Sweet tooth day trip

by Gemma McGowan contributing writer

This day trip to the German cities of Cologne and Bonn will certainly satisfy your sweet tooth! From rich and smooth chocolate to fruity and tangy gummies, this road trip will make you feel like you are driving along the path in the board game “Candy Land” (pictured on the right).

Schokoladenmuseum – Chocolate Museum

Even driving past the attractive city of Cologne, you can’t help but notice the magnificent Cologne Cathedral that stands high and proud in the skyline. Look a bit lower when you get into the city and you’ll notice something almost as amazing – the modern-looking Chocolate Museum. Within walking distance from the Cathedral, this museum attracts 600,000 visitors each year! Opened in 1993, this privately owned museum offers a walk-through cocoa history, exhibits on the pre-Columbian cultures of Central America, collections of baroque porcelain, and a historical review of machines from the industrial period.

Then on to the chocolate! In the glass-walled production facility, you view the chocolate workshop and see how chocolate is crafted and processed for selling. The pride of the museum is the three-meter-high chocolate fountain that is constantly fed with 200 kg of mouth watering Lindt chocolate!

Photo by Christian Schwier/Shutterstock.com

After learning about and seeing all this chocolate it is only right to end up in the museum gift shop and buy some! This is a premium chocolaterie which sells assorted chocolates, chocolate figures, truffles, and other incredible gifts that you can bring home for yourself and friends. For example, there are not many places where you can get an extremely lifelike looking chocolate high heel!

Address:

Schokoladenmuseum Köln GmbH

Am Schokoladenmuseum 1a 50678 Köln

Chocolat Grand Café

After you have filled your mind with chocolate knowledge and your bags with chocolate treats, it is time to fill your appetite at the Chocolat Grand Café! The cafe has a 30-meter long panorama window with a spectacular view of the Rhine River. This is the perfect spot to sit back and try a sweet treat from the many delectable options on the cafe menu.

Photos by POC/Shutterstock.com

HARIBO Fabrikverkauf Factory

Last stop on the Candy Land trail is the HARIBO Fabrikverkauf Factory in Bonn, Germany. The HARIBO store is conveniently located only 30 minutes from the Chocolate Museum in Cologne. The HARIBO store has so many candy and gummy options that you will literally feel like a kid in a candy store!

This store is special for a number of reasons. They have a wonderful selection of goodies, sell bulk amounts, and most of the time there is a slight discount compared to regular food stores. There are also novelty items for sale like plush gummy bear dolls, t-shirts, cloth bags, buttons, etc.

During our visit to the HARIBO Fabrikverkauf Factory, to our surprise, we arrived only about 20 minutes before closing. We couldn’t find my youngest daughter’s left shoe, and candy shopping time was ticking so we decided to go shoeless (on one foot) for the sake of time. I told the kids they could each pick out any one item in the store... but that they had to hurry! Their eyes got big as saucers, then they sprinted in different directions. I hope it is a moment that they always remember!

The HARIBO Fabrikverkauf Factory is definitely worth a visit, and it is the perfect way to end the ‘sweet tooth’ road trip!

Address:

HARIBO Fabrikverkauf Factory

Friesdorfer Str. 125 53175 Bonn

Photo by Vytautas Kielaitis/Shutterstock.com