10 chocolate experiences around the world

The nearly eight million Britons who reach for chocolate daily can take their obsession further by centring their holidays around a deeper exploration into their favourite treat. For those inspired to recreate their discoveries at home, delving into a variety of chocolate recipes can extend the joy well beyond the trip itself.

The opportunities to explore great chocolate while travelling are ever-growing, but this selection from the UK, Europe, and the Americas comes highly recommended by chocolate tour guide and expert Jennifer Earle, who has been planning all of her vacations around chocolate for the past two decades.

From annual festivals to year-round decadence and adventure, there are plenty of options around the world, and closer to home, to learn a little while also consuming an abundance of chocolate. Many do need to be booked in advance.

Chocolate experiences in the UK

Though the world’s first chocolate bar was made by Fry’s in Bristol in 1847, the UK’s reputation for chocolate was overshadowed by the Swiss and Belgians, thanks to the powerful marketing budgets of Lindt and Godiva.

Today, excellent – and ethically made – chocolate is produced in almost every country. In the UK and Ireland, 55 companies make craft, bean-to-bar chocolate, and numerous artisan chocolatiers, bakeries and restaurants are using high-quality chocolate. Many of these businesses have opened their doors to chocolate lovers for hands-on experiences, often led directly by the owners.

Suffolk: hands-on chocolate making

Within a few hours of London, two award-winning British chocolate makers offer tastings and craft chocolate making experiences.

Pump Street Chocolate began when Pump Street Bakery’s founder, Chris Brennan, experimented with chocolate making in 2010 after noticing similarities between good bread and good chocolate. Joined by his daughter Joanna, they grew Pump Street Chocolate into one of the largest craft bean-to-bar makers in the UK, while maintaining its commitment to quality and ethical sourcing.

In late 2024, Pump Street opened a dedicated workshop in Orford. Once or twice a month on weekends, they host a two-hour talk and workshop (£95 per person), which includes making bars to take home.

Pump Street Chocolate. Credit: Yuki Sugiura — Credit: Yuki Sugiura

A short, scenic drive north of Orford leads to Tosier Chocolate, a family-run business equally committed to ethical sourcing. Set in a former farm store among verdant green fields, Tosier offers tastings, bar-making workshops and factory tours most Fridays and Saturdays (from £45 per person). The tours are often led by the founders or their son, a trained chef who works in the business. Don’t miss Tosier’s version of chocolate rochers.

Scotland: Chocolate Tree factory tour and workshop

Chocolate Tree – another of the UK’s original craft chocolate makers – has launched 90-minute Friday afternoon tours (£40 per adult, £30 per child) at its East Lothian factory.

The tour begins among towering sacks of cocoa beans sourced from across the globe, with guests sipping refreshing juice made from the fruit that surrounds the beans while they’re still on the tree. From there, visitors are guided through the factory and assisted in moulding three chocolate bars to take home. The tour ends with a seated tasting of the company’s award-winning single origin and flavoured chocolates, including one where the sugar is replaced with the dried cocoa fruit.

Chocolate Tree, Scotland, bar making copy

Brighton: Brighton Chocolate Festival

The Brighton Chocolate Festival returns for its fifth year on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 September at Wagner Hall. Exhibitors must meet minimum ethical sourcing standards, making it an ideal place to learn more about chocolate and taste creations from vetted makers. Across the country, UK Chocolate Week returns from 13 to 19 October, with tastings, small festivals, markets and other activities announced via Instagram at @UKChocolateWeek.

Chocolate experiences in Europe

Paris: Salon du Chocolat

In 2025, Salon du Chocolat celebrates its 30th anniversary. From its first Paris show in 1995, the organisation has hosted events worldwide. Paris remains its centrepiece and the event grows each year, with over 250 exhibitors expected this year, 40 per cent of whom will be new.

The elaborate five-day event takes place during the October half term, across two levels in the enormous exhibition centre at Porte des Versailles. Visitors can meet growers, makers, cocoa producers and chocolatiers from around the world, taste and purchase chocolate and patisserie, admire chocolate-themed fashion and art, meet chefs and even be entertained by a musical (new this year).

It’s advisable to allow at least a full day to explore the show fully. Wear comfortable shoes as there are few places to rest, have a protein-rich breakfast and be conservative in saying yes to samples, to avoid peaking too soon. Presale ticket prices are €15 per day for adults and from €7 for children.

