We`re More Than Just a Pretty Face

We’re More Than
Just a Pretty Face
The Most Beautiful Small Town
in America is also The Bourbon
Capital of the World
KY
Bardstown, KY
Bourbon Capital of the World
Bourbon distilleries, outdoor theatre, Civil War history and railroad heritage – Bardstown has it all in a picturesque setting that is
vintage to its foundation. Kentucky’s second oldest city, more familiarly known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World,” is now also
recognized as the “Most Beautiful Small Town in America,” according to Rand McNally/USA Today.
Sitting in the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country, Bardstown is characterized by a charming downtown anchored by Court
Square, one of the roughly 200 National Register of Historic Places located in this district.
The downtown hops with locally owned restaurants, including the Rickhouse, featuring 120 different bourbons on the menu and
chairs made from barrel staves. With courtyard dining overlooking the square, Circa is fine dining at its innovative best. Nearby
Kreso’s offers European-inspired menu and sumptuous surroundings. Not far from the square, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train
serves up a four-course meal while rolling through Bourbon Country. Shopping in Bardstown is likewise adventurous. Browse
boutiques including At Mary’s, Barbara’s ETC, Peacock on Third and Shaq & Coco.
Of course, bourbon is what Bardstown is famous for and there are five distilleries in the area, including Barton 1792 and the
restored Willett Distillery. Three of its distilleries – Heaven Hill, Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam – are on the famed Kentucky
Bourbon Trail of which Bardstown is a trailhead.
Other attractions include Kentucky’s official outdoor drama, the “Stephen Foster Story,” a splashy Broadway-style musical that
takes place in My Old Kentucky Home State Park. The gem of the park is antebellum Federal Hill made famous by Foster,
America’s first “rock star” who composed such hits as “Camptown Races” and “Oh! Susanna.”
History buffs enjoy the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History and the Civil War Museum of the Western Theatre. One of the
four most significant such museums in the country, it is the repository of such treasures as cannons, “drummer boy” drums,
soldiers’ Bibles and pipes and an Eagle Head match safe.
At The Kentucky Railway Museum visitors will see a French 40-et-8 Box Car presented to the U.S. following World War II, as well
as 100 pieces of rolling stock: passenger cars, cabooses, refrigerated units, box cars, Railway Post Office cars and more.
Additionally, Bardstown has four 18-hole golf courses, three wineries, three self-guided tours, two haunted tours and numerous
religious heritage attractions, including the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, the first Catholic cathedral west of the Allegheny
Mountains, and the Abbey of Gethsemani.
Annual festivals include Colonial Days Weekend in the spring; the summertime Bardstown Bluegrass Festival, Bourbon City Street
Concert, Bourbon City BBQ Festival and Bardstown Highland Games; Bardstown Arts, Crafts, Antiques Fair in the fall; and,
closing out the year, Christmas ‘Round Bardstown. The signature Kentucky Bourbon Festival is a six-day affair that takes place
every September.
Bed and breakfast inns abound, including everything from antebellum mansions and country inns to a Victorian “Painted Lady”
and a 1700s restored log home to a plantation home and winery and a historic tavern – in fact, the oldest Western stagecoach stop
– to a jail cell guestroom and bed and breakfast rooms tucked into the former jailer’s residence at the Old Nelson County Jail
property.
Dawn Przystal, Vice President, Tourism Expansion & Marketing
Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission
One Court Square, Bardstown KY 40004  www.visitbardstown.com
800.638.4877 x 114  dawn@bardstowntourism.com
Story Ideas...
Get your Bourbon on. Explore Kentucky Bourbon Country where you experience the art of Bourbon-making being
practiced much as it was 200 years ago. See and taste the rich amber color and natural mellow flavor of fine bourbon,
America’s only native spirit. In Bardstown, the Bourbon Capital of the World, the spirit and tradition of this bourbon legacy
lives on today. Nestled in the scenic countryside, you will find five distillery tours where the sweet aroma of the angel’s share
welcomes you to the home of bourbon. You will enjoy bourbon tastings and a bourbon cooking school at the Kentucky
Bourbon House and a bourbon history buff’s dream at the Oscar Getz of Whiskey History. Each September it all comes
together at the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown where for six days we celebrate the history and heritage of
Kentucky Bourbon.
Let the spirits move you on Bardstown’s haunted tours
Bardstown is creeping with ghosts and crawling with haints. There are more specters in the “Bourbon Capital of the World”
than you can shake a divining rod at and many of them are holed up in the six-room Jailer’s Inn, formerly a jail and now a
B&B and a high point on Bardstown Ghost Treks. These two-hour guided tours, held every Saturday from June through
October, are led by Certified Ghost Hunter Patti Starr, voted “One of the Top Ten Ghost Hunter Paranormal Investigators
in America” for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Triple the frights with Bardstown’s two other ghost tours. The Chapeze House
“Spirits and Spirits Tour,” held at 9:30 p.m. on weekend nights year-round, tours three floors of one of Bardstown’s most
haunted structures and conclude in the cellar where a Bourbon Toddy is served – to “better appreciate the strong spirit
indications.” The 90-minute “Visit With The Spirits Of Wickland Psychic Tour” is held on Friday evenings in this 1826
plantation home. Divining rods are offered to anyone who would like to try them.
