Factory tours experience
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| Airstream | Jackson Center, Ohio, USA | A chance to see the style icon of the caravan world in production. Daily tours Mon – Fri. |
| Anheuser-Busch | Various, USA | The Budweiser brewer has complimentary tours at five of its 12 U.S. Breweries. |
| Aston Martin | ||
| Boeing | Seattle | Boeing have been offering their hugely popular tours of their Everett assembly plant (the largest building in the world by volume) since 1968. The 80-minute tours of the Boeing 777 assembly line are operated Thursday through Monday, and are operated from the Future of Flight Aviation Center, where visitors can see and interact with aircraft and AV displays. Boeing also have an Aerospace History exhibit in St. Louis. |
| British Airways | Harmondsworth, UK | The British Airways Heritage Collection preserves the records and artefacts of British Airways, its predecessor companies BOAC, BEA, BSAA and the pre-war Imperial Airways. It is housed at BA’s headquarters close to Heathrow Airport. It comprises a comprehensive document & photo archive of BA’s history plus aircraft models, memorabilia, uniforms and other artefacts. It is open to the public but you have to book an appointment to visit. |
| Bushmills | County Antrim, N. Ireland | The Old Bushmills Distillery is open to visitors 7 days a week, who get a guided tour of the 400-yr-old distillery, a sample of their whiskey, and a chance to buy some. |
| Cadbury World | Birmingham | Visitor centre for chocolate-lovers. |
| Caterham Cars | Dartford, Kent | 2½ hour tours of Caterham’s brand new production plant (opened 4 June 2024) . |
| Chevrolet Corvette | Bowling Green, Kentucky | There’s a Corvette Museum AND a factory tour at the nearby General Motors Corvette assembly plant. Note: There’s a new Corvette on the way and they have announced the factory tours will be stopped between 16 June 2017 & Jan 2019 while they ‘tool up’ for it. |
| Cornings Museum of Glass | New York State | Cornings are probably best known in the UK for glass cookware. The Corning Museum of Glass traces the 3500 year-old history of glass and glass blowing through its thousands of exhibits (from ancient glass beads to fibre-optics), interactive displays and factory floor glass blowing demonstrations. |
| Crayola Factory | Easton, Pennsylvania | Not really the factory where the actual crayons get made in their billions, but a family visitor centre where the process is explained with lots of hands-on opportunities for kids. |
| Dartington Crystal | Great Torrington, North Devon | Watch the glassblowers in action at the visitors centre. |
| Ferrari World | Abu Dhabi | A Ferrari theme park that opened in 2010 with a range of displays and driving experiences, plus the world’s fastest roller coaster reaching speeds of 125mph (200kph). More info |
| Ford | Michigan, USA | There are several Ford experiences: The Henry Ford Museum is his collection of Americana. There are tours of the assembly line at the Ford Rouge plant (Very popular. 150,000+ visitors in 2019) And there is Greenfield village… Henry Ford’s birthplace which he saved from destruction when a new road was built through the location by moving it to a new site and preserving the original buildings! |
| Greyhound Bus Museum | Minnesota, USA | Now, almost a century after the iconic Greyhound bus company was founded in the depth of rural America, the (British-owned) brand has arrived in the UK, which makes this museum a little more relevant to British visitors. The collection has a large number of artifacts and displays, plus thirteen historical buses, including the futuristic 1956 aluminium ‘Scenicruiser’. |
| Guinness Brewery | Dublin | A tour of the old Guinness brewery which has been converted into an exhibition of Guinness history with films and exhibits of old posters, bottles, beer cans and brewery equipment. There’s a rather impressive bar on the roof (The Gravity Bar) with views over Dublin and a souvenir shop. |
| Harley-Davidson Factory Tour | Pennsylvania | There used to be three factory tours, but of course Covid 19 messed that up! They were, the Powertrain engine plant in Wisconsin, the Sportster bike assembly plant in Kansas City, and the most popular, the ‘Harley-Davidson Vehicle Operations’ plant in York County, Pennsylvania where roughly half the company’s production workforce assemble the Touring, Softail® and custom motorbikes. (Click on the USA region website to find the Factory Tours.) And there’s a brand museum in Milwaukee. |
