Factory tour
This is a list of industrial and commercial companies with brand museums, visitor centres or factory tours open to the public (that I’m aware of).
These places tend to come and go fairly quickly, depending on their role within the brand’s core business. Eg, motor vehicle factory tours are likely to be suspended when new products or models are introduced; brand museums can be moved or closed when brands get bought or HQs & factories move. I try to keep up, but there’s regular ‘churn’ on this list!
| Airbus | Toulouse & St. Nazaire, France |
| Airbus aircraft are built in factories all over Europe but in France there are two that can be visited – in St. Nazaire and Toulouse. Tours of the St Nazaire facilities can be organised by St. Nazaire Tourism. In Toulouse, a local company, Manatour operate a tour of the Airbus A380 super jumbo assembly plant. | |
| Airstream | Jackson Center, Ohio, USA |
| A chance to see the style icon of the caravan world in production. Daily tours Mon – Fri. | |
| Amazon UK | Various, UK |
| You can book to tour any one of eight Amazon Fulfilment Centres in England & Scotland. | |
| Anheuser-Busch | Various, USA |
| The Budweiser brewer has complimentary tours at five of its 12 U.S. Breweries. | |
| AriZona | New Jersey, USA |
| A chance to see where the famous AriZona iced tea drinks are made and bottled. 45-60 min public & private tours of the nearly 1 million sq. ft. campus. | |
| Aston Martin | Oxfordshire, UK |
| The Aston Martin brand museum is located in a restored 15th century barn about 30mins outside Oxford. | |
| Audi | Online |
| Not a physical tour, but Audi have launched an interactive streamed factory tour programme. You can join scheduled 20 min tours with a tour guide to different factories building different vehicles, and ask questions as if you were there. | |
| Bentley | Online |
| Bentley don’t do public factory tours – you have to be a customer or special interest group for that – but they have a rather good virtual tour of their factory and brand museum in Crewe, UK. | |
| BMW Motorcycles | Berlin, Germany |
| Daily tours of the BMW motorcycle factory, Monday – Friday. | |
| Boeing | Seattle, USA |
| Boeing offer popular tours of their Everett assembly plant. The 80-minute tours of the Boeing 777 assembly line are operated Thursday through Monday from the Future of Flight Aviation Center. Boeing also have an Aerospace History exhibit in St. Louis. | |
| British Airways | Harmondsworth, UK |
| The British Airways Heritage Collection at BA’s headquarters close to Heathrow comprises documents, photos, aircraft models, and uniforms. Open to the public by appointment. | |
| Bushmills | County Antrim, N. Ireland |
| The Old Bushmills Distillery is open 7 days a week for guided tours of the 400-year-old distillery, including whiskey samples. | |
| Cadbury World | Birmingham, UK |
| Visitor centre for chocolate-lovers. | |
| Carlsberg Brewery | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Carlsberg are redeveloping their visitor centre and brewery tour. | |
| Caterham Cars | Dartford, Kent, UK |
| 2½ hour tours of Caterham’s brand new production plant (opened June 2024). | |
| Chantiers Atlantique | St. Nazaire, France |
| A massive shipyard building famous cruise liners like the Queen Mary II. Tours are organised through St. Nazaire Tourism. | |
| Chevrolet Corvette | Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA |
| Includes both a Corvette Museum and a factory tour at the nearby General Motors Corvette assembly plant. | |
| Cornings Museum of Glass | New York State, USA |
| Traces 3,500 years of glass history with thousands of exhibits, interactive displays, and factory floor glass blowing demonstrations. | |
| Crayola Factory | Easton, Pennsylvania, USA |
| A family visitor centre where the crayon-making process is explained with hands-on opportunities for kids. | |
| Christian Dior museum | Normandy, France |
| Housed in Dior’s childhood home in Granville, featuring 60 years of the fashion house. | |
| Dartington Crystal | Great Torrington, Devon, UK |
| Watch glassblowers in action at the visitors centre. | |
| Ducati | Bologna, Italy |
| Guided tours of the museum and factory lasting approximately 75 minutes for pre-booked groups. | |
| Fendt Tractors | Marktoberdorf, Germany |
| Operates a brand museum and factory tours at their main production plant in Bavaria. Factory tours are primarily for customers and farmers. | |
| Ferrari Museums | Maranello & Modena, Italy |
| Includes the Galleria Ferrari in Maranello (cars/engines and factory tours) and the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, located at Enzo Ferrari’s birthplace. | |
| Ferrari World | Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| A Ferrari theme park featuring driving experiences and the world’s fastest roller coaster. | |
