Chocolate lovers unite! While some people might plan their trips around getting reservations at certain restaurants, why not plan your next vacation around chocolate? The U.S. has some amazing, chocolate-filled destinations that would make a great jumping off point to a trip, giving you an initial sweet reason to visit a destination. From theme parks to chocolate factory tours to chocolate cafes, here are five destinations across the country that take chocolate seriously.
1. Hershey’s Chocolate World, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Few names are more synonymous with chocolatey goodness than Hershey. The town that bills itself as “The Sweetest Place on Earth” is home to Hershey’s Chocolate World, where a free 30-minute tour will let you see, feel, hear and smell the process that turns cocoa beans into your favorite candy bars. The Create Your Own Candy Bar tour ($29.95 per person) allows you to choose the ingredients and design your own wrapper to make a personalized bar.
Once a company town, the community of Hershey now boasts attractions including an amusement park, an automobile museum, gardens and a zoo. Take an old-fashioned trolley tour ($24.95 for ages 13+) and learn more about this “town built on chocolate” and its late founder, Milton Hershey. Samples, such as Hershey’s iconic kisses (introduced in 1907), are included.
NEA member travel benefits: Book a flight through NEA Travel: Flights to Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) to get great airfare prices. Visit NEA Travel: Hotels to find deals at hotels including an average of $97 a night at Comfort Inn at the Park, which includes breakfast and is just a 10-minute drive from the park. Howard Johnson by Wyndham Hershey is a mile outside the park and is an average of $74 a night. The Escape Inn Hershey also gets good ratings for families and includes an extensive free breakfast for an average of $61 a night.
You’ll get up to 20% off admission to Hersheypark when you use the NEA Discount Tickets Program.
Plan your itinerary: Hershey’s Chocolate World | Visit Hershey & Harrisburg | Visit PA
2. Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Co., Nashville, Tennessee
Olive & Sinclair was Tennessee’s first bean-to-bar chocolate maker when it opened in 2007, using vintage stone mills to grind their cacao. They're known for their small-batch bars and other confections like duck fat caramels and bourbon nib brittle.
They offer five tours every Saturday ($8 for adults and $5 for children under 12) of their Nashville factory, each about 45 minutes long, with plenty of samples. During the week, you can tour the factory if you book an e-bike tour of the city, which includes a brief tour of Olive & Sinclair.
NEA member travel benefits: On NEA Travel’s Flights page, flights to Nashville International Airport (BNA) have great prices, and on the Hotels page you’ll see deals including an average of $79 a night at Quality Inn Nashville Downtown - Stadium, which has a unique, guitar-shaped indoor pool, and an average of $117 a night at the centrally located the Capitol Hotel Downtown, Ascend Hotel Collection.
Plan your itinerary: Olive & Sinclair | Nashville, Music City | Tennessee Vacation
3. Lake Champlain Chocolates, Burlington, Vermont
Photo credit: Lake Champlain Chocolates
More than 40 years ago, Jim Lampman bought boxes of chocolates as holiday gifts for his staff at the Ice House Restaurant in Burlington. One Christmas, the pastry chef told his boss the chocolates weren’t very good, and Lampman dared him to do better. The pastry chef did, and within a year, Lampman had sold the restaurant and started Lake Champlain Chocolates, which is still owned by the Lampman family.
Visit the flagship store and factory on Pine Street in Burlington’s South End Arts District where you can watch the chocolate making via an observation platform overlooking the Innovation Kitchen. You can indulge in their award-winning bars and truffles (and save money on the factory seconds for sale), sip some hot chocolate at the Hot Chocolate Bar & Café, or try some ice cream in warmer months.
NEA member travel benefits: Through the NEA Travel Program, you can search for flights to Burlington International Airport (BTV). Look for affordable lodging options on NEA Travel, such as the Courtyard Marriott Burlington Harbor, which averages $170 per night and has a fitness center, indoor pool and hot tub. For something more boutique, there’s the Willard Street Inn, for an average of $163 per night, with unique décor in each of its 14 rooms.
Plan your itinerary: Lake Champlain Chocolates | Hello Burlington, VT | Vermont Vacation
4. Dandelion Chocolate, San Francisco, California
Photo credit: Molly DeCoudreaux
Dandelion Chocolate, which has several shops in San Francisco, has a small-batch chocolate factory in the Mission district that makes its artisanal products using carefully sourced cacao from farms in countries such as Belize, Madagascar and Ecuador. Factory tours ($20) show how the beans are roasted, winnowed, ground with sugar and formed into bars.
Delve deeper into the chocolate-making process in a small-group session. A 1-hour “Chocolate 101” class ($40) teaches you about different types of chocolate and the company’s methods. Date night demonstrations ($50 per person) and more involved chocolate- ($160) or truffle-making ($100) classes occur once a week. In addition to a café with pastries and chocolaty drinks, the intimate Bloom restaurant has reopened, serving items like babka French toast and chocolate souffle.
NEA member travel benefits: Visit NEA Travel: Flights to book a ticket to San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Next, click on the NEA Travel: Hotels page to search for lodging. You’ll see options like Handlery Union Square Hotel in the heart of the city, for an average of $122 a night, or the nearby Hotel G San Francisco, for an average of $115 a night. If you’re a Hilton loyalist, the Hilton San Francisco Union Square is an average of $166 a night.
Plan your itinerary: Dandelion Chocolate | San Francisco Travel Association | Visit California
5. Ethel M. Chocolates, Henderson, Nevada
Decadence and Las Vegas are no strangers, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to find a handmade-chocolate factory nearby. In 1981, Forrest Mars Sr. founded Ethel M. Chocolates, named for his mother and using her recipes. The Mars family creates small-batch premium chocolates with no preservatives, grinding their own nuts and making their own caramel.
Ethel M. offers more than 30 varieties of chocolates in flavors such as Pumpkin Pie, White Chocolate and PB&J Milk Chocolate. Visitors to the factory in Henderson can watch candy-making from a viewing aisle and taste samples, and stroll through their adjacent 3-acre botanical cactus garden.
NEA member travel benefits: Through the NEA Travel Program’s Flights page, you can search for flights into Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), which is just 10 minutes away from the factory. On the Hotels page, you’ll see amazing deals like an average of $114 per night at the Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa by Marriott, which is off the strip and closer to Henderson (and without a casino). The resort has tons of amenities like a two-level pool and lakefront beach, waterslide, putting green, spa and two restaurants. If you do want to be in Las Vegas proper, the five-star Aria Resort & Casino has three outdoor pools and luxurious rooms for an average of $94 per night.
Plan your itinerary: Ethel M. Chocolates | City of Henderson | Travel Nevada
