For some, the holiday season means curling up on the couch and turning on the Hallmark Channel, where feel-good movies about city slickers finding love in small-town America amid flurries of snow and twinkling Christmas lights reign supreme. Hallmark doesn’t wait until December to roll out its cozy holiday flicks. The TV channel’s annual Countdown to Christmas kicks off on Friday, October 20. If you don’t want to wait until then to start getting in the Christmas spirit, here are 13 Hallmark Christmas movie locations you can visit.
1. Dahlonega, Georgia
Christmas in Homestead (2016) was shot in the small town of Dahlonega, Georgia. In the movie, a well-known actress meets a handsome innkeeper while filming a movie in a small Christmas-crazed town in Iowa. Dahlonega may not actually be Iowa, but the town does have a reputation for its holiday spirit.
2. Farmington, Utah
At least half a dozen Hallmark movies were filmed in or around Salt Lake City, Utah. But among the most well-known films set in this region is 2015’s Christmas Land, which was filmed in Farmington, around 17 miles north of Salt Lake City. In the film, a career-driven city woman prepares to sell the Christmas tree farm she inherited—until she gets to know the townspeople, of course. It isn’t long before she finds herself enamored by the town and a certain man who lives there.
Additional Utah-based Hallmark films include Check Inn to Christmas (2019), Christmas Made to Order (2018), and A Christmas Wish (2011). The latter stars actors like Gilmore Girls’ Edward Herrmann and Friends’ Mike Hagerty.
3. Wilmington, North Carolina
Christmas in Conway (2013) was set in the town of Conway, South Carolina, but was actually filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. In the film, a crotchety man named Duncan brings his terminally ill wife, Suzy, home to those she loves at Christmas. Mandy Moore stars in the film as Suzy’s nurse.
Hallmark has shot several movies in Wilmington over the years. “We used to do 20 or 25 of these a year back in the ‘90s,” Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission, told Star News in 2021. Filming usually just takes a few weeks.
4. Nevada City, California
The Christmas Card (2006) follows a soldier who received a touching Christmas card during his time in Afghanistan. When he returns home, he goes on a mission to find the woman who wrote the card, which brings him to Nevada City, California. The movie was originally meant to be set in Vermont, but due to budget issues, the filmmakers instead chose to film in the small California city.
5. Cincinnati, Ohio
Mariah Carey fans are in for a treat with 2015’s A Christmas Melody, which stars the singer and her music, as well as Hocus Pocus’s Kathy Najimy and Mean Girls’ Lacey Chabert. The movie was directed by the Queen of Christmas herself. It follows the story of a single mother who moves back home to the town of Silver Falls, where an old high school rivalry is reignited. There is no Silver Falls, Ohio; the movie was actually filmed in and around Cincinnati.
6. New York City, New York
Christmas at the Plaza (2019) takes place in New York City, where it was filmed. It tells the tale of Jessica, a historian stuck in a failing relationship, and Nick, a decorator, as they work together to create a magnificent display in the Plaza Hotel. Christmas at the Plaza is just one of the many movies the famous hotel has been featured in.
7. Vail, Colorado
Vail, Colorado, is an iconic ski and Christmas destination. 2020’s Winter in Vail, which was filmed in its namesake location, highlights the mountain town’s winter charm. In the film, a Los Angeles-based event planner named Chelsea (Chabert) inherits a home in Vail; she then meets a contractor named Owen (Tyler Hynes), an attractive local who changes her life.
8. British Columbia, Canada
Hallmark is hot for Canada, and there are a few reasons why: There are attractive tax incentives for filming in the country and hiring Canadian actors, writers, and directors. The pleasant weather and beautiful, diverse scenery are also a draw.
British Columbia—namely Vancouver—is the company’s most common choice when it comes to choosing a Canadian film location. A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado (2020) and The Christmas House (2020) are among the most well-known titles filmed in the province. Like the name suggests, A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado is based in Colorado, but it was actually filmed in Hope, British Columbia. The movie is about a woman who has to win over a firefighter to convince him to let her cut a Christmas tree down from his property. The Christmas House was filmed in Vancouver, and it tells the story of two sons who come home to support their parents over Christmas.
9. Memphis, Tennessee
The title of Christmas at Graceland (2018) makes it pretty clear where the movie was set and filmed. It features a mom (played by Kellie Pickler) who, wanting to experience Graceland before Christmas, visits Elvis’s historic estate while back in Memphis on a business trip (and runs into an old crush). The movie was filmed in Memphis in July, with, as the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, “cast members sweating beneath their winter coats and wool caps in 100-degree heat while crew members laid sheets of white cotton on the Graceland lawn and sprayed the bushes and trees with artificial snow.”
10. Chester, Vermont
In Moonlight & Mistletoe (2008), a woman comes to her dad’s rescue after he’s injured, with the hopes of keeping his year-round Santaville business afloat. Though the movie—which was set and filmed in Chester, Vermont—looks like a winter wonderland, the summertime film scheduled required the use of a lot of fake snow.
11. Charlotte, North Carolina
Despite its title, 2020’s A Nashville Christmas Carol was predominantly filmed in Charlotte, North Carolina, due to tax rebates. This film stars Jessy Schram and Wes Brown, and features the kind of country music that one would expect to come out of Nashville. Country stars Sara Evans, Wynonna Judd, and Kix Brooks all feature in the film.
12. Woodstock, Connecticut
One Royal Holiday (2020) is based in the fictional town of Kentsbury, Connecticut, and was filmed in Woodstock and a number of other small towns in the Nutmeg State’s “Quiet Corner.” When a terrible blizzard makes it impossible for a mother and son to travel, Anna offers them shelter. It doesn’t take long for a little bit of Christmas magic to change all of their lives after Anna learns the two travelers are royals. The movie, which was filmed in the summer of 2020, is full of Broadway stars like Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit, Krystal Joy Brown, and Victoria Clark, who were available to join the cast due to Broadway’s COVID-19 shutdown.
13. Toronto, Canada
In 2013’s Fir Crazy, a career woman (Sarah Lancaster) has to take over her father’s Christmas tree business after he becomes injured. Although she hates Christmas, she undertakes the task with care and attention and soon has a change of heart. Like many other Hallmark Christmas movies, Fir Crazy was filmed in Toronto.
This article was originally published on www.mentalfloss.com as 13 Hallmark Christmas Movie Locations You Can Visit .
