7 Hallmark Holiday Movies to Watch This Christmas That Are Set in France

I’m just going to come out and say it, I love Hallmark Holiday movies. I know they’re obvious, sentimental, and completely unrealistic, but that, for me, is part of their charm. You know what you’re getting with a Hallmark movie.

But when they turn their attention to Christmas, it takes things up a notch or two. Then, when you add France into the mix, it’s a recipe for pure, unadulterated festive fun. 

I can’t think of anything I’d rather do on a Sunday afternoon leading up to the big day than curl up on my couch with the fire roaring and the Christmas tree lights twinkling, watching one of these movies.

7 Hallmark Holiday Movies Set in France to Watch This Christmas

This year, I’ve found some new movies to add to my Christmas Hallmark collection. One set in Paris, of course, one in Chamonix, and another in Rouen. Then, another four set in Paris, which, although aren’t set during the holidays, still count as they’re perfect viewing for this time of year.

No. 1 An Alpine Holiday

This one tops the bill as it’s brand new for 2025. Sisters Faith and Kelly haven’t spoken in years. Faith disappeared after their grandfather died, leaving Kelly to care for their heartbroken grandmother, Rebecca, alone. When Rebecca passes away, her will includes one final surprise: a trip through the French Alps, retracing the exact route she took with their grandfather decades ago.

Faith jumps at it. Kelly needs convincing, but eventually books the flight.

They meet Frederic, their French mountaineer guide, in Chamonix. At each stop, Rebecca has left them gifts and notes. They eat crepes at the same cafe Rebecca visited, listen to Christmas music in the streets, and meet Frederic’s grandmother, who served fondue to Rebecca and their grandfather years before.

The sisters work through their resentment as they climb higher. Faith admits she runs from commitment. Kelly confesses she’s terrified everyone will leave.

On Christmas Eve, Faith heads up the mountain alone during a storm. Kelly and Frederic chase after her. At the summit, they find the lock their grandparents left behind. Kelly kisses Frederic. Faith adds a new lock for both sisters. They’ve completed the journey and found each other again.

Watch An Alpine Holiday

No. 2 Joyeux Noel

Lea is a copy editor who dreams of becoming a journalist. She buys an old jewelry box at an antique shop and discovers a hidden compartment containing an incomplete journal from 1959. The journal was written by someone signing as “F” and describes a forbidden love affair with a woman he calls Ma Fleur. They met at a Christmas market in the French village of Petit Marchon, where legend says true love is always found.

Lea pitches a story to her editor about tracking down the couple behind the famous Mon Fleur painting that just arrived at the Museum of Modern Art. The painting shows a woman at a Christmas market, signed only by “F.” Her editor loves it but assigns the story to Mark, a seasoned journalist known around the office as “Moody Mark.”

Lea convinces her boss to let her tag along. Mark thinks it’s beneath him. Lea thinks it’s her big break.

They arrive in Petit Marchon and retrace the couple’s steps through the journal. They buy candy apples at the market, dance by the town tree, and talk to local vendors. A woodworker recognizes the jewelry box but won’t reveal who made it. A baker whose family has owned their stall since the 1950s gives them another clue.

Mark finds a letter that reveals the love story didn’t end happily, but he hides it from Lea. He doesn’t want to break her heart. Lea keeps digging through old photos and discovers he lied. She’s furious. He didn’t respect her as a journalist.

After advice from Sophie, the innkeeper’s daughter who’s been pranking him all week, Mark realizes he’s fallen for Lea. He apologizes and fixes the broken jewelry box as a gift. When the music plays, Lea finally figures out who F was.

They solve the mystery together and find their own happy ending at the Christmas market.

Watch Joyeux Noel

No. 3 Christmas in Paris

Ok, so it’s not actually a Hallmark movie, but as it’s set in Paris at Christmas, I couldn’t resist adding it to the list as it has all the feel-good factor of Hallmark. Lucas Beaudin is a French millionaire in Montana, closing a business deal with Fortune Cosmetics. The Fortune family matriarch, Kate, is his aunt, but Lucas wants nothing to do with them. His biological father, Gerald, rejected him, and he’s never forgiven him.

At a photoshoot, Lucas meets Robin, the company’s art director and former model. They spend time together and fall for each other. Lucas invites Robin to Paris for Christmas, and she goes.

Everything’s perfect until Gerald calls Robin. He’s sick and wants to reconcile with Lucas. Robin tells Lucas on Christmas, thinking she’s helping. Lucas explodes. She had no right to interfere. Robin leaves for Montana.

Lucas follows and proposes. Robin says no at first. She needs more than grand gestures. Lucas proves he knows the real her, not just the image. She says yes. Lucas also makes peace with his father.

