Swiss chocolates have not just ruled the world but our fantasies too with their silky smooth, melt-in-the-mouth goodness. For most of us, childhood indulgences were about relishing velvety Lindt truffles filled with a range of tempting fillings, the unique triangle-shaped Toblerone chocolate bars or Nestle's multiple chocolate offerings - KitKat to Mikybar. That is the magic of Swiss chocolates, for which Switzerland ranks among the leading countries worldwide in chocolate production and export. On this World Chocolate Day 2022 as we celebrate our love affair with cocoa, we give you reasons to embark on a fantastic journey into the world of chocolate at Switzerland's new chocolate museum that is truly a dreamland for chocolate lovers.
No vacation in Switzerland is complete without indulging in Swiss chocolates. For travellers making their way to Zurich, the city offers many fun activities for everyone (family and kids), including chocolate tours and workshops to learn all about chocolate making and enjoy chocolate tasting too. Our recent summer holiday in Zurich became all the more sweeter when we signed up for the chocolate tour at the sparkly new Lindt Home of Chocolate, and made our way to Kilchberg, which is a short train/bus ride away from Old Town.
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Located right next to the iconic Lindt & Sprungli factory in production since 1899, the Lindt Home Of Chocolate stands tall with its stark white, modern minimalist design. Where most chocolate stores in the city bear a medieval look with an old-world charm, this museum is a chic upgrade with its high tech, futuristic appeal. A whooping over 100 million Swiss francs have been invested in establishing the museum. Don't be surprised if you feel as though you have stepped into another dimension. The expansive space with curving staircases, suspended walkways and imposing overhead skylights are all very impressive. Particularly, the piece-de-resistance - a giant chocolate fountain towering over 9 meters, with real melted chocolate flowing through it. You can literally smell the chocolate too!
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The chocolate tour is an interactive multimedia exhibition that spans over 1,500 square meters with 7 focal areas that cover topics such as Cocoa Cultivation, History of Chocolate, Swiss Chocolate Pioneers and Chocolate Production to name a few. Guided by an audio-visual device, we soon got onto the tour, which provided fascinating insights into how Switzerland became the number 1 destination for chocolates. We learned about the cultivation process and how cacao progressed from being an exotic delicacy to an affordable pleasure. It was inspiring to see how a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in the 19th century shaped the course of chocolates as we know it today. We got an introduction to Swiss Pioneers such as Daniel Peter who developed the world's first milk chocolate and Rodolphe Lindt, whose revolutionary creation of chocolate fondant using an innovative conche machine led to the production of velvety, silky-smooth chocolates.
A sampling of Lindt's rich, velvety milk chocolate
The chocolate tasting section, with over 8 kinds of chocolate bars
With all that knowledge gathered, the tour soon brought us to what's probably the most favourite section in the exhibition - the chocolate tasting. We tasted over 8 varieties of chocolate bars, moving onto more indulgences with the tasting of Lindt truffles.
We discovered that the building houses a research facility and the show production, offering instruction and training provision for specialists from a wide variety of fields and companies. The tour doesn't end with the exhibition. You can make your way to the world's largest Lindt Chocolate Shop, the first Lindt Cafe in Switzerland as well as a Chocolateria for chocolate-making courses.
Where: Schokoladenplatz 1, Seestrasse 204, 8802 Kilchberg, Switzerland
Time: 10 AM to 6 PM
Price: Tickets cost CHF 15 per adult, CHF 10 per child (8-15 years) and free for children from 0-7 years.
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