Bardstown, KY makes Journey & Leisure most wonderful US listing

One of Kentucky’s oldest and most picturesque communities has been named one of the most beautiful small towns in America by Travel and Leisure Magazine, which calls it “the epitome of southeastern Americana.”

Nestled in the rolling hills of Nelson County as an official gateway of Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, Bardstown earned a spot on the publication’s list of the “20 Most Beautiful Small Towns in the U.S.”

Bardstown ranks eighth on the list, right up there with the sleepy harbor town of Camden, Maine, and the historic silver mining community of Wallace, which rests at the foot of the Idaho Rocky Mountains.

Things to do in Bardstown, Ky.

Travel and Leisure credits Bardstown as one of the Bluegrass State’s first settlements and “the epitome of southeastern Americana aesthetic: Federal and Georgian architecture, a grid layout, and cobblestoned paths.”

“It also doesn’t hurt that it’s the official start of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail,” the magazine added.

Travel and Leisure also quoted Bardstown tourism director Samantha Brady, who likens the town of about 12,000 to a Norman Rockwell painting come to life.

“Bardstown is undoubtedly the most authentic bourbon destination in the world, with beautiful rolling hills and rickhouses leading the way to a picturesque downtown that resembles a Norman Rockwell painting,” said Samantha Brady, executive director Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist and Convention Commission.

On your visit, you might take a tasting tour at Maker’s Mark Distillery or have a drink at the Old Talbott Tavern. First built in 1779, the tavern is the western stagecoach stop in America and home to the oldest bourbon barn in the world.

If bourbon’s not your thing, there are also carriage rides, a colonial village, historical museums and the Abbey of Gethsemani, where Trappist monks chant, work the land and make delicious fudge.

20 Most Beautiful Small Towns

Each town included in the ranking has a population of fewer than 20,000 people. Here’s the full list, from Travel and Leisure:

1. Girdwood, Alaska

2. Sedona, Ariz.

3. Avalon, Calif.

4. Palisade, Colo.

5. Little St. Simons Island, Ga.

6. Lanai City, Hawaii

7. Wallace, Idaho

8. Bardstown, Ky.

9. Camden, Maine

10. Fishtown/Leland, Mich.

11. Taos, N.M.

12. Medora, N.D.

13. Joseph, Ore.

14. Leavenworth, Wash.

15. Bayfield, Wisc.

16. Cody, Wyo.

17. Edenton, N.C.

18. Galena, Ill.

19. Hermann, Mo.

20. Cape May, N.J.

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This story was initially printed February 26, 2023, 8:00 AM.