Real filming locations of Netflix Christmas films shot in castles: Champagne Problems (Épernay), A Castle for Christmas and The Princess Switch (Scot
Christmas Films: The Real Castles Behind Champagne Problems, A Castle for Christmas and The Princess Switch
The Château Cassell in Champagne Problems really exists: it is the Château de Pékin, on the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay. Its Scottish neighbours Dalmeny, Tantallon and Hopetoun played Dun Dunbar and the palace of Montenaro.
Editorial journal · Carte des Châteaux ·
Every year at the end of the year, the streaming platforms dust off their Christmas romances, and the castle almost always takes the leading role. These fairy-tale settings, often filmed in the middle of summer under artificial snow, are nonetheless real homes, each with its own history. In Épernay, the Château Cassell in Champagne Problems is a Second Empire merchant's house that was once the seat of Eugène Mercier. Near Edinburgh, two Netflix films turned the residences of the Earls of Rosebery and the Marquesses of Linlithgow into storybook castles.
The Film, the Castle
Champagne Problems (2025)
Château Cassell = Château de Pékin (Comtesse Lafond), Épernay
A Castle for Christmas (2021)
Dun Dunbar = Dalmeny House and Barnbougle; ruins of Tantallon Castle
The Princess Switch 2 and 3 (2020-2021)
Palace of Montenaro = Hopetoun House
West Lothian · South Queensferry
Hopetoun House
Near South Queensferry, on the Firth of Forth, Hopetoun House is one of Scotland's largest historic houses and home of the Hopes, Earls of Hopetoun and later Marquesses of Linlithgow. Its long east front, extended by colonnades and pavilions, appears at the end of a vast park sloping down to the estuary. The house was begun in 1699 by Sir William Bruce, architect of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, for the young Charles Hope, at the initiative of his mother, Lady Margaret Hamilton. From 1721 William Adam remodelled and enlarged it; after his death in 1748, his sons John, James and Robert continued the interiors. King George IV was received here in 1822. Still lived in by the family, Hopetoun opens its state rooms to the public in season and hosts a Christmas market every winter. A regular filming location, it played the royal palace of Montenaro in The Princess Switch 2 and 3 (Netflix) and several sets in Outlander.
Marne · Épernay
Château de Pékin (Château Comtesse Lafond)
At the far end of the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay, the Château de Pékin stands on the edge of the slope overlooking the Marne valley. The wine merchant François Abelé, from Württemberg, had it built in 1859 as both a residence and a wine-making establishment. Its T-shaped plan places the transverse wing above the cliff, giving the reception rooms a view of the valley, while two corner towers, cut limestone and steep slate roofs give it the look of a small château. The name appears as early as 1860; it is said to recall the entry of Napoleon III's troops into the Chinese capital, or simply its isolated position, further east than the other houses on the avenue. Along with Château Perrier, it is the only house on the Avenue de Champagne to bear the title of château. Eugène Mercier bought it in 1873 to make it the headquarters of his Champagne house. Long neglected, the château was fully restored in 2000 and became the headquarters of the Comtesse Lafond house, hence its other name. It now hosts tours, tastings and receptions. Its exteriors stood in for Château Cassell in the Christmas film Champagne Problems (Netflix, 2025).
City of Edinburgh · Dalmeny (South Queensferry)
Dalmeny House
On the shore of the Firth of Forth, west of Edinburgh, Dalmeny House is the home of the Earls of Rosebery. Completed in 1817, it marked a turning point in Scottish architecture as the first house in the country built in the Tudor Revival style, with ornate chimneys, battlements, octagonal towers and mullioned windows. The 4th Earl of Rosebery commissioned it from William Wilkins, a Cambridge friend who later designed the National Gallery in London. The family, settled on the estate since 1662, then left the wave-battered old Barnbougle Castle. The hammer-beam entrance hall foreshadows the one Wilkins designed for King's College, Cambridge. Through the 5th Earl's marriage to Hannah de Rothschild in 1878, the house received part of the Mentmore Towers collections: 18th-century French furniture and porcelain, and a major Napoleonic collection. Still lived in, Dalmeny House played Dun Dunbar in A Castle for Christmas (Netflix, 2021).
East Lothian · North Berwick
Tantallon Castle
On the cliffs of East Lothian, east of North Berwick, the ruins of Tantallon face the Bass Rock and the mouth of the Firth of Forth. The promontory is protected by the sea on three sides; only the landward side had to be closed off, by a red sandstone curtain wall of exceptional height and thickness, flanked by towers and fronted by a wide ditch. William Douglas, later 1st Earl of Douglas, built the castle in the mid-14th century; Historic Environment Scotland describes it as the last great curtain-walled castle built in Scotland. After the family split, Tantallon passed to the 'Red' Douglases, Earls of Angus, who held it for nearly three centuries and often clashed with the Crown: it was besieged by James IV in 1491 and James V in 1528, then adapted for artillery. In 1651 Cromwell's guns wrecked the towers and the castle was abandoned. Now cared for by Historic Environment Scotland, it can be visited with a ticket. Its dramatic ruins have appeared in several films, including A Castle for Christmas (Netflix, 2021).
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