The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide - The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2025

Northern Kentucky River

2024-12-16 11:09:03

NEWPORT AQUARIUM, NEWPORT

Countryside hideaways and a coffee klatch. Miniature figurines and performing puppets. An epic E.T. and an interactive boat. At each bend in the river, a different story is spun in this region; a different sight awaits discovery.

VERONA VINEYARDS, VERONA

CLIVE THE ALIEN, COVINGTON

KINCAID LAKE STATE PARK, FALMOUTH

GENERAL BUTLER STATE RESORT PARK, CARROLLTON

EARTHJOY VILLAGE, BROOKSVILLE

ELK CREEK VINEYARDS, OWENTON

ARK ENCOUNTER, WILLIAMSTOWN

Stately architecture on quiet, shady streets.

BB RIVERBOATS, NEWPORT

Life-size bronze statues recalling area notables. An everchanging riverscape. The Licking River Historic District, Covington’s oldest neighborhood, sits in grand magnificence at the foot of Roebling Bridge. He’s green, he’s keen and he towers above midtown nearby: Hefting a giant magnifying glass, Clive the Alien — part of Covington’s vibrant arts scene — keeps a watchful eye on passing earthlings.

EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE, AUGUSTA

Love a good staring contest? Challenge accepted by the hundreds of dummies at Vent Haven, the world’s only museum dedicated to the art of ventriloquism. Learn their stories in this newly redesigned, fully accessible Fort Mitchell treasure replete with Jeff Dunham Theatre. Another gem is Maysville’s Kathleen Savage Browning Miniature Collection at Kentucky Gateway Museum Center, with more than 15,000 exquisitely sculpted pieces in 1/12 scale, including a toymaker and his marionettes and Princess Diana’s ancestral home, filling the Palladian-style gallery.

Go from small to tall, as in the smokestacks on the paddlewheel boat, Wake Robin, anchored inside Covington’s Behringer-Crawford Museum. It is among hands-on exhibits that also include a 1959 Buick Electra convertible parked before an original drive-in movie. Vintage isn’t just for museums. Drop by Union’s Black Goose, an adorable coffee shop/gift shop combo stocked with vintage crystal, antique finds and lots of new items, including Kentucky- and bourbon-themed gifts.

CHARLES YOUNG BIRTHPLACE, MAYS LICK

Head outdoors for scenic hiking at Butler’s Cedar Line Nature Preserve, passing an old barn, rock fence ruins, wooden bridges and a meandering stream along the way. Watch the sun dip into the fishing lake from your fully equipped yurt at Alexandria’s outdoor playground, A.J. Jolly Park, with canoe, disc golf and paddleboat and bike rentals.

Listen to live music in the vineyard while sipping wine or tour the beautiful grounds with its picture-postcard covered bridge at Crittenden’s Brianza Winery & Gardens. Golf with a shotgun? Find it at Owenton’s world-class sporting clay resort, Elk Creek Hunting Club, where three courses offer a variety of target presentations, like wild gamebird flight, for all experience levels.

BRIANZA GARDENS & WINERY, CRITTENDEN

4 musts

Grab a Bite

LilJumbo Coffee Company, Maysville

Stop and Shop

Artful Gifts, Carrollton

Music, Moments, Magic

BB Riverboats, Newport

Local Heritage & Culture

Fleming County Covered Bridge Museum, Flemingsburg

BIG BONE LICK STATE HISTORIC SITE, UNION

Regional Road Trips

1 The Bible comes to life through richly detailed exhibits, hands-on activities, botanical gardens, planetarium, zoos, restaurants, concerts — zip lines, too — at the Creation Museum in Petersburg.

CEDAR RESTAURANT, COVINGTON

2 What does a perfect Grant County day look like? Sprawling out on a pontoon boat on Williamstown Lake, dipping into a secret cove, beaching the boat and playing along the shoreline or taking a swim. Then, heading to Ella Mae’s Sundaes for ice cream treats.

3 Walk the plank — a rope bridge hovering above sharks. Step into the Ring of Fire and meet a giant Pacific octopus and a wunderpus, a master of mimicry. See, touch and tour at Newport Aquarium, located at shopping, dining and entertainment destination Newport on the Levee.

4 Feeling nostalgic? Get your fix for simpler times at Falmouth’s Kincaid Lake State Park. Cast a line for largemouth bass. Play badminton or sand volleyball. Pedalboat or kayak the lake. Picnic by the playground. Play a round on the miniature golf course. Then, stargaze before slipping into your tent.

OLD POGUE DISTILLERY, MAYSVILLE

5 Before Kentucky became a state, this thriving log cabin community was Kentucky’s second-largest city. Two hundred forty years later, Maysville’s Old Washington is a village a’ bustle with antiques, crafts and collectibles shops, vintage buildings and museums, Underground Railroad history, pioneer cemeteries and dining options.

6 A serene landscape once trod upon by buffalo, Daniel Boone and early settlers, Mount Olivet’s Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park preserves the site of the last Revolutionary War battle. See a spinning wheel in the Pioneer Museum. Dine on Kentucky recipes in Hidden Waters Restaurant.