Lindt Home of Chocolate — Attraction in Kilchberg (ZH)

Overview: The Lindt Home of Chocolate, located in Kilchberg, Switzerland, is a captivating experience for anyone who loves high-quality chocolate. December, with its festive atmosphere and cozy charm, makes this visit even more magical. From the moment you step into the sleek, modern facility, you’re enveloped in the world of Lindt, a brand synonymous with premium chocolate. Whether you’re a connoisseur of fine chocolates or simply looking for a delightful experience, this place is a must-see.

Location and Accessibility: The Lindt Home of Chocolate is easily accessible, just a short drive or train ride from Zurich (about 20 minutes). It’s located on the shores of Lake Zurich in the picturesque town of Kilchberg, offering a serene setting and stunning views of the lake, especially during the winter months when the landscape is dusted with snow.

The entrance is spacious, and the modern building design is a blend of sleek glass, steel, and wood, evoking a sense of luxury and elegance. The facility is wheelchair accessible and well-signposted, making it easy to navigate for all visitors.

Ambiance and Decor: The Lindt Home of Chocolate has a clean, contemporary design, with a minimalist aesthetic that highlights the brand’s heritage and commitment to quality. Inside, the space is airy and well-lit, with large windows letting in natural light. At Christmastime, the decor takes on a festive charm: tasteful Christmas trees, twinkling lights, and holiday-themed displays create a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The scent of freshly made chocolate lingers in the air, making the experience feel even more indulgent.

The Museum Experience: The highlight of the visit is undoubtedly the Lindt Chocolate Museum. The museum takes you through the history of Lindt, from its humble beginnings in 1845 to its rise as one of the world’s premier chocolate brands. The interactive exhibits provide fascinating insights into the chocolate-making process, including how cocoa beans are harvested, roasted, and transformed into the beloved Lindt products.

One of the standout features of the museum is the opportunity to learn about the craftsmanship behind Lindt’s signature smooth chocolate. The experience is both educational and sensory, as there are plenty of opportunities to sample chocolate along the way, including special limited-edition flavors that are particularly delightful during the holiday season.

Chocolate Making Experience: For a hands-on experience, you can participate in the Lindt chocolate-making workshops. These sessions are fun, informative, and perfect for both families and couples. In December, the workshops have a festive touch, offering special seasonal flavors like spiced cinnamon and praline-filled chocolates, making them even more appealing during the holiday season. You’ll learn how to temper chocolate, create your own truffles, and take home a personalized box of chocolates—perfect as a souvenir or holiday gift.

Lindt Chocolate Shop: No visit would be complete without a stop at the Lindt Chocolate Shop, which is conveniently located on-site. The shop is an absolute dream for chocolate lovers, with shelves lined with every Lindt product imaginable, from classic Lindor truffles to special edition holiday treats and gift sets. During December, the shop is beautifully decorated, and the wide selection of festive items like advent calendars, gift boxes, and chocolate assortments makes it a perfect place to pick up a souvenir or holiday gift. There are also exclusive seasonal flavors that are only available at the Home of Chocolate, such as dark chocolate with orange and...

Lindt chocolate is not my favorite. I think it’s overpriced and not particularly good but I still love visiting chocolate museums and factories. I also wanted to see if the chocolate tastes better in its home country.

Booking online is recommended, especially if you’re planning to go on the weekend. I had a 3 pm booking and arrived at 2:15. They still had slots left for later in the day. There are lockers to put your things in as you can’t bring bags into the museum area. They’re really strict about entering at the time of your ticket, as you’re limited to 1 hour for the self guided visit. I figured out later why. Once you check in downstairs, you have the option to take an audio guide (free). They scan the code for the language you requested and then they explain nothing. I mention this because when I got upstairs to start the tour, the worker was basically yelling at a customer for not knowing what to do and not understanding her question. Maybe she didn’t know that the worker downstairs didn’t tell us anything, but nonetheless, it was rude. In any case, when we got upstairs at 2:50 we still waited until about 2:58 before they let us in. Don’t even try to scan in early because the system won’t allow it, unless the worker overrides it, which is what she had to do for us to go in a couple minutes early.

With the audio guide, you have to tap anywhere there’s a spoon logo and the audio guide will start telling you about that section. That’s not hard to explain but it’s also not self explanatory so I don’t think it was fair to assume everyone would know this. I wasn’t very impressed with the museum section of the tour. I’ve been to a few other chocolate factories that made the experience way more interactive and fun- for example the Royce chocolate museum in Japan. The info on the displays were helpful though and I learned a bit about the history of chocolate. The highlight though was the tasting room. There were 3 machines that dispensed molten chocolate - white, dark, and milk chocolate flavors and disposable spoons were provided. The next section had 8 machines that dispensed chunks of chocolates in different flavors. I really liked the molten chocolate a lot. This I think is the reason why there is a time limit. I saw one man standing in the corner against the wall thinking no one can see him, drinking spoonful after spoonful of chocolate. In all fairness, no one set any limits and I was mostly in awe of how much chocolate he was able to consume. Just when you thought you got enough chocolate, in the next room they handed out truffles in 6 flavors- one of each per person. I probably ate a pound of chocolate by the time it was over.

The shop on the first floor is open to anyone even without a ticket. The chocolate was quite expensive. I did buy some of the freshly made chocolates. If you buy a 24 CHF bar or larger, they’ll decorate it for free, or you can buy smaller chunks paid in grams but no decorating. I also got some chocolate wafers not available on the US website. They also have Dubai chocolate but it was sold out.

Overall, this is a really fun place to visit if you love chocolate but most of the chocolate can be purchased elsewhere and for...

This is the best chocolate museum if you’re after chocolate education and history mixed with some fun.

As soon as you enter the building, you will see the iconic chocolate fountain. To the right there is the Lindt shop and to the left there’s the Lindt cafe.

We started at the Lindt cafe which was nice but it isn’t a must stop. I had the hot chocolate which I’ve previously had at Lindt shop in Geneva and the Lindt Cafe in Sydney Australia. This hot chocolate was not as good as their other ones. The cafe notably offers a range of savoury food as well.

The Lindt shop offers a wide range of chocolate. Just about every possible flavour combination one could think of. I overheard another shopper asking about the Dubai chocolate and they were advised to come first thing in the morning if that is something they are after. I’m personally not a fan of the Dubai chocolate but if this is something you like, definitely go in the morning!

Before you enter the museum you can pop your things in a free locker. I didn’t use it but some other people had difficulty with opening their locker upon returning.

To enter the museum you’ll be greeted at the entrance level and asked what language you would like for the self guided audio tour. Then we made our way up the stairs to enter the museum. It’s good to know that your ticket will not allow you to enter the museum until the time on it. However you will have about 1/2 an hour from that time to enter so if you purchase a 1pm ticket, you can enter from 1-1:30pm. The audio tour consists of several rooms with lots of information. It will take you through the discovery of the coca bean, how it’s grown, picked, fermented and transported. There’s a room on the history of chocolate in Switzerland and it recognises the contributions of other chocolate makers. There’s another room on how chocolate is made and the invention which led to what we know as chocolate today. There’s also a display of chocolate packaging throughout time. There are a lot of interactive stations too where you can play games or spin the globe and it will tell you facts about that countries consumption of chocolate. And of course lots of opportunities to sample different varieties of chocolate along the way!

Overall a great experience and very...