Jelly Belly Factory Tour: Is It Worth It?

You absolutely must visit the Jelly Belly Factory if you plan on taking a trip to Northern California. The entire family will love seeing how Jelly Belly makes its jelly beans.

The Jelly Belly Factory

The Jelly Belly Factory is located in Fairfield, California. The factory is a fun stop between San Francisco and Sacramento. We were on our way to Reno and thought this was the perfect opportunity to take a break during our Epic Road Trip to Northern California.

Try to take the Jelly Belly Factory tour on a weekday. The factory is operational on weekdays, but not on weekends. You can still take a tour of the factory on weekends, but you will instead see videos of the facility operations.

There is plenty of opportunity to take pictures with Jelly Bellies when you visit the Jelly Belly Factory.

There is a bunch of Jelly Belly art to greet you when you enter the Jelly Belly building. My favorite is the huge Jelly Belly hanging from the ceiling 😊

The Jelly Belly Factory Tour

Upon entering, you will see that there is a Jelly Belly store. Go to the store to check in for a tour and grab a hat. Jelly Belly factory requires that all individuals wear hats during the Jelly Belly tour.

The Jelly Belly Factory tour is a self-guided walking tour. However, you must wait for your group to be walked up the stairs and to the doors by an employee. Once there, you will watch a short information video about the company’s history.

After taking a group picture, you will also see some awesome jelly belly art! Here are just a few:

Jelly Belly Factory- Jelly Bean Monkey — This art is made entirely out of jelly beans!

Jelly Belly Factory- Jelly Bean Rooster — Get into my belly!!!

Once the doors open, you can walk through the tour at your leisure. The entire tour is behind glass and on the second story. You get an eagle-eye view of the factory operations.

I admit that I thought we would get to walk through the factory up close and personal. However, I suppose I don’t want people walking up to jelly beans that I buy and sneezing on them. I loved how they had lower windows for vertically challenged people to use.

You will see all of the machinery that is used in the jelly bean making process as you make your way through the corridors,

There are also tons of bins of jelly beans. It is truly a sight to see.

Jelly Belly framed art is one of the best things you’ll see at the factory! They had Ronald Reagan and Elvis, just to name a few.

There are some interactive games and exhibits as you walk through the tour. The tour even has a few stations where you get to smell some Jelly Belly scents and try to guess the flavors. My girls guessed right every time, me not so much!

Jelly Belly Sample Bar and Store

After we finished our self-guided tour, we walked over to the Jelly Belly taste testing station for free samples. We decided not to wait because the line was so long.

Jelly Belly Factory store has an amazing selection of jelly bean flavors! There are Krispy Kreme, cotton candy, tropical, and chocolate Jelly Bellies!

Both the kids and adults in this family loved this stop on our Epic Road Trip to Northern California. I highly recommend it for the family.

Quick tips:

If you want to see the factory production in action: Go Monday through Friday! Although the factory tour is available on weekends, the factory is not in operation. You can walk through to see and also see video of the process during that time. The factory also stops production for three weeks in July. The factory tour would be run the same as a weekend tour.
Location: 1 Jelly Belly Lane, Fairfield, CA 94533
Cost: FREE!
Parking: Parking available for cars, RVs and buses during operating hours.
Time: Self-guided tours are available daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tour schedule: Tours start every 10 minutes.
Closures: Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday
Limited Hours: First Saturday in December, Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve
Pets: Service animals are allowed on the walking tour. For those with non-service dogs, there is a dog walk area located at the west side of the Jelly Belly Facility.
Photography: Go for it! Flash photography is prohibited.
Jelly Belly Café: There is a café on site if you are in search of a meal. We did not eat at the café and therefore cannot provide our review of the food.
Chocolate and wine experience: A chocolate and wine experience is also available at the factory; however, we did not have time for this experience.