Kentucky Travel Guide

Bourbon Trail

Best Distilleries to Visit on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is hot right now! With the increasing popularity of bourbon, tourism is up in Kentucky. What better way to learn about and sample bourbon than on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail? The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is a collection of 46 whiskey distilleries. All of these distilleries offer tours and tastings. On the […]

Kentucky Bourbon Trail Itinerary – Suggestions for 1 Day to 1 Week

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is a collection of bourbon distilleries located in and around Louisville. In 2024, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail merged with Kentucky Bourbon Craft Trail, bringing the grand total up to 46 distilleries. It would take weeks to visit all 46 distilleries, but it is much more doable to limit your time to […]

Kentucky Bourbon Trail: The Ultimate Guide

Bourbon is booming right now and so is tourism in Kentucky. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, a collection of eighteen bourbon distilleries, is drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Touring the distilleries, learning about the origins of bourbon, and tasting lots and lots of bourbon whiskey is an excellent way to spend a long […]

Top Experiences in Kentucky

Kentucky Bourbon Trail: The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is a collection of eighteen bourbon distilleries located in and around Louisville. If you want to tour all eighteen distilleries, you need a minimum of seven days. Along the way you can enjoy the nightlife, drive through scenic bluegrass Kentucky, watch a horse race at Churchill Downs, visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, and spend the night in a historic tavern.

Louisville: Louisville, Kentucky…the home of the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Louisville Slugger bats. One third of all bourbon comes from Louisville, so it’s home to several stops on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. And in 2012, Louisville was the only city in the US to make Zagat’s list of “8 Awesome Foodie Getaways Around the World.” This all adds up to make Louisville an excellent place to visit, as well as a great home base for exploring the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

Mammoth Cave National Park: Mammoth Cave is the world’s longest cave system, with over 400 miles of explored caves and passageways. On a visit to Mammoth Cave, explore this subterranean world of immense rooms, long canyons, and tight passageways and learn why it is called a “grand, gloomy, and peculiar place” by Stephen Bishop, Mammoth Cave’s most famous guide and explorer.

Red River Gorge: Located inside of Daniel Boone National Forest, this geological area has over 150 sandstone arches, as well as waterfalls, jagged cliffs, and scenic trails making it a beautiful area to explore. Here there are opportunities for hiking, rock climbing, zip lining, kayaking, and scenic drives.

Land Between the Lakes: This vast wetland is a natural playground for outdoor enthusiasts who love to hike, fish, bike, and picnic. It is a scenic destination roaming with wildlife, perfect for spending a peaceful day outdoors.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace: Abraham Lincoln was born in a one room log cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky in 1809. A memorial now stands at his birthplace. Inside of the memorial is a symbolic log cabin, a historic replica of the one that Abraham Lincoln first lived in. It is not the actual log cabin of Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace.

Best Time to Visit Kentucky

Kentucky can be visited year-round, but it has the most pleasant weather in the spring and fall. Spring is a great time to see baby horses frolicking, while the fall has beautiful autumn colors.

If you have plans to tour the Kentucky Bourbon Trail between April and early November, make your reservations several months in advance. This is the busiest time on the trail and tours can sell out. All other times of year, I still recommend making a reservation, but you can do it several weeks in advance, since the trail is less busy at this time.

The Kentucky Derby takes place on the first Saturday in May, and thousands of visitors come to see the races.