49 Must-Watch Hallmark Christmas Movies to Get You in the Holiday Spirit
Here's a list we've made (and checked twice!) of beloved Hallmark classics that are perfect for the holiday season
It's the most wonderful time of the year: Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas!
According to Cablefax, the annual programming event began in November 2009 with just four originals and has since expanded to include more than 30 holiday-themed movies from late October to December, along with Hallmark Mystery titles.
However, you don't have to wait for them to premiere to get your fill of cheer — some of the best Hallmark Christmas movies are available to watch right now. Starring top talent (multiple Oscar winners have dabbled in Hallmark) and famous musicians (all we want for Christmas is you, Mariah Carey), we've rounded up some of the best flicks the network has released over the years, including Carey's A Christmas Melody.
While you'll have to catch the network's 2024 slate live on Hallmark Channel — which requires a cable or live streaming subscription — or on demand on Peacock for up to 72 hours after airdate, its older classics have begun making their way to alternate streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video and Hallmark+.
Below, we compiled a list of our top picks from the feel-good TV destination that you'll want to watch again and again, year after year.
Christmas Island (2023)
In 2023's Christmas Island, Rachel Skarsten stars as Kate Gabriel, a private pilot whose first probational assignment is flying the wealthy Sharpe family from Los Angeles to Switzerland. However, inclement weather forces her to divert the plane to Christmas Island in Nova Scotia. While she and the Sharpes are stranded in the small Canadian town, she meets air traffic controller and Christmas enthusiast Oliver — played by Hallmark Channel mainstay Andrew Walker — who helps her and the Sharpe family embrace the true spirit of the holidays.
Watch Christmas Island on Hallmark+
Christmas in Notting Hill (2023)
Christmas in Notting Hill follows American special education teacher Georgia Bright (Sarah Ramos) during her time in London with her father (Conor Mullen), younger sister Lizzie (Joelle Rae) and Lizzie's boyfriend, Henry (Peter Rothwell), during the holidays. There, Georgia encounters British football star Graham Savoy (William Moseley), who she doesn't realize is famous. While dealing with a knee injury and the downturn of his career, Graham questions his priorities and life off the field after developing feelings for Georgia.
Watch Christmas in Notting Hill on Hallmark+
Christmas on Cherry Lane (2023)
Christmas on Cherry Lane chronicles three families connected by their time at the 7 Cherry Lane residence across three different eras from 1973 to 2023. Young expectant couple John (John Brotherton) and Lizzie Hamilton (Erin Cahill) await the birth of their first child while dealing with Lizzie's meddling parents. Widow and empty-nester Regina Johnston (Catherine Bell) and fiancé Nelson King (James Denton) navigate the challenges of selling Regina's family home for a fresh start in Florida.
Finally, same-sex couple Mike (Jonathan Bennett) and Zian Harrelson (Vincent Rodriguez III) are tasked with hosting their first Christmas Eve dinner together, complicated by a kitchen undergoing renovations and the pressure to impress an important guest.
"It's a perfectly imperfect Christmas for all these couples," Bennett told GLAAD before adding, "I think Hallmark's mission is making sure that everyone feels like they have a seat at our holiday table because they do."
The channel expanded Christmas on Cherry Lane into a three-part trilogy in December 2024 — with Season's Greetings from Cherry Lane and Happy Holidays from Cherry Lane — reuniting fan favorites and showcasing new life-changing experiences across varying timelines.
Watch Christmas on Cherry Lane on Hallmark+
A Merry Scottish Christmas (2023)
Estranged siblings — L.A.-based physician Lindsay Morgan (Lacey Chabert) and San Francisco tax lawyer Brad Morgan (Scott Wolf) — reconnect at their mother Josephine's (Fiona Bell) request that they all spend Christmas together in Scotland at Glencrave Castle. Upon their arrival, Lindsay and Brad learn Jo's true intentions for bringing everyone together as she divulges a long-held family secret that could affect the pair and the future of Glencrave.
