One, Two or Three Days in Bourbon Country: How to Choose

Quick Facts

• One day: one driving cluster, about three distilleries, 6 to 8 hours door to door.
• Two days: Bardstown and beyond on one day, Frankfort and Versailles on the other.
• Three days: add downtown Louisville, or Lawrenceburg for Four Roses and Wild Turkey.
• Five clusters in all: Louisville; Bardstown and beyond; Frankfort and Versailles; Lawrenceburg; Lexington.
• The pair to keep apart: Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace, about an hour and fifteen minutes of driving apart.
• Price: a single private day runs $275 to $425 per person by group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee; two- and three-day trips come back as one combined quote.

How many days do you need? Count clusters, not distilleries

The number of days follows the number of clusters you want to see. Kentucky's distilleries sit in five driving clusters: Louisville, Bardstown and beyond, Frankfort and Versailles, Lawrenceburg, and Lexington. One cluster fills one day. Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call. A tour day runs 6 to 8 hours, and that total holds the drive out, the hops between stops, lunch and the drive back.

So the question becomes which clusters hold the names on your list. Buffalo Trace and Woodford Reserve sit in Frankfort and Versailles. Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill and Willett sit in Bardstown and beyond. Four Roses and Wild Turkey are the Lawrenceburg pair. If your list spans two clusters, you need two days. Three clusters, three days. Trying to fold two clusters into one day spends the afternoon on the highway: Maker's Mark in Loretto to Buffalo Trace in Frankfort is about an hour and fifteen minutes before you count the drive back. The distillery directory by driving cluster shows which cluster each stop belongs to.

A two-day plan: Bardstown one day, Frankfort and Versailles the next

Two days covers the two clusters most first-time lists point at.

Day 1, Bardstown and beyond. Heaven Hill, Willett and Maker's Mark. Heaven Hill to Willett is about 8 minutes, and Maker's Mark in Loretto sits about 30 minutes past Bardstown. Put this day on a weekday or Saturday: Willett is closed to the public on Sundays. James B. Beam in Clermont can take a stop on the road south from Louisville.

Day 2, Frankfort and Versailles. Buffalo Trace, Castle and Key, and Woodford Reserve. Versailles is about 25 minutes from Buffalo Trace. Castle and Key is closed Monday and Tuesday, so this day runs Wednesday through Sunday. Because Buffalo Trace anchors this second day, send your dates at least 10 weeks out.

A Louisville hotel works for both days: Bardstown is about 50 minutes south and the Frankfort and Versailles cluster about 60 minutes east. Our Bardstown private tour page covers pickup if you would rather sleep in Bardstown the first night. For a Friday-to-Sunday version, see the bourbon weekend getaway plan.

A three-day plan, and where day four goes

Three days adds a third cluster. The two most common choices are downtown Louisville and Lawrenceburg.

Day 3 option A, downtown Louisville. Angel's Envy, Old Forester and Rabbit Hole are a few minutes apart on the city side. Old Forester is closed Sunday and Monday, and Rabbit Hole on Sunday and Monday (and Tuesdays in January and February). It pairs with an afternoon at Churchill Downs or the Louisville Slugger Museum. See private bourbon tours from Louisville.

Day 3 option B, Lawrenceburg. Four Roses and Wild Turkey are a short drive apart. Lawrenceburg is about 30 minutes from Lexington and about 45 from Bardstown, so this day fits a group that moves to Lexington for the last night.

Day four usually leaves bourbon for horse country. Lexington's Distillery District is downtown, Keeneland's race meets run in April and October with racing in the afternoon, and the horse farms sit around Lexington and Versailles. We put racing on its own day and keep bourbon on the others, so neither gets cut short. See Keeneland race days and private bourbon tours from Lexington.

How we route a multi-day trip

We build multi-day trips backward from the closures, then the drive, then the hotel. The closures come first because they are fixed: Willett is closed on Sundays, Castle and Key on Monday and Tuesday, Old Forester on Sunday and Monday, Rabbit Hole on Sunday and Monday (and Tuesdays in January and February), and Woodford Reserve opens Thursday to Monday in January and February. That alone decides which cluster lands on which date.

Next comes the hotel. A base on the wrong side puts the long leg into every morning. Louisville to downtown Lexington is about 90 minutes, so a group doing Bardstown, then Frankfort, then Lawrenceburg does better changing hotels after day two than driving 90 minutes each way on day three.

Lunch is placed by route, between stops one and two or two and three. On each day of the trip we reserve a table for you, and the bill is paid at the restaurant. Pickup time varies by itinerary, and water is in every vehicle. Fly-in groups land the afternoon or evening before day one, so the first tour day starts with everyone in the same city. The out-of-state planning guide covers flights and pickup cities.

Frequently asked questions