Valentine’s Day is around the corner. Getting a box of chocolates for your loved one is the obvious thing to do. Want to really go out of your way? Arrange a trip to one of our sweet destinations. Together you’re guaranteed a mouth-watering trip.
It was in Oaxaca in 1502 when Columbus loaded the boat with his first cocoa beans, ready for the crossing to Spain. The Mayans in this region had known for centuries about the special cocoa bean and brewed a ‘nectar of the gods’. For serious chocoholics, Oaxaca is still the place to sample ancient chocolate traditions. Where? In Francisco Javier Mina Street. Smell the aroma of fresh cocoa in the dozens of chocolate shops that roast and grind cocoa beans all day long. Tip: compile your own blend of cocoa and spices in the store to create your own divine chocolate mix.
The residents of Turin were very lucky: because of their excellent 16th-century trade relations with Spain, the first precious cocoa beans were quick to arrive in the Italian city. Soon, Turin grew into a chocolate mecca. This is where the first hard chocolate, the chocolate bar as we know it today, originated. Be sure to try the tempting gianduiotto chocolate. This trapeze-shaped treat is made with the finest cocoa and filled with a silky smooth hazelnut cream. Can you taste it yet? For the best selection visit chocolate maker Gobino: always packed but worth the wait.
In 1912, Brussels chocolatier Jean Neuhaus was the first to fill chocolate with a soft cream: the Belgian chocolate, or praline in Flemish, was born. Every day chocolate lovers everywhere remain grateful to him. In Brussels you’ll stumble across outstanding chocolate makers on every corner. The famous Neuhaus family produces hundreds of types of chocolates and serves creamy chocolate milk in their cafés, which of course is best enjoyed with yet another chocolate. Burn off some of the calories on the Chocolade Tour, a walking tour of the city’s chocolate hotspots.
The Caribbean island of St Lucia is blessed with the perfect climate for the cocoa tree and cocoa is therefore its most important, and tastiest, export product. Visitors can observe the entire process from cocoa bean to chocolate bar at places such as Hotel Chocolat. Guests visit the plantation right next to the hotel, pick cocoa beans and learn the traditional way of making chocolate. Tired? Treat yourself to a sweet spa experience with a head to toe cocoa mask. Then it is time for a chocolate tasting: sample nine chocolate delicacies, served with a dark chocolate drink.
