Bourbon Trail Tour FAQs
How far in advance do we need to book a Bourbon Trail Tour?
We recommend that you plan your trip at least three months in advance for a weekend trip, and two to three months in advance for a tour during the week.
The Bourbon Trail has become a very popular tourist destination, especially on the weekends. While Spring and Fall are currently peak seasons for Bourbon Trail tours, there’s a growing demand all year long. This makes tickets to the distillery tours increasingly difficult to get, especially on short notice. For a weekend tour, you need to book two to three months in advance to give yourself the best chance of getting tickets to the distilleries you want to visit. If you can visit during the week, we can sometimes arrange a tour with only a few weeks notice, but there are no guarantees. Make your reservations early!
How do you choose the bourbon distilleries that we visit on our Bourbon Tour?
We select the two or three distilleries you visit based on:
- Your input
- Ticket availability
- Proximity to one another
If you have certain distillers that you want to visit — or that you don’t want to visit–, please indicate those preferences under the “Distillery Preferences” section when you make the reservation for your suite*. We will try our best to honor your requests, but it will ultimately depend on the availability of tickets to your preferred distillers on the date you’ve chosen. The proximity of distilleries to one another will also influence the two or three we select for your tour.
If we can’t get tickets to any of your top distilleries, we will contact you and let you decide if you want to visit the distilleries that have available tickets or if you want to change the date of your trip here.
*Please note that Buffalo Trace is a tasting-only distillery (no tour) unless you can secure tour tickets on your own.
What does a typical Bourbon Trail Tour day look like?
First, since you probably don’t want to sample bourbon on an empty stomach, we feed you a hearty breakfast. Your driver will pick you up at the Inn between 8 am and 9 am (we’ll provide a more exact time when you arrive). You must bring your Identification, but that’s really the only thing you need to bring. The driver has snacks and water for the ride.
You typically tour your first distillery and then have lunch (included in the package). During the afternoon, you will tour one more distillery and then either have a tasting (no tour) at a third distillery or visit a horse farm, depending on the tour you chose. You will return to the Inn between 5 pm and 6 pm.
You have a little time to relax and sip some bourbon while waiting for your dinner reservation at 7 pm (unless you request a different time). The cost of dinner, up to $100, is included in your package (you pay for alcohol, gratuity, and anything in excess of $100).
We want to bring home a special bottle of bourbon. Can you help us find it?
The best resource to find that special bottle is your Bourbon Trail Tour guide. All the guides are great people who know more than anyone could imagine about bourbon, Kentucky history and horses. They can often direct you –or in some cases even bring you– to the place where you can buy what you’re looking for.
Is there anything that’s NOT included in our all-inclusive Bourbon Trail Tour Package?
Your package includes:
- Tour guide
- Transportation
- Tour/tasting/horse farm admission
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
You are responsible for:
- Tour guide gratuity
- Alcohol at dinner (by law we can’t include this)
- Tip for waiters at dinner
- Dinner charges in excess of $100
What if we want to have more than one day of bourbon tasting and touring?
We now offer a special Two-Day Bourbon Trail Tour Plus package. Click here for all the details!
Optionally, many of our guests go on the one-day guided tour at distilleries outside of Louisville on the first day. Then, they plan their own excursions the next day at distilleries in Louisville. While the Bourbon Trail is long, a big section of it runs right through downtown Louisville, which is about a five or ten minute ride from the Inn. Louisville distilleries include Angel’s Envy, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, Old Forrester, Rabbit Hole and Michter’s, as well as craft distilleries such as Stitzel-Weller, Cooper & Kings American Brandy and Kentucky Peerless,
Visit the Urban Bourbon Trail website and get your passport with information about the distilleries and coupons with discounts at more than 40 bourbon bars in Louisville.
When Will We Receive Our Tour Itinerary?
Our tour partner, Travel the Trail, usually doesn’t release your itinerary until the day before or the day of your tour. That’s because they monitor availability, cancellations and other openings at distilleries to try and get you to the distilleries on your preference list.
If you need an itinerary earlier, you can contact us, but we will contact Travel the Trail and ask them to call you. So it might be faster if you call Travel the Trail directly and ask for a copy of your itinerary.
LBI and Travel the Trail Announce a New 