| Jack Daniels | Lynchburg, Tennessee | Visitors centre and continuous guided tours of the historic distillery. |
| Jaguar Cars | Solihull/Castle Bromwich, UK | A choice. You can see the new Jaguar XE being built in their state-of-the-art production plant in Solihull, and/or the main plant at Castle Bromwich. |
| Jayco | Middlebury, Indiana, USA | Jayco builds amazing RVs, motorhomes and trailers (“caravans” to Brits) in north Indiana. Factory tours temporarily suspended due to COVID-19 |
| John Deere | Moline & Waterloo, Illinois | The famous American tractor, plant & agricultural equipment manufacturer has a brand museum with exhibits from the company’s past in Waterloo. Also some of the company’s other plants are open to the public for tours, including the combine harvester factory in East Moline, Iowa, and the seeding equipment facility in Davenport. There is also the John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour just outside Moline where visitors can see a replica of the blacksmith shop where Deere first fashioned a self-scouring plow. |
| KFC | Corbyn, Kentucky | Colonel Sanders’ original cafe and birthplace of the worldwide Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. There’s a small museum there too. (He was never a military colonel by the way. Kentucky Colonel is an honorary titled awarded to cafe-owner, Sanders by the State Governor for ‘services to cuisine’.) The cafe/museum doesn’t have dedicated website. |
| Lotus Cars | Hethel, Norfolk, UK | The Lotus production facility in Norfolk is reopening for public tours on 4th April 2022. Lotus suspended their factory tours in November 2017, so fans will be eager to see their new state-of-art factory which, after a £100 million investment, will be building the new Lotus Emira sports car. Tours will be operated Monday – Thursday, but on Tuesdays and Wednesdays you can also visit their Classic Lotus racing museum and see their collection of historic Formula 1 race cars. |
| Louisville Slugger | Louisville, Kentucky, USA | Baseball fans can see historic memorabilia and how bats are made. |
| Mack Trucks Historical Museum | Allentown, Pennsylvania | Brand museum of the iconic American trucks, dating back to the early 1900s. |
| Mercedes-Benz USA | Tuscaloosa County, Alabama | The giant Mercedes plant, the only one in the USA, has a visitor centre, museum and daily factory tours (from time to time temporarily closed when they have plant refits for new model assembly). |
| Mercedes Benz World | Brooklands, UK | MBW opened in Oct 06 at the historic Brooklands racing circuit in Surrey with a selection of driving courses from serious racetrack and off-road instruction to driving experiences for young children (over 1.5m). There are 100+ Mercedes cars on exhibition in the centre (in addition to the historic vehicles in the adjacent Brooklands museum), family activities & learning zones, simulators & a cinema, restaurants & shops….and future plans include a 5-star hotel & spa. |
| Monaco Coach Corporation | Indiana & Oregon, USA | Not a well-known brand in the UK, but these guys make luxury RVs (motorhomes) and they allow the public to come and watch them doing it at their plants in Indiana and Oregon. |
| Morgan Motor Company | Malvern, Worcestershire, UK | Morgan operate pre-booked, guided tours of the classic hand-built sports car factory, that last around two hours and run during weekdays, or on selected Saturdays. They get around 30,000 visitors per year. If you want a preview, they have just released (Feb 2022) a drone fly-through of the factory. |
| Outhwaite & Son Ropemakers | Hawes, Yorkshire | From the stuff mountaineers dangle from and boats tie-up with, to dog leads and bell rope – you can watch them making metres of rope in the traditional way. |
| Plymouth Gin | Plymouth, England | Plymouth Gin is the only gin distillery in Britain that runs visitor tours. They opened a visitor centre in Aug 04 in their historic distillery building (a former monastery dating back to 1431, and the building where in 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers spent their last night in England) in the centre of Plymouth. |
| Polaris | Roseau, Minnesota | You can see Polaris snowmobiles and All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) being manufactured at their plant on weekday afternoons, and visit their brand museum. Group tours of 15 or more should be arranged ahead of time by calling (218) 463-4999 |