Germany: EuroBean festival

In 2016, German makers Choco del Sol launched a family-friendly bean-to-bar chocolate festival, EuroBean, in Rochsburg Castle near Chemnitz. This year, as Chemnitz serves as European Capital of Culture, the festival moves to a museum in the city centre. The event promotes awareness of sustainable chocolate production through fun activities, concerts, workshops, tastings and meals, as well as a market of makers. Day tickets are €20 for adults, €13 for children, €45 for two adults and two children.

EuroBean festival. Credit: Danilo Puchelt — Credit: Danilo Puchelt

Austria: Zotter Chocolate

All year round, Zotter’s chocolate experience in southern Austria offers the pinnacle of interactive edutainment and chocolate tasting that’s perfect for families. Think of it as Disneyland for chocolate lovers.

Josef Zotter moved his chocolate atelier to his in-laws’ farm in 1999 to save the business, later opening it to the public. Today, over 220,000 visitors annually enjoy the experience, which begins with a film, followed by tastings at every production stage, a 'design your own bar' station, and a sushi-style conveyor belt offering samples of layered “handscooped” chocolate bars. Beyond the chocolate experience itself, visitors can explore the farm, meet animals and challenge themselves in the adventure playground. Tickets start from €7.90 for children and €21.90 per adult.

While you're there, check out the best restaurants in Vienna.

Chocolate experiences in Central America and the Caribbean

For the ultimate chocolate experience, it’s worth considering visiting one of the equatorial countries where cocoa trees flourish. There’s nothing quite like the sight and taste of the weird and wonderful cocoa fruit, which looks as though it’s been plucked straight from a Roald Dahl or Enid Blyton novel.

Grenada: The Grenada Chocolate Festival

The Grenada Chocolate Festival is the longest-running chocolate festival in a cocoa-growing country. It’s held over a week in May and centres around the True Blue Estate on the island of Grenada. As well as enjoying the stunning Caribbean beaches and warm hospitality, visitors can make the most of a packed schedule of chocolate celebration including farm visits, banquets, music, cooking classes, rum tastings, chocolate yoga, chocolate making and chocolate-themed spa treatments.

Belize: Cacao harvests and farm adventures

Belize, with English as its official language and beaches perfect for snorkelling and surfing, is already a strong draw for a tropical holiday. The country’s beautiful forests are also home to some of the rarest and most highly prized varieties of cocoa.

Che’il Mayan Product’s organic farm won an award for sustainable tourism in 2024. The founders offer half-day jungle hikes through the world’s only jaguar reserve. The adventure includes an optional waterfall dip, a tamale lunch, traditional chocolate making and a chocolate bar to take home. Hikes from $130 per person.

Gaia Riverlodge (from £216 per night), located two hours inland near the Guatemalan border, offers private cabanas by a waterfall, a hydro-powered electric tram to the river, signature Maya Margaritas and activities including assisting in the cacao harvest (December to June) and year-round bar-making workshops.

St Lucia: Hotel Chocolat

Fifteen years ago, British-founded Hotel Chocolat opened Rabot Hotel on the grounds of a working cocoa farm, overlooking the famous Pitons.

Chocolate features throughout the five-star experience, from chocolate cocktails by the infinity pool, to cacao-infused dishes in the restaurant, cocoa butter treatments in the spa and stocked Velvetiser bars in the rooms. Hotel stays include a Tree-to-Bar workshop where guests grind the cacao themselves. The experiences are also available to non-guests (from $69 per person).

Hotel Chocolat St Lucia - Matt Wild Media

Costa Rica: chocolate workshops

Costa Rica’s beaches, forests, hot springs, and biodiversity make it a dream destination, complemented by a growing number of award-winning chocolate makers offering tours and workshops.

Founded in 2005, La Iguana Chocolate, southwest of San José, offers a 2.5-hour “farm to bar” tour and occasional tailored bean-to-bar classes and tasting workshops. On the “farm to bar” tour, visitors are walked through La Iguana’s agroforestry system to taste fresh tropical fruits and plants and observe cocoa fermentation and drying, and are then guided through every stage of the chocolate-making process.

For a more intensive experience, Macaw Lodge is home to a six-day residential chocolate workshop hosted by Insight Chocolate. It’s especially ideal for chocolate lovers considering a career change into the industry, but all enthusiasts are welcome. The eco-lodge also offers shorter chocolate experiences, agroforestry education, yoga and garden tours, all in a very special lake-view setting, serving three-course meals that incorporate produce from the far, which straddles two of Costa Rica’s 12 microclimates.