I booked a trip away with Gemma to Birmingham last week. She is a huge chocoholic so I decided to plan a surprise visit to Cadbury World. We stayed at the Eaton Hotel which has recently been refurbished to a very high standard and was excellent. The room was clean, quiet and in a great location to stop off, recharge our batteries and get ready for the next day. I would definitely recommend it.

To break up the journey north we drove through Warick to do some sight seeing. Originally we had planned to visit Warick Castle but in the end decided it was getting too late in the day so found a quaint, old fashioned tea room instead and had a late lunch that included homemade sandwiches, traditional lemonade and a huge slice of cake. Delicious!

I booked our tickets to Cadbury World on the Intenet in advance and was glad I did. It was very busy when we got there and even busier when we left! The tour began with some historical facts about the origins of cocoa beans, the history of John Cadbury himself and how he founded the business which has remained in the family ever since! An interactive show on the chocolate making process followed and then a walk through the packing plant gave an insight into the technology they use to cut, wrap and box their chocolate bars. It was fascinating to watch the chocolate whizzing around different conveyor belts in various stages of the packing process.  

It was a very enjoyable experience if not a little disjointed. The actual attraction is housed at the Cadbury factory and many of the areas are not designed for purpose but rather, cobbled together to fit the need. I was also a little disappointed by the lack of tasters, I think it would make for a more enjoyable experience if you could try different chocolates on your journey around the factory.

On our final day we headed back south and stopped off in Milton Keynes to take a look round the MK Centre, a huge shopping complex. Gemma was in her element and spent plenty of her hard earned cash on shoes, clothes and accessories!

We had an excellent time relaxing, eating and drinking but for me the most enjoyable part of our time away was simply being together with no worries and no interruptions, after all the best things in life really are free.