Maison Cailler Chocolate Factory

This chocolate factory in western Switzerland has a fun multimedia tour telling the history of chocolate. It explains the chocolate making process through compelling personal stories, which is much more fun than dry facts.

Although you can’t see the live factory floor, you can observe chocolate being made in sample machines and watch videos of more chocolate machines. At the end of the tour, you can sample lots of chocolate.

They also offer chocolate workshops and a chocolate themed Escape Room as fun extras to make it into a full day activity. They have a large shop with special Cailler chocolates you can only buy here, a cafe with hot chocolate and chocolate snacks, and a fun playground.

We recommend combining this with a visit to the adorable hilltop village of Gruyères and the nearby La Maison du Gruyeres cheese factory.

Note: Our most recent visit was hosted by Maison Cailler. Thank you!

How to Get There

Maison Cailler is located in western Switzerland, in a small village called Broc near Gruyères.

By car:

The address of Maison Cailler is Rue Jules Bellet 7, 1636 Broc. There is a large free parking lot adjacent to the chocolate factory. In 2024, there is construction that may increase your travel time.

By transit:

The closest train station is Broc-Fabrique, which is a 1 min walk from Maison Cailler. Depending on where you are staying, your best connection may be a bus that takes you to the Broc, Le Home stop, about a 6 min walk to Maison Cailler.

For a full day excursion, you could ride the Chocolate Train from Montreux, which includes also a stop at Gruyeres for the cheese factory.

Planning your day

Tickets

In 2024, the tour costs for an CHF 17/adult, CHF 14/seniors and students (16-24 with student ID), CHF 7/children (6-15), under 6 free. 

It’s best to book your tickets in advance, so can reserve a time slot (every 15 minutes). If you show up on a busy day without a reservation, you may have a long wait to go in.

They offer a variety of chocolate workshops, which should be booked well in advance. The Escape Game should also be booked in advance as there are only 3 spots available per day.

Discounts

With the SBB Railway offer, you can get a 20% discount on both the public transport journey and Maison Cailler entrance fee.

Free entrance with Swiss Travel Pass.

Opening times

Maison du Cailler is open year round, every day from 10:00 – 17:00, until 18:00 from April through October.

Services

The tour is wheelchair and stroller accessible. They have luggage lockers to store your belonging during the tour. They have a cafe and playground on site.

Photo Story of the Chocolate Tour

Grand entrance to Maison Cailler.

Chocolate tour

The chocolate tours start every 15 mins. The tour group is small, about 20 people, and the personal audio guide is available in a variety of languages including English.

At your assigned time, your group will be led into a series of diorama rooms that provide a history of chocolate and chocolate making in Switzerland. It’s a little hokey but fun, lasting about 20 minutes or so.

Small kids might be frightened by the dark and some of the light and sound effects. But the tour is short and you only stay in each room a couple minutes.

Some old fashioned chocolate making equipment

You exit into the “factory” where you can see and learn more about the chocolate making process. There are bins with different ingredients that you can smell. 

You can linger here as long as you like, listening to stories from various people involved in the chocolate making process. 

Lots of cool charts and interesting visuals to make learning fun. 

Lots of fun photo opps too.

Chocolate tasting

They have one sample chocolate machine you can observe, making their signature Branche bars. It’s super cool and you get to eat the chocolates that pop out of the machine.

You can observe a chocolatier making fun chocolate creations.

Although you can’t see the live factory, you can see some vintage chocolate machines and watch videos of the chocolate making process. 

Then you enter the tasting room, where you can eat as much chocolate as you want. But don’t be surprised when you can’t eat as much as you think you can. The chocolate is presented on individual sampler plates for hygiene purposes. 

Chocolate Workshops

Cailler also offers chocolate making classes, but you have to reserve these ahead of time as they fill up quickly. I really wish I had known about that beforehand as my kids would have loved that. They have a children’s class for kids 6 and older. Other classes are 12 and older.

If you didn’t sign up for a workshop, you can still make a customized chocolate bar in the gift shop.

Escape Game

Just outside Maison Cailler, there is a vintage train wagon which is the Escape Game. You check in with the “train conductor” at the green wagon, who gives you instructions and the story behind the game. I was worried it might be too hot inside, but they have air conditioning, so it was nice and cool.

I don’t want to spoil the fun, so I can’t tell you much about the actual game or show you a lot pictures. But we thought the puzzles were really clever and fun to solve with the family.

With my discount code FamilyFunMC, it costs CHF 35/person (valid until 31 Aug 2020), max 5 participants. You should book in advance because there are only 3 spots per day. Book tickets here.

Cafe & Playground

While you wait for your tour, you can browse the chocolate shop, which has some Cailler products not available elsewhere. They also have a great collection of vintage posters.

They have a big playground outside the cafe and picnic tables on a grassy lawn.

There’s a small cafe where you can drink hot cocoa and eat chocolate pastries.

We recommend combining this with a visit to the adorable hilltop village of Gruyères and the nearby La Maison du Gruyeres cheese factory.