| Ford | Michigan, USA |
| Offers the Henry Ford Museum, assembly line tours at the Ford Rouge plant, and Greenfield Village. | |
| Greyhound Bus Museum | Minnesota, USA |
| Features artifacts, thirteen historical buses (including the 1956 ‘Scenicruiser’), and displays tracing the company’s history. | |
| Grupo Cimbali | Binasco, Italy |
| The MUMAC museum houses over 300 professional coffee machines spanning 100 years, attached to the Cimbali factory near Milan. | |
| Guinness Brewery | Dublin, Ireland |
| A tour of the old brewery converted into an exhibition of Guinness history, featuring a roof-top bar with views over Dublin. | |
| Harley-Davidson | Various, USA |
| Factory tours available at the Vehicle Operations plant in York, PA, and an engine plant in Wisconsin. There is also a brand museum in Milwaukee. | |
| Heineken Experience | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Located in the original brewery; includes a 45-minute tour through malt silos and mash tuns with AV experiences and a bar. | |
| IMZ – Irbit Motorcycle Works | Urals, Russia |
| Visits to the Ural motorcycle and sidecar plant are offered via Ural Expeditions & Tours. | |
| Jack Daniels | Lynchburg, Tennessee, USA |
| Visitor centre and guided tours of the historic distillery. | |
| Jaguar Cars | Solihull & Castle Bromwich, UK |
| Factory tours of the production plants in Solihull (Jaguar XE) and the main plant at Castle Bromwich. | |
| JAL – Japan Airlines | Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan |
| The JAL Sky Museum offers brand exhibits and hangar tours at their Haneda maintenance base. | |
| Jayco | Middlebury, Indiana, USA |
| Factory tours of their RV, motorhome, and trailer manufacturing facilities in Northern Indiana. | |
| John Deere | Illinois & Iowa, USA |
| Includes a brand museum in Waterloo and tours of various plants, including the combine harvester factory in East Moline and the seeding facility in Davenport. | |
| KFC | Corbyn, Kentucky, USA |
| Colonel Sanders’ original cafe and birthplace of the franchise, featuring a small museum. | |
| Lamborghini | Sant’Agata, Bologna, Italy |
| The Automobili Lamborghini Museum covers 60 years of cars, with a 45-minute guided factory tour option. | |
| Lotus Cars | Hethel, Norfolk, UK |
| Factory tours of the new state-of-the-art facility building the Lotus Emira. Classic Lotus racing museum tours are also available on certain days. | |
| Louisville Slugger | Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
| See historic baseball memorabilia and watch how the iconic bats are made. | |
| Mack Trucks | Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Brand museum showcasing iconic American trucks dating back to the early 1900s. | |
| Maerklin Museum | Goeppingen, Germany |
| Features over 1,000 products including historic toy trains, steam engines, and dolls houses dating back to 1859. | |
| Mercedes Benz Museum | Stuttgart, Germany |
| Chronological exhibition of historic cars and engines, starting with a replica of Carl Daimler’s first car. | |
| Mercedes-Benz, Bremen | Bremen, Germany |
| The Customer Centre operates 90-minute group tours around the huge manufacturing plant (pre-organized groups only). | |
| Mercedes Benz World | Brooklands, UK |
| Features driving courses, over 100 cars on exhibition, family activity zones, and simulators at the historic Brooklands circuit. | |
| Michelin | Clermont-Ferrand, France |
| “L’Aventure Michelin” showcases the history of Michelin tyres. | |
| Monaco Coach | Indiana & Oregon, USA |
| Public tours available to watch the production of luxury motorhomes at their US plants. | |
| Moreno Glass Factory | Venice, Italy |
| Daily tours to watch traditional glass-blowing in the furnace room on the island of Murano. | |
| Morgan Motor Company | Malvern, Worcestershire, UK |
| Two-hour guided tours of the classic hand-built sports car factory, running on weekdays and selected Saturdays. | |
| Outhwaite & Son | Hawes, Yorkshire, UK |
| Watch rope being made in the traditional way, from climbing ropes to bell ropes. | |
| Pagani | Moderna, Italy |
| Guided tours of the new factory and showroom to see supercars like the Zonda and Huayra in production. | |
| Plymouth Gin | Plymouth, Devon, UK |
| Visitor tours of the historic distillery building, which dates back to 1431 and was used by the Pilgrim Fathers. | |
| Polaris | Roseau, Minnesota, USA |
| Weekday afternoon factory tours showing the manufacture of snowmobiles and ATVs, plus a brand museum. | |
| Porsche | Stuttgart, Germany |
| A museum featuring over 80 vehicles from the early years of the company to the present day. | |
| RNLI | Poole, Dorset, UK |
| Tours of the training, engineering, and lifeboat construction complex. They also have an inflatable lifeboat facility on the Isle of Wight open by appointment. | |
