Louisville Or Lexington To Visit- Which One To Pick?
Planning to visit Kentucky as a holiday trip? Specifically, whether roaming around Louisville or Lexington might be confusing, right?
Worry not, we will guide you about everything related to these in this article.
So, which city you should prefer Louisville or Lexington to visit?
Louisville has famous racing grounds whereas you will find bourbon trails in Lexington. In terms of crime rates, Louisville is way riskier than Lexington city. Meanwhile, Lexington carries a better grade on quality living. However, Louisville has famous foods like Modjeskas while Lexington brings catfishes.
Still, several points are left undiscussed. In this article, we will serve you a closer brief on each compared aspect.
Now, let’s cut to the chase!
Quick Comparison
Before digging deeper on the in-depth discussions between these cities, knowing the factors first is vital. We have formed this section to get a quick glimpse!
| Compared Aspects | Louisville | Lexington |
| Tourist Spots | Horse racing ground, Mega Cavern, etc. | Museums. State parks, etc. |
| Famous For | Racecourses | Bourbon trails |
| Famous Food | Modjeskas | Catfish items |
| Crime Rate | 45 per 1000 residents | 25 per 1000 residents |
| Traffic Issue | Worse | Better |
Picked any of these in your head? Worry not, we are now headed to expand these factors a bit more.
Fly
These cities are only 70 miles away. So, you might guess fewer differences in flight cost, right? Not at all. In the meantime, airlines such as American Airlines, United Airlines, etc., are highly available to fly you there.
Source: visittheusa.com
Travelling from New York to Louisville has some cheaper deals asking for around $77. However, these flights might take a long route and extensive layover. If you want to avoid these issues, $150-$200 is the standard range to travel.
Just like that, travelling from Texas to Louisville requires $300 on average. Meanwhile, $200 is the cheapest with a long layover.
If you are heading from Washington DC, then $200-$215 is the standard cost of flights.
On the other hand, New York to Lexington costs $310 on average. And, the cheapest is found at almost $120.
In the meantime, $320 might be the cost if your starting point is Washington DC. Lastly, Texas to Lexington charges nearly $400.
Let’s see the flight times while travelling from different parts of the US to Louisville:
- From New York: 5 hours
- From Texas: 3 hours 30 minutes
- From Washington DC: 2 hours
And to Lexington-
- From New York: 4 hours
- From Texas: 4 hours 30 minutes
- From Washington DC: 3 hours 50 minutes
Meanwhile, the time we mentioned above is approximate. You might find faster flights too which might cost you more.
However, you will find flight expenses fluctuating much in terms of where you start from. Also, the seating class you are travelling in plays a factor.
Accommodations
All the popular accommodations are situated within the 10 km range of the main Louisville city. Here are some accommodations that you can stay at:
| Hotels | Plan Your Trip |
| Aloft Louisville Downtown | Book Now! |
| The Galt House Hotel | Book Now! |
| HomeTowne Studios | Book Now! |
You will also get complimentary bikes from them to roam around freely.
Meanwhile, hotels from Lexington below are quite fit and cost-effective to live in! Here are some great options:
| Hotels | Plan Your Trip |
| Ramada by Wyndham Lexington | Book Now! |
| Comfort Inn & Suites | Book Now! |
| Hyatt Place | Book Now! |
More importantly, these hotels are just 5 miles from the downtown of Lexington city. Also, these hotels feature indoor pools, complimentary breakfast, and free WiFi.
Along with that, getting friendly stuff and extraordinary hospitality will make your trip exceptional.
Do You Need A Guide?
Among the places in Louisville, Mega Cavern is the one to hire guides. Their guides can lead you on a 2-hour thrilling and exhilarating adventure.
Also, they offer other packages too including mega trams. However, you will not have hotel pick-up services from them.
Meanwhile, you can think about hiring guides while visiting the Raven Run Nature Sanctuary in Lexington.
Source: tripsavvy.com
This 734-acre woodland might just be bigger to cover it alone. While arriving at this sanctuary, you will find options to hire guides. But the cost of the trip might climb a bit.
Do You Want To Take The Charge of Your Whole Trip?
Enough of quick looking? Well, we are about to take you on the vast exploration now. Here we go!
Food
Big cities like Louisville have expectedly a large number of delicious food items to offer. Primarily, you will discover Derby Pie, benedictine spread, hot brown sandwiches, etc., here.
Some of the best restaurants to eat in Louisville city offer a variety of cuisines for you to try!
Kentucky Burgoo- It is a special kind of stew made to glorify Derby Days. Typically, a burgoo comes with three types of meat including corn, okra, and lima beans.
Derby Pie- A deep-rooted family called Kern from Kentucky first came up with this food item. It’s a chocolate walnut pie that is highly famous around Louisville.
Modjeskas- It comes first with its sweet caramel wrapping. These handmade marshmallows seem like candies.
Lexington might be a smaller city. However, you will not see that food variety is compromised here.
