Bluegrass Country & the Smoky Mountains

Your tour starts in Louisville, Kentucky, famous for Thoroughbreds, Bourbon and baseball. Tonight, enjoy a welcome reception and settle in for a 2-night stay at your hotel in downtown Louisville. Overnight at Hilton Garden Inn Louisville Downtown.

Enjoy a visit to Churchill Downs, the Thoroughbred racetrack famous for hosting the pinnacle of all horse races, the annual Kentucky Derby. You’ll tour the Kentucky Derby Museum and learn about the legendary history of the “Sport of Kings.” Then, enjoy a walking tour of Old Louisville, a historic neighborhood that boasts the largest concentration of contiguous Victorian mansions in the United States.* Later, head to “Museum Row” where it’s your choice! Visit the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory for an All-Star baseball experience showing you all there is to know about “America’s Pastime” -OR- explore the Frazier Kentucky History Museum, and its new Spirit of Kentucky exhibit, the official start of the Bourbon Trail. Tonight, join your fellow travelers at a local restaurant for a welcome dinner.

Today we travel to Lexington. En route, we’ll visit Buffalo Trace, the oldest continuously operating Bourbon distillery in America. Learn about the subtle craft of Bourbon distilling, meet some of the people who make it all happen, and of course, taste some of Kentucky’s home-grown spirit. Stop in Midway, a quaint, historic town and the first one in Kentucky to be founded by a railroad. Learn about this area from a local guide as we explore Kentucky’s horse country. Enjoy the stunning, rolling bluegrass pastureland and the many horse farms that dot the landscape. We’ll visit private horse farms and hear about their time-honored traditions. Overnight at Doubletree Suites By Hilton Hotel Lexington.

We travel south, stopping in Berea, the historic college town known as the arts and crafts center of Kentucky. You’ll meet a few artisans while they demonstrate their craft. Enjoy lunch at Boone Tavern, where blue grass country meets the rolling hills of Appalachia. En route to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, travel through Daniel Boone National Forest. Extending across the western plateau region of the Appalachian Mountains, it’s named for the larger-than-life American pioneer who once blazed a trail across these rugged and wild lands. Gatlinburg, a lively mountain resort, is the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and your home for a 3-night stay. Overnight at Margaritaville Resort.

This morning, a local guide leads you into the most visited national park in the United States. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The park contains one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth and the largest deciduous forest in the eastern United States. Explore the park, stopping at various lookouts on our way to Newfound Gap which boasts views of both sides of the Smoky Mountains – those in Tennessee and North Carolina. Afterwards, enjoy a tour and tasting at the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery. Then the rest of the day is yours, perhaps you will go experience Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountains theme park.

Today, spend your time however you see fit during a leisurely day in Gatlinburg. Perhaps you’ll want to venture back to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and see more stunning natural sights. Or, for a bit of campy fun, you could head to Pigeon Forge. Tonight, be entertained at the lively Dolly Parton’s Stampede & Dinner Show where you’ll see music, dancing, and professional horse riders performing incredible stunts.

Depart for Asheville, North Carolina, our Blue Ridge Mountains home for two nights. Upon arrival in Asheville, a local guide takes you on an orientation walking tour of the neighborhood around your downtown hotel. Overnight at Cambria Hotel Downtown Asheville.

Back in 1895, George Vanderbilt II decided to build himself “a little mountain escape” in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The result was the impressive and decadent grandeur of the Biltmore Estate. Today, tour the sprawling mansion and the manicured grounds, enjoy a wine-tasting at the historic Biltmore Winery and experience what it was like to be a wealthy tycoon in the Gilded Age of America. Tonight, enjoy a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

Today your tour comes to an end. As you venture home, take the spirit and the warmth of America’s Southeast with you.