Attention all chocolate lovers – The Choco Pass experience has arrived! With Easter just around the corner, it’s the right time to think about one of Geneva’s big draws – chocolate. In chocolate shops across the city, Master Chocolatiers preserve the legacy and traditions of two-centuries of Swiss chocolate making. Every year, chocolate lovers flock to Geneva to savour original Swiss chocolate and experience the latest tradition innovations in flavour, techniques and ingredients.
Good news if you are one of those chocolate lovers, because Geneva has just launched the Choco Pass, which allows visitors to sample a range of chocolates across the city’s most renowned chocolatiers. The tour is a delicious accompaniment to a trip to Geneva, and you can either use the chocolateries as the basis for a tour around the city, or just head off on your own journey and visit the chocolateries as you pass them.
Getting There
Few international arrivals are as impressive as the flight into Geneva airport. Emerging between snowy alps and a pristine lake, it’s easy to see why the Swiss capital is one of Europe’s favourite getaways. Geneva airport is only 20 minutes from the centre of Geneva making life that much easier.
Our Choco Pass Experience
First on the list is the famed La Bonbonnière Chocolaterie et Chocolate Bar, a 101-year-old chocolate making institution. If nothing else, La Bonbonnière has spent the past century transforming the humble chocolate into a life-changing experience. That statement only sounds ridiculous if you haven’t tried one – trust us. Luckily, the Choco Pass includes a choice of one of La Bonbonnière’s thirty Gourmand hot chocolate varieties, which is also supplemented with a selection of chocolates.
Next up is Du Rhône Chocolatier, founded in Geneva in 1875. A year later in Canada, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone – we’re still trying to work which event is more important. Du Rhône pairs pure Swiss tradition with innovation and curiosity, creating a really exciting range of chocolates. Adults can indulge in a selection of chocolates, including pralines, whilst kids can enjoy chocolate blocks and truffles.
Third, fourth, fifth and sixth on the tour they have Stettler & Castrischer, Sweerzerland, Chocolaterie Zeller, and Chocolaterie Canonica. Savour the specialty boxes of each chocolatier, enjoy their subtle trademarks and re-discover just how good chocolate can be. A standout is Settler & Castrischer’s Pavé Stettler (Swiss for Cobblestone), one of their in-house innovations that has since become internationally recognisable. All of the options in the specialty boxes can be swapped out for seasonal specials, and don’t forget to savour Chocolaterie Canonica’s praline tasting plate if you are into that delicate nutty chocolate taste sensation.
Finally, you will visit the iconic chocolatiers Favarger – founded in 1826 by Jean-Samuel Favarger, the chocolate factory is ingrained in Geneva’s history. Savour the taste of nearly two-hundred years of chocolate mastery, perhaps best encapsulated in their superb Avelines and Nougalines.
In a cocoa shell
Switzerland created milk chocolate and Swiss chocolate is famed across the world. Geneva is where you will find many of the greatest chocolate makers where chocolate making is a finely tuned art.
Available to purchase for £24.30 for adults and £4.90 for children, 80p of each sale goes to Cause We Care, the initiative for climate protection and sustainable tourism in Switzerland. The Choco Pass allows tourists access to all participating chocolatiers within a 24-hour period.
To discover more about Choco Pass, visit: geneve.com
All imagery courtesy of Geneva Tourism.
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