The one time those junky tourism flyers in hotel lobbies were useful was when it brought me to Herr's Snack Factory Tours. I grabbed a flyer and immediately told my bf I knew what we would be doing for our next family outing.
Who knew that tours of potato chip factories existed?
Some things that you should know before you go on your tour:
-No Photos or video.
-No tours on weekends.
-Wear comfortable shoes. It will be a walking tour for about an hour.
-Stroller and wheelchair accessible.
-Tour fees: Adults $4, Children $3. Under 3 yrs old $Free.
-Reserve your spot in advance before showing up. Each tour time slot is limited to a certain amount of people.
Once you get to the factory you will check in at the store and have a few minutes to kill before going in. Try not to be tempted with all the junk food! Save your purchases for after the tour. Spoiler alert: Immediately upon starting the tour you are given free bags of chips and on the tour you get to taste potato chips fresh off of the fryer and conveyor belt. The fresh chips were amazingly good and hotter than you think. Be prepared to jump a little when they scoop some into your hand.
The tour was really fun and educational. You get to walk through a series of buildings, learn about the whole process, and see with your very own eyes pretzels being made, chips being separated, and flavoring poured on to chips. Some of the buildings smell like popcorn/tortilla chips and it is truly incredible how many chips are made and distributed daily.
We spent about $20 in the shop after the tour. There are so many flavors of chips to try and lots of bags that are discounted for a quarter. The discounted chips are all factory rejects because either the weight is off or the flavor is miscalculated. I found no difference in the rejected chips. The Herr's Snack Factory is heaven.