World Chocolate Day: 7 tempting destinations to add to your to-visit list
Indulge your inner chocoholic from bean to bar in these destinations
World Chocolate Day has been celebrated every 7 July since 2009, supposedly to mark the anniversary of the date the sweet treat was first introduced to Europe in 1550.
Whether that’s true or not, we’ll take any excuse to indulge our sweet tooth with some chocolate treats. Consider yourself a chocoholic? then you have to add these seven chocolate destinations to your to-visit list.
1. Ecuador
If you’re interested in learning about the history of chocolate, look no further than Ecuador, where more than 5,300 years ago the Mayo Chinchipe-Marañón culture first began cultivating the cacao tree. You won’t struggle to find ways to indulge your love of chocolate in the country, given Ecuador declared Ecuadorian cocoa and its production chain a ‘national tourist activity of interest’ back in 2022.
Cocoa plantations can be found on the coast, in the Andes and the Amazon, so you can combine your trip with your other interests with ease, whether that’s nature and wildlife or culture and heritage. Be sure to make a stop at the Museo Nacional del Cacao in Guayaquil.
Read next: Trip planner: How you can explore the best of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands
2. Belize
Belize entices visitors with unexcavated Mayan ruins deep in the jungle, a great setting to enjoy and celebrate cacao – the food of the gods. Green and Blacks use cocoa from Belize for their Maya Gold bars, the first UK chocolate product to be awarded the Fairtrade Mark. Discover the world-famous chocolate’s origins here in Belizean paradise.
For something feistier, join in Toledo’s annual Cacao Fest in May to celebrate all things chocolate, from its importance in Mayan culture, to contemporary conservation and production in modern Belize. There’s live music and dance performances to enjoy.
You can also head out on the Cacao Trail to visit local communities and try your hand at making chocolate.
Read next: Exploring Belize’s living traditions along the Garifuna Trail
3. Mexico
When the Spanish conquistadors raided Montezuma’s treasure chambers, they found precious cacao pods instead of gold, showing just how much chocolate means to Mexico. Head to Oaxaca (in the south of the country) to see the country’s cocoa plantations, and to try savoury mole dishes – a kind of Mexican sauce usually made with chilli peppers and of course, made with chocolate.
Take time to explore Oaxaca’s markets and street stalls, to stock up on some of the world’s tastiest (and spiciest) treats.
Read next: How ecotourism in Oaxaca is helping communities reconnect with their Indigenous roots
4. Ghana
Although cocoa growing originated in South America, until the 1970s, Ghana was the world’s leading producer. Some 30-40% of the world’s total cocoa output came from the eastern region of the country, and it’s still the hub of Ghana’s cocoa growing industry.
Cocoa has been grown in Ghana since the mid 19th century; you can visit the ‘original’ Ghanaian cocoa farm set up in 1879 by Tetteh Quarshie in Mampong-Akwapim, north-east of Kumasi. There’s also the Cocoa Research facility at New Tafo in Kumasi itself.
While you’re in Ghana, get face to face with throngs of elephants at Mole National Park, head to the beaches at Busua or Dixicove to partake in a spot of surfing or kick back with a coconut juice and make sweet music with an African drumming lesson.
5. Saint Lucia
Cocoa growing on Saint Lucia is on the up once again and the Rabot Estate, owned by British grower and chocolatier Hotel Chocolat, is leading the charge. As well as tours of the plantation, visitors can stay at the hotel on the estate.
The on-site Rabot Restaurant is dedicated to cacao-cuisine, with everything from cacao gazpacho and rib-eye served with cacao nib butter to cacao linguine and cacao pod pulled pork, all best enjoyed with a cacao Bellini and sundown views over the Piton peaks. You can even pamper yourself with cacao spa treatments, from cacao body wraps to massages.
6. Belgium
If the phrase ‘Belgian chocolates’ doesn’t get your mouth watering, you either need to re-think your chocoholic status, or head to Brussels or Bruges to see what the fuss is all about. Both cities have plenty of artisan chocolatiers and cafés specialising in chocolate products where you can watch chocolates being made, sample a few and become a convert.
584,000 tonnes of chocolate is produced in Belgium every year from simple pralines and creamy ganache to more adventurous flavours like sea-salt, chilli, pink peppercorn, fresh ginger and jasmine.
Read next: 5 irresistible independent chocolate shops you must visit in Brussels
7. Switzerland
Take the ‘chocolate train’ from Montreux to Broc via Gruyères for a day that combines Switzerland’s most famous things – chocolate, cheese and gorgeous mountain vistas. The trip, on a 1915 Belle Époque-era train, includes visits to the castle and cheese factory at Gruyères before visiting the Nestlé Chocolate Factory at Broc.
Read next: Explore Switzerland’s UNESCO-listed winemaking region of Lavaux
