When there are so many tempting options on offer, finding the best Christmas hampers to treat yourself or loved ones to festive goodies can be a challenge. There’s no better way to provide that generous sense of enjoyment than an overflowing, luxury Christmas hamper. A plentiful supply of food is absolutely essential for an enjoyable Christmas, and even the biggest scrooge can be won over with a good mince pie. Wicker basket or not, hampers make the perfect Christmas gift for almost anyone so, if you’re feeling particularly indulgent, there’s no harm in getting one for yourself to enjoy.
We’ve streamlined our almost 50-strong hamper picks from last year to our top five choices for 2024. These reflect the very best in the hamper business, all thoroughly tested–a tough job, but someone had to do it. From our favourite foodie retailers like Fortnum & Mason, John Lewis and Selfridges, to small independent brands like Snowdonia, we will be including a range of budgets to cover some of the best value for money hampers we’ve seen–they won’t all ring in at bank-breaking expense!
How we tested the best Christmas hampers
A range of hampers were tried and tested this October by the House & Garden commerce team along with decoration editor, Rémy Mishon. In our search to put together the 2024 list of the best hampers, we considered a number of important factors. Starting on the outside and working our way in, we looked at:
- Delivery: Was it hassle free? Overly expensive? Timely?
- Packaging: Was it excessive? Sustainable, or recyclable?
- Hamper basket: Is it suitable for a second life and reuse as a storage box afterwards?
- Contents: How delicious are they? Do they reflect the price point? Is there a broad selection, or are the products unusual and curated?
- Price: Is it reasonable? Better for gifting or a touch of self indulgence?
Our five top picks have been selected for their excellence in some or all of the aforementioned categories.
How to choose the best Christmas hamper?
When choosing your festive hamper, consider how and when your hamper will be enjoyed. There are breakfast options, brunch choices and afternoon tea selections for those looking to substitute cooking a meal for a hamper (you’ll be particularly thankful for a brunch hamper on Boxing Day morning!). Our top choices for 2024 include a cheese gift hamper, a home fragrance hamper, as well as classic Christmas food hampers for those looking to stretch out the hamper’s festive treats over multiple days.
If you really can’t decide, why not opt for a ‘build your own’ hamper from either Fortnum and Mason, or Not Another Bill?
Rachel Whiting
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House & Garden’s verdict:
The best in the business when it comes to cheese, The Snowdonia Cheese Company’s £70 hamper has everything you could possibly need for the ultimate cheese board. With four different cheeses, crackers, a selection of chutneys (the balsamic caramelised onion is a particularly winning formula), and a bottle of Montes Alpha Colchagua Valley Carmenère red wine to wash it down with, we were left wanting for nothing with this hamper. A highlight is the fondue cheese bake, a ready to melt cheddar dip that goes down exceedingly well on a cold winter’s evening.
Commerce writer’s notes:
My initial impression of this hamper was how compact it was, in its smart wicker box, which has changed slightly from the one pictured to a slate blue colour way with gold hardware. The smaller size makes it ideal if you’re sending it as a gift or lugging it over to a friend or family member’s house. Fear not though, in spite of its less grandiose exterior than some of the other hampers in our list, the contents of this cheese hamper still greatly impressed me.
With all the chocolate and sweet treats we tend to consume over Christmas, it’s refreshing to have a hamper that focuses on curating the savoury. The four wax truckles of award-winning cheese are generously sized, and all have their own rich, complex flavour – the cheeses in this hamper are of far higher quality than the supermarket vintage cheddar that I’d usually have with my Boxing Day buffet. Included are an extra mature cheddar, a cave-aged chedder, vintage Red Leicester and black truffle extra mature cheddar. My only complaint here would be that there are no milder or softer cheeses to offset the sharp cheddars, but that is not really Snowdonia’s speciality. The cheese fondue is a lovely alternative, however. The cheeses are, of course, the star of the show, but the extras complement them wonderfully: from the robust wholemeal crackers, to the paired Chilean red wine and chutneys (the sweet fig and apple was my favourite).
The box that the hamper was delivered in was reasonable, not overly large or cumbersome for the size of the hamper basket, making delivery a breeze. At £70, I feel that this is very affordable for a Christmas hamper, and the products within are well worth the price. The basket is ideal for reusing as a small storage basket, and the branding is discreet enough to do so.
Rachel Whiting
