust us, this hamper won't disappoint.
£50 | Selfridges | Buy it now
Vallebona Aperitivo Essentials Hamper
Highlights: the bitter Aperitivo del Professore, just the right shade of red for Christmas.
Take your snack cues from the Italians and begin Christmas celebrations with a classic aperitivo.
This box, from Italian and Japanese food specialist Vallebona, has a hand-selected curation of bruschetta and taralli, both made by the same producer in sun-drenched Puglia, southern Italy.
There's also a punchy sun-dried tomato and caper spread along with an artichoke and walnut pate, all rounded off with a bottle of Aperitivo del Professore. Salute!
£58 | Vallebona | Buy it now
Selfridges Selection Vegan Christmas Gift Box
Highlights: all vegan pumpkin-spiced Panettone
From Gregg's vegan sausage roll to meat-free burgers, 2019 has been huge for vegan-friendly food. So what better way to celebrate more choice than ever than with an indulgent hamper where everything from the contents to the packaging is vegan and sustainable?
Anyone who still views vegan food as tasteless beige will have their minds swung 180-degrees by this selection. We defy you not to fall in love with everything from the oh-so moreish pumpkin-spiced Panettone to the melt-in-the-mouth squares of fudge and crunchy nuts.
If it's vegan celebration food you're after, stop the search. Selfridges' vegan hamper has you covered.
£90 | Selfridges | Buy it now
The Wolseley Christmas Celebration Tote
Highlights: a set of 6 Christmas crackers
As one of London's smartest eateries, we're happy to visit the acclaimed Wolseley any night of the week, but now you can bring some of the famed restaurant's style into your home with their new collection of Christmas hampers and gift sets.
Everything comes in a lovely sturdy tote, printed with the same iconic chevron pattern that you'll find on the floor of the Piccadilly restaurant.
Inside, gourmet treats in the form of Florentines dipped in dark chocolate, a full size bottle of Pommery Brut Royal NV and a set of 6 black and gold Christmas crackers wait to surprise and delight your lucky recipient.
Think of it as a Christmas party in a bag. Just add pals.
£99 | The Wolseley | Buy it now
The Christmas Explorer Hamper
Highlights: the gorgeous suitcase
Liberty London has gone all out with this Christmas hamper, designed to look like an old-fashioned suitcase and covered in a charming Arthur's Ark print. Made with recycled cardboard, wood and nickel, it's something we can imagine using well after its contents have been devoured.
Inside, the selection is as pleasing as the packaging. There's sweet and savoury treats to enjoy; think Cranberry, Chilli & Orange Sauce, a Marzipan Topped Christmas Cake, a pot of Christmas Chutney to liven up your leftover turkey sarnies and Cinnamon Spiced Hot Chocolate. There's even a box of Almond Marizpan Brussels Sprouts, sure to be less divisive than the real veg. A bottle of Camel Valley Sparkling Wine rounds things off nicely.
Not bothered about the booze? The Christmas Voyage Hamper is virtually the same, just sans the wine.
£125 | Liberty | Buy it now
Darts Farm Luxury West Country Hamper
Highlights: handmade Georgie Porgie Pudding, Darts Farm Honey and Teoni’s Butter Cookies (aka best cookies EVER)
Housed in a rustic wooden crate, Darts Farm hamper is a lip-smacking collection pulled from the finest regional producers. You might recognise some of these delicious delicacies but it's the never-heard-of-'em goodies that will be your new favourites.
In our humble sugar-fuelled opinion The Teoni Cookies deserve their own hamper — this glorious set of luxe snacks is undeniably impressive.
£107 | Darts Farm | Buy it now
Harvey Nichols Snowed In
Highlights: Harvey Nichols Premier Cru Brut Rosé Champagne NV and the addictive and delicious Harvey Nichols No.9 The Fudge Selection.
Delivered in a chic black wicker basket, the Snowed In hamper is a decadent taste of the best comfort foods to dive into this Christmas.
There’s wine, Champagne, hot chocolate and enough warming teas to see you through the darkest of winter nights, while the smoky Naughty Nibbles and Salted Caramel Butter Shortbread Biscuits should provide plenty of sustenance too.
The 14-piece selection also includes savoury nuts and sweets like salted caramel pecans and a box of Marc de Champagne Milk Chocolate Truffles.
There’s so much to enjoy, we feel this would be best indulged at an intimate Christmas gathering with your inner circle.