According to Forbes, A Merry Scottish Christmas was the network's most-watched holiday movie in 2023, garnering 3.3 million viewers in Nielsen's ratings. The Hallmark original wasn't the first time Chabert and Wolf graced the small screen together, playing a brother and sister. The actors originally starred as two of the Slinger siblings on the Fox family drama Party of Five for six seasons.
Watch A Merry Scottish Christmas on Hallmark+
A Biltmore Christmas (2023)
After failing to produce a satisfactory script for a remake of the beloved holiday film His Merry Wife, screenwriter Lucy Hardgrove (Bethany Joy Lenz) is sent to tour the historic Biltmore House, where the original movie was filmed. However, she gets more inspiration than anticipated after an hourglass sends her back through time to the 1947 set, where she sparks a potential romance with the film's leading man, Jack Huston (Kristoffer Polaha).
Watch A Biltmore Christmas on Hallmark+
The Santa Summit (2023)
Romance is in the air at the annual Santa Summit, where revelers from all over come together to dress as Kris Kringle and party it up at different venues and events around town. However, when three single best friends — the newly dumped Jordin (Hunter King), coy yet infatuated Ava (Amy Groening) and Christmas skeptic Stella (Stephanie Sy) — decide to go together, the summit sparks more than just Christmas spirit. From hijinks to potential romances, 2023's The Santa Summit is a heartfelt Hallmark movie best enjoyed with friends.
Watch The Santa Summit on Hallmark+
Three Wise Men and a Baby (2022)
In 2022's Three Wise Men and a Baby, three of the channel's most popular leads (Andrew Walker, Tyler Hynes and Paul Campbell) star as three brothers who — you guessed it — team up to care for a baby during the holiday season. The Three Men and a Baby-inspired comedy (Hallmark's first film to feature three male leads) follows the trio as they rebuild their brotherly bond and rediscover their love of Christmas.
Watch Three Wise Men and a Baby on Hallmark+
Christmas in Toyland (2022)
Christmas in Toyland was one of Hallmark's Christmas in July premieres in 2022. In it, Charlie (Vanessa Lengies) is a data analyst assigned to check out a brick-and-mortar store called Big Teddy Toy Company to determine if it's worth keeping the doors open. Grant (Jesse Hutch) is the store's bull-headed but kindhearted manager who doesn't think he needs her help. Together, they find they make a pretty good team when it comes to making dreams come true — including ones they hadn't dared to hope for.
Watch Christmas in Toyland on Hallmark+
Lights, Camera, Christmas! (2022)
When local shop owner Kerry (Kimberley Sustad) answers the call for a costume designer needed for a holiday rom-com filming in her town, the opportunity rekindles her once-dashed dreams of becoming a fashion designer. But this chance of a lifetime does more than help Kerry realize her potential as she starts to fall head over heels for the movie’s famous heartthrob, Brad (Josh Brotherton), fondly known as the King of Christmas Rom-Coms by his admirers.
Watch Lights, Camera, Christmas! on Hallmark+
The Holiday Sitter (2022)
When single workaholic Sam's (Jonathan Bennett) Hawaiian Christmas getaway is thwarted by his sister Kathleen (Chelsea Hobbs), who blackmails him into looking after her and her husband's (Matthew James Dowden) two young children due to an emergency, he thinks it'll be yet another uneventful winter holiday. That is until Sam meets Jason (George Krissa), his sister's good-looking neighbor, whom he employs as an "uncle consultant" to assist with niece Dania (Mila Morgan) and nephew Miles (Everett Andres). However, as Sam and Jason grow closer, the two develop a mutual attraction that might lead to something more.
Watch The Holiday Sitter on Hallmark+
An Unexpected Christmas (2021)
What do you get when you forget to tell your family you and your ex are no longer an item? The perfect rom-com, of course! This is exactly the jam Jamie (Tyler Hynes) has gotten into — and just in time for Christmas with his folks. That is, until he convinces his ex, Emily (Bethany Joy Lenz), to pretend they're still a couple after accidentally running into each other in their hometown. Even more unexpected? A potential second shot at love.
