Rainy Zurich and Lindt Tour with GetYourGuide
I love a good tour. It could be a tour of anything, really. Palace and museum tours, distillery and wine tours, and city tours - they’re all worth the time. That being said, I tend to be particular about how much I am willing to financially invest in the experience as I seek to maintain my travel budget.
That’s why I enjoyed our experience with the Zurich city tour offered by Best of Switzerland. We found the tour on GetYourGuide - an experience aggregate that allows tour management companies and experience providers to post their services. The cost of the experience was just under $85/person which includes a bus and walking tour of Zurich, a tour of the Lindt Home of Chocolate, and a 24 hour public transportation pass.
Tour Summary
We took the street car to the meeting point where the tour began. It was very easy to find! The tour begins on a coach / charter bus. The mustachoed guide gave the highlights of Switzerland and Zurich’s rich history. As the bus drove through the hills and neighborhoods on this rainy day, our guide announced a slight change of plans in the standard tour. The rain was coming down quite heavily, so we were not able to proceed with the walking portion of the tour. We were able to make planned stops brief visits to key areas, however we weren’t able to travel extensively on foot. We moved on toward the final leg of the tour instead: Lindt Home of Chocolate.
The ferry system in Zurich transports passengers to various points along the lake. We were able to escape the rain for a moment and dry off in the ferry with a cup of coffee. After disembarking, the group walked up to the Lindt Home of Chocolate. This was a self-led tour, so we bid our lovely tour guide farewell and proceeded with the tour de chocolate!
The facility has an expansive set of self-serve lockers for guests to utilize as well as the Lindt Cafe. The large lobby held hundreds of guests. We happened to be visiting on Swiss National Day, so we weren’t sure if this was considered a busy or typical day. The Lindt tour included a multi-lingual audio guide. We learned about the history of chocolate and its traditional production, it’s value in different societies throughout history, and how a landlocked nation like Switzerland so far from the agricultural home of cacao became a global name in the chocolate industry. Because the tour is self-led, guests can proceed at their own pace. I took my time to allow waves of guests to pass me by.
After nourishing our minds with history, we got to the fun part: the tasting room. Guests are led to three self-serve chocolate fountains and a seemingly endless quantity of spoons. The dark, milk, and white chocolate fountains percolate safely behind plexiglass while guests help themselves via hand pump. By all means, spend as much time in this area as you’d like! We certainly did. In the next section we tried pieces of solid chocolate bar with various added ingredients like sea salt and dried oranges.
We moved on to the truffle room and select one of each of the offered truffle flavors. We came away from that room with a large handful of truffles!
While one could certainly conclude the tour there and head downstairs, we proceeded around the corner of the upper floor you can learn more about the Lindt factory process. A network of conveyor belts and moves through this large area to give guests a peek at the chocolate factory’s inner works. Scan your entry ticket at the end and receive another free chocolate square!
Alas, the tour concludes there. We found our way downstairs to retrieve our belongings from the lockers and visit the gift shop. We selected a sampling of truffles to bring home, with a mix of classic familiar flavors and some not found in the U.S.
Budget Tip: If you want to save money and still enjoy some amazing chocolates in Switzerland, pick up some store brand bars at major grocery chains like Coop, Migros, and Aldi in lieu of visiting the Lindt gift shop. The bars are very affordable, and high quality.
After we finished up the tour, we made our way back toward Zurich via the ferry with the included transportation pass. The rain let up for the day and we found a mini festival celebrating Swiss National Day. A few grilled sausages and beers made for a great way to wrap up our tour of Zurich!
Verdict: This was a great way to spend a dreary day! We learned a great deal about Zurich in a short amount of time, saw much of the city we would have otherwise not been able to visit, and enjoyed a fabulous sampling of Swiss chocolate. What’s not to like?
If you’re planning a trip, be sure to visit GetYourGuide to explore the variety of offerings!
