Extend Your Stay & Spend an Extra Night (or 2 or 3)

Make your #CFBroadtrip even more epic.

One cool thing about Kentucky’s Authentic Bourbon Road Trip is that it can be completed in just three nights, whether you visit during the week or over a weekend. You can pack a whole lotta fun into a brief visit because Covington, Frankfort, and Bardstown are loaded with genuine bourbon experiences located within short distances of one another.

Once you visit or start investigating trip ideas, however, you’ll discover that there is much more to see and do than can possibly be packed into a three-night stay. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution, whether you want a more leisurely pace or hope to accomplish even more during your visit: Add another night in any or all three communities. Here are some tempting ideas for doing just that.

FRANKFORT

 Morning

·      The Food Network loves B’s Bakery. One reason might be the Candied Bourbon Bacon Biscuits. Mmm.

·      Blend your own bourbon, then choose bottle, wax color, and name for your private label at the recently opened J. Mattingly 1845 bourbon blending experience.

·      Pick up a pair of bourbon-themed cufflinks, puzzle, or a bourbon and ginger scented candle from the irresistibly cozy shared space of new shops, The Linen Closet and RiverCity Provisions.

·      Check out a flight curated from over 300 favorite and hard-to-find bourbons from the Bourbon Library at the House of Commons.

·      Grab a cuppa and an ‘Egg Baby Burrito’ (hot sauce on the side) at local fave, Kentucky Coffeetree Cafe.

Afternoon

·      Tour the production facility at Rebecca Ruth Candy Tours and Museum and bite into a secret-recipe gourmet morsel known as a bourbon ball: created by Ruth Booey back in the 1930s.

·      Spoon up burgoo (a Kentucky Derby favorite) at The Stave Restaurant and Bourbon Bar while reveling in the view overlooking Glenn’s Creek—a preview of more good things to come.

·      Bring your questions for the distiller for the unscripted visitor experience at Glenn’s Creek Distilling. Ask questions while sampling five spirits.

·      Touch, climb on, and paint the artwork —yes, paint!—rising from 40 acres of native meadows at Josephine Sculpture Park,

·      Slide onto a red vinyl chair, punch your favorite fifties tune on the jukebox, and order a cheeseburger run through the garden at Main Street Diner.

Evening

·      Grab the mic and belt out your favorite tune during karaoke night at neighborhood watering hole The Brick Alley.

·      Swing by Frankfort Cemetery and pay your respects to E.H. Taylor.

·      At Limewater Bistro and Bar start with the 1815 (the house Old Fashioned), then move onto white tablecloth service set to a Motown and classic rock soundtrack.

·      Pick up a cue stick for a round of pool and cocktails at the Cooperage Bar.

·      Sink into the couch for a nightcap at the Howser Tavern, a new bourbon bar on St. Clair Street.

BARDSTOWN

 Morning

·      Fill up on a comfort-food breakfast at Mammy’s Kitchen.

·      Get grounded in all things bourbon at the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History.

·      Freshly baked donuts are calling at Hadorn’s Bakery.

·      Take the ‘Production Tour + Tasting’ at Lux Row Distillers to see to see the bourbon making process from start to finish.

·      Enjoy an exclusive barrel collection tasting on Preservation Distillery’s ‘Premium Cask Overproof Whiskey Experience.’

Afternoon

·      Go behind the barrel for an insiders’ look at the production process on the new ‘Beam Made Bourbon Distillery Tour & Tasting’ at James B. Beam Distilling Co.

·      Hum along with tour guides belting out “My Old Kentucky Home” while touring the 19th century manse or book tickets to “Meadows in the Bloom” or other event held at the state park during the year.

·      Poke around downtown shops like the Blind Pig Bourbon Market.

·      Drop by Museum Row to see the Civil War Museum of the Western Theatre and Women of the Civil War Museum.

·      Explore Bardstown’s historic downtown on a self-guided walking tour.

Evening

·      At Toogie’s Table, begin with a creative cocktail—perhaps the Golden Hour showing off JW Dant Bourbon—before biting into refined classics served with regional flair, like the 14-oz. Bardstown hog schnitzel.

·      Catch theater under the stars during summertime showings of “The Stephen Foster Story.”

·      Choose from more than 400 bourbons for after-dinner drinks at the retro-cool Volstead Bourbon Lounge.

·      Take a cocktail to the rooftop for rickhouse views before trying the menu at Five Brothers Bar and Kitchen, Heaven Hill’s new restaurant (opening mid-2024).

·      Sip a nightcap at new cocktail bar, Mr. Tubs.