10 Best Things to Do in Louisville

The 730-acre Iroquois Park is a great place to go and enjoy some fresh-air activities, with its many scenic walking paths, bike trails, picnic shelters, playgrounds, 18-hole golf course, basketball courts and an amphitheatre. Found 109 miles from the city centre, the park is also known as Louisville's Yellowstone for its forested hillsides and scenic vistas.

One of the most popular trails for walkers and birdwatchers is the 1.2-mile-long Iroquois Park Overlook, which takes you through a wooded area up to a lookout point with a spectacular view of the city. The best time to visit Iroquois Park is in the summer, when you might have a chance to catch a theatre performance or concert.     

Louisville Slugger bats are a big part of the city's history, having been made here since 1884 and serving as the official bat for Major League Baseball. The museum and factory are easy to spot, thanks to an 85-ft-tall bat – the world's largest – propped up at the front of the stately brick buildings.

In the museum galleries, you’ll find all sorts of baseball memorabilia and interactive exhibits. The factory tour starts off with a movie that shows the early stages of the bat's development in the forests and mills, then takes you through the factory production line where you can enjoy a close-up look at the craft and precision involved. Guided factory tours start every 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the season, and last about 30 minutes. Tours are included in the admission price.

Churchill Downs is a thoroughbred racetrack that's hosted the famous annual Kentucky Derby since it opened in 1875. Even if you don't manage to get here for the Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Oaks races, it's still worth a visit for a look into the city's sporting traditions.

Churchill Downs also houses the Kentucky Derby Museum, where several interactive exhibits are spread over 2 floors and a 360-degree high-resolution screen where you can watch the short movie, The Greatest Race. Included in the price of admission is a 30-minute guided walking tour of the racetrack.

Steamboat travel and transportation played a key role in the building of Louisville, so climbing aboard one of these iconic vessels offers an ideal way to learn about the city’s history. Take a cruise on the century-old Belle of Louisville or its younger sister the Mary M. Miller, both with covered and open-air seating available.

Choose from such cruise themes as the Picnic Lunch, Captain’s Dinner or Harbor History, depending on your interest, with trips lasting 2 hours. Sunset cruises are popular, not only for magical twilight views of the city but for the chance to enjoy live music on board.

Kentucky is the undisputed global capital for bourbon production, with some 95% of the world's supply made in and around Louisville. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail was created to help visitors make a self-guided discovery of this barrel-aged, corn-based whiskey and enjoy some samples at distilleries along the way.

Stop first at the Frazier History Museum, the official starting point of the trail and a wealth of information about what to see and do on the trail. There's also an exhibition, tastings and storytelling sessions about such characters as the bootlegging and kidnapping couple George "Machine Gun" Kelly and his wife Kathryn. Don’t forget to pick up a trail map and passport, which you can get a stamp in at each distillery you visit. 

The Louisville Mega Cavern's 100 acres of underground passageways were once a limestone quarry, but now have become a top visitor attraction. The privately-owned cavern is directly under the city and was mined for some 40 years before it became a place for subterranean adventure seekers.

Visitors have the chance to explore the mine on a tram or walking tour. You can also take flight on the thrilling zipline courses that run for 17 miles and test your strength and agility on Mega Quest, the world's only fully underground aerial ropes challenge course.

Louisville's Main Street is a historical district where you’ll find some of the finest examples of the city's architectural heritage. Explore Whiskey Row to see centuries-old distillers' warehouses, or stop by The Actors Theater on 300 West Main block, a showcase of Greek revival architecture built in the 1830s. Several old buildings in the area have been restored and transformed into boutique shops and restaurants.

Main Street is also home to Museum Row, with the Frazier History Museum, Kentucky Science Center, KMAC Museum within a few blocks from one another. If you're hoping to do some museum-hopping, be sure to buy a Main Ticket pass, which covers entry for up to 6 of the participating museums and attractions in the area.

Louisville is the birthplace of Muhammad Ali, who's known as one of the greatest boxers of all time as well as an outspoken activist and philanthropist. The Muhammad Ali Center is a museum built to not only to remember his remarkable life but also to host art exhibits, youth education programs and cultural events.

Few will fail to be awed when experiencing some of Ali’s greatest moments in the ring and as a firebrand for social change in the immersive multimedia exhibits. The award-winning centre is part of the US Civil Rights Trail, a collection of museums and landmarks around the country that honour the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Cave Hill Cemetery is a historic burial ground that offers a genteel place of rest for Louisville’s dearly departed. Visitors are welcome to stroll its sprawling gardens and marble statuary for peaceful contemplation, as well as look for the graves of important local figures interred here, such as American Revolutionary War hero George Rogers Clark and Muhammad Ali.

Take a wagon or walking tour of the cemetery run by the Cave Hill Heritage Foundation and learn more about notable people in the city's history from Civil War soldiers to women's suffrage activists to poets. You can also pay homage to the man whose secret recipe and business savvy brought Kentucky Fried Chicken to the world – Colonel Sanders. Past visitors have been known to leave KFC ketchup packets on his gravesite. 

Fourth Street Live! is a party and dining hub in downtown Louisville that has live music venues, restaurants and bars. It's set up as an open-air walking street but the clear canopy covering the top keeps it dry regardless of the weather. Enjoy some hearty eats at such places as Guy Fieri's Smokehouse or the Hard Rock Café, or try a taste of real Kentucky bourbon at the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse. There's also a food court for quick and cheap eats.

Gaming fans should stop by Tavern on 4th for some billiards, darts, pinball or bocce ball sessions, while those who love a tipple will want to check the schedule of the regular Wine Walks hosted on the street.