Choco-Story Turin, the museum of chocolate and gianduja

What you see: from a Maya temple to gianduja

Choco-Story belongs to a small family of chocolate museums that started in Belgium and now has around fifteen locations worldwide, but the Turin branch has a character of its own. It occupies the cellars beneath the Pfatisch pastry kitchen on Via Sacchi and holds more than 700 objects: cocoa-processing tools, cups and chocolate pots, moulds, tins and vintage advertising.

The route is a journey through time, with rooms staged like film sets:

• Origins: cocoa among the Maya and Aztecs, with a reconstructed temple and the bitter, spiced drink of their rituals.
• Arrival in Europe: a Spanish galleon carries the beans across the ocean and chocolate becomes a fashion at court.
• Turin and the House of Savoy: hot chocolate in the royal palaces, the first chocolate shops and the birth of Piedmont’s confectionery industry.
• Gianduja: the paste of cocoa and Langhe hazelnuts, the gianduiotto and its success.

Along the way there are short historical films, interactive displays and games that keep younger visitors engaged. When the kitchen is working you can watch the chocolatiers at their historic machines, and the visit includes a taste of chocolate and gianduja.

Why Turin, of all places

Turin’s bond with cocoa goes back a long way. At the Savoy court hot chocolate was already a prestigious drink in the seventeenth century, and in 1678 the regent Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy granted one of the first licences to make and sell it in the city. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Turin’s chocolatiers were among the most admired in Europe, and it is said that several Swiss masters came here to learn the trade.

Gianduja was born of necessity: during Napoleon’s Continental Blockade cocoa was scarce, so chocolatiers stretched it with the round hazelnuts of the Langhe. That soft paste led to the gianduiotto, the upturned-boat-shaped chocolate in gold foil, launched by Caffarel in 1865 and named after Gianduja, Turin’s carnival character.

Then there is the bicerin, a hot drink of coffee, chocolate and cream served in a small glass, the signature of the city’s historic cafés. The museum helps you put all these names in order before you move on to tasting them in the shops of the centre.

Pfatisch and the workshop: watching and making chocolate

The Pfatisch pastry shop was founded in 1915 by Gustavo Pfatisch, a confectioner from Fossano, and in 1921 it moved to Via Sacchi 42, an Art Nouveau building designed by Pietro Fenoglio. The museum was created beneath the kitchen, and you can tell: the smell of chocolate follows you all the way round.

If you want to get your hands dirty, book a hands-on workshop. In small groups of up to about ten people, guided by the chocolatiers, you make and decorate bars, lollipops or pralines to take home. The session lasts 45–60 minutes and is followed by the museum visit with audio guide. On the museum’s website the workshop-plus-visit package usually costs around €39.

On Tiqets you will find a chocolate workshop experience with tasting, from €45, at the same Via Sacchi address. Before booking, read the description to see exactly what the session covers, when it runs and in which language. The museum’s own rules apply either way: minimum age 7, children up to 12 with a participating adult, and arrive 15 minutes before the start.

Which ticket to choose

For the museum alone, the standard ticket is enough: about €12 on the museum’s website (€10 for students and over-65s, €7 for ages 3 to 11, free under 3). Alternatively there is entry with audio guide and tasting, bookable on Tiqets from €12, handy if you want the ticket on your phone and a set time. The audio guide is included and available in Italian, English, French, Spanish and German.

If you are visiting several museums in Turin, look at the Torino+Piemonte Card, from €29.90: according to Turismo Torino it gives free entry to Choco-Story and a discount on the workshop. Holders of the Abbonamento Musei Piemonte pass also get in free.

The workshop, on the other hand, must always be booked: places are few and at weekends and during school holidays they go quickly. For a simple visit booking is not compulsory, but the museum recommends it to avoid waiting at the desk.

Getting there, accessibility and children

Via Paolo Sacchi runs along the west side of Porta Nuova station: from the train or from metro line M1 (Porta Nuova stop) it is a few minutes on foot, and tram 4 also passes here. From Piazza Castello it is about a 20-minute walk down Via Roma and through Piazza San Carlo. Driving is not worth it: street parking nearby is paid, in the blue-lined bays. For GTT tickets and routes, see our guide to getting around Turin.

The museum is wheelchair accessible, with ramps and a lift (door 75 cm wide, cabin 125 cm deep), and easy to visit with a pushchair. Only assistance dogs are admitted. Written transcripts of the audio guide are available for deaf visitors.

It works well with children: theatrical rooms, games, short films and a tasting that arrives at just the right moment. For small children an hour is the ideal length; from age 7 up, the workshop is often the part they remember most.

Nearby: a chocolate lover’s walk

From the museum the day carries on nicely towards the centre. On Piazza San Carlo you will find Stratta, known for its sweets and chocolates; under the arcades of Piazza Castello, Baratti & Milano; on Via Lagrange, the gianduiotti of Guido Gobino. For a bicerin, the classic address is Caffè Al Bicerin on Piazza della Consolata, which has served it since the eighteenth century.

If you have a couple of hours left, the Egyptian Museum is about 15 minutes away on foot. To stay with flavours, the Lavazza Museum tells the story of Turin coffee, and our page on food and wine tours lists walks with tastings of chocolate, wine and vermouth, the aperitif that was born in Turin.

The museum also runs special events from time to time, such as the Choco-Tram, a ride round the city on a historic tram with gianduiotti to taste: if it appeals, check the calendar on the Choco-Story website.