The Best Hallmark Movies To Watch This Christmas

When the nights get longer and the days get colder, it can only mean one thing — Christmas is coming! The festive season brings skating, skiing, Christmas markets, mulled wine, gingerbread lattes, and a whole host of must-watch Christmas movies. In addition to the classics, we love adding a few Hallmark holiday films to our festive watch lists. After all, no one does saccharine, sincere Christmas romance quite like the famous TV movie channel. In fact, according to Forbes, the channel has made over 300 Christmas movies since 2009 alone — and over 80 million people watch at least a little bit of a Hallmark Christmas movie every year. 

You've probably seen a few of Hallmark's most popular holiday movies yourself, such as a newer film like "Christmas at Castle Hart," "My Christmas Family Tree," or a classic like "Time For Them to Come Home for Christmas." Looking for another Hallmark holiday movie to add to your list? Here are our top picks.

In the 2014 Hallmark holiday classic "Christmas Under Wraps," Candace Cameron Bure plays a type-A medical student who is devastated when she is put on the waitlist for her dream hospital fellowship. Instead, she decides to work as a doctor in a small town in Alaska. There, she meets Andy (David O'Donnell), a carefree local who helps her learn to enjoy life regardless of whether everything goes to plan. However, she soon uncovers a festive secret about Andy's father.

What makes this Christmas movie so unique? Well, for one thing, the Alaskan scenery is unbeatable. The film is set in a charming small town where they "are really into Christmas," as Bure said in a Hallmark Channel interview for the film. And then there's the lovely love story. "I think Andy shows Lauren just what Christmas can be about and brings Lauren's attention to Christmas, and she enjoys it for the first time as an adult." She added, "Christmas is a time of good cheer and goodwill and love, and so when you wrap that all up in a movie, how can you not love that?" We have to agree!

The 2020 Hallmark movie "One Royal Holiday" is another classic-in-the-making that combines two of our favorite things — Christmas and single princes. In this charming film, Broadway's Laura Osnes plays Anna, who helps a woman and her grown-up son during a blizzard, only to learn they are members of a fictional European royal family. When Anna meets the Prince (played by another Broadway star, Aaron Tveit). Sparks soon fly, and — you guessed it — the pair fall in love. What makes this royal romance extra special is the music. With two Broadway stars in the cast, Hallmark managed to fit in a few gorgeous renditions of Christmas songs, including "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." "Laura and I have known each other for a long time," said Tveit.

Anna and the Prince don't initially hit it off like all great romances. However, her fun, sassy personality soon brings him out of his shell. "He eventually, kind of, opens up, and I think she sees the humanity in him," Osnes said in an interview with the Hallmark Channel, adding, "This movie is a perfect Christmas romance because it really is about love surviving all odds." Sign us up.

The lovely 2020 Hallmark movie "Jingle Bell Bride" tells the story of Jessica, a wedding planner from New York City who sets off for Alaska during the holidays to help a demanding celebrity client. When she meets a sweet local guy, Matt, she falls in love with the town and the man. The movie stars Julie Gonzalo and Ronnie Rowe Jr. in the leading roles. 

This is one of those movie couples you'll love to watch. The pair meet when Jessica comes to Matt's greenhouse searching for a rare flower. "They develop such a beautiful little friendship," said Gonzalo in an interview (via YouTube). "Jessica and Matt's relationship is very organic," added Rowe. "And it builds very smoothly throughout the film, I guess because Matt is such a charming, loveable guy."

Gonzalo also explained that she had great chemistry with Rowe, which they brought to their characters. And, as Rowe agreed. As he told the "Hallmarkies" podcast, what makes this relationship extra fun to watch is that the director allowed the actors to bring their own spin to the characters. "They allowed Julie and I to play within the words." 

"Road to Christmas" is a 2018 Hallmark Christmas movie with everything you could want — love, scandal, mystery, and even a Y2K heartthrob in the form of Chad Michael Murray. The film tells the story of a Los Angeles television production company. When Maggie Baker (Jessy Schram) is producing Julia Wise's Christmas special, Julia's son appears to help her. The pair have a few disagreements about the show, but eventually, they realize that together, they can make a better show than ever. Maggie also comes up with a plan to get all of Julia's sons together live on air. "I think the heart of this film ultimately is about family," said Murray in an interview with the Hallmark Channel. "To get your family together."

If you're looking for the ultimate Hallmark Christmas movie, this one might be it. As actress Rebecca Staab, who plays Julia, told My Devotional Thoughts, "'Road To Christmas' is an interesting one because you know how there are typically the quintessential things that Hallmark tries to squeeze into their movies. This one was the perfect premise to get everything in." Sounds like this is one Hallmark movie that should be on everyone's list.

Did someone say Christmas in New York? New York City is one of the most exciting cities for Christmas. From their famous tree at Rockafeller Center to the window shopping to their many holiday markets, New York has everything fans of Christmas could want. And in Hallmark's 2019 movie "Christmas at the Plaza," the magic of Christmas in New York comes to life on the screen. The movie follows Jessica (Elizabeth Henstridge), a historian tasked with researching the history of Christmas at the famous Plaza Hotel. She ends up working with Nick (Ryan Paevey), a decorator, and pretty soon, romance is in the air.

"If you've never been to New York and you don't know anything about the Plaza, the Plaza is stunningly beautiful," Paevey gushed during an interview with the Hallmark Channel. "And it's a historic landmark, I mean Frank Sinatra was here, this is an old hotel." If you're craving a chic, sophisticated Christmas movie set in one of the most interesting buildings in the country, "Christmas at the Plaza" is the perfect pick for you.

Based on a novel by Richard Paul Evans, the 2017 Hallmark movie "The Mistletoe Inn," Alicia Witt plays a young romance novelist called Kim, who meets a slightly annoying writer named Zeke (David Alpay) at a writer's retreat. In this enemies-to-lovers story, Kim and Zeke soon fall for each other just in time for Christmas.

Unlike most Christmas movies from Hallmark, "The Mistletoe Inn" is based on a book. "Most of the movies that I've been a part of at Christmastime are not stories that are familiar to people, so I think this will be really neat," Witt explained during an interview with the Hallmark Channel.

Even if you're unfamiliar with the novel, there are still plenty of reasons to add this film to your Christmas list. For one thing, the leading man is nothing short of dreamy. "Zeke is from another era, I think," Alpay said. "You know he's like an old-fashioned, romantic kind." And the love story he shares with Kim is pretty special, too." Witt said, "It's just one of those magical connections I think we would ideally wish for." 

In Hallmark's 2018 movie "Memories of Christmas," we meet Noelle (portrayed by musician and actress Christina Milian), a businesswoman who finds out that she's inherited her late mother's home. Noelle visits her childhood hometown for a family Christmas gala and decides to sell the home while she's there. During her stay — which was initially intended to be brief — she re-discovers the magic of Christmas and naturally finds love with Dave (Mark Taylor), a local handyman who has always embraced the holidays and maintained his small-town mentality and appreciation for Christmas.

This is easily one of the sweetest holiday stories from Hallmark. In fact, even the actors recalled falling in love with it. "It's just the sweetest story ... When I read the script, I was drawn in. .. I was just like, 'This feels real,'" Milian told the Hallmark Channel of her time portraying Noelle in the heartfelt film.