Chocolate Museum in Cologne

When I went to Cologne in 2018, we only had about 36 hours to visit. There were 2 experiences that really stuck out to me: the El De Haus and the chocolate museum.

We had visited the El De Haus, which is a Nazi Interrogation and Documentation center first and it took about 4 hours. It was depressing, heavy, and dark. After that, we needed a “pick me up”. I told the group about the Schokoladen museum, or the Chocolate Museum.

The Schokoladen museum is IN the Rhine river. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk south from the Cologne Cathedral. The entrance fee is €12.50, so about $15USD. Once you’re inside the museum, you have some gorgeous views of this gritty town.

The museum takes you through the entire process of making chocolate and the history cocoa has played throughout time. From planting and harvesting, to crafting works of art made from chocolate. You walk through a palm house (very humid) to truly experience what the environment must be like for cocoa to flourish.

Once you get through the history portion, you walk into a room with floor to ceiling windows and a chocolate fountain… They give you a wafer and you can dip it in the chocolate lake or hold it under the waterfall. It really is a piece of art.

At the end of the tour, you’re able to create your own bar of chocolate. They give you a card where you can mark why type of chocolate you want and what goodies you want in it, like dried fruits, nuts, other candies. I got white chocolate with hazelnuts and rice crispies :)

The best way to do Cologne is a day trip from Amsterdam. The train is only 2.5 hours and runs 7 times a day. If you make it to Cologne, be sure to visit the Schokoladen Museum.