The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide - The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2025
About This Guide
2024-12-16 11:03:34
Welcome
Adventure, cultural and heritage attractions, unique lodgings, restaurants that impart the flavors of the Bluegrass State — it’s all here in Kentucky along with a heaping helping of Kentucky-style hospitality. And with record tourism numbers and historic economic investments, there has never been a better time to visit.
From beloved landmarks like Natural Bridge and Kentucky Horse Park to adventure upstarts including Rail Explorers, Flatwoods Trail and My Old Kentucky Dome, we invite you to explore the Bluegrass State with the wonder of trailblazer Daniel Boone and the curiosity of Abraham Lincoln, who was born and spent his formative years here — and to use this Visitor Guide as a travel journal, an inspiration for your Kentucky experiences and a memento of your adventures.
Whether you’re a first-time visitor, resident or considering moving to Kentucky, the Bluegrass is a place worth writing home about — and a place for writing your story. Rappel 75 feet down the limestone face of Hidden River Cave in Horse Cave. Hike the “Grand Canyon of the South” at Breaks Interstate Park. Paddle into the mist of the “Niagara Falls of the South” at Cumberland Falls. These bucket list-level adventures are the stuff of travel dreams, just waiting to be experienced, shared and remembered.
And there are new discoveries to be made. Kentucky recently welcomed a number of attractions, bourbon distilleries and hotels: Danville’s GLASS National Art Museum and Fort Mitchell’s completely redesigned Vent Haven Museum; Heaven’s Door Distillery in Pleasureville, Limestone Farms in Georgetown and J. Mattingly 1845 in Frankfort; and Lexington’s four-star Hotel Lex - Hotel and Conference Center and Louisville’s historic neighborhood hotel, The Bellwether.
From horse country and outdoor adventure to history, arts, culture and our world-famous bourbon, Kentucky has a little something for travelers of all types and abilities.
Kentucky is no longer a flyover state. We are the destination, and travelers from all over the world are choosing the Bluegrass as their next adventure — the place where they write their lifelong memories. As we build a better Kentucky, we are making sure the world knows what all we have to offer — from great experiences to the best jobs and communities to raise a family.
Come discover our new Kentucky home.
So much to see, So much to souvenir
Wherever your Bluegrass travels take you, there is a Kentucky keepsake or three just waiting to make the journey back home.
So that long after your Kentucky adventure, whenever you hear, “Hey, batter, batter,” you can pull out your Louisville Slugger and recall that time you and your family had an “all-star” experience. Or when you bite into a silky-sweet bourbon ball, remember the fun everyone had on that distillery tour. Or when you share all those photos with friends and family, know you’ve made lifelong memories in Kentucky.
- Grains to make bourbon: corn, barley, wheat
- Birding whistle
- Quilt
- Jet ski
- Derby hat from Formé Millinery, Louisville
- Black bears – Cumberland, Kentucky, is known as the “bear capital of Kentucky”
- Louisville Slugger® mini bat
- Newport Aquarium postcard
- Pottery-making tools
- Corvette model car
- Dulcimer and banjo ornaments from Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum, Mt. Vernon
- Everly Brothers guitar picks from Muhlenberg Music & History Museum
- Mammoth Cave tour
- The Gorge Underground Kayak Tour, Rogers
- Climbing carabiner/d-ring
- Kentucky notecard by Amanda Klein (available at Henderson CVB)
- Shady Rays sunglasses
- Kentucky pillow
- Houseboat on Lake Cumberland
- Verona Vineyards, Verona
- Fishing lures
- Lonnie & Twyla Money Rooster
- Hotel Metropolitan, Paducah
- Kentucky cookie cutter
- Golden rod, Kentucky’s state flower
- Red River Gorge pottery from Turtle Farm Pottery, Campton
- Dirty horseshoe from Kentucky Derby Museum Store
- Hiking at Carter Caves State Resort Park, Olive Hill
- Bourbon stave ornament (used for West 6th Bourbon-barrel rye beer)
- Shaker handmade pot scrubber
- Hot Brown baking dish from Stoneware & Co., Louisville
- Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, Hodgenville
- Our New Kentucky Home bookmark
- “Lark Ascending” by Silas House, Kentucky’s 2023-24 poet laureate
- Lapel pins: • Everyone welcome• Mint julep • Thoroughbred horse
36.Woodford Reserve bourbon balls, Versailles
37.B-Line coaster and sticker
38.Maker’s Mark puzzle, Loretto
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