Cadbury World, Birmingham

Discover the history of chocolate and see it being made. The Cadbury factory at Bournville has a visitor centre that is dedicated to the history of chocolate. Visitors can learn about how cocoa beans are grown, how they came to be imported to Europe and made into the chocolate that we know today. There is also a factory shop where visitors can purchase a wide range of Cadbury products at factory prices. A restaurant/cafeteria can be found on site and there is a play area for children. Special features include a 3D video story and an interactive theatre which deals not only with chocolate, its manufacture and its advertising but also provides an insight into the Cadbury family who created the
UK's favourite chocolate produce.

It is essential that you book your tickets before coming to Cadbury World to guarantee entry. This is because it is an indoor attraction and there’s a limit on how many visitors can enter in a day.

Admission times vary depending on day and month

Adults: £14.30
Children (4 - 15): £10.40
Children (Under 4): Free

email cadburyworldgeneralenquiries@kraftfoods.com

Well, um, yes. Your place in the world is assured when you manufacture 300 million creme eggs every year. The whole area of Bournville is fascinating as a sort of outdoor social history museum (an area of about 100 acres is completely owned by Cadburys, God bless them).

I'm sure George Cadbury was ahead of his time in the field of industrial relations, but the tour of the factory is an irritating paean to the wonderful Cadbury family. There is also a rather bizarre ride in an electric car through some sub Legoland world of chocolate beans going on holiday.

I did enjoy watching bars of CDM being wrapped at speed and boxed by a robot. They don't employ many people these days do they?

I suppose I didn't really expect much more than being charged for being exposed to their marketing. Quite expensive too I thought - £13 for adults and £9 for kids.

Cadbury World is marketed as 'where chocolate comes to life' and takes you on a history of chocolate - from the Aztecs and chocolatl through to a replica of the original shop in Bull St in 1824, the building of the factory and the Quaker family who built their 'model village' away from the city centre and the smoke/grime, the making of chocolate and much more (and at the end is the World's Biggest Cadbury Shop). (I went to school less than 2 miles away - the smell of chocolate could be too much at times...).

Opening times are totally confusing - there is little in terms of consistent opening and closing times, one of the reasons why you are encouraged to book in advance (along with restricted numbers per day).

Entry fees: 13.45 gbp, 10.10 (kids), 10.30 (students and pensioners). Family tickets 41.20 (2 adults, 2 kids) or 48.90 (2 adults, 3 kids).

But Bournville is not just about Cadbury World. The village was built for the workers of the factory in 1879 - what was originally 16 houses became, by 1900, 313 houses, a school and a hospital (no pub - Quaker values!). It remains a residential village, but walking round highlights the forward thinking philanthropy of the Cadbury family. There's also Selly Manor (see seperate tip), the Bournville Green (home to The Rest House, built in 1914 to commemorate the silver wedding of Mr & Mrs George Cadbury) and The Carillon - the 48-belled musical instrument built onto the clock tower of the school.

If Texas is famous for its Black Gold (oil) then Birmingham is famous for its brown gold - (chocolate). When you in Atlanta you think of coca cola and if you think of Birmingham then you think of chocolate. Cadburys have been making their world famous chocolate bars here since 1831 and Cadburys routes go further back than that to London in 1824.

Originally when the factory was founded and at the time it was fashionable to give French names to everything, so the small out town hamlet of Bourne Brook became known as Bourneville.
Today the suburban area known as Bourneville has become sunomious with the sweetest liquid of chocolate. When you arrive at the train station you are met with the cooperate colours Cadbury’s and as you walk the 10 minutes journey from station to factory the air is filled with subtitle hints of coco. As you stroll along you’ll see plagues giving away snippets of history giving you some indication the importance of the factory to the area. Upon arrival at the main exhibition centre reception you need to book in, I strongly recommend you pre-book as you are given time slots for your tour of the exhibition and the packaging part of the factory. Once checked you just need to await your time frame. The attraction itself is split into three key areas, which are made up of history, making and packaging and climaxing with a fun ride mainly for kids a ride through the wacky world Cadbury advertising and their own chocolate character of Mr Chuckle the coco bean. There is plenty of staff on hand to giving away chocolate bars through out the tour.
It takes about 2 hours see the tour in its entirety and with the gift shop, café and playground area for the kids you allow the whole afternoon to enjoy this attraction.
It costs £13.00 for an adult £9.50 for child from Cadbury world web site, however it is cheaper to prepay for the tickets from the tourist information centre that will make the reservation for you and you’ll pay £10.50 for an Adult and £6.50 for a Child. All children under 4 years old are free.
A train ticket from Birmingham new street to Bourneville costs £1.60 return and takes just 12 minutes.

