The best things to do in Bardstown are the mansion tour at My Old Kentucky Home, a morning at Willett or Heaven Hill, a slow walk around the 18th-century streets of Court Square, and a half day at Bernheim Forest among Thomas Dambo’s wooden giants. Nearly everything below sits within a mile of the courthouse or a 30-minute drive of it, so two or three days covers most of the list. The order runs roughly from essential to optional, grouped so you can plan by mood; each item links to a full guide with prices and hours.
The essentials
1. Tour Federal Hill at My Old Kentucky Home
Kentucky’s first state park, dedicated on July 4, 1923, centers on the Rowans’ 1818 brick mansion, and more than 75% of what’s inside is original to the house. Tours leave hourly from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., cost $18 for adults, and end with a costumed guide singing the state song. Full details are in the My Old Kentucky Home State Park guide.
2. Book a Willett Distillery tour
Willett is the tour bourbon fans chase: a family estate on high ground south of town, where you walk the grounds for about an hour and 15 minutes and taste as you go. It is closed Sundays and fills weeks ahead in fall, so book early.
3. See the new Heaven Hill Springs Distillery
Heaven Hill lost its Bardstown distillery to a lightning fire in 1996 and came home in September 2025. The $55 small-group tour leaves by shuttle from the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience, which also has galleries, tastings and the Five Brothers Bar & Kitchen.
4. Walk Court Square and the historic district
The historic district covers 26 blocks and 279 properties from the 1780s to 1850. Start at the visitor center inside the old courthouse, grab a map, and follow the self-guided walking tour past the Talbott Tavern, the old jail and John Fitch’s grave on the square.
5. Plan a summer night at The Stephen Foster Story
The outdoor musical has played the state park amphitheater every summer since 1959, with more than 50 Foster songs. The 2026 season ended August 8, so watch for 2027 dates in spring and pair it with an afternoon mansion tour.
Bourbon beyond the big names
6. Lunch and a tour at Bardstown Bourbon Company
The modern campus on Parkway Drive runs its $24 Core Four tour (distillery, rickhouse and four whiskeys) plus a vintage whiskey library tasting for splurgers. There are no tours Monday or Tuesday. Eat at the Kitchen & Bar; the full guide has every option.
7. Learn the backstory at the Oscar Getz Museum
The free Oscar Getz Museum of Bourbon History fills Spalding Hall with more than 5,000 artifacts, including Abraham Lincoln’s liquor license, Prohibition prescriptions and old moonshine stills. Go before your first tour, and check the museum’s posted hours.
8. Sip downtown at Circa 1856
Chicken Cock Whiskey’s tasting room at 103 E. Stephen Foster Ave. is the one Kentucky Bourbon Trail stop you can walk to from Court Square, and it stays open until 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Reserve a guided flight.
9. Take a day for Maker’s Mark
Loretto is about 35 minutes away, and the red-wax distillery, a National Historic Landmark since 1980, is worth the drive. Tours run about an hour and 15 minutes; lunch at Star Hill Provisions. See the Maker’s Mark guide. Pick a designated driver before you leave town.
History and heritage
10. Spend an afternoon on Civil War Museum Row
Four museums share one $15 ticket on East Broadway, led by the Civil War Museum of the Western Theater and the Women’s Civil War Museum. It’s open daily through October 27. Details in the Civil War Museum Row guide.
11. Visit the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral
Begun in 1816, this was the first Catholic cathedral west of the Alleghenies, and its old paintings carry a famous (and disputed) royal-gift legend. It’s an active parish, so time your visit around Mass. The basilica page sorts legend from evidence.
12. Eat burgoo at the Old Talbott Tavern
Built in 1779 and billed as the oldest western stagecoach stop in America, the Talbott claims Daniel Boone, Andrew Jackson and a young Abraham Lincoln among its guests, plus Jesse James bullet holes in the mural (a legend). Read the tavern’s story, then order the burgoo.
