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Bourbon enthusiasts will also be thrilled to find the Lawrenceburg Bourbon Company, a bar and retail shop whose proprietors plan to add a micro-distillery in the next few years. The charming shop sells rare bourbons and wines, and groups can arrange private tastings with boxed lunches. The city is home to Lover’s Leap Winery, a picturesque vineyard that offers tours detailing the history of wine in Kentucky, and Rising Sons Winery, which also grows the rare pawpaw plant.

Lawrenceburg has several local eateries that can accommodate groups with the proper notice. At Bluegrass Sabor, guests can enjoy a Southern-American menu with classics like a hot brown or pecan-crusted chicken. At Bourbon Station, groups will find burgers, steak and a bistro menu, as well as a variety of wine, spirits and cocktails. At Heavens to Betsy! Bakery and Café, groups can try some famously massive sandwiches, including their highly praised Reuben.

Depending on the season, groups may catch one of Lawrenceburg’s many festivals and events, such as Food Truck Fridays, held in the summer, or the annual Anderson County Burgoo Festival, the last week of September.

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Frankfort

The state capital of Kentucky is not one of its busiest cities. Still, this quaint seat of Franklin County offers attractions in abundance, as well as several key bourbon sites. The Frankfort Tourist Commission offers step-on guides for motorcoach groups as they roll through the scenic city.

“There’s plenty to do in a day or several days,” said Robin Antenucci, executive director of the Frankfort Tourist Commission. “It’s a good central location, and it’s more affordable than Lexington.”

Frankfort boasts one of the most iconic bourbon producers in the state, Buffalo Trace. This distillery produces some of the best known and the most coveted bourbons in the world, such as the Van Winkle collection, Blanton’s Single Barrel, Weller, E.H. Taylor Jr., Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare. Groups can arrange to tour its massive campus to learn about the brand’s history and its contributions to the industry. Castle and Key, a relatively new distillery with plenty of rustic charm, is nestled along Frankfort’s picturesque backroads and was built on the grounds of a nonoperational pre-Prohibition distillery. To learn more about the city’s history, groups can take the Bourbon and History Walking Tour, led by a guide dressed as E.H. Taylor, one of bourbon’s founding fathers.

Frankfort’s attractions are not limited to bourbon. Groups can tour the Capitol building, a historic, domed building sculpted from marble and decorated with murals, sculptures of famous Kentuckians and a floral clock on its grounds. They can also check out the Kentucky Military History Museum, Daniel Boone’s grave in the Frankfort Cemetery and Liberty Hall Historic Site, which includes two historic houses built by Kentucky’s first U.S. senator.

Frankfort also has a vibrant arts scene that’s easily accessible to visitors, from murals scattered throughout downtown to the city’s galleries to Josephine Sculpture Park, Kentucky’s only outdoor sculpture park.

At Rebecca Ruth’s Candy Factory, travelers can tour the facility and sample some of Frankfort’s sweetest local treats. For a unique dining experience, groups can arrange to enjoy a catered meal in the ambience of historic downtown buildings, such as the Elizabeth, a venue formerly known as the Good Shepherd Catholic Church.

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Versailles

A charming, historic downtown surrounded by miles of rolling hills, horse farms, vineyards and dry-stacked limestone fences, Versailles is steeped in the rich traditions of Kentucky life. It’s the seat of Woodford County, founded in 1792 and named to honor the Revolutionary War General Marquis de Lafayette. Today, it is home to several prominent attractions in the Bluegrass and is highly committed to creating customized, welcoming experiences for group travelers.

“Our rich agriculture land lends itself well to what have become its signature industries: bourbon, wine and bloodlines,” said Emily Downey, executive director of Reserve Woodford.

“Bloodlines” refers to the billion-dollar horse racing industry in Kentucky. The horse farms surrounding Versailles have raised many notable Thoroughbreds, including Kentucky Derby and even Triple Crown winners. Versailles’ most notable distillery is Woodford Reserve, formerly known as Labrot and Graham, one of the oldest distilling sites still operating in the state. This national historic landmark rests on the banks of a branch of Glenn’s Creek, which feeds other nearby distilleries and provides iron-free water central to the bourbon-making process. Groups can tour Woodford Reserve to learn about its unique distilling process and taste some of its most popular bourbons.