| RNLI | Poole, Dorset, UK | The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has had a state-of-the-art training and lifeboat construction complex at its headquarters in Poole, Dorset, since 2015. They offer 90-min tours of the training facilities 6 days a week, and 60-min tours of their engineering, production and maintenance facilities on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They even have a hotel (for their crews during training) where you can stay! And… they also have a facility on the Isle of Wight where they build and maintain their inflatable Inshore Rescue Boats (IRBs), which you can visit by appointment. |
| Royal Mint, The | Cardiff, Wales | The Royal Mint offers “VIP tours” to its factory & workshops… they are a little expensive though. |
| SAFRAN | Réau, France | French aerospace engine manufacturer, SAFRAN, has a brand museum with a large collection of engines produced by predecessor companies such as Gnome et Rhône and Snecma which are now part of the present day Safran company. |
| Steinway Pianos | New York, USA | Steinway have a 2½hr tour of the factory where grand pianos are still handmade by craftsmen. |
| Toyota | Various North America locations | Toyota offers factory tours at a number of its manufacturing plants in the USA (4) and Canada (1). They also offer virtual tours in those plants and at a further four plants in North America. |
| Triumph Motorcycles | Hinckley, Leicestershire | Triumph opened its £4 million Triumph visitor experience and factory tour in Nov 2017. The museum collection (free) is open Weds – Sun each week and features some famous Triumph bikes ridden by the likes of David Beckham and Tom Cruise, plus land speed record holders from the 1960s and… THE actual bike – a fully restored 650cc Triumph TR6R – ridden by Steve McQueen in The Great Escape! The 90 minute factory tours cost £15 and are led by experts including members of the manufacturing teams. |
| U.S. Mint | Philadelphia and Denver, USA | The United States Mint offers tours in its Philadelphia and Denver locations. They stopped for security reasons after ‘911’ but started again in May 05. At both facilities the tours are free and are operated on a ‘first come first served’ basis. You’ll need photo ID, and, along with cameras, there are a number of banned items such as penknives, etc. Tours cover the history of the Mint and present day manufacturing. |
| Volvo | Gothenburg, Sweden | World of Volvo is a new (Apr 2024) brand museum and cultural centre in Gothenburg. See Mechtraveller news. |
| Walt Disney Family Museum | San Francisco, USA | Not so much a brand museum as a ‘man behind the brand’ museum. Opened Oct 2009 with exhibits from Disney’s life from obscure childhood to global fame. |
| Waterford Crystal | Waterford, Ireland | The old Waterford factory was closed in Feb 09 and a new factory and state-of-the-art visitor centre opened in June 2010. The House of Waterford Crystal is on the Mall in Waterford City, Ireland and employs up to 130 staff at peak periods, including highly skilled craftsmen at the new Waterford Crystal Prestige Manufacturing Facility. Here, approximately 40,000 hand-crafted high end pieces are produced using traditional methods for customers and tourists. |
| Wild Turkey Distillery | Kentucky, USA | The Wild Turkey bourbon distillery has had a visitor centre since Apr 2014, where visitors can gather before & after the hourly distillery tours. |
| Winnebago | Iowa, USA | Winnebago has two plants in Iowa manufacturing its motorhomes and camper vans. They offer free factory tours Apr – Oct. Tours of the Forest City plant are available at noon Monday through Friday and at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Tours of the Lake Mills facility, where camper vans are built, are at 9:30 a.m. Monday and Wednesday. |
When you get to your family vacation destination, what do you do? If you're traveling with kids, in addition to the usual sightseeing attractions, depending on your destination, you might want to look and see if there is a factory tour near you. These behind-the-scene looks show kids how their favorite objects are made; they may even get a lesson in industrial design, engineering and manufacturing. Plus, if you tour a creamery, ice-cream factory or sweet shop, you might get a tasty sample at the end!
The following factory tours and appropriate for kids, are well-reviewed by families and are currently open to visitors (or will be opening soon). But you might want to book ahead — some require timed tickets or reservations before you visit. But when you're done, you'll all know a little bit more about how the world around you is made.
