If like me you love chocolate than Easter is definitely your idea of heaven... Luscious chocolate eggs available in all shapes and sizes some packed with goodies some just beautifully wrapped that it would be a sin to unwrap them. But of course you do!!
So given the opportunity would you travel around the world in search of the BEST chocolate if so here's my selection of some destination's you should definitely visit..
Modica, Italy
Locals in Modica still follow ancient Aztec recipes
Even though generations of families in Modica have been making chocolate since the 16th century, this tradition remains relatively secret. When Aztec recipes made their way back to Sicily with the Spanish conquistadors, locals began meticulously following these ingenious and exotic cacao recipes. Transformed into a bitter paste, the cacao was used to enhance savoury dishes, eaten as a supplement, or prepared with certain spices to act as an aphrodisiac. These days, the Sicilians use their knowledge to make a rich, dark, and crumbly chocolate.
Try a truffle infused with citrus fruits or sprinkled with pistachios. Enjoy a rustic stay in the B&B Il Giardino Dei Mandarini, an old stone building right in the Baroque historic centre of Modica.
Yarra Glen, Australia
Take a tour of the chocolaterie in foodie destination, Yarra Glen
The Yarra Valley, just outside Melbourne, is an area that’s celebrated for its wineries, food markets, gourmet restaurants, and dairy farms. In Yarra Glen, you’ll also find a chocolaterie and ice creamery where expert chocolatiers craft decadent sweet treats using local dairy produce.
You can take part in free chocolate tastings and take a tour of the grounds and showroom, finishing with a meal at the on-site café. Stay in the The Studio - Yarra Valley and enjoy a peaceful stay in this stylishly-decorated detached villa with views out over Yarra Glen.
Tain-l’Hermitage, France
Tain-l'Hermitage has a long-standing reputation for producing fine chocolate
This humble, historic town in the Ardèche in central France is a must for epicurean travellers, particularly those with a sweet tooth. Sitting on one side of the Rhone River, Tain l’Hermitage has a reputation for high-quality wine but it also has an illustrious reputation for chocolate.
Truffles, chocolate bars, sauces, and powders can be purchased in the many boutiques that line the leafy boulevards. Enjoy a stay in the beautiful Hotel Pavillon de l'Ermitage, right in the middle of town, on the banks of the Rhone River.
Canela, Brazil
Canela, Brazi a thick hot chocolate during a Canela winter
The name Canela means ‘cinnamon’ in Portuguese and Spanish, and its history of chocolate-making dates back to the colonial invaders. In the 19th century, German immigrants colonized this hilly, cooler area of Brazil to build houses similar to their homes.
Today, these Bavarian buildings remain, most of them now shops selling chocolate in every different shape and form, including thick, rich hot chocolate served in the winter months. Chalés Rincão Comprido is an accommodation with a real sense of Canela's history; well-equipped wooden lodges surrounded by greenery and with views of the mountains.
San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
Bariloche is a town of chocolate shops and Swiss alpine-style architecture
There are plenty of good reasons to visit Bariloche, chocolate being one of them. In the bewilderingly beautiful Patagonia region, known for its precipitous snowy peaks that glow lilac in the hazy high-altitude sun, Bariloche sits on the banks of Nahuel Huapi, a glacial lake circled by the Andes. The town is filled with chocolate shops and Swiss alpine-style architecture.
Las Baitas offers cosy chalet-style accommodation with roaring fires and its own ski school for guests.
Hotel Chocolat, St. Lucia
Rooms offer stunning views of the Pitons
1,000 feet above the glittering Caribbean sea, on the paradise island of Saint Lucia, lies The Boucan Hotel Chocolate St Lucia's oldest chocolate plantation. Opened in 2011 as an eco-friendly boutique hotel it has been dubbed “cacao heaven” by the New York Times.
Stay in one its 14 luxurious suites and you may find yourself harvesting your own cacao pods, learning how to turn them into truffles, indulging in a cocoa-oil massage, then kicking back at the infinity pool with a cacao Bellini. Bliss
By Lisa Brown, Travel blogger
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