Lexington carries an enriched history going through a farm-to-table cultural transformation. In the meantime, you will most enjoy the traditional items here.
Kentucky Hot Brown– This is an open-faced sandwich just like Louisville’s. But particularly, this sandwich-making journey started here in 1926.
However, it’s widely famous in Louisville city, and restaurants from Lexington also serve it better and differently.
Catfish- This city is full of rivers and creeks where catfishes are the key fish. Knowing this info might take you to a fish restaurant in Lexington.
It’s no surprise to get served by them excellently, right? Catfishes usually are prepared with hush puppies or batter from Weisenberger Mill.
Winner: Both.
Sightseeing
Louisville comes with its historical racecourse grounds! That’s not the end.
However, this city has nothing adventurous like red rocks from Utah or Colorado city. But you will find a different taste of history and places here.
Churchill Downs- Wanna end your day with an amazing spot? Go for the Churchill Downs Louisville. Watching horse races, and having traditional drinks are just top-notch to spend the afternoon in Louisville.
Also, don’t forget to place a bet! You will find the Kentucky Derby Museum too.
Louisville Mega Cavern– An enormous limestone quarry in the mid-19th-century has become a major attraction in Louisville.
Fewer cities exist where fine dining and museums are lodged straight together while having amazing outdoors. That’s where Lexington city has become an auto-choice to visit while roaming around Kentucky.
On top of that, the weather isn’t harsh. There are lots of serene and cloudy days as you can see here-
Here are some places to visit in Lexington:
Kentucky Horse Park- This park situated north is a big historical part of Lexington. If you want to learn about horse traditions, this place is undoubtedly perfect. This working horse farm also comes with film events.
Keeneland- This is Lexington’s professional racecourse, open to the public. This old historical horse territory symbolically stands as Lexington’s culture.
Source: onekingslane.com
Along with that, Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, Fort Boonesborough State Park, etc., are popular options. Riversides of natural sanctuaries will remind you of Lake Placid or George.
Winner: Louisville
Culture
Lexington is a quite smaller city compared to Louisville. You will find it less dominant in terms of culture.
Dominated by the University of Kentucky, it has really lesser scopes to explore cultures. As a result, cultural opportunities are limited.
Meanwhile, Louisville is full of history. Horse racing in Louisville is world-famous.
Winner: Louisville
Nightlife
You won’t find any lack of things to do after dinner in Louisville. Especially its well-known block-long stretch- Whiskey Row.
And, its nearby theatre district is quite happening and full of nightlife. You will find several top-rated cool bars and party houses.
Source: ihg.com
Breaux, and The Bar Complex, are the top-most options for Lexington locals. Centro or Harvey’s Bar is at the top, especially for tourists.
If your hotel is around downtown Lexington, there are high chances to get cool bars.
Winner: Both
Security and Restrictions
Crime rates come first while discussing this section! National reports of the US dig out Lexington as one of the safest cities. More specifically, it comes 3rd in the list of safest metro cities.
Along with that, they have found the crime rate going higher in the recent past. So, you might say this city is neither too safe nor too risky at all. Meanwhile, the yearly crime rate in Lexington city stays around 25 per 1k residents.
On the other hand, the crime rate of 45 per 1k residents is such an alarming note. This rate gets Louisville enlisted as one of the highest crime-rated cities in the country.
Winner: Lexington
Final Verdict
In terms of safety, Lexington is preferable. But as soon as tourism gets into the picture, Louisville is enriched. It has got nationally recognized gigantic places to visit.
Racecourses are amazing options to pass your afternoon amazingly. Meanwhile, Lexington and Louisville are only 70 miles apart, which brings similarities.
Food is one of them. You won’t find so much difference between them. Are you a food lover?
Then, bourbon trails are the biggest pushing factor to visit Louisville. These are soothingly amazing to visit. And don’t forget to taste bourbons!
In terms of traffic issues, Louisville might be the worst of these two.
For safety, Lexington is better while Louisville is historically great.
FAQs
Is Lexington KY A Rich City?
Yes, among all the cities of Kentucky, Lexington is considered the most wealthy town. High concentrations exist to build finance, tech, and oil-based companies among the established people from here. Also, you will not find so many billionaires from Kentucky other than in Lexington city.
Is hunting famous In Kentucky?
Yes, whether it is Louisville or Lexington, hunting has a large fanbase. You will find different classes and ages of people doing the hunting. Black bears, coyotes, bobcats, and elk are the key animals for hunting. Especially if you go there in winter, you will find a lot of hunting taking place.
Which city is the oldest Louisville or Lexington?
From a historical aspect, Lexington city is the firstborn and hence an older city than Louisville. This city in Kentucky was established in 1775. In the early 1800s, Lexington was the wealthiest and largest town in Kentucky. Just three years later in 1778, Louisville was founded.
Final Words
I hope now you know the suitable city between Louisville or Lexington to visit!
However, you might visit both of these places for several good things on a priority basis. We hope that you will have lots of fun with loads of activities.
Best of luck and have a safe trip!
