If your clients love chocolate, travel and Europe, then this is made just for them. In honor of National Train Day, which took place on May 10th, Rail Europe, Inc. has compiled a few chocolate-themed European destinations and related train services. Your clients can indulge with chocolate while traveling to France, Belgium, and Switerland via Rail Europe.
Travelers visiting Paris can take in La Maison du Chocolate, which was nicknamed “The Wizard of Ganache” since opening its doors in 1977. Chocolate-obsessed travelers experience the store’s variations on ganache and can then continue the journey from Paris on the Thalys train to Brussels in under 90 minutes or travel down to the Rhone region on the TGV to tour La Cite du Choclate.
While in France, chocolate-afficionados can take a 3-hour trip from Paris on board the high-speed TGV train to the Valence-TGV station and connect via Valence-Ville Station for a multi-sensory experience at La Cite du Chocolat, located in the town of Tain-l’Hermitage in Hermitage. This location, which opened in October 2013, offers various interactive experiences including visits to the sensory studio, the recipe bar; the cacao farm; the chocolate factory; and the chef’s Kitchen Lab, where visitors become a chocolatier or pastry chef for a day. For more information, visit valrhona-chocolate.com.
Aboard the high-speed Eurostar, travelers arrive in Brussels from London in about 2 hours, where chocolate-lovers visiting Belgium can add the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate to their itinerary. Travelers using the Brussels Card from Rail Europe gain access to free public transportation to all major museums, including the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate, where visitors are treated to a traditional praline demonstration by a master chocolate-maker. Also, in Brussels, travelers must visit The Grand Sablon Square, known as “Chocolate Square,” for the many storefronts of Belgian and French chocolatiers.
Travelers going to Switzerland can take in the chocolate experience on The Swiss Chocolate Train, which departs from Montreux on the Swiss Riviera, traveling through Gruyeres, home of Gruyeres cheese, where travelers visit a cheese-making factory and Gruyeres Castle; and end at Broc, where the Cailler-Nestle Chocolate Factory is found to take in some chocolate treats. The day long trip runs Monday through Friday in July and August; and Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in June, September, and October. Travelers can choose to ride in old-fashioned elegance in a vintage Pullman Belle Epoque carriage or ride in an ultramodern, sleek, panoramic car with over-sized windows. Travelers visiting Paris can hop on the TGV to Lausanne on the Swiss Riviera and connect to board the train in Montreux.
The Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne is opening the Swiss Chocolate Adventure on June 19, a multimedia ride that stimulates all the senses while allowing visitors to explore and learn about the creation of chocolate. The 30-minute tour is available in most languages and visitors traveling from Montreux can take the national Swiss Railway to Lausanne on the Swiss Riviera and connect to Lucerne for a 2.5-hour journey.
For more information and rates, visit raileurope.com.