Watch An Unexpected Christmas on Hallmark+
A Kiss Before Christmas (2021)
Former Desperate Housewives costars James Denton and Teri Hatcher reunite in this 2021 rom-com about a guy who wishes for his life to have turned out differently, only to have it come true. Now he's realizing he might have had it right all along — but will he be able to set it right before it's too late?
Watch A Kiss Before Christmas on Hallmark+
Boyfriends of Christmas Past (2021)
Hallmark flips the script on Matthew McConaughey's 2009 hit Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with 2021's Boyfriends of Christmas Past. Instead of a playboy, though, it's marketing executive Lauren (Catherine Haena Kim) who needs to change her noncommittal ways — something she won't come to truly see until she gets a little help from her past boyfriends.
Watch Boyfriends of Christmas Past on Hallmark+
My Christmas Family Tree (2021)
Family means everything when it comes to Christmas — unless, of course, you're not sure who they are. Vanessa (Aimee Teegarden) thinks she just might have found her relatives, thanks to DNA test results in this 2021 flick. However, her quest to learn about her family tree — and a dashing family friend (Andrew Walker) — is quickly derailed by the unthinkable.
Watch My Christmas Family Tree on Hallmark+
The Christmas Promise (2021)
For those who like their Hallmark movies with a little more substance, this 2021 drama just might do the trick. It follows a woman (Torrey DeVitto) who lost her fiancé around the holidays and sends a text to his old phone expressing her grief, only to receive an unexpected reply.
Watch The Christmas Promise on Hallmark+
Baby, It's Cold Inside (2021)
There are two types of people in this world: Those who hate winter — what with all its snow and ice — and those who embrace it wholeheartedly. This 2021 film caters to the latter type, as its heroine, travel agent Hannah (Jocelyn Hudon), is sent to check out Canada's Ice Hotel. Set in the Hôtel de Glace (North America's only real ice hotel), it's the perfect setting for her to embark upon a Christmas romance with the hotel's hunky co-owner, Ben (Steve Lund), who opens her eyes to all of its delights.
Watch Baby, It's Cold Inside on Hallmark+
Holly & Ivy (2020)
Starring Janel Parrish, Jeremy Jordan and Marisol Nichols, Holly & Ivy follows Melody (Parrish) on her journey to find a job and renovate her new house after moving to the small town of Chippewa Falls, Wis. After befriending her neighbor Nina (Nichols) and her two daughters, Holly and Ivy, Melody learns Nina's illness has returned. Determined to keep her promise that Nina's girls will stay together, Melody must turn her fixer-upper into a suitable home. Luckily, she has the help of a local contractor — and potential love interest — Adam (Jordan).
Heart of the Holidays (2020)
The plot of this 2020 addition to the Hallmark lineup will likely be familiar. A big-city career girl named Sam Wallace (Vanessa Lengies) visits her small town, only to fall in love with its charms, including one she left behind in the form of an old flame (Corey Sevier). As she discovers all her past life has to offer her in the present, she also rediscovers herself.
Watch Heart of the Holidays on Hallmark+
The Christmas Ring (2020)
An antique ring brings together Kendra Adams (Nazneen Contractor) and Michael Jones (David Alpay), two strangers with a shared love of old architecture and decor, as they try to solve the mystery behind the ring's backstory for an article Kendra is reporting on. Inevitably, they start falling for each other, but not before Kendra's boss decides to change the focus of her piece … to David.
Watch The Christmas Ring on Hallmark+
The Christmas House (2020)
The Christmas House has been billed as one of the network's best holiday films of all time, and it's also the first Hallmark film to prominently feature a same-sex couple. It follows older couple Bill (Treat Williams) and Phylis (Sharon Lawrence) Mitchell — who seek to reunite with their adult sons, Mike (Robert Buckley) and Brandon (Jonathan Bennett) — to revive their old Christmas traditions. Each character is dealing with a problem they don't want to burden the others with, but they may find they all need each other more than they thought.
