From Wikitravel

Louisville is a city in Kentucky and is the 16th largest city in the United States. Louisville is also the namesake of the Official Bat of Major League Baseball - the Louisville Slugger.

Contents 1 Understand 2 Get in 2.1 By plane 2.2 By car 2.3 By train 2.4 By bus 3 Get around 4 See 4.1 Outside 4.2 Inside 5 Do 6 Kentucky Derby Festival 7 Learn 8 Work 9 Buy 10 Eat 10.1 Budget 10.2 Mid-range 10.3 Splurge 11 Drink 12 Sleep 12.1 Budget 12.2 Mid-range 12.3 Splurge 13 Contact 14 Stay safe 15 Cope 16 Get out

Understand

Louisville's biggest draw are the horse races at Churchill Downs (with the famous Kentucky Derby always the first Saturday in May), but the city is making a concerted effort to draw tourists year round. You'll need a car to go anyplace interesting because local bus services are severely limited and other modes of transportation (e.g. taxis) are pretty expensive and not all that easy to arrange. The architecture in Old Louisville and the Highlands is one-of-a-kind, and the people are very friendly.

Get in

By plane

Louisville International Airport (SDF) is not a hub and therefore has few direct flights — you'll probably stop, and possibly change planes, in either St. Louis or Chicago. The airport is "International" in name only — there are once a week flights from Montreal and to Toronto! Too bad you can't fly with UPS whose huge all-points international air hub is here.

By car

Several Interstates pass through Louisville: I-65, I-64 and I-71.

• I-71 (North-South) begins in Louisville and heads Northeast to Cincinnati and Cleveland.
• I-65 (North-South) will carry you from just outside Chicago, through Indianapolis North of Louisville and to the south through Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery, all the way to the coast at Mobile.
• I-64 (East-West) travels east through Lexington, West Virginia, on into Richmond, and ends at the Atlantic Ocean in Newport News. To the west you'll find its beginning/end in Saint Louis, the "Gateway to the West"

By train

Formerly served by Amtrak's Kentucky Cardinal, Louisville presently has no passenger train service.

By bus

Greyhound (1-800-231-2222) services Louisville. Their depot is located at 720 W Muhammad Ali Blvd which is near the center of town.

Get around

See

Outside

Louisville's park system was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the "Father of American Landscape Architecture." Many consider it to be his greatest achievement. Cherokee Park, Iroquois Park, and Shawnee Park are the Flagship Parks, while more than a dozen smaller parks make up Louisville's own "Emerald Necklace."

Old Louisville is an architectural treasure trove. Just south of downtown, it is the third largest National Preservation District in the country and the largest Victorian district in the United States. A particularly beautiful area is St. James Court and Belgravia Court, which plays host each fall to the St. James Court Art Show. Faced with possible demolition in the 1970's, the area is now considered to be one of Louisville's best-kept secrets.

Enjoy the view (day or night) of downtown Louisville from Ashland Park, on the Ohio River in neighboring Clarksville IN. Park the car and walk across the street to Widow's Walk, an ice-cream parlor/garden statue shop constructed to look like an old Victorian mansion.

Inside

Market Street has a number of art galleries. If you are in Louisville on the first Friday of the month, there is a free gallery hop around the downtown galleries, including a couple of glass studios. The Speed Art Museum is a more traditional art museum on the campus of the University of Louisville.

For performing arts, there is Actors Theatre, The Louisville Orchestra, The Louisville Ballet, The Kentucky Opera, and The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.

• Louisville Slugger Museum, (on Main street in downtown), [1].
• Louisville Science Center, (on Main street in downtown), [2].
• Frazier Historical Arms Museum, (on Main street in downtown), [3].
• Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, (on Main street in downtown), [4].
• Kentucky Derby Museum, (south of downtown next to Churchill Downs), [5].
• Churchill Downs, [6].

If you have a car, definately take River Road out of downtown, past Zorn Avenue into the River Road Historic District. Beautiful country estates on the bluffs overlooking the Ohio River are amazing to see, along with all the fields that strech along the river and great vistas of all the boats going by. The district stops when River Road ends at US Highway 42.

