Chocolate has been making life a bite better since the 17th century. Travel is a great way to learn, expand your mind, broaden your horizons, make great memories. Why not combine the two — chocolate and travel? Fabulous idea! The travel advisors at GetAway Travel are here to help you plan an adventure that includes chocolate and great memories. Here’s some of the tasty travel and chocolate possibilities… 

 Saint Lucia 

 This eastern Caribbean Island is a particularly attractive option when it’s cold out. The Saint Lucia rain forest has been home to cacao beans since the 17th century. Chocolate has vied with bananas as the island’s prime export for years with bananas finally taking a backseat to chocolate in recent years. 

Saint Lucia chocolate has less sugar content than Belgian, Dutch, French or American chocolate, but the intense cocoa flavor is not bitter. You can get cocoa tea all over the island and cocoa sticks, which is how the tea is made, make great souvenirs. There are plenty of chocolate, bean to bar, options around the island and you can practice your chocolatier skills. 

“Single estate” chocolates are chocolates produced solely on one estate. Chocolate is highlighted even more in August which is Chocolate Heritage Month. 

Island visitors can indulge in chocolate facials, massages and body scrubs and enjoy savory and sweet chocolate dishes and a choc-tail or two!  

 Barcelona, Spain 

 The city that brought chocolate to Europe immortalizes that in its Museu de la Xocolata. The museum covers the history and production of chocolate with lots of fun activities for children. Visitors are greeted by a massive white chocolate ape named Snowy. There are glass-encased chocolate sculptures around the museum. The emphasis is on Spanish architecture and the Sagrada Familia in chocolate is a sight to behold. 

There’s also a Komodo dragon, a chariot race, Minnie Mouse and Louis Armstrong in chocolate. Your admission ticket is a chocolate bar.  

Carrer de Petritxol is Barcelona’s chocolate street. Lined with bakeries, here you can indulge in chocolate pastries and fabulous hot chocolate. In Catalan, the bakeries are called “granjas” or shops that sell sweet things. Try churros dipped in chocolate, cacaolat, a kind of chocolate milkshake served in glass bottles and catànies which are roasted almonds surrounded by a white chocolate ganache, coated in dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa.  

 Switzerland 

 Switzerland has the highest per capita rate of chocolate consumption in the world. The country that gave the world milk chocolate offers plenty of chocolate experiences. 

Explore the history of chocolate at the Maison Cailler in Broc. A series of interactive, multi sensory experiences tell the story from bean to confection. You can make your own chocolates at one of the workshops. You can also make your own chocolates at Läderach in Bilten. A chocolate fountain has milk, dark and white chocolate spilling down. Läderach has a reputation for great artisanal chocolates spiced up with candied oranges, carmelized almonds, roasted hazelnuts, cashews, strawberries and pistachios.  

The Camille Bloch museum in Courtelary chronicles how the Bloch family created the Ragusa and Torino brands. There’s guided tours, tastings and product demonstrations. 

You can’t walk into a supermarket in Switzerland without seeing a wall of Munz, Minor and Maestrani brand chocolates. Maestrani in Flawil makes chocolates of all sizes and shapes. The museum at their headquarters emphasizes the happiness of chocolate.  

Lindt’s visitors center in Kilchberg is relatively new, opening in 2020. Brace yourself for all things chocolate, tasting options are everywhere. There’s a huge Lindt shop and, at a stunning 30-feet high, the world’s largest free-standing chocolate fountain.  

 Bariloche, Argentina 

 Bariloche is a town in Patagonia famous for Alpine architecture and chocolate production. Nicknamed “Little Switzerland,” its chocolate factories started springing up 50 years ago when Italian immigrants settled here and decided to share their chocolate-making expertise. 

Chocolate shops and cafes line Mitre Street which is known as the avenue of chocolate dreams 

Learn about the history of chocolate and the production process at the Fenoglio Museo del Chocolate. 

 Brussels, Belgium 

 The city is home to the Choc-Story museum and famous chocolatiers like Neuhaus, Pierre Marcolini, Mary, Wittamer and Godiva. At Choc-Story learn how the Mayas, then the Aztecs grew cocoa trees and how the bean made its way to Europe and was turned into chocolate. 

At the museum a master chocolatier will prepare pralines in front of you and, tasting is included. 

Neuhaus, Wittamer and Mary all have royal warrants which means parties at the palace include chocolates from these places picked up by members of the royal households.  

The museum at Mary is one of the largest in the world and includes a tropical greenhouse which mimics the conditions of cocoa tree cultivation. 

You can’t get bad chocolate in a country that is home to more than 2,000 chocolatiers and produces more than 270,000 tons of chocolate a year. 

 Birmingham, England 

 Thank you John Cadbury who began selling tea, coffee and chocolate drinks in 1824 and then grew his business into the Cadbury brand. Visitors to Birmingham can check out Cadbury World. Learn some Cadbury history, shop in the world’s largest Cadbury store, sample (of course) Cadbury treats and participate in some chocolate-themed activities. 

Take self-guided tours through interactive displays. The 4D Chocolate Adventure lets you ride the crunchie roller coaster, dive into a bowl of Cadbury Dairy Milk, fly a Cadbury Creme Egg airship and pose for chocolate themed photos in front of the green screen. 

 Then there’s…. 

 Cologne, Germany which is home to the Imhoff-Schokoledenmuseum. This chocolate museum looks at the more modern aspects of chocolate production. See how chocolate bars, truffles and hollow chocolate figures are made. You can dunk a Belgian waffle in the nearly 10-foot high chocolate fountain. 

Paris, in addition to all of its fabulous bakeries and chocolate shops, hots the Salon du Chocolat trade fair each year around the end of October. This five-day extravaganza brings chocolatiers, pastry chefs, confectioners and cocoa producers as well as food bloggers and representatives of major brands to the city. The trade fair includes a chocolate fashion show and live chef demonstrations. 

Peru has the world’s rarest chocolate. It is made from strands of cocoa beans from the Pure Nacional Tree. 

Turin, Italy is nicknamed Italy’s “capital of cocoa.” Its featured product is gianduitto which is chocolate made using chocolate and hazelnuts. 

Hokkaido, Japan will let you feed your chocolate fix at the airport. Roycé Chocolate World is a concept store that includes a chocolate factory and museum. Nestlé’s version of the KitKat bar in Japan features unique flavors like green tea and matcha.  

If your next travel adventure includes a chocolate stop, the travel advisors at GetAway Travel can help you with that. We can be reached at:  (262) 538-2140, e-mail: sue@getaway.travel or paul@getaway.travel