£175 | Harvey Nichols | Buy it now
Harrods St James Hamper
Highlights: Christmas Spiced Black Tea, Christmas Clementine Marmalade Shortbread and Sweet Orange & Pink Gin Marmalade. Drool.
Harrods does sweet things on an epic scale with its St James hamper, which is stuffed full of the finest teas, coffees, preserves and chocolates to see you through the festive season and well into the New Year.
It's an exciting basket to open, not least because all the contents share similar packaging: red and white candy cane stripes with a brilliant flashes of gold here and there. Prime your InstaStories for the unboxing; you won't want to miss this moment.
The term treasure chest springs to mind when handling the contents of this luxe hamper; there's everything from hot chocolate, festive pies, puds and cakes, spiced Boxing Day chutney, brandy butter and caramel chocolate to fire up the senses and spread Christmas cheer.
While this selection is mostly Christmas-themed (and rightly so) there is a curveball in a box of lemon-flavoured Turkish Delight too. We think it makes a welcome break from all the chocolate.
Thinking of giving this as a gift? This hamper is booze-free, but one of the cakes contains Courvoisier VSOP Cognac so it may not be 100 per cent ideal for strict teetotallers.
Fancy a smaller hamper that will still impress? Try the £100 Christmas Carol; it’s a slimmed down, but no less exciting, version of The St James.
£350 | Harrods | Buy it now
Paxton & Whitfield Belgravia Hamper
Highlights: the fantastic selection of cheese, and the smoked ham.
Already got enough tea and coffee to sink a ship? If you're after indulgence with a difference, plump for cheese specialists Paxton & Whitfield's generous Belgravia hamper.
The stylish wooden box, which is stamped with the company's name in black ink, houses a world of gourmet delights: think 1.2kg of Smoked Wiltshire Ham, cheeses (stilton, cheddar and camembert) as well as lip-smacking jams and condiments.
There's also a few homewares folded in, such as a canvas and leather apron and a ceramic platter complete with a glass dome to ensure your cheese board looks the picture of perfection.
All this, plus Champagne, port and wines to fuel Christmas day merriment.
£375 | Paxton & Whitfield | Buy it now
F&M The Christmas Day Hamper
Highlights: organic smoked salmon and three wine options, including a full-sized bottle of vintage champagne.
The king of luxury hampers, head to Fortnum & Mason if money is no object when shopping for your perfect Christmas 2019 hamper.
The Queen's grocer is bursting with festive options, from a vegan offering to an entirely gluten-free selection, showing how the brand (which has been around since 1707) is doing more than ever to appeal to more of us.
Looking for a F&M hamper under £100?:
While we imagine anyone would be thrilled to receive the above, our favourite F&M hamper is The Christmas Day Hamper.
From breakfast through to lunch, tea and dinner, the 41cm deep wicker basket is packed with tasty morsels and the best bottles the company has to offer.
Start the day with Fortnum's Vintage Champagne, made by Louis Roederer to accompany your smoked salmon, place the cranberry sauce and honey mustard on the table before your Christmas feast and finish with cheese and fine chocolates - F&M has thought of everything you could possibly wish for, and then some.
£500 | F&M | Buy it now
Harvey Nichols Festive Feast
Highlights: EVERYTHING
Hold onto your festive socks, because Harvey Nicks’ deluxe hamper could very well knock them clean off. The incredible selection of 44 nibbles, drinks and sweet treats is the biggest hamper the world-famous department store offers, but there are smaller ones available for those with less extravagant tastes (not to mention smaller budgets).
The Festive Feast is a flamboyant hamper of epic proportions, all designed to celebrate the sheer joy of Christmas. There’s the finest produce from Harvey Nicks’ foodmarket, from festive preserves and condiments, tins of velvety hot cocoa, tea, coffee and biscuits, savoury nuts and even a delicious 500g Panettone and a mini Christmas cake to share.
Perhaps most impressive of all is the fact this hamper comes with 11 bottles of booze, including gin, mulled wine, port and sherry. Of course no celebration would be complete without a glass of bubbles so there’s Prosecco and two bottles of Champagne to enjoy too.
Who needs to bother with the scrum and hustle of the supermarket shop when you have this baby to hand? Dip into the hamper all in the run up to Christmas or save for December 25 and all day grazing.
£550 | Harvey Nichols | Buy it now