One day in Bardstown

One day in Bardstown is enough for the highlights if you pick a Wednesday through Saturday and book two things in advance: a morning tour at Willett Distillery and dinner at the Rickhouse. Start with donuts at Hadorn’s, catch the 9 a.m. mansion tour at My Old Kentucky Home, tour Willett and eat lunch at its bar, then spend the afternoon at the free Getz Museum and the Basilica before a tasting and dinner downtown. Only two short drives are involved, and the second one needs a sober driver.

Before you go

This plan works best Wednesday through Saturday. On those days Willett’s tours and bar, the Rickhouse, Hadorn’s and Circa 1856 all line up. Book the Willett tour through Willett’s visit page several weeks out in fall, reserve lunch at the Bar at Willett on Resy, and book a table at the Rickhouse. Bring photo ID; tastings are 21 and over. Stay downtown the night before if you can, so the whole evening is on foot.

The day at a glance

Morning: donuts, the square and Federal Hill

7:30 a.m. Start at Hadorn’s Bakery on West Flaget Street, a family bakery that has been in town since 1977. Order a Yum Yum, the cinnamon twist with a chocolate drizzle, and something for later. Go early: the good stuff sells out before 11 on busy days, and the shop closes around 1 p.m. It doesn’t sell coffee, so walk a block to Fresh at 114 N. Third St., which opens at 7:30 on weekdays and 8 on Saturdays.

8:30 a.m. Walk off the pastry on Court Square. The Old Talbott Tavern has stood on the corner since 1779. John Fitch, who ran a working steamboat on the Delaware in 1787, lies under the monument on the square. Behind Jailer’s Inn, the 1819 jail, the Old Pioneer Cemetery keeps its above-ground chest tombs. The visitor center in the courthouse opens at 8:30 on weekdays if you want a map.

9:00 a.m. Drive the mile east on Stephen Foster Avenue to My Old Kentucky Home State Park. Mansion tours run on the hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with up to 25 people each, first come, first served, and adult tickets are $18 per the park’s admission page. A guide sings “My Old Kentucky Home” on every tour, and the house tells the story of the Rowan family and the enslaved people who built and ran Federal Hill. Allow about an hour with a stroll on the grounds. Between January 2 and March 15, the mansion is open Wednesday to Sunday only.

Midday: Willett and lunch among the rickhouses

10:30 a.m. Drive south on Loretto Road to Willett Distillery, a family-run estate on some of the highest ground in Nelson County. Check in 15 minutes before your tour with photo ID. The standard tour is an all-walking affair of about 1 hour and 15 minutes, indoors and out, with a progressive tasting along the way. The copper pot still, the shape that inspired the Willett Pot Still Reserve bottle, is the photo everyone wants. Self-guided wandering isn’t allowed, and state law limits you to one tour experience per distillery per day.

12:15 p.m. Lunch at The Bar at Willett, open Wednesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Chef John Sleasman runs a changing menu of small plates alongside vintage whiskey and classic cocktails. Reservations are recommended.

This is the leg that needs a designated driver. Everything else today is either before the first pour or walkable from downtown. If nobody in your group wants to skip the tasting, book a local driver; the transportation guide lists options.

Afternoon: free museums and a milkshake

2:00 p.m. Park at your hotel or downtown and walk to Spalding Hall, the 1839 college building at 114 N. Fifth St. Inside is the Getz Museum of Bourbon History, free, with more than 5,000 artifacts: a still said to have possibly belonged to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln’s liquor license and Prohibition-era prescriptions for “medicinal” whiskey. The museum’s hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

3:00 p.m. Walk next door to the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, begun in 1816 as the first Catholic cathedral west of the Alleghenies. Admission is free. It’s an active parish with a 6 p.m. Mass on Wednesdays and a 4 p.m. Saturday Mass, per the parish schedule, so visit quietly and time it around services. The European paintings once credited to Rubens and Van Dyck come with a good detective story, including a 1952 theft.

3:45 p.m. Choose your own adventure. For a sugar break, head to the soda fountain at Hurst Drug, 102 N. Third St., where a milkshake runs about $9 and cash avoids a card surcharge. It closes at 6 p.m. on weekdays and 5 p.m. on Saturdays. For more history, walk to the Civil War museum complex at 310 E. Broadway, where one $15 adult ticket covers four museums and Old Bardstown Village. It’s open daily from March through late October, but last admission is 4:15 p.m., so don’t dawdle.

Evening: a tasting, dinner and a nightcap

5:00 p.m. Walk to Circa 1856, Chicken Cock Whiskey’s tasting room in the big yellow house across from the Talbott. Its guided flight runs through the history of a brand born in 1856, and reservations are strongly encouraged. It’s open until 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. See the Circa 1856 guide.

6:30 p.m. Dinner at the Rickhouse, down the stone steps into the brick-arched basement of Spalding Hall. It’s a steakhouse with more than 150 bourbons, the 12-ounce ribeye and a bourbon bread pudding, open Tuesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. Book through its website, especially on weekends. The Old Talbott Tavern, open daily for dinner until 8 or 9 p.m., is the backup, and the place to order burgoo.

8:30 p.m. Finish with a pour at the Talbott’s bar, which calls itself the oldest bourbon bar in the world and stays open late on weekends when there’s music. The Volstead and Liam Ash Cocktail Emporium, both a few blocks away, pour later on weekends.

Seasonal swaps

• June through August: eat at 5:30 and see the Stephen Foster Story at 8 p.m. at the park’s outdoor amphitheater; adult tickets are $28 plus a $4 fee.
• Friday and Saturday nights: the Bardstown Ghost Trek walking tour leaves at 7 p.m., weather permitting; call (502) 331-1744 to reserve and eat after.
• Late October: book the lantern-lit Shadows of Federal Hill tours at My Old Kentucky Home instead of the morning mansion tour.

If you’re here Sunday through Tuesday

Have more than a day? The weekend in Bardstown itinerary adds a second distillery, a Saturday night out and a Sunday morning on the farm at Preservation.