Watch The Christmas House on Peacock
Christmas Comes Twice (2020)
Tamera Mowry-Housley plays Cheryl, a senator's aide who attends her hometown's winter carnival. However, instead of meeting the handsome mayor, as she'd hoped, she runs into an old flame (Michael Xavier) and takes a ride on a magic carousel that takes her back in time. Cheryl is presented with the option to make different choices about her life, but will she take it?
Watch Christmas Comes Twice on Hallmark+
A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas (2019)
Willow Petersen (Rachael Leigh Cook) attempts to pull off a Christmas miracle by securing her sister's dream wedding venue, an old inn their family used to own, and restoring it to its former cheery glory in time for the big day — and to prove to its current (and handsome!) owner, David (Benjamin Ayres), who intends to sell it, that it just might be worth keeping around.
Watch A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas on Hallmark+
A Christmas Love Story (2019)
Kristin Chenoweth and Scott Wolf star in the aptly titled A Christmas Love Story. Chenoweth plays a former Broadway star–turned–choir director who placed her child for adoption as a young mother. Wolf is a widowed dad whose son has a real talent as a vocalist. When they meet by chance via a ride-share app, their worlds are forever changed.
Watch A Christmas Love Story on Hallmark+
Christmas in Rome (2019)
Travelers will appreciate Lacey Chabert and Sam Page's stint as tour guide Angela and executive Oliver, who are exploring Rome together to better help Oliver understand the core of the ceramics company he seeks to buy. With Rome and Bucharest, Romania, serving as its backdrop, there are plenty of cultures to take in.
Watch Christmas in Rome on Peacock
Related: Which Hallmark Movie You Should Watch, Based on Your Zodiac Sign
Merry & Bright (2019)
Cate (Jodie Sweetin of Full House) is a candy cane company CEO who teams up with Gabe (Andrew Walker) — a corporate analyst — to make her operation more profitable. Merry & Bright gives us a crash course on what happens when two people who got off on the wrong foot are brought together by the magic of Christmas.
Watch Merry & Bright on Hallmark+
Christmas at Dollywood (2019)
Dolly Parton can do no wrong, including her 2019 Hallmark film, Christmas at Dollywood. Costarring Danica McKellar as an N.Y.C. event planner hired to help with Parton's Dollywood Christmas celebrations in Tennessee and Niall Matter as Luke, the obstinate park director who opposes her presence, it's the classic dilemma of two people who just don't see eye to eye — until they do.
Watch Christmas at Dollywood on Peacock
Christmas at the Plaza (2019)
Nearly 30 years after New York's Plaza Hotel made its mark on cinematic history with Home Alone 2, Hallmark viewers were treated to its festive splendor once more with 2019's Christmas at the Plaza. In it, an archival historian (Elizabeth Henstridge) is hired to create its holiday display with the help of a handsome decorator (Ryan Paevey) — whom, of course, she's destined to fall for.
Watch Christmas at the Plaza on Hallmark+
Write Before Christmas (2019)
What's worse than getting dumped? Getting dumped right before the holidays. Yet that's Jessica's (Torrey DeVitto) reality in this 2019 flick. Instead of wallowing in her misery, the musician decides to spread some cheer by sending five Christmas cards to people who have positively influenced her life to some pretty magical results. Chad Michael Murray also stars in this one.
Watch Write Before Christmas on Hallmark+
Once Upon a Christmas Miracle (2018)
Heather (Aimee Teegarden) wishes for more than a shiny bauble under the tree — she needs a transplant for her stage-4 liver disease. Not only does she wind up with a generous donor, but she also finds a new love interest in Chris (Brett Dalton) — all based on true events, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Watch Once Upon a Christmas Miracle on Hallmark+
A Gingerbread Romance (2018)
Home is where the heart is — a lesson that architect Taylor (Tia Mowry) is about to learn. On a mission to create a life-sized gingerbread house as part of a contest she won, she enlists the help of a local chef (Duane Henry), who shows her that the best ingredient in a winning confection is always love.
