A visit to the Chocolate Museum in Cologne

Last Updated on August 15, 2025

Cologne isn’t just a city of stunning cathedrals and charming streets, it’s also a paradise for chocolate lovers! On my first visit during the festive Christmas season in Cologne, I fell in love with the cozy markets and twinkling lights. But this time, on a trip near the Eifel region, I had a new mission: the Chocolate Museum! Join me as I explore Cologne’s sweetest attraction and share all the tasty details you won’t want to miss!

A small introduction

There’s a lot to experience in the Chocolate museum. Located in the Rheinau harbour and close to Cologne Old Town, the museum is easy to reach. You’ll get to know more about the history of choccolate, the countries which harvest cacao, the production of chocolate and much more. It’s a very interactive museum, so really fun both for children and adults.

The best thing about the museum is the fact that they’re actually producing Lindt chocolate in the museum.. and you can have a look at it! You can end your tour with a visit to the shop or cafe. You can also visit the museum through a guided tour if you would like to have some extra information. I personally liked to walk around and experience on my own.

The harvest of cacao

When you’re entering the museum, you first need to show your ticket (or buy one). When everything’s alright, you can start your tour and get a small piece of chocolate. At the start of the tour, you’ll get to an area with lots of interesting facts and information about the harvest of cacao: where this happens (in which countries) and how it goes, step by step. There also are games and quizzes to play for the children to get to know more about these subjects through an interactive way.

The production of chocolate

When you walk further through the museum, you’ll get to a room where you can learn more about chocolate in general: you can read lots of chocolate facts and can see what ingredients are used for making chocolate (white, milk and dark). The area you’ll get to after is even more interesting! You’ll get to the area where you can find all the machines which are used for making the chocolate. Fun fact: the machines are running for real as they’re producing chocolate on the spot.

Per machine you can read and see on the video which action / step takes place in that specific machine. You can also see how the chocolate is divided by a machine into a tray and how the machine puts the chocolate into a packing. I really liked watching this process.

When you walk a little further, you can see some machines which were used in the past. Furthermore, you’ll spot a chocolate fountain! Normally, you can taste some chocolate from the fountain, but due to the Covid-19 situation the fountain wasn’t working during our visit.

Create your own chocolate bar

On the second floor of the museum, you can see how handcrafted chocolate, like truffles and chocolate figures, are made. Furthermore, you can also create your own unique chocolate bar: it’s possible to choose a white, milk, or dark chocolate bar, and you can also choose your own ingredients, like caramel or nuts. During the last part of the museum where you walk through, the chocolatiers will make your chocolate bar, which you’ll get when you leave the museum.

The history of chocolate

The last part of the museum brings you to the history of chocolate, which goes back for 5000 years. The most interesting and fun part of this area was to see more of the chocolate advertising of the early 20th Century: you can see the packaging of all kinds of brands throughout the years, but also historical vending machines and signs.

The cafe and shop

Before you’re leaving the museum there’s also a possibility to pay a visit to the cafe and the shop. The cafe has a nice view over the Rhine: you can either sit in- or outside and enjoy some coffee / tea together with a chocolate specialty or delicious cake. You can find the menu on the official website of the museum. The shop sells all kinds of chocolate, so it’s definitely worth a visit. You can also buy a souvenir or other kinds of sweets.

Practical information

Like I mentioned earlier, the museum is quite easy to reach. It’s located on the riverbank of Cologne’s old town and you can easily reach old town by foot. That’s also why you can go both by train and car. After arriving by train at Cologne Central Station, it’s best to take bus line 133 towards the chocolate museum.

If you’re planning on visiting the city by car, I would recommend to park your car at ‘Parkplatz unter der Severinsbrücke’. From here, it’s only a 5-10 minutes walk to the chocolate museum. Take into account that the parking place can be quite busy during the day, so it’s best to arrive in Cologne quite early on the day (we arrived around 10:00 AM and still had space).

Sweet adventure awaits!

Book a chocolate adventure in Cologne! From guided museum tours to hands-on chocolate-making workshops, experience the city’s sweetest side like never before 🙂

Conclusion

Cologne’s Chocolate Museum is a must-visit for anyone with a sweet tooth or anyone who just loves fun and interactive experiences! From learning about cacao to creating your own chocolate bar, I believe it’s a treat for all ages.

If you have any questions about the above mentioned information, please let me know in the comment section below. I’m happy to help you. Safe travels!

Author: Tamara

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