While every destination has its own stories written in stone and steel, some places can tell their tales through sugar and spice alone. Just as England’s seaside towns are synonymous with stick-a-rock, and snapping one between your molars brings back all sorts of memories, cities and towns all around the world have created their own signature sweets.
Sometimes it’s about the local ingredients, other times it’s seemingly random but traditional. A walking holiday, like offered at agencies like Orbis Ways, can be a great way to experience these changes in confectionery traditions, particularly with some central European trails which cross several borders.
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Following the chocolate trail through European villages
Switzerland is an incredible walking destination, and Zurich can offer you a sweet reward for your efforts. The city’s locals themselves consume nearly 20 pounds of chocolate per person each year, and each corner has its own artisanal chocolatiers that handcraft their confections.
A walking tour through the old town can take you to the headquarters of world-famous Lindt, where you can have some guided tastings, before eventually stumbling through cobblestone streets drunk on sugar where many smaller, independent shops around show off their chocolate maker’s magic.
Heading north, the medieval city of Nuremberg (Germany) has been a place dominated by gingerbread for over six centuries. The city’s position along the historic spice routes meant that local bakers could enhance their lebkuchen with exotic spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Guided walking tours can again lead you through centuries-old bakeries.
American candy towns worth the journey
Buffalo, New York, holds an unexpected title that many don’t know about: it’s the sponge candy capital of the world. This crispy, honeycomb toffee coated in chocolate goes by different names depending on where you are. Fairy food in the Midwest, hokey pokey in New Zealand. But Buffalo has really claimed it as their own.
A walking tour through the city’s neighborhoods takes you to legendary shops like Fowler’s and Watson’s. You can stand by and watch confectioners work their paddles on marble slabs.
Michigan’s Mackinac Island has a car-free paradise where fudge is in the air. The island’s Main Street, which is only accessible on foot or bicycle, has a whole heap of historic fudge shops that have been perfecting their craft since the 1880s. Murdick’s (opened in 1887) and Ryba’s (operates four storefronts along the thoroughfare) both specialize in cherry fudge because it’s a famously local ingredient.
Exotic flavors of distant shores
For the truly adventurous walker, Zanzibar is a totally different sweet experience. The spice islands’ signature treat is ubuyu candy, and it’s made from baobab seeds which are infused with cardamom, vanilla, sugar and black pepper. Stone Town’s narrow alleys are a delight to walk through and you’ll see vendors selling these candies literally everywhere. Because of the balance in flavors, you never get sick of them, and they reflect centuries of Indian Ocean trade routes.
These walking holidays show exactly why travelling by car isn’t the same. Just driving and parking up might mean missing the orchards and smell of local produce which defines the local confection. And if it’s not about the ingredients but the local culture and tradition, this is something you want to absorb slowly.
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