Fun & Leisure in and near Louisville, KY

When it comes to Louisville activities, cheering on Rick Pitino and the gang at a Louisville Cardinals game is one option. Stirring up Chef Edward Lee’s jalapeño-spiked bourbon julep is another. But it’s not all basketball and bourbon (though those are two very, very important things in the Commonwealth of Kentucky). In historic downtown Louisville, art fiends can peruse contemporary exhibitions at 21c, a museum that doubles as a Condé Nast Traveler–praised boutique hotel. If you’re more in the mood for live music, head to the ornate Louisville Palace, a 2,700-seat theater opened in 1928. But if people-watching and drinking your way through town is your perfect pastime, hit up hip Baxter Avenue and Bardstown Road in the Highlands.