Things to do / Travel Guide
Over a dozen behind-the-scenes and factory tours await you when you visit the Central Kentucky and Tennessee region. Producing everything from bourbon to baseball bats, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the region's many factories is guaranteed to be an entertaining and educational experience. Some of the world's top whiskey distilleries and car manufactures operate factories that dot the region's landscape, and are also open to the public.
If you're into cars, Kentucky is a great state to be visiting with two automobile manufacturing facilities. Bowling Green is the site of the Corvette Plant, where you can ooh and ahh as you witness the birth of a new shiny roadster. You can also tour Toyota Motor Manufacturing, the company's largest factory site in North America, in Georgetown. You'll be amazed as the hodgepodge of thousands of auto parts comes together on assembly lines to create some fantastic road-worthy vehicles. Unfortunately, neither factory tour comes with free samples.
Factory Tours in Louisville
The biggest city in Kentucky makes the biggest baseball bats in the business. The Louisville Slugger factory is easily recognizable, with a bat of Ruthian proportions right on its doorstep. Visitors who take the factory tour will see the bats of baseball's legendary hitters, like Ty Cobb, and will get an up-close look at the fine craftsmanship that goes into making the weapons of choice for Major Leaguers.
Feast your eyes on some fantastic functional art as you take a tour of Louisville Stoneware. Watch as beautiful designs are overlaid on the stoneware, which “magically” remains dishwasher safe, microwave safe, and even ovenproof. If you're simply taken with a particular style, go ahead a purchase something like it in the on-site store.
Also in Louisville is the world's largest producer of products for the blind. Taking a guided tour of the American Printing House for the Blind will help you appreciate the world of visually-impaired people - with Braille products and publications along with recording studios for books on tape taking center stage on the premises.
Factory Tours in Lexington
Lexington is pretty much the hub of Central Kentucky and Tennessee's factory tours, the heart of the region's whiskey and bourbon country. Some of the distilleries open to visitors for factory tours are the Buffalo Trace Distillery, the Woodford Reserve Distillery, and Wild Turkey, all located within a few miles of Kentucky's second-largest city. At each of these fine establishments you'll be privy to the distilling process and emerge from the tours with a deeper understanding of why each one considers itself the best in the business.
Factory Tours South of Lexington
Ever wonder how baskets are woven? Churchill Weavers, in Berea, will do it's best to educate you in the fine art. Visitors who take the free factory tour get to see then entire fabric-making process, from warping to weaving, at the headquarters of this hand-woven products industry leader.
Factory Tours in Nashville
Purity Dairies offers one of the most enjoyable factory tours in the region, with free ice cream samples to accompany you on your behind-the-scenes journey around the facilities. Tour guides introduce you to the world of dairy products, the factory producing many varieties of milk and milk-based items for consumption right in Nashville as well as in the rest of the United States.
The undisputed king of whiskey in the region is Jack Daniels, with the factory distillery located in Lynchburg, Tennessee, about an hour south of Nashville. On a tour of the facilities you can learn about charcoal mellowing, oak barrels, and of course the history of one of the world's best-loved whiskey brands.
Behind-the-scenes and factory tours are typically family-friendly activities good for a short and interesting diversion from a region's mainstream tourist activities. Generally inexpensive, visitors are often given complimentary tastes and samples, like sweet treats at the Rebecca-Ruth Candy Factory, in Frankfort, or Old Kentucky Candies, in Lexington. Note that some tours have irregular hours and admission restrictions. Click on the individual icons for more practical information.
Behind-the-Scenes and Factory Tours in Nashville, Louisville and Lexington in Central Kentucky and Tennessee
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