This is the biggest attraction in Birmingham. Inside you'll see the story of chocolate making, experience a ride through a chocolate wonderland, view a demonstration area and a fantasy factory.

Prices : Adult £13, children £10, under 4s free, discounted family tickets

Cadburys World is a hands on fun day out for all the family to enjoy and even better if your a chocolate lover like myself.
With the chance to feel the real liquid chocolate and have fun and games with the chocolate makers. They will take you back in time to discover the magic of Cadburys chocolate. Then you get the chance to taste the specialities from mint chips to honeycomb the choice is yours.

There is a restaurant, Cadbury shop, advertising, demonstration area and how to make chocolate all on site.
There is access for disabled, baby access, picnic area, free parking all on site for your use.
Cadburys world is a must when visiting Birmingham... so go on and give it a try sometime.

Take a trip to the town of Bourneville and visit the Cadbury's chocolate factory.

You can see how chocolate is made, indulge in the history of the Cadbury franchise and also have an opportunity to sample some of the delights made in the factory.

Book online to skip the ticket queues and try to avoid nearing the end of term time when a lot of schools bring class trips here.

Claire used to work in a chocolate and wants to start her own, I love chocolate so after months of talking about it we decided to take a trip to Cadburys World, this Tuesday 12th October 2004.

Cadburys World is the visitor centre of Cadburys Chocolates in Bourneville, Birmingham.

As you walk through the sliding doors you notice how modern it all looks compared to the factory buildings surrounding it. To your left there is a large reception desk, to your right a large restaurant and in front of you is the largest Cadburys Shop in the World.

As soon as you enter the exhibit you are each given two bars of chocolate free.

You start off by walking through a Mayan jungle and learn about how they and the Aztecs used Cocoa beans as a currency.

From there you see a bit of a hologram show about the history of chocolate and how it came to Great Britain.

You then enter a small courtyard scene with a facade of a Chocolate House and some shops and listen to a short story before entering a theatre to hear how the Cadbury family started manufacturing chocolate.

From there you move into another theatre, this is the closet thing in this country that I have seen to the way they do things in the theme parks in Florida. This theatre shows you how the chocolate is processed. Beware though, if you have any back conditions sit on the back row or stand.

Once you have watched the film the door opens to a room with 4 or 5 computer terminals where you can watch how the various chocolate bars are made and packaged.

Price
Adult £9.00

To be continued.

"Cadbury World" has been one of the great success stories of tourism in the West Midlands. It has a number of exhibits that are very well done relating to chololate. There are a number of tableauxs showing the invention of chocolate, the whole process of producing the stuff and how it has been sold.

Its well worth visiting if you have children, although perhaps a little underwhelming if you are an adult - especially the somewhat 'shmaltzy' rides that have been added. They come across as somewhat poor imitations of Disney rides along the lines of the awful 'It's a small world after all' experience in the Kingdom of the mouse.

I must admit it was a pleasant diversion for a few hours, and I also quite enjoyed seeing the old adverts from the TV in one of the exhibitions, and seeing how the Cadbury family built a modern day business empire.

On the downside I was disappointed that you could see very little of the actual factory.

Visit Cadbury World Chocalate Experience.
This tour shows you how chocalate was discovered, using diarama's and then there is a factory tour where you get to see how the goodies are made and there are also free samples!!