A 20 minute train ride away from Lausanne, Switzerland is the Montreaux train station. From this station, the Chocolate Train leaves every morning to ferry people away to a land of endless chocolate. I’m convinced this is as close to the Willy Wonka experience as I’ll ever get, and I’m good with that.

This train has fulfilled childhood dreams I didn’t even know that I had. It starts off with a breakfast of chocolate croissant and chocolate milk (you could alternatively have coffee, but what’s the fun in that?). The train whisks you through the beautiful Swiss countryside, ending at the quaint, rustic Broc-Fabrique train station.

After leaving the train, it’s just a quick 5 minute walk to the Callier Chocolate Factory (this is essentially the Swiss branch of Nestle Chocolate). The building includes a little park with replicas of some of the cows who supply the milk for the milk chocolate that is absolutely adorable.

Upon entering, your senses are immediately filled with chocolate. I could almost taste it in the air. There are even chocolate replicas on the ceiling.

The experience starts off with a tour, about 20 minutes, covering the history of chocolate in the most interactive way possible. You travel from room to room, learning about the ancient roots of cacao, up to the how Callier chocolate began in Switzerland.

 

 

 

After the tour, you arrive in a room filled with boxes of different ingredients included in Callier chocolate, which you can touch and smell, as well as listen to short explanations of. The surrounding walls are filled with photos of people involved in different processes that make up the chocolate production and distribution. There’s a view into the factory process of the chocolate, and you’re rewarded with some delicious treats at the end.

My favorite part, you then learn the basic steps in becoming a chocolate taster:

After your introduction to the art of chocolate tasting, you reach the ultimate destination: a room full of chocolate you can taste endlessly until someone has to roll you away (told you, just like Willy Wonka’s place!).

This chocolate tasting is the first time having a nut allergy has every paid off for me. After asking which chocolates were safe to eat, I was sent in the right direction, as well as brought my own personal plate of chocolates that were nut-free (this lead to the very flattering questions from other people on the tour, asking if I was a professional chocolate connoisseur, and was that why I received special treatment?).

 

After you’ve eaten more chocolate than you thought physically possible, you can wander into the gift shop and admire the chocolate wall.

Suffice to say, I’m officially a lifetime devotee to Callier Chocolate. And so is Lola!

 

 

xox,

Lauren