1 Best Sight in Antwerp and the Northeast, Belgium

Taking its cue more from Willy Wonka than any museum, this carnivalesque look at the humble cocoa bean is one of the city's biggest crowd-pleasers. Relentlessly inventive and whimsical, room after room boasts Heath Robinson--esque contraptions that make the history of chocolate making and its production a story worth telling. It's as theatrical as it is informative, using projections, stagecraft, and workshops to draw you in. Audio guides are pointed at information points along the way, and some rooms are time-locked so you can't leave until your group is done, but there's often a handful of chocolates on hand to quiet the impatient. The finale is a tasting room where you're free to try 10 different kinds of melted chocolate.