Watch A Gingerbread Romance on Hallmark+
A Gift to Remember (2017)
It's a tale as old as time in 2017's A Gift to Remember (also titled A Gift for Christmas): A bookstore employee (Ali Liebert) runs into a man on a bike (Peter Porte), causing him a temporary bout with amnesia. While she helps him remember his life — which may or may not include a mystery fiancée — she falls in love with him herself. However, what will happen when his memory starts to return?
Watch A Gift to Remember on Hallmark+
Switched for Christmas (2017)
Candace Cameron Bure gets The Parent Trap treatment in 2017's Switched for Christmas, which sees her playing twin sisters, Chris and Kate Lockhart. Polar opposites, Kate is a sophisticated real estate mogul with a killer wardrobe, while Chris is a single mom who works as an art instructor and lives for cozy comfort. When they switch places for Christmas, however, their lives are turned upside down — in the best way possible.
Watch Switched for Christmas on Hallmark+
The Perfect Christmas Present (2017)
Tom Jacobs (Sam Page) has made a career out of finding the perfect gift for strangers. However, when he's hired to find a present for his frat brother's girlfriend, Jenny (Tara Holt), what he finds instead is an unexpected romance that could complicate all of their lives — big time.
Watch The Perfect Christmas Present on Hallmark+
A Nutcracker Christmas (2016)
Lead actors Amy Acker and Sascha Radetsky aren't phoning in the dancing on this one: Radetsky is a former soloist with the American Ballet Theatre (you might also recognize him from 2000's Center Stage), and Acker studied ballet and modern dance for 14 years before undergoing knee surgery in high school. Together, they make magic on-screen as a former ballerina named Lily (Acker), who swears off dancing after her sister is killed in a car crash, and Mark (Radetsky), a ballet director and Lily's former love interest, who just might change her mind.
Watch A Nutcracker Christmas on Hallmark+
Christmas List (2016)
Christmas is best shared with the one you love — unless the one you love is determined to spend the holiday somewhere else. So what do you do if you're like the quirky yet lovable Isobel Gray (Alicia Witt), who unexpectedly finds herself alone? You make the most of all your best-laid holiday plans with those you're with — including that incredibly charming local man (Gabriel Hogan) who has taken a keen interest in you.
Watch Christmas List on Hallmark+
Broadcasting Christmas (2016)
Everyone's favorite teenage witch Melissa Joan Hart switches gears in this holiday rom-com about two exes, Emily (Hart) and Charlie (Dean Cain), who are up for the same co-hosting spot for a popular television show. In addition to competing for the chair, however, they'll have to contend with the fact they're not quite over each other just yet.
Watch Broadcasting Christmas on Peacock
A Christmas to Remember (2016)
Oscar-winner actress Mira Sorvino stars in this heartfelt 2016 flick about a TV star named Jennifer Wade, who heads to a mountain retreat to escape from her own reality. Her trip is derailed, though, when she gets into a crash and develops amnesia. It's only through the help of a handsome stranger (Cameron Mathison) and an unfamiliar place that she will remember who she really is.
Watch A Christmas to Remember on Hallmark+
A Christmas Melody (2015)
Yep! Even the Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, has starred in a Hallmark movie — and she directed it, too! In fact, her 2015 flick about a single mother (Lacey Chabert) who moves back to her hometown with her growing daughter marked the singer's directorial debut. As the story goes, the move isn't easy for the little girl, who turns to her music teacher, Danny (Brennan Elliot), for help adjusting. Kathy Najimi also stars as Aunt Sarah.
Watch A Christmas Melody on Hallmark+
Crown for Christmas (2015)
Everyone loves a good commoner-turned-royal flick, and this 2015 offering delivers in spades. Allie (Danica McKellar) comes to the country of Winshire after unwittingly taking a job as a governess for King Maximillian's (Rupert Penry-Jones) daughter, Theodora (Ellie Botterill). Though the young girl is a tough nut to crack, Allie bonds with her quickly, leaving Theodora to believe she might make for a better stepmother than Lady Celia (Alexandra Evans), the woman her father is being pressured to wed.