Guys’ Day Out – War, Whiskey and History
War, whiskey and history await in Bardstown, the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” Home to the Civil War Museum and its
collections of infantry, cavalry and naval artillery, it is the place to experience the stories of blood, guts and glory as the
museum marks the 150th anniversary of The War Between the States. Prefer action over imagination? Watch Civil War reenactments the third weekend of each month, March to December, in Old Bardstown Village; visit Bardstown’s War
Memorial of Mid-America, which narrates America at war in exhibits spanning the Revolutionary War to Desert Storm; and
see Prohibition-era “prescriptions” at a museum dedicated to the history of whiskey at Oscar Getz. Play 18 holes on a golf
course that wends alongside the Heaven Hill Distillery – and stop by afterward to sample the spirits. You can do likewise at
Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam American Outpost and the Barton 1792 Distillery. Then head to the Chapeze House – Kentucky’s
Bourbon House – for dinner and a tutored tasting with the Colonel.
Quick Facts
 Bardstown is Kentucky’s second oldest city, dating to
1780.
The Civil War Museum is considered one of the top 4
in the country.
 Over 50,000 people from 40 states & 13 countries
attended the 2011 20th Annual Kentucky Bourbon
Festival.
 Bardstown is rich in religious heritage attractions,
including the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, the
first Catholic cathedral west of the Allegheny Mountains,
and the Abbey of Gethsemani.
 In spite of its petite proportions, Bardstown has a
profusion of locally owned eateries and bed and breakfast
inns, including no less than a dozen restaurants in its
historic downtown district and nearly 20 inns, including
cottages, stage coach stop, log home, antebellum homes
and a former jail.
Local Attractions
Abbey of Gethsemane
Barton’s 1792 Distillery
Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral
Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest
Civil War Museum of the Western Theater
Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center olley
Jim Beam American Stillhouse
Kentucky Railway Museum
My Old Kentucky Dinner Train
My Old Kentucky Home State Park
Museum Row at Old Bardstown Village
Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth
The Stephen Foster Story
Wickland—The Home of Three Governors
Willett Distillery
Annual Festivals
With more than 30 annual events and festivals there is always something to experience in Bardstown.
Colonial Days Weekend. April. Relive the 18th century – about 100 years before Bardstown became the “Bourbon
Capital of the World” – during a Colonial Days weekend. Besides the 18th Century Market Fair, there will be living history
demonstrations, a Native American village, flintlock rifle demos, military drills and displays, lots of entertainers and artisans
who hail from the late 1700s and an 18th Century Tavern Night on Fri., March 30 at the Old Talbott Tavern, built in 1779. A
Historical Ball will be held on Saturday evening at Historic Wickland Estate. Festival www.BardstownColonialDays.com
Bourbon City Street Concert, July. Park your lawn chair in the middle of Third Street and enjoy music from a variety of
Kentucky musicians. www.BardstownMainStreet.com
Bourbon City BBQ Festival, June. Backyard BBQ Cookoff, KidsQ Cookoff, Kids Fun Zone, Antique Tractor & Car
Display, Beer Pit, Retail Court Arts & Crafts, Food Court, Cornhole Tournament, and Entertainment. Nelson County
Fairgrounds, 2391 New Haven Rd. For more information visit our website. www.BourbonCityBBQFestival.com
Stephen Foster Festival. June. Celebrate the opening of the Stephen Foster Story and his music with a fun-filled day of
activities including the chance to become a cast-member and reenact scenes, learn to dance the Waltz and learn to play “Oh!
Susanna” on your complimentary harmonica. Doo dah discounts available around town and at many participating
downtown stores. www.stephenfoster.com
Kentucky Bourbon Festival, September. The Kentucky Bourbon Festival gives you six days of smooth Bourbon, delicious
food, and great entertainment, with a healthy dose of Kentucky hospitality thrown in for good measure. From black tie galas
to historical tours, there is something for all ages and interests. It's a wonderful six-day event full of activities for the whole
family. www.KYBourbonFestival.com
Bardstown Arts, Crafts, Antiques Fair, October. Begin your holiday shopping as 200 artists and craftsmen display their
talents. Choose from wearables, jewelry, pottery, floral, wood items and antiques. Enjoy delicious southern foods and musical
entertainment. www.VisitBardstown.com/tourism/events.php
Christmas ‘Round Bardstown, Nov-Dec. Celebrate the season with more than 25 individual events, including train rides,
candlelight home tours, taste and create a the art gallery and open houses galore. www.VisitBardstown.com/tourism/
xmas.html
ABOUT BARDSTOWN, KY | Located in the heart of Kentucky Bourbon Country and situated at the trailhead of the
famed Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, Bardstown is more familiarly known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” It is home to
five distilleries, including Barton 1792 and Willett Distillery and these three Kentucky Bourbon Trail distilleries: Heaven Hill,
Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam. Major attractions include the outdoor musical, “The Stephen Foster Story,” My Old Kentucky
Home State Park, the highly regarded Civil War Museum of the Western Theatre, My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, The
Kentucky Railway Museum and Whisky Magazine’s Visitor Attraction of the Year – the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey
History. Additionally, Bardstown has four 18-hole golf courses, three wineries, two haunted tours and numerous religious
attractions. It was selected the “Most Beautiful Small Town in America” in the Rand McNally/USA Today 2012 “Best of the
Road” contest and landed in the top 20 of “America’s Favorite Towns” by Travel + Leisure – which also recognized
Bardstown as having one of “America’s Most Beautiful Town Squares.” In 2013, Bardstown was designated a certified
Kentucky Cultural District, one of only six Kentucky cities to achieve this honor.
Dawn Przystal, Vice President, Tourism Expansion & Marketing
Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist & Convention Commission
One Court Square, Bardstown KY 40004  www.visitbardstown.com
800.638.4877 x 114  dawn@bardstowntourism.com