Do

Kentucky Derby Festival

One of the nations biggest civic events, the Kentucky Derby Festival takes place for the first two weeks prior to the first Saturday in May when the Kentucky Derby is run at Churchill Downs. The biggest events include the following:

• Thunder Over Louisville Quite possibly the world's largest air show and fireworks display. Thunder draws as many as 800,000 peolpe to the banks of the Ohio river for a day long event filled with food, music, skydivers and many types of aircraft (including military). The evening is topped off with the world's largest fireworks display set to music, usually lasting 30 minutes. Thunder is held on the Saturday two weeks before Derby (sometimes three weeks, depending on when the Easter holiday is observed so as not to interfere with it).
• The Great Balloon Race It is held the Saturday before Derby, unless bad weather takes place, then it will be the next day. If bad weather takes place that day, the race is cancelled. The Balloon Race starts at the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center and ends a few miles away in whatever direction the wind is blowing and carrying the balloons. On the Friday night before the race, the balloons are inflated for the Balloon Glow, a very pretty sight at night.
• The Mini Marathon Usually starting at Iroquois Park in the south end, the race is run along city streets for about two hours until the runners reach the finish line downtown. It is held on Saturday morning a week before Derby, usually ran at the same time as the balloon race.
• The Great Steamboat Race Held on Wednesday afternoon before Derby, the race usually pits the Belle of Louisville against the Delta Queen for a race up the Ohio River and back again, ending downtown at the Clark Memorial Bridge. In some years, a third boat has sometimes raced. The winner is awarded the Gilded Antlers for another year until the next race.
• Pegasas Parade Held for several blocks along Broadway (on the south end of downtown), the parade is the scene for floats, marching bands, celebrities, and many others groups. The parade is held on Thursday before Derby.

Learn

• University of Louisville
• Bellarmine University
• Spalding University
• Sullivan University
• Jefferson Community College
• McKendree College

Work

Buy

Support Louisville's impressive number of locally-owned businesses by shopping in areas like the Highlands and Clifton/Frankfort Avenue. A local legend that has gained notoriety elsewhere is ear X-tacy, an independent music store with an extensive selection. Shops displaying 'Keep Louisville Weird' signs are members of a coalition of locally-owned businesses.

There are several malls and shopping areas in which to browse, including:

• Oxmoor Mall [7] and Mall St. Matthews [8] Shelbyville Rd at I-264.
• Jefferson Mall. Outer Loop and Jefferson Blvd, [9].
• The Summit. Brownsboro Rd at I-265, [10].
• Springhurst. Westport Rd. at I-265
• Dixie Manor. Dixie Hwy near Lower Hunters Trace
• Stonybrook. Hurstbourne Pkwy & Taylorsville Rd.

Eat

Local specialties include the Hot Brown [11], a broiled open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and mornay sauce, and Derby pie [12], which is similar to a pecan pie but incorporates chocolate.

Fourth Street Live downtown, between Liberty St. and Muhammad Ali Blvd., opened in 2004 and is home to several restaurants including:

• Hard Rock Cafe
• TGI Friday's
• Maker's Mark Bourbon House
• Sully's Saloon
• Red Star Tavern
• Wendy's
• Rocco's Pizza
• Cold Stone Cremery

Budget

• Spinelli's - 614 Baxter Ave. late night (open until 5 am wed. to sat.) Philly pizza.
• Gumbo A Go-Go - 2109 Frankfort Ave. Excellent cajun food. Gumbo, Jambalaya, Etoufee, Creole, etc. Try the drunk chicken, it's excellent. All meals are $5.00.
• WW Cousins -Breckenridge Ln. & Dupont Circle. Dress your own hamburger and salad bar.

Mid-range

• Ramsi's Cafe on the World - 1293 Bardstown Rd. A local favorite.
• Kashmir Indian Restaurant - 1285 Bardstown Rd. Right next to Ramsi's Cafe on the World. Good, affordable Indian food.
• Lynn's Paradise Cafe - 984 Barret Ave. Another local favorite.
• The Irish Rover - [13] - 2319 Frankfort Ave.
• The Granville - 1601 S 3rd St. Considered by many to be the best burgers in town.
• Melillos - [14] - 829 E Market St. Excellent New York style italian.

