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Janice Rachel Shwetha Jacob

July 26th, 2019

My Visit to Cadbury World: A Chocolate Dream

0 comments | 3 shares

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Janice Rachel Shwetha Jacob

July 26th, 2019

My Visit to Cadbury World: A Chocolate Dream

0 comments | 3 shares

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

In the outskirts of Birmingham, nestled among pretty buildings and scenic greenery, is a small town called Bournville where the Cadbury family set up operations many years ago. The town now houses ‘Cadbury World’, a chocolatey attraction run by the Cadbury company themselves.

Being somewhat of a chocolate connoisseur and an expert on day trips (haha!), I decided to schedule a trip to Bournville and take the self-guided exhibition tour. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Pre-visit

Tickets for Cadbury World need to be booked in advance. You can check out their website for general entry information. However, they also have other options available as well, one of which is the ‘Chocolatier Experience’ that gives you an in-depth look into chocolate making. Also, look out for package deals that provide discounts on tickets if you travel to the site via National Express, Virgin Trains, etc.

Bournville Station

Getting there

There are direct trains from London to Bournville for about £30 to £40. Another option is to take the bus to Birmingham (about £7 to £10). From Birmingham, you can take another bus to Cadbury World (£1-2) or you can take the train to Bournville (£3) and walk to the attraction.

 

Cadbury World!

My visit

We booked our tickets for the afternoon. It is recommended that you arrive about an hour and a half earlier and so, I figured booking an afternoon session would give us plenty of time to leisurely get there. Once at the attraction, we stopped for a quick hot chocolate at the Cadbury Café. We then made our way to the marquee outside which housed many rides, free performances, gaming areas where we can design our own Cadbury chocolate, ice-cream stands, etc. A must-visit is the 4D Chocolate Adventure ride and the magical Cabara ride.

4D Chocolate Adventure ride
Me learning to work with chocolate

Back inside, we have the self-guided tour which takes you through a visual story of the origin of chocolate from the Aztec times to how it came to Europe, finishing with how the Cadbury brand came about. Following this, we were provided with hands-on experience in working with chocolate, like tempering and designing.

The entire tour was super educational and fun. One of the highlights was that they kept handing you free chocolates to munch on during the tour. By the end, you get to learn a LOT about both the company and chocolate in general. Needless to say, I loved it.

We finished our tour by strolling through the Cadbury Shop where you can buy anything from mini-Cadbury chocolates to giant ones. They also have a lot of Cadbury merchandise available at what was probably the world’s biggest Cadbury shops.

 

The Cadbury gift shop!

Tips for your visit

Make sure to plan your visit on a weekday if you’d like to avoid crowds of children. We went on a weekend and it was a bit hard to enjoy the entire trip due to the tantrums happening in almost every corner 😛

Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. Carry drinking water, as well! During our visit, it was an incredibly hot day and no amount of water quenched our thirst!

Overall, it was a fun, chocolate-filled day trip that I’d recommend to all my fellow chocolate connoisseurs out there!

 

About the author

Janice Rachel Shwetha Jacob

Hey there! I'm Janice from Chennai, India. I'm doing my Masters' in management at LSE. My interests include music, cooking and writing. I can answer Harry Potter trivia like a boss, sing Disney songs without needing to look at the lyrics and make the world's best hot chocolate.

Posted In: Featured | Student life | Travel

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