Watch Crown for Christmas on Hallmark+
'Tis the Season for Love (2015)
Yes, this is another Hallmark film about a down-and-out actress (Sarah Lancaster) who returns to her hometown, only to find it more fulfilling than when she left it. She also predictably finds romance along the way, but it will still give you the same warm fuzzies you come to the channel for in the first place, securing its spot on our list.
Watch 'Tis the Season for Love on Peacock
Debbie Macomber's Dashing Through the Snow (2015)
A modern take on 1987's Planes, Trains and Automobiles, this one sees two strangers (Meghan Ory and Andrew Walker) falling for each other after they opt to share a rental car to their shared destination of Seattle to make it there by Christmas. Of course, they won't arrive without experiencing a few bumps along the way.
Watch Debbie Macomber's Dashing Through the Snow on Peacock
A Royal Christmas (2014)
All is going well for Prince Leopold (Stephen Hagan), who has just revealed his royal identity to his new fiancée (Lacey Chabert), a seamstress from Philadelphia, until their plans to marry hit a snag in the form of his disgruntled mother, Queen Isadora (Jane Seymour). Putting the couple's love to the test, Isadora invites Leopold's ex-girlfriend Natasha (Katherine Flynn) to join the group for Christmas and stir up a little holiday trouble.
Watch A Royal Christmas on Hallmark+
The Christmas Secret (2014)
Bethany Joy Lenz began her holiday movie stint on the network with 2014's The Christmas Secret. While it starts on a downtrodden note, as Lenz's character, Christine, takes blow after blow — from losing her home to getting hit with a custody lawsuit from her ex — her luck is about to change with the discovery of an old family secret.
Watch The Christmas Secret on Hallmark+
Christmas in Conway (2013)
Part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame, this 2013 hit follows Duncan Mayor (Andy Garcia) in his race against time to build a Ferris wheel in his backyard like the one he proposed to his sick wife (Emmy winner Mary-Louise Parker) many moons ago. However, not everyone is thrilled with his plans, making his job even more difficult than it already is.
Watch Christmas in Conway on Hallmark+
Finding Christmas (2013)
Think 2006's The Holiday but from a guy's perspective. Finding Christmas follows advertising exec Sean (Mark Lutz) and musician Owen (J.T. Hodges) as they swap residences, only to find that their newfound surroundings just may have something that each of them was missing before — romance.
Watch Finding Christmas on Hallmark+
Naughty or Nice (2012)
One Tree Hill fans will delight in Hilarie Burton's 2012 Hallmark hit Naughty or Nice. Her character, Krissy Kringle, a disgruntled former ad executive, finds herself in an unexpected position of power to expose the naughty deeds of others around her when she comes into possession of Santa's checklist. However, as Krissy will soon discover, the list has its nice side too …
Watch Naughty or Nice on Hallmark+
Christmas Lodge (2011)
Guaranteed to put you in the Christmas spirit, Christmas Lodge sees Mary (Erin Karpluk) revisiting the grand old property she and her family spent the holidays at in her youth — only to find it's not so grand and not so Christmas-y anymore. Committed to saving it, she sets out on a restoration. Racing against time, Mary realizes she needs more help than she bargained for.
Watch Christmas Lodge on Amazon Prime Video
November Christmas (2010)
Be warned: This one's an absolute tearjerker. Centered on a little girl with cancer living in a small town, it serves as a reminder of the many lives one person can touch and how far a little kindness at Christmastime can go. The all-star cast — including Sam Elliott, John Corbett, Sarah Paulson and Karen Allen of the Indiana Jones movie franchise — certainly doesn't hurt.
Watch November Christmas on Hallmark+
Silver Bells (2005)
Late actress Anne Heche stars as a Manhattan woman who gave up on Christmas after her husband died. She's not completely lonely, though, having made friends with a young runaway (Michael Mitchell) whom she pays for his photography. What she doesn't know is the boy's father (Tate Donovan), who is actively looking for him, is the same Christmas tree salesman who shows up on her doorstep every year.
Watch Silver Bells on Hallmark+
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