The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide - The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2026

Bluegrass, Horses, Bourbon & Boone

2026-02-06 05:48:32

A place of discovery: an old fort recalling Kentucky's first permanent settlement and a thoroughbred retirement farm celebrating old friends; the Folk Arts Capital of Kentucky and the Beer Cheese Capital of the World; a royal spring where a Baptist minister first used charred oak to age bourbon; and a historical village packed with adventures in the spirit of the Kentucky Shakers.

Stephen Rolfe Powell Memorial Sculpture Garden, Danville

Kentucky Equine Adoption Center, Nicholasville

The Cabin of Old Town Artisan Gallery, Berea

BEST-KEPT LOCAL SECRETS

AFTER DARK GHOST TOUR, Georgetown

A spooky-themed cocktail; a guided tour with a psychic, medium and paranormal investigator; and a (free) booklet of frightful tales — it’s all on the After Dark Ghost Tour (April–November). This is part of the Kentucky After Dark passport program — for those who dare.

JOHN B. STEPHENSON WALKING TRAIL, Berea

At the confluence of Silver Creek and its Brushy Fork Branch, the accessible John B. Stephenson Walking Trail — paved, level and tricked out with benches and picnic tables — follows Boone Trace, the path Daniel Boone and his 30 “axemen” blazed through the Appalachian Mountains into Kentucky.

HARKNESS EDWARDS VINEYARDS, Winchester

Vineyard tours and tastings, live music, wine-and-food pairing courses and Pizza at the Peach House: From sunset sips to midweek treats to creative hands-on classes, something fun and fabulous is always happening at Harkness Edwards Vineyards.

REBECCA RUTH CHOCOLATE & MUSEUM TOUR, Frankfort

Chocolate plus bourbon equals a mouthful of yum — something Ruth Hanly Booe discovered back in 1938, when she invented the Bourbon Ball. Learn the story and savor this bite-sized treat on a Rebecca Ruth Chocolate & Museum Tour.

JESSAMINE COUNTY WINE & VINEYARD TRAIL, Nicholasville

Sip wine at the first commercial winery in the U.S. at First Vineyard on the Jessamine County Wine & Vineyard Trail passport program. The passport also includes Ghost Fox Winery and 1922 House Vineyards & Winery. And don’t miss the mid-June Kentucky Wine & Vine Fest. Cheers!

LITTLE CROOKED CREEK SAFARI, Lawrenceburg

Book a sloth encounter or another hands-on experience at Little Crooked Creek Safari, an exotic animal farm home to capybaras, porcupines, zebras and camels, along with an anteater named Larry. Open on Saturday and Sunday.

Photo: Harkness Edwards Vineyards, Winchester

THE GLITZ, Versailles

The seasonal prix fixe three-course luncheon menu at The Glitz begins with a complimentary flute of non-alcoholic Spiced Apple Refresher, served in the tiny restaurant’s enchanting setting on the lower level of Irish Acres Gallery of Antiques.

NEWBY COUNTRY STORE, Richmond

The setting is pure nostalgic fun (and the gift wrap is free) at Newby Country Store, established in 1891. Pick up sandwiches and specialty sodas in glass bottles. Shop custom gift boxes and country-store staples, from sweets to local art.

KENTUCKY SOAPS & SUCH, Stanford

Take a free tour of this soap-making facility and learn how one woman’s dream and a backyard full of goats became Kentucky Soaps & Such, a maker of ethically sourced, from-scratch soaps, scrubs, salts, creams and liquid cleansers.

HERRINGTON LAKE, Mercer, Boyle and Garrard counties

Find your ideal lake house, cottage or retreat. Then, visit one of the marinas for boat rentals, dining and live music on the weekends of a sunscreen-scented summer on Herrington Lake, the deepest lake in Kentucky.

Photo: Old Fort Harrod State Park, Harrodsburg

FOUR MUSTS

Grab a Bite: The Artisan Café at the Kentucky Artisan Center, Berea

Stop & Shop: Mason on Main antiques boutique, Winchester

Magical Moments: Rail Explorers: Bluegrass Division, Versailles

Local Heritage & Culture: Battle of Richmond Reenactment, August, Richmond

Photo: The B & B at Queenslake, Georgetown

. . . TO LIVE IN KENTUCKY, WHICH I ESTEEMED A SECOND PARADISE. . . . Daniel Boone, Frontiersman & Kentucky Settler

REGIONAL ROAD TRIPS

1 Carlisle: Start your trip by visiting Wendt’s Wildlife Adventure to see the emus, kangaroos and other creatures. History buff? Beeline to Boone’s Cabin, the famed explorer’s last home in Kentucky. Water baby? Splash into Brushy Creek to spot turtles, frogs and crawdads.

2 Paris: Make the quick drive to Kentucky’s own City of Light. Photoop stops at the Eiffel Tower and Secretariat Park, anchored by a bronze statue of the Triple Crown winner considered the world’s greatest racehorse, are de rigueur. Later, drop into Canonero’s Cigar and Bourbon Bar for rare and exclusive bourbons, plus live music most weekends.

3 Winchester: Next, it’s trailblazing at its tastiest: Download the Beer Cheese Trail Digital Passport and relish a signature beer cheese dish at any or all of the stops along the Beer Cheese Trail® in the Beer Cheese Capital of the World.

4 Lexington to Versailles: Pick up a picnic of country ham and pimento cheese sandwiches (featured on Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”) from James Beard-nominated chef Ouita Michel’s restaurant, Wallace Station, on a Bluegrass Country Driving Tour along Kentucky's Scenic Byway: Old Frankfort Pike.

5 Nicholasville: The next day, follow freedom’s footfalls on a ranger-guided tour or self-guided hike through Camp Nelson National Monument, a Civil War recruitment and training center for the United States Colored Troops and a refugee camp for their families, civilians and enslaved people fleeing the war.

6 Danville: Continue on to Danville to tour GLASS National Art Museum to experience stunning glassworks of internationally prominent glass artists, including Stephen Rolfe Powell and Dale Chihuly. Then, visit the Great American Dollhouse Museum to see 200-plus artisan, antique, contemporary and historical dollhouses and room boxes. Last stop: Constitution Square Historic Site, an open-air monument to Kentucky’s statehood offering self-guided tours.