Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

The Ben & Jerry's Factory in Waterbury, Vermont, is one of New England's most visited attractions, welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the birthplace of some of America's most beloved ice cream flavors. The factory tour runs approximately 30 minutes and takes visitors through an observation window overlooking the production floor, where the entire ice cream-making process — from mixing cream and sugar to filling pint containers — can be observed on most weekday mornings. Narration covers the company's history from its founding in a renovated Burlington gas station in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. The Flavor Graveyard, located on a small hill behind the factory, features comical tombstones for discontinued flavors like Wavy Gravy and Holy Cannoli, and is a favorite quirky photo stop. Following the factory tour, visitors receive a complimentary sample of the flavor of the day. The on-site scoop shop carries the full range of current flavors and the flagship gift shop stocks branded merchandise, novelty items, and exclusive Vermont-made products. The factory grounds are accessible even when tours are sold out, allowing visitors to browse the shop, visit the Flavor Graveyard, and enjoy ice cream on outdoor picnic tables. On warm summer days, queues for tours can stretch 30–45 minutes; weekday arrivals before 11 AM generally encounter much shorter waits. The tour observation corridor is climate-controlled and does not require descending to the production floor. The scoop shop also carries Vermont-exclusive flavors unavailable in supermarket distribution, making it worth visiting even for those skipping the factory tour itself.