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The Cheese Factory in the Cheese Town in the Cheese Country

14 Jan 2023 by Amby

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price-icon $8.5 city-icon Gruyères country-icon Switzerland location-icon La Maison du Gruyère

Gruyères is the birthplace of the famous Gruyère cheese, which Sev and I happen to eat all the time when we make mac and cheese at home. So obviously when we were in town we had to see how the magic happens at La Maison du Gruyère, or The Cheese Factory.

We got some free samples to enjoy later, and learned about the unique natural and industrial processes that make this kind of cheese so special.

Don't be afraid of all the cheese Don't be afraid of all the cheese

The Cheese Factory is right next to the Gruyères train station, so it’s a convenient way to begin or end your trip here. Entrance is 7CHF, which I found pretty reasonable.

Admittedly not the most spectacular building in Switzerland, but it's where the magic happens. Admittedly not the most spectacular building in Switzerland, but it's where the magic happens.

You get an audio guide to take you through the different stages of the museum. The audio is told from the perspective of a cow, who describes life on the mountains and her diet of grass and flowers.

With my audio guide and cheese samples, I'm ready to learn and snack. With my audio guide and cheese samples, I'm ready to learn and snack.

They have little smelling stations where you can smell the different foliage cows eat. I really liked this as I could get the sense (or scent) of how the alpine grasses directly impact the flavor of the cheese.

I came. I smelled. I snacked. I came. I smelled. I snacked.

Then you see the cheese factory part, where a 3 minute long video explains the entire cheese-making process.

If you arrive in the morning or early afternoon you can actually see the people working, but we were too late for that. Even so we could see the cheese at different stages of the process, including in the salt baths!

The cheese spa. The cheese spa.

It’s a pretty small museum and we were out within 30 minutes. There’s a big gift shop and cafe in the same building, and we grabbed a coffee for 4CHF, which came with a very cute and tasty chocolate treat.

I would say this is a must-do for anyone coming to Gruyères! Five snacks!

The lil cream bucket chocolate treat was a really cute touch. The lil cream bucket chocolate treat was a really cute touch.

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