July // 2026
Paris was just the beginning: Paris Is Always a Good Idea was also filmed in San Sebastián and Bilbao
Paris Is Always a Good Idea
Hallmark's star Lacey Chabert has done Iceland, Fiji, Rome and Scotland. For her next movie, she went to Paris. With a camera crew, a six-episode script and Scott Michael Foster as her insufferable but charming rival. Paris Is Always a Good Idea premiered exclusively on Hallmark+ on July 30, 2026, based on Jenn McKinlay's bestselling novel.
The story is set across Paris, Dublin, Boston and Spain. The real production filmed in only two countries — France and Spain — with the Basque Country doing creative double duty as the Irish countryside. Dublin and Boston appear in the narrative but were not confirmed filming locations.
Paris
Scott Michael Foster initially assumed the sequence would be created with a green screen before learning the production had secured permission to film at the landmark itself. Showrunner Lauren Muir explained that the crew could only shoot after the Eiffel Tower had closed to the public, allowing them to capture the iconic location without crowds.
The production shot scenes on Place du Trocadero with the Eiffel Tower in the background.
Lacey Chabert filmed on Pont Louis-Philippe — the elegant stone bridge crossing the River Seine near Notre-Dame Cathedral — during an evening shoot. Chabert described filming there as "magical."
Scenes were filmed along Pass Vérité towards Pl. de Valois, on Avenue Foch with the Arc de Triomphe in the background and on many other locations around the city.
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Getaria, Gipuzkoa
After Paris, filming relocated to Spain's Basque Country for the remainder of the series. One confirmed location is Usotegi Agroturismo Casa Rural — a countryside property overlooking the coastal town of Getaria in Gipuzkoa Province. Several scenes set in Ireland were actually filmed across the Basque Country, with locations like Usotegi Agroturismo Casa Rural providing the lush countryside that convincingly doubles for the Irish landscape.
Bilbao and San Sebastián
Author Jenn McKinlay told Arizona's KJZZ that she visited the production after flying into Madrid and driving to Bilbao, where filming was taking place near a castle outside the city.
San Sebastián also features in the production, its old town, La Concha beach and Belle Époque architecture providing a different visual register from both Paris and the Bilbao hinterland.
Paris Is Always a Good Idea premieres on July 30, 2026 on Hallmark+.
SOURCE
KJZZ Arizona // Girls gone Hallmark
CREDITS
Hallmark, Dynamic Television, Clapperboard Studios
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