Perugia is Italy’s city of chocolate and official headquarters of Eurochocolate, the biggest European chocolate festival held annually in October – with a spring edition in 2023 that’s taking place from March 24th to April 2nd.
There’s even a chocolate museum just outside of town: Museo Storico Casa del Cioccolato Perugina.
It’s the place to learn about the history of one of the most famous Italian chocolate brands: Perugina. Visiting gives you insights into the history of chocolate making made in Italy, the iconic Baci (kiss) that’s made Perugina world-famous, plus visitors can taste freshly produced chocolate on site.
If you haven’t tried a Baci yet, it’s about time — unless you’re allergic to hazelnuts!
Baci Perugina are the romantic Italian version of the Chinese fortune cookie.
Baci Perugina are are round, irregularly shaped chocolates combining Gianduja and hazelnut crumbs that are then covered in dark chocolate — with a whole hazelnut placed on the top. A unique characteristic of this beloved Italian chocolate, which is why they’re known as kisses (baci is the plural for bacio, the kiss in Italian) is that there’s a love note in every silver wrapper — usually translated in several languages.
Originally, there was only the classic Baci in the silver-blue foil, but just like with M&Ms, there’s a lot of different flavors now and even a baci chocolate bar.
In Italy, Baci come in lots of different colors and flavors: Pink, red, white, gold… guess you have to try them all to decide wich one’s your favorite.
P.S. Chocolate’s not all there is to eat and see in Perugia, although it’s surely a treat not to be missed!