Splurge

• Avalon - 1314 Bardstown Rd.
• Le Relais, 2817 Taylorville Rd, [15]. Fine French food.
• Asiatique, 1767 Bardstown Rd, [16]. French/Asian Fusion.

Drink

The 900 block of Baxter Avenue is a great place to drink and meet new people. O'Shea's, Flanagan's and Molly Malone's are the Irish-style staples with decent beer selections. The Rudyard Kipling and The Magnolia (Mag) Bar are two landmark taverns in Old Louisville.

Fourth Street Live (On 4th St downtown) has plenty of bars, ranging from an English Pub to Maker's Mark own lounge and bar, but you'll pay a premium to drink there. Fourth Street is generally only busy on the weekends; it's dead on the weekdays. Be aware many of the swankier clubs and bars (Red Cheetah, Maker's Mark, etc.) have a dress code, and some have a cover charge, usually about $5. Fourth Street is free to enter.

There are a couple of BBC's (Bluegrass Brewing Company) around town as well. One is located on Bardstown Road near Flanagan's and Molly Malone's, and the other in St. Matthews, near Trinity High School on Shelbyville Road. BBC is a microbrewery that also serves decent food. Another microbrewery in town is Brownings, which is connected to the Louisville Bats (AAA Baseball Team, minor for the Cincinnati Reds) Stadium, on East Main St., downtown.

There are a plethora of good coffeehouses in Louisville. Our local hero is Heine Bros Coffee. There are 2 locations in the Highlands, and 1 location in Crescent Hill. Other selections include Highland Coffee at 1140 Bardstown Rd/627 S 4th St and Old Louisville Coffee House at 1489 S 4th St.

During the Kentucky Derby, mint juleps are traditionally drunk; however, outside of Derby week, it's difficult to find a bar that can make them, owing to the difficulty of stocking fresh mint and the fact that they aren't often ordered. If you want to try this classic Southern drink out of season, one spot that does offer them year-round is the Maker's Mark Bourbon House and Lounge in Fourth Street Live, 446 S 4th St., 502-568-9009, [17]; they sell for $8 as of March 2006.

Sleep

Keep in mind that most Louisville hotels around Derby weekend will usually charge three times the normal rate. The only way to avoid this is to stay with friends and family or to stay at hotels at least 100 miles away, such as Cincinnati.

Budget

• Microtel Inn Louisville (East), [18].

Mid-range

• AmeriSuites Louisville/East , [19].

Splurge

There are three historic downtown hotels. They are:

• The Seelbach Hotel, [20].
• The Brown Hotel, [21].
• The Galt House, [22].

There are many other hotels around town and in downtown, but they are rather generic. If you're going to pay more for a hotel, you might as well get character as well.

Contact

• Courier-Journal, [23]. Local daily newspaper.
• LEO, [24]. The Louisville Eccentric Observer, the local alt-weekly.
• Velocity, [25]. Weekly, local entertainment guide.

Stay safe

Most of Louisville is pretty safe (for a city its size it has never been featured on the TV show "Cops"). Probably the least safe areas are west of Ninth St.

Cope

Get out

There are plenty of places to visit outside Louisville. To the south are Mammoth Cave National Park, Fort Knox (home of the gold bullion and the Patton Museum), the Abbey of Gethsemani, and the historic town of Bardstown, home of Stephen Foster-The Musical, and the Bourbon Heritage Center.

To the east is the state capitol at Frankfort, where you'll find some distillaries in the area. Lexington is the home of the Kentucky Horse Park. Located off I-71 is the Kentucky Speedway, home to Indycar, Busch Series and, someday, Nextel Cup racing.

To the north is the river town of Madison, Indiana, home of the Madison Regatta. Nashville, Indiana and Brown County are a haven for artists.

To the west, numerous caves are found, including Squire Boone, Wyandotte and Marengo. Holiday World in Santa Claus boasts the Raven, one of the most popular wooden rollar coasters in America.

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