Struggling to buy for the person who has everything? The luxury hamper remains the escape route, and 2026's crop is stronger than usual — from giant food-laden baskets to homeware-only sets built around cashmere and champagne flutes.
The biggest statement of the season is Selfridges' Very Big Christmas Hamper. As the name suggests, this is no modest gesture: 90 items spanning panettone, mince pies, smoked salmon, ham, cheeses, chutneys and Beluga caviar, with a drinks cabinet in miniature alongside — champagne, Dom Pérignon, Sancerre, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Barbera, Ornellaia and port. If the off-the-shelf version isn't quite right, Selfridges runs a bespoke hamper service through its in-house team.
Harrods answers with The Regent, a 29-piece wicker basket covering Christmas pudding, truffle crisps, cheese, pastrami, champagne, chardonnay and port. The smart detail: everything is chosen to keep well past the festive season, so there's no Boxing Day deadline.
Fortnum & Mason offers two ends of the scale. The Snowed In Christmas Hamper packs 22 sweet and savoury treats — nuts, plum preserve, pickles, biscuits, tea and chocolate — into a handwoven wicker basket that can later double as a picnic hamper. The smaller Christmas Treat Hamper leans sweet, with sugar plum preserve, chocolate coins, a vegan gingerbread hot chocolate stirrer, the famous Reindeer Noses, and a mini musical merry-go-round biscuit tin.
Country-house names bring a different flavour. Daylesford's Christmas Collection Hamper runs to its Creamery cheeses, smoked salmon, a ham joint, cheese straws and Christmas pudding, delivered in a reusable cool bag with three full bottles of wine. The Newt in Somerset goes one further by teaming up with its South African sister estate, Babylonstoren: a magnum of Chardonnay, panettone, coffee and preserves sit alongside linen napkins, a tablecloth and candles.
Claridge's takes the non-food route entirely. Its Grand Home Hamper contains a cashmere blanket, a 12-piece dinner set for four, espresso cups, a leather notebook, candles and barware — all in the hotel's Art Deco idiom — while the smaller Indulgent Home Hamper centres on a cashmere blanket and a set of champagne flutes from Claridge's Bar. These are gifts meant to be used long after the decorations come down.
A practical note for anyone gifting abroad: check delivery restrictions before settling on a hamper. Most big department stores ship internationally, but perishables and alcohol face country-specific limits and taxes that can derail the surprise.
Who is this for? Anyone ticking off clients, hosts or family members where a bottle of wine feels thin. Food hampers suit the Christmas table; the homeware sets work year-round. And the natural buyer overlaps neatly with the traveller — most of these hampers come from stores and hotels you can visit in person in London and Somerset, which is reason enough to build a shopping trip around them.