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory (Louisville, Kentucky)
Swing by to see how baseball bats are made — this company has been churning them out since 1884. Your family can walk through the factory production line and watch the wood chips fly! Everyone can try out bats from iconic players, like Babe Ruth and Derek Jeter. With plenty of photo ops (including your crew inside a giant baseball mitt) and a free mini bat souvenir for every guest, this tour will be a home run. Open daily; $18 for adults, $11 for ages 6 – 12, free for ages 5 and under
Jelly Belly Visitor Center & Factory (Fairfield, California)
From your perch above the production line, you’ll witness all the steps — slurry, steam bath, glossy application — it takes to create the gourmet jellybeans that have been a thing since the late 1800s. Video screens provide close-ups and fun facts (like it takes 1 – 2 weeks to make a jellybean). Feeling hungry? Stop at the café for a jellybean-shaped pizza. Open daily (but factory workers are typically there only on weekdays), $5 for adults, $2 for ages 2 and up, free for younger kids
The Kazoo Factory Tour Experience (Beaufort, South Carolina)
After learning the ins and outs of kazoo-making during a factory walk-through, everyone gets to create their own instrument to take home. A built-in souvenir is music to our ears! Open Monday to Friday, $9 for adults, $7 for ages 4 – 11, free for younger kids
PEZ Visitor Center (Orange, Connecticut)
The colorful facility dispenses equal parts nostalgia (it maintains well-organized vintage PEZ displays) and tech wizardry (you can see how the famous candy is packed). Be sure to snap your kid’s pic in front of the world’s largest PEZ dispenser, which looks like a person wearing a PEZ-themed baseball cap. Open daily; $5 for adults, $4 for ages 3 – 12, free for younger kids
Polaris Experience Center (Roseau, Minnesota)
School-age kids who love to build things will have their mind blown going behind-the-scenes at this maker of snowmobiles and ATVs. On the guided tour, they’ll see laser cutters, high-speed saws and other cool equipment making parts for the vehicles. They can also watch motors being installed and ATVs being tested. Whoa! Open Monday to Friday; children under age 6 prohibited; free
Hammond’s Candy Factory Tour (Denver, Colorado)
This centuries-old confectioner invites you to see how it makes its lollipops, candy canes and other treats. Looking through large viewing windows, your crew will be gobsmacked at how the colorful candies are shaped and packaged. Open Monday –Saturday; free
Kohler Design Center Factory Tour (Kohler, Wisconsin)
Got a teen whose interested in manufacturing? They’ll be fascinated by this detailed two-hour, 3 ½-mile foray behind the scenes of how the brand’s famous plumbing products are created. Open Monday – Friday, children under 14 not permitted, free
Sweet Pete’s Candy Shop (Jacksonville, Florida)
Willy Wonka vibes are strong at this mansion that takes guests from room to room of candy-making demos. You’ll get to design your own chocolate bar, choosing from more than 16 toppings. Check availability online; $6.45 per person
Henry Ford Rouge Factory Tour (Dearborn, Michigan)
One truck per minute rolls off the assembly line at this famous automotive factory — and your crew gets a birds-eye view of the goings-on from a 1/3-mile observation deck. There’s also a gallery of cool cars, like a 1965 Ford Mustang, to check out. Check dates online; $22 for adults, $16.50 for ages 5 – 11, free for younger kids
Turkey Hill Experience (Columbia, Pennsylvania)
While the dairy producer’s actual factory is closed to the public, this children’s museum-like attraction gives families the inside scoop on ice cream-making, plus unlimited free samples. Your kids can create their own virtual flavor, and then star in a commercial promoting it. Open daily; starts at $10.50 per person
World of Coca-Cola (Atlanta, Georgia)
Since you can’t tour an actual Coke bottling plant, this attraction is the next best thing. Its Bottle Works exhibit, showcasing real equipment, explains the packaging process. And you’ll get a chance to taste different kinds of sodas from around the world. Open daily; $19 for adults, $15 for ages 3 – 12, free for younger kids
Tillamook Creamery Tour (Tillamook, Oregon)
From a viewing gallery above the factory floor, you’ll see how milk becomes cheese. Then hit the dining hall for gooey faves, likes grilled cheese and mac ’n cheese. Your fam can even share a “flight” of ice cream. Open daily; tour is free, you can add tasting experiences for a charge
Warner Bros. Studio Tour (Los Angeles, California)
