When thinking about chocolate, your mind may drift to the Belgian city of Brussels, or to the Swiss Alps, but neither of these has topped the list of Europe’s “chocolate capitals”. Instead, this title has gone to the Italian city of Turin.

Ahead of the busy summer tourist season, Avis analysed European cities for their chocolate culture, including the number of chocolatiers and shops listed on Yelp, chocolate-related attractions such as museums and factory tours, and consumer ratings. Their study found Turin in the top spot, closely followed by Preguia, also in Italy, with Austria’s Salzburg coming in third. Two British cities even made the list, securing fourth place and London in eighth place.

Turin is home to 233 chocolatiers and five chocolate attractions; considered Europe’s historic chocolate capital since 1585, Turin is the birthplace of gianduja and bicerin – iconic, hazelnut-chocolate specialties.

Plus, there’s the Pfatisch Chocolate Museum and factory tours from brands like Caffarel. The city’s annual CioccolaTò festival further cements its reputation as a destination for immersive chocolate experiences.

Taking to TripAdvisor, one recent visitor to the Pfatisch Chocolate Museum, wrote: “Beautiful audio guided tour, interactive for families. The children had a great time with the interactive games.

“Very cosy and realistic environment recreated for the tour. Exhaustive on the subject. It involved all the senses. Small taste of the three chocolates (dark, milk, white) and finally the king Gianduiotto.”

While another tourist who enjoyed a trip to the Pfatish Museum wrote: “This place looks it belongs on a movie set. Everything looks so good and so perfect. Even if you don’t buy anything here, it is well worth a visit.”