13. Tour the old jail at Jailer’s Inn
Nelson County held prisoners on this site from 1797 to 1987. The front jail dates to 1819, and the unrestored 1874 back jail is the real draw. The inn offers daily tours even if you’re not staying. More in Jailer’s Inn and the old jail.
14. Visit the African American Heritage Museum
Founded in 2017 by Bill Sheckles, Bardstown’s first Black mayor, the museum fills Union Church, built in 1812 and described as the first two-story brick church west of the Appalachians. It opens Thursday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., April through November. See the museum guide.
Out of town
15. Meet the Forest Giants at Bernheim
Three giant wooden trolls by Thomas Dambo hide along a 2-mile loop in Bernheim’s 16,000-acre forest in Clermont, and the Canopy Tree Walk puts you 75 feet above the forest floor. Entry is a $15-per-car suggested donation. Plan with the Bernheim Forest guide.
16. Ride a heritage train in New Haven
The Kentucky Railway Museum runs 1.5-hour excursions on the oldest stretch of the old L&N, from $17, with Halloween, wine and Santa trains through December. The railway museum guide lists 2026 dates.
17. Hear the monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani
Trappist monks have lived here since 1848, and Thomas Merton wrote here. The Welcome Center opens Monday to Saturday, and visitors may attend services in the abbey church. Buy the bourbon fudge. See the Gethsemani guide.
18. Follow Lincoln to his Kentucky boyhood
Knob Creek, where Abraham Lincoln lived from age 2 to 7, and the free Birthplace unit in Hodgenville lie southwest of town, and Lincoln Homestead State Park near Springfield is east. The Lincoln country guide ties them together.
Food, drink and small pleasures
19. Have a milkshake at Hurst Drug’s soda fountain
One of the few old-fashioned soda fountains left, inside a working pharmacy on North Third Street. Order a shake served with the extra in the tin. It’s closed Sundays and cash is easier. See Hurst Drug Store.
20. Get Yum Yums at Hadorn’s Bakery
The cinnamon twists with chocolate drizzle sell out, and the bakery closes when they do, usually by early afternoon and never on Monday. Go early for Hadorn’s and add an Apple Jack.
21. Ride the My Old Kentucky Dinner Train
Vintage 1940s dining cars, a four-course dinner cooked on board and a 35-mile round trip from the depot on North Third Street. The Bourbon Excursion (21+) is the bestseller. Prices and booking tips are in the dinner train guide.
22. Stroll the Bourbon Capital District at night
Downtown’s Bourbon Capital District lets you carry a drink from licensed spots along marked sidewalks from noon to 9 p.m. Bar-hop between tasting rooms and cocktail bars; the bourbon bars guide has the list.
Outdoors and seasonal
23. Play golf where the bourbon smells drift over
The state park’s Kenny Rapier Golf Course, open since 1933, is a par-71 course a mile from downtown, and Maywood on the east side is the long test. The free Tulip Grove disc golf course opened in September 2026. See golf in Bardstown.
24. Shop the farmers market on a Saturday
A record 25 vendors in 2026 sell eggs, honey, produce, flowers and baked goods two blocks from Court Square, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday mornings from mid-April into fall. Saturday is the big day. Details in the farmers market guide.
25. Catch a fall event at Federal Hill
Fall is Bardstown’s best season. The free Scarecrow Trail runs September 25 to November 6, 2026, “Weep No More” fills the mansion in October, and Shadows of Federal Hill ghost tours run October 23-24. Build your weekend with fall in Bardstown.
A few things not to plan around
Save yourself a wasted drive. Barton 1792 has offered no public tours since June 30, 2022. Bardstown has no movie theater (Keystone Cinemas closed in 2022). Sympson Lake is closed to boating in 2026 for dam repairs, and the My Old Kentucky Home campground is still closed for renovation. For everything else, start at the Things to do hub.