Your crew will be star-struck hanging out at a working movie studio. During the hour-long guided portion, you’ll see backlots, movie sets and maybe even spy someone famous. Then you’ll have two more hours to explore on your own — plenty of time to snap a pic of your family in front of the fountain from Friends. Open daily: $69 for adults, $59 for ages 5 – 10
The Great Utz Chip Trip Tour (Hanover, Pennsylvania)
Kids will discover how potatoes get turned into chips at this famous maker’s plant near the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. They can watch factory workers from an observation gallery; closed-circuit TV monitors provide close-ups. Everyone receives a free sample of chips at the end. Open Monday – Thursday, free
Ben & Jerry’s Factory Experience (Waterbury, Vermont)
With a tentative re-opening planned for the end of June 2022, this beloved attraction wets appetites with a short movie about how Ben & Jerry got their start. From there, it’s off to the mezzanine where you’ll watch how the ice cream is made. Samples of ice cream (sometimes a flavor that’s exclusive to the factory) is the proverbial cherry on top. On your way out, visit the “ice cream graveyard” of flavors that are no longer made. Check back for ticket info
The Crayola Experience (Easton, Pennsylvania)
There are many activities to take part in at The Crayola experience, including a live show where a "crayonologist" demonstrates how crayons are made. The 65,000-square-foot attraction also includes a toddler and a big-kid playground, interactive games and a studio for art projects, among manny other stations — they recommend blocking out three or four hours for a visit. Open daily. Admission is $25 if you buy tickets in advance; a timed ticket is required for all visitors ages 3 and up. There are also Crayola Experience locations in Chandler, Arizona; Mall of America, Minnesota; Orlando, Florida and Plano, Texas, but offerings may vary
Taza Chocolate Factory Tour (Somerville, Massachusetts)
Specializing in stone-ground chocolate, this candy maker explains the production process and hosts a sampling. On weekends, there’s a scavenger hunt-themed tour for kids under age 10. Open Wednesday – Sunday; $8-$12 per person
The White House (Washington, DC)
Though not a factory in the traditional sense, White House tours are back, and you can meander around the famous Blue Room, Red Room, State dining room and — best of all — the Rose Garden. But you can’t wait until the last minute to book. Twenty-one to 90 days before you’d like to visit, you need to request one of the free tours by contacting your congress member’s office. Tours are only available on Fridays and Saturdays
Blue Bell Creamery Factory Tour (Brenham, Texas)
Look high above the factory floor to see ice cream being packaged in different types of containers. An employee is on-hand to answer all the kids’ questions about the process, so encourage them to ask away. Open Monday – Friday; free
American Whistle Company (Columbus, Ohio)
A kitschy stop on a Midwest road trip, this factory doles out loads of engaging info about a topic you probably never considered — how whistles are made. Everyone receives a whistle to take home. Open Monday Friday; $6 per person
Fannie May Chocolate Factory (North Canton, Ohio)
While kids will learn how cacao pods gets processed into chocolate, they’ll more likely to remember the delicious samples at the end. Open Monday – Thursday, free
Boeing Future of Flight (Mukilteo, Washington)
While the actual factory tours of this renowned plane manufacturer are still on pause, a “backstage pass” gets you a lot of insider info. Your crew can watch an hour-long movie that explains the manufacturing process. Then you take a guided walk of the gallery that’s packed with cool exhibits like a full-scale mockup of the research lab for the International Space Station. You can also head to the Sky Deck to watch daily flight operations on Paine Field, set against the backdrop of the North Cascades mountains. Open Thursday-Monday; $20 for adults, $10 for kids 6 – 15, free for younger kids
The Roasterie Factory Tour (Kansas City, Missouri)
Start your day with a tour of this coffee factory (there’s hot chocolate and chocolate milk for the kids). A brewing demo and samples are included. Open daily, $5 for ages 11 and up, free for younger kids
Annie Oakley Natural Perfumery (Ligonier, Indiana)
For any kid who likes potions, this fragrance factory will fascinate. Your family will learn how perfumes are created and bottled plus smell unique essences. Open weekdays; $5 per person
Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery (Lititz, Pennsylvania)
The first commercial soft pretzel bakery in America gives customers a behind-the-scenes look. After watching bakers twist dough in the classic shape, kids can try their hands at it using a pretend dough mixture. By appointment only; $4 for adults, $3 for ages 4 – 12, free for younger kids