Fodor's Expert Review Tillamook Cheese Factory

In high season, hundreds of visitors stop by the largest cheese-making plant on the West Coast to watch the cheese-making process, enjoy free samples, and order delicious ice cream (try the marionberry) from the on-site parlor. Here the rich milk from the area's thousands of Holstein and brown Swiss cows becomes ice cream, butter, and cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. The self-guided cheese-making tours don't allow much interaction—you view the operations from a glassed-in mezzanine—but they're free. The store carries a variety of other specialty-food products, including smoked meats, chocolates, jams, and honeys.