When I think about places to visit in the South and even when I seek recommendations, Kentucky doesn’t tend to be the first place to come to mind. Having been there, I don’t know why that’s the case considering Kentucky has so much to offer from Bourbon to horses to stunning scenery. Particularly for bourbon lovers, this is the place you need to visit in the South. The Bourbon trail would make an amazing trip with friends or a significant other, and would even make an epic bachelor/bachelorette party.
Visiting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail has to be one of the most fun trips we have done as a family now that we are all adults. One of the best parts about visiting is how easy the planning is thanks to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail website. There are 37+ distilleries on the trail so it can be hard to pick which locations you want to visit. Luckily the website helps you to plan your itinerary based on what you are looking for whether it be craft experiences, delicious food options or just those distilleries that are closest to where you are staying. There are various transportation options available as well, which is great for those that want to hit multiple distilleries in day.
From Atlanta it took around 5.5-6 hours to drive to Lexington, which honestly was not bad at all. If you don’t mind some driving you can totally make this a weekend trip, but I would suggest at least making it a long weekend. Otherwise, you can generally find cheap flights if you plan in advance. Recently I have seen flights for less than $120 on Delta for roundtrip flights between Atlanta and Louisville.
My personal must visit (if you are in the Lexington area) is Woodford Reserve. Woodford Reserve is Kentucky’s oldest and smallest distillery plus it is a National Historic Landmark.
COVID has really impacted distillery experiences so I highly suggest contacting individual distilleries directly for the most up-to-date and accurate information. I would personally recommend starting to plan to visit sometime in the late spring to really be able to enjoy more of what Kentucky has to offer.
Now go get to planning your trip 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!