Bardstown has 11 distillery experiences within about 16 miles of Court Square, and almost none of them are within walking distance of each other. If you plan to taste at more than one, book a driver before you book the tours: a Bardstown-based private guide such as Kentucky Bourbon Boys, a custom itinerary from a Louisville operator, your hotel’s shuttle, or a sober friend with the car keys. Downtown, you can walk between Circa 1856, Old SteelHouse’s tasting room and a handful of bourbon bars.
Why you need a plan for getting around
The map fools people. Bardstown looks compact, and downtown is. But the distilleries that make the town famous sit on its edges and out in the county: Willett on the Loretto Road hilltop, Heaven Hill on Gilkey Run Road, Bardstown Bourbon Company in the industrial park off the bypass, Lux Row and Preservation on country lanes. Maker’s Mark is over the line in Marion County, Jim Beam is out toward I-65 at Clermont, and Log Still is south near Gethsemane.
Add the tasting at the end of every tour (usually three to five pours) and a two-distillery afternoon becomes a real driving question. Kentucky law also allows each guest only one tour experience per distillery per day, a rule Willett spells out on its visit page, so the day’s structure is fixed: several stops, several tastings, several drives. Plan the transportation first and the rest falls into place.
Your options at a glance
| Option | Best for | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Bardstown-based private tour | Guests staying in town who want a full day | Kentucky Bourbon Boys, (502) 777-0761; custom only, prices on request |
| Louisville tour company, private or custom | Travelers based in Louisville | Public scheduled tours mostly skip Bardstown; ask for a custom “south trail” day |
| Hotel or B&B shuttle | Guests at bourbon-focused lodging | The Trail Hotel and Bourbon Manor coordinate distillery transport |
| Distillery-run transport | Heaven Hill Springs | The $55 tour includes a bus from the Bourbon Experience |
| Designated driver | Groups with a non-drinker | Heaven Hill lists a designated-driver program; see below |
| Walking | Downtown tasting rooms and bars | Circa 1856, Old SteelHouse and the Bourbon Capital District |
Bardstown-based and regional tour companies
Kentucky Bourbon Boys is the one operator on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail’s transportation partner list that is based in Bardstown itself. The family has run it since 2011, and every tour is a custom private experience, so you choose the distilleries and the pace. Reach them at (502) 777-0761 or through their website. If you are sleeping in Bardstown, this is the simplest call to make.
Bourbon Excursions is a veteran-owned Louisville company with more than 20 years in the business. Its scheduled public tour ($169 per person plus tax, 12 guests maximum) runs to Midway and Frankfort, not Bardstown. But its private and pre-packaged tours include a “South Bourbon Trail” day that can take in Bardstown Bourbon Company, Lux Row, Willett, Heaven Hill and Limestone Branch. Private prices are quoted on request.
Mint Julep Experiences, running since 2008, sells polished public tours from Louisville (the Horse Country and Bourbon Country tour is $209), but none of the published routes visit Bardstown. Ask about a private or custom tour if you want their service on this side of the state.
The Trail’s partner list also includes Bluegrass Bourbon Tours, Bourbon Hall Tours & Tastings, Pegasus Distillery Experiences, Sip Tours, Trail N Track Tours and Unfiltered KY Tours from the Louisville side, plus Central Kentucky Tours, Horse & Barrel Tours and Stone Fences Tours from the Lexington side. Most will build a custom itinerary; confirm that they cover Nelson County before you book.
Questions to ask any operator
- Is the price per person, per vehicle, per hour or per day, and what is the minimum?
- Are distillery tour tickets included, or do you book those yourself?
- Who handles the reservations, and what happens if a tour sells out?
- Is lunch built in, and where? Five Brothers at Heaven Hill and the Kitchen & Bar at Bardstown Bourbon Co. are natural midday stops.
- What gratuity is customary?
Book the driver and the tours together. Fall tour slots go fast (see how far ahead to book distillery tours), and a driver with no tour tickets is just an expensive ride.
Hotel shuttles and distillery transport
Some of Bardstown’s lodging solves the problem for you. The Trail Hotel, the bourbon-themed hotel on New Haven Road that opened in 2025, offers “Bourbon Butler” service that arranges VIP tours and a shuttle to local distilleries for guests. Bourbon Manor B&B on North Third Street provides a bourbon concierge who coordinates tours and transport. Ask when you book your room, not when you check in.
One distillery handles transport itself. You cannot drive to the new Heaven Hill Springs Distillery on your own; the Heaven Hill Springs tour ($55) starts at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience on Gilkey Run Road and carries you over by bus. That makes it an easy fit for a self-drive day, because your car stays parked for the hour.
The designated-driver route
If someone in your group doesn’t drink, you already have the cheapest transportation plan in Kentucky. Heaven Hill lists a designated-driver program on its Kentucky Bourbon Trail profile, and it is worth asking any distillery whether a non-tasting guest can join the tour at a lower price. Policies vary and change, so ask at booking.
Take care of your driver. Build the day around places with something for them: Lux Row’s six-story barrel wall and peacocks, Preservation’s longhorn cattle, the galleries at Heaven Hill, a proper lunch. Our guide to distilleries for non-drinkers and families has more.
A few ground rules that keep everyone safe:
- The driver doesn’t sip, not even “just a taste.” Tasting pours add up across a day.
- Plan no more than three distillery tours in a day. Two plus a relaxed lunch is better.
- Eat before the first tasting, and drink water between stops.
- Leave the bottles you buy in the trunk, sealed. Kentucky’s rules for visitors are covered in drinking responsibly in Bardstown.
What you can reach on foot
Downtown Bardstown is where you can leave the car behind. Circa 1856, the Chicken Cock tasting room in the big yellow house at 103 E. Stephen Foster Ave., is the Kentucky Bourbon Trail stop you can walk to from Court Square. A block north, Old SteelHouse’s tasting room opened at 124 N. Third St. in October 2025. The Old Talbott Tavern, Volstead Bourbon Lounge, Mr. Tubs and the Rickhouse under Spalding Hall are all a few minutes apart.
Between noon and 9 p.m., the Bourbon Capital District lets you carry a drink bought from a licensed downtown vendor from one spot to the next in an approved cup. No cans, no glass, no outside drinks, and nothing leaves the marked boundary. It is a pleasant way to spend an evening after the distilleries close, and it means a downtown night needs no driver at all. Park once; the getting around and parking guide covers the free lots.
A sample transportation plan
For a two-day trip based downtown, this pattern works well:
- On day one, hire the private driver. Willett in the morning, lunch at the Kitchen & Bar at Bardstown Bourbon Co., then an afternoon tour there or at Lux Row. Back downtown by 5.
- That evening, go on foot: a flight at Circa 1856, dinner, a nightcap at the Talbott.
- On day two, self-drive with a designated driver. Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience and the Springs tour (the bus does that leg), then Preservation’s farm.
For longer routes to Loretto, Lebanon and Clermont, see the three-day Bourbon Trail itinerary, and for tour-by-tour prices and times, the distillery tours guide.
Is a private tour worth it?
For most visitors, yes, at least for one day. You get a driver who knows which back road saves 15 minutes, a guide who can talk mash bills between stops, and nobody in your group has to count pours. If the budget won’t stretch, a sober friend and a well-planned route does the same job. The one plan that doesn’t work is improvising, because rural Nelson County doesn’t reward it at 5 p.m. with a trunk full of bottles.