| Royal Mint | Cardiff, Wales, UK |
| The Royal Mint offers “VIP tours” of its factory and workshops. | |
| SAFRAN | Réau, France |
| Aerospace brand museum featuring a large collection of engines from Gnome et Rhône, Snecma, and Safran. | |
| Škoda | Mladá Boleslav, Czechia |
| Museum covering 130 years of history, including historic vehicles and motorsport specials. Tours of production plants in Mladá Boleslav, Vrchlabí, and Kvasiny are available. | |
| Steinway Pianos | New York, USA |
| A 2½-hour tour of the factory where grand pianos are still handmade by skilled craftsmen. | |
| Swarovski | Innsbruck, Austria |
| An underground crystal cave that serves as an art installation, visitor centre, and shop. | |
| Tabasco | Avery Island, Louisiana, USA |
| Features a brand museum and factory tour of the famous hot sauce production site. | |
| Toyota | Various, North America |
| Offers factory tours at manufacturing plants in the USA and Canada, along with virtual tours. | |
| Triumph Motorcycles | Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK |
| Visitor experience featuring bikes ridden by Steve McQueen and David Beckham. 90-minute factory tours are available for £15. | |
| U.S. Mint | Philadelphia & Denver, USA |
| Free public tours covering the history of the Mint and modern coin manufacturing. Photo ID required. | |
| Volkswagen | Wolfsburg, Germany |
| The Autostadt theme park features marque pavilions and driving experiences. Two-hour factory tours of the massive Wolfsburg plant are available on working days. | |
| Volvo | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| World of Volvo is a new brand museum and cultural centre opened in April 2024. | |
| Walt Disney | San Francisco, USA |
| A museum focused on the life of Walt Disney, from his childhood to global success. | |
| Waterford Crystal | Waterford, Ireland |
| Features a state-of-the-art visitor centre and prestige manufacturing facility where skilled craftsmen produce high-end crystal using traditional methods. | |
| Wild Turkey Distillery | Kentucky, USA |
| Visitor centre and hourly guided tours of the historic bourbon distillery. | |
| Winnebago | Iowa, USA |
| Free factory tours of motorhome and camper van plants in Forest City and Lake Mills, available April through October. | |
| Xiaomi Auto | Beijing, China |
| Offers tours of its electric vehicle (EV) facility featuring advanced robotics and test drives of the SU7. Extremely high demand for limited tickets. | |
Notes
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- Ferrari Tours operate tailor-made supercar tours for individuals and private groups including visits to the Ferrari collection in Maranello, Italy.
- The Rolls-Royce Museum in Dornbirn, Austria, is not Rolls-Royce’s official brand museum… but it’s stuffed full of them, and some with historic/famous “careful owners”!
- York County in Pennsylvania (where Harley-Davidsons are made) bills itself as the ‘Factory Tour Capital of the World’ because there are a number of well-known American brands manufactured there. Most of the brands (such as Glatfelter and Martin’s Potato Chips) will be meaningless to British travellers, but if you like visiting factories…. this is a good place to go!
- Sadly Bugatti don’t have a factory tour (they should!) but the local Molsheim-Mutzig tourist office has a discovery trail map of the various historic Bugatti family & factory sites around the town of Molsheim in Alsace.
- Spaceport America, the new USA home for Branson & Rutan’s Virgin Galactica in New Mexico is offering tours of the site, mostly aimed at school groups.
- Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airlines (ANA) offer “factory tours” of their maintenance facilities at Haneda Airport, Tokyo, but the tours are conducted in Japanese only. Details here.
- My Community is a non-profit organisation that runs tours exploring heritage sites in Singapore, visiting local factories. Current tours include food factories, a local shipyard and a bus depot.
- Nikon Corporation (Nikon) has begun construction of new buildings at its subsidiary, Tochigi Nikon Corporation, which should be complete by summer 2027. Tochigi Nikon is a core production base for high-precision optical components and modules used in Nikon Group, such as digital cameras lenses, high-performance objective lenses for microscopes, projection lenses for semiconductor lithography systems, and industrial lenses. Importantly, there are also plans to establish an exhibition area for factory tours and a corner where visitors can experience aspects of the manufacturing. It will be aimed mostly at the local community and students, but might become available to other visitors.
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