Become an informed consumer while still on vacation! Check out Jaunted's newest series of the best factory tours the world over. This week, factory tours goes international.

Hershey Park is for amateurs. Going to Cadbury World doesn't make you a chocolate snob exactly, but it gives you bragging rights when you claim to have cultivated a taste for the across-the-pond fave with the purple wrappers. Actually, Hershey's makes all the Cadbury chocolate in the U.S., but the formula is different across the pond, and if that information doesn't boggle your mind, ever hear of Mexican Coke?

The Birmingham factory includes a man-made Aztec jungle representing the origins of chocolate, a "Willy Wonka"-style vat of melted chocolate (but no diving allowed, Gloop!) and a special exhibit of Cadbury advertising through the years, in case you think you can still remain immune to the charms of the choccie. There are plenty of samples, too, so make sure to pretend you don't understand what Fruit & Nut or Flake are.

Buy tickets online before your visit; they're £13.45 ($20) for adults, £10.10 ($15) for children. Follow the signs from Bournville Station if you're taking public transit to Birmingham.

Related Stories:
· Foodie Travel: Taste NYC With Sweet Walks' Chocolate Tours [Jaunted]
· Birmingham travel guide [HC]
· Chocolate Paris Bike Tour [Jaunted]

[Photo of a chocolate village: TDR1]]]> egw 2009-05-05T12:33:20-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/7/172354/8640

In our continuing quest to find things to do in DC if the Obamas won't take your meeting, this week we're looking at the District's best desserts. ]]> BS 2009-04-08T16:26:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/27/0379/87285

While a solitary truffle may not strike everyone as interchangeable with hitting the Triple 7s, there are enough fans of the hallowed cocoa bean who will take nearly as much delight in the payout of the Chocolate Clock at the Payard Patisserie inside Caesars Palace.

From the city that brought you…well, sin…comes not only a soon-to-debut resident production of “The Lion King”but also this mechanical novelty straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. ]]> Erika Pope 2009-02-27T15:56:11-05:00 36.1155412 -115.17294 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/12/17/184548/89

It may be a little chilly right now, but Quebec offers as much culture as Europe for way less cash. And thanks to the resurgence of the dollar, there's never been a better time to head to Canada. Dana McMahan just got back and is dishing on the province's eats all this week.

You know how you feel obligated to visit museums when you travel? Well, I do, especially when it’s a country that speaks another language. But somehow, by day three of my visit to Quebec City, I still hadn’t visited the first museum. Happily, I was able to remedy my philistine status pain-free. With hot chocolate.]]> travelingmcmahans 2008-12-18T11:35:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/12/14/183838/58

The poor New York Times travel section: In an age where practically every travel story is about how to save money and do things the cheapskate way, the paper has to struggle to find new ways to highlight its indulgent destinations of choice.

The Times sometimes catches heat for some of it's "budget" suggestions, but one recent idea was quite clever: A tour of Paris' high-end chocolatiers, via the just-about-free Velib bike sharing system.

While the Times reporter hits an impressive number of chocolate shops in a short period of time--and probably burns off a decent percentage of the calories gained--we're a little skeptical of any itinerary that involves chocolate, biking, chocolate, biking and more chocolate. While it's definitely a wallet-friendly take on high-end sweets, it also sounds like a recipe for a tres upset stomach.

Related Stories:
· Le Tour du Chocolat [NYT]
· Bon Anniversaire, Velib! [Jaunted]
· Refereeing the Travel Media: Arthur Frommer Escalating His Attacks on the NYT [Jaunted]

[Photo: Rui Ornelas] ]]> BS 2008-12-15T12:00:31-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/13/14228/030

Chocolate is next on the list of things for food snobs to start taking way too seriously, and San Francisco-based startup Tcho is leading the charge.

Tcho, which just opened it's first store in the Embarcadero, sources their cocoa beans as carefully as any specialty coffee shop, and their unique flavors (fruity, nutty, citrus and just chocolate-y) are constantly being redeveloped. The store specializes in nibs--roasted cocao beans broken into small bits--and also offers treats like mango bites drenched in dark chocolate.

Tcho, which was started by the founder of Wired magazine, is also billed as a sort of a Web 2.0 chocolate company: You can give the chocolate makers your feedback via their website, letting them know which flavors you like and how they should be perfected.

Related Stories:
· Tcho [Official Site]
· Chocolate coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Tcho]]]> BS 2008-11-14T12:30:12-05:00 37.7950601 -122.39367 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/15/182347/452

Is Berlin the new Amsterdam? Well, hipster enclave Prenzlauer Berg might be.

German cops have shut down a candy store in the notorious neighborhood in Berlin after discovering the 23-year-old owner was peddling chocolates and lollipops laced with magic mushrooms and marijuana.

"In the shop we found 120 pieces of magic mushroom chocolate and countless cannabis lollipops," said police, who confiscated around 70 sachets containing various drugs, about 20 marijuana joints, a range of pills and some jars of drug-laced honey

Sorry, we still haven't been able to dig up the address of the shuttered sweets shop!

Related Stories:
· Hallucinogenic Chocolates Doom Berlin Sweets Shop [Reuters]
· Drug Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: EuroMagic]]]> BS 2008-09-16T11:00:29-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/