Having visited the Cadbury World in Birmingham and Chocolate Story in York, you might think that I’ve had my fill of chocolate museums. Well, my family certainly had their fill but since my boyfriend has never been to a chocolate museum, the two of us decided to visit Choco Story Brussels!

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. The museum looked rather small and I figured it would be a quick tour.

Well, I was completely wrong.

Choco Story took us through a detailed history of chocolate, starting with the Aztecs all the way to when chocolate reached Europe. It’s actually an attraction that will take quite a bit of time, since there are many points for the audio guide. If you’re going to listen to everything and the bonus material, you should be prepared to slowly wander through the rooms.

And the rooms are gorgeous! I was very impressed by the amount of detail – from the reproduction of stone slabs to the collection of chocolate-making pots. In general, we really liked examining everything in the rooms and the wealth of content being given via the audio guides made the experience so much deeper. For me, the information being disseminated reminded me of the content in The True History of Chocolate (which I realise I’ve not reviewed – so that’s something I need to remedy).

There are also a few game stations for children and the young at heart, though I didn’t find them absolutely necessary to the experience. They were fun to have but can be skipped over.

At the very end of the museum, we have a small hands-on section. There were chocolate samples, including chocolate made with beans from different countries (I think Costa Rica and Brazil). There is also a praline-making demonstration about once every hour which is worth watching. I thought the chocolatier was very funny and we enjoyed the praline we received at the end.

Choco Story (Brussels) vs Chocolate Story (York) vs Cadbury World (Birmingham)

Since I did this in my previous chocolate museum post, I figured I might as well do another comparison if anyone is doing a trip across Europe but doesn’t want to go for three chocolate museums (though… why not?)

Choco Story is:

• Smaller
• Very in-depth when it comes to history (this is the one for you if you’re into the history of chocolate in general)
• Fewer free chocolates – probably the least of the three, come to think of it
• Heavily dependent on the audio-guide
• Least hands-on: we get to try chocolates but there’s nothing we make with our hands

Cadbury World is:

• Bigger
• There are staff showing you around here and there but you are also going to spend a lot of time just walking through the exhibits
• Kid-oriented: there are rides and a playground
• Lots of free Cadbury chocolates
• Seasonal Events

York’s Chocolate Story is:

• Focused on York: It’s not just about chocolate
• Friendly staff that’s assigned to your group
• Personally, I preferred the way they structured the history here
• Chocolates given are related to the content: So you may not enjoy everything – the chocolate drink was definitely not for everyone
• Very hands-on: Cadbury World’s hands-on activity was just mixing toppings into melted chocolate, while for York’s Chocolate Story, we made chocolate lollies that could be brought back

In general, I’d say that Birmingham’s Cadbury World is very kid-friendly, York’s Chocolate story is very hands-on with what you can do (caveat: I went before COVID-19), and Brussel’s Choco Story is very focused on the history of chocolate. These museums are certainly not identical to one another and I think it’s possible to visit all three and have a different but chocolate-focused experience at each.