Watch Christmas in Paris

No. 4 A Paris Proposal

Anna is a by-the-books account manager at a New York advertising agency. Sebastian is her creative colleague who thinks way outside the box. They clash constantly. When their boss sends them both to Paris to pitch Durand Diamonds, the biggest client of their careers, Anna is less than thrilled. Paris holds painful memories from her honeymoon with her ex-husband after a marriage that lasted only a year.

When they meet the Durand family, a misunderstanding leads the clients to believe Anna and Sebastian are married. The Durands love the idea of a real couple leading the creative vision for their brand, so Anna and Sebastian play along.

The lie gets more complicated when Sebastian’s estranged family gets involved. He’s from Paris, and his family owns one of the city’s most exclusive stores. His father still hasn’t forgiven him for some incident involving a flamethrower. But when they meet Anna, the family welcomes her warmly. Even Sebastian’s father starts to soften.

Anna and Sebastian work on their pitch while keeping up the charade. She learns to color outside the lines. He learns to work within budget. They tour Paris together, and the city works its magic.

A rival agency head who’s been breathing down their necks shows up at the big gala and publicly exposes them as unmarried liars. Anna and Sebastian are humiliated in front of everyone. They lose the account. Their boss fires them on the spot. Sebastian’s family turns on him again and kicks him out.

Anna blames Sebastian at first, then has a change of heart. They figure out how to fix things, win back the client, and fall in love for real in the process.

Watch A Paris Proposal

No. 5 Paris, Wine and Romance

Isabella just took over her family’s Oregon winery and dreams of turning it into a world-class operation. Her uncle enters her new pinot noir in a prestigious Paris wine competition without telling her, and it gets selected as a finalist. She heads to France for the PR opportunity.

In Paris, Isabella reconnects with her expat friend Lacey and meets Jacques, a winemaker from one of France’s most famous winemaking families. He’s competing against her, along with his brother Maurice and their mother Margot. Despite being rivals, Isabella and Jacques hit it off immediately.

They spend time together during the competition. He puts his coat around her shoulders. He admits he only went to dinner to spend time with her. He even creates a perfume and names it after her. Isabella gets nervous and talks too much around him and his brother, constantly putting her foot in her mouth. But the chemistry is undeniable.

When the competition results are announced, Isabella overhears something that makes her believe Jacques badmouthed her wine. Hurt and humiliated, she flies back to Oregon.

Jacques discovers the misunderstanding and realizes he’s lost her. He decides to leave his beloved family winery behind and travels to Oregon to win her back.

Watch Paris, Wine and Romance

No. 6 Savoring Paris

Ella is burned out at her job at a New York food company. She didn’t get the promotion she wanted, and she’s forgotten what makes her happy. The only time she felt truly alive was on a trip to Paris after college, where she tasted the best cheese of her life.

She quits her job and books a flight to Paris for what’s supposed to be a 10-day vacation.

She stays at an Airbnb run by Clotilde, who becomes her instant best friend. Clotilde introduces Ella to her cousin Gaston, a handsome food critic who’s flirty and fun. Then, Ella visits a grumpy cheese vendor named Serge at his fromagerie. He’s dismissive and arrogant, but he knows everything about cheese.

Ella has a picnic along the Seine, where she runs into Gaston again. Between Clotilde’s encouragement and the magic of Paris, Ella makes an impulsive decision. She quits her job permanently and decides to stay for the summer, living off her savings.

She buys a whole new French wardrobe and starts working as an intern at Serge’s cheese shop. At first, she thinks she’s falling for Gaston, the easy choice. But as she spends more time with Serge, learning about cheese and life, something shifts. He’s guarded but opens up around her. She finds her sense of purpose. He realizes his life is fuller with her in it.

Ella has to decide what she really wants and who she’s becoming in Paris.

Watch Savoring Paris

No. 7 Her Pen Pal

Victoria is a successful wedding planner who is flying to Paris to be the maid of honor at her best friend Tracy’s destination wedding. She’s also planning the entire event. Then she finds out that her ex-boyfriend, Cameron, is the best man, and he’s bringing a date. Victoria panics. She needs a plus one.

Her friends dig up her old high school French pen pal, Jacques. They were more than just pen pals back then. It was first love, the kind you never forget. She hasn’t spoken to him in 12 years, but she reaches out anyway.

Jacques owns a chateau just outside Paris and has held a torch for her all these years. He agrees to be her date.

As Victoria works on the wedding, she realizes something’s wrong. The celebration she planned is beautiful and magical, but it’s missing all the personal touches that would make it right for Tracy. Everything is too perfect, too formal, too much about the presentation and not enough about the couple.

Mid-celebration, with Jacques’ help, Victoria scraps her original plan and transforms the wedding into something that actually fits her friend. Looser, more fun, more personal.

In the process, she realizes what she’s been working so hard for all these years and what she’s been missing. Cameron was her past. Jacques has always been there, waiting. They reconnect over wine, walks along the Seine, and conversations about living life instead of just planning it.

She stays in Paris.