Berea, KY

Address:Berea, Kentucky

Berea, Kentucky, boasts the title of being the "Folk Arts and Crafts Capital of Kentucky." Each year 50,000 tourists come to this quaint town south of Lexington to learn arts and crafts, enjoy Berea's working studios and shops and partake in Berea's famous craft fairs. Arts & crafts is not the only thing to do in Berea. Plenty of hiking, biking and touring can be had, and biking and walking are your best bets for getting around. Keeping with the small town feel, Berea's accommodations and restaurants are a mix of local and chain establishments. Whatever your taste, Berea's got it!

Familiarize yourself with Berea and Kentucky by visiting the Kentucky Artisan Center. This huge center has everything Kentucky, from food, to music, to books and art. Watch artists work their magic, as they make beautiful pieces from wood, metal, paint, fabric and pottery. If you want some of the artwork for yourself, you're in luck, because it's all for sale. If you get hungry, the center has a cafe and grill. The travel information area can help you with any questions before you move on to further explore Berea. Best of all, there is no admission fee to visit the Kentucky Artisan Center.

Visit Berea College for a tour of the first interracial and coeducational college in the South. The fifty-minute walking tour of Berea College provides an historical overview of the college, founded before the Civil War, in 1855, and an opportunity to admire its beautiful buildings. The most notable of buildings is the Draper Classroom Building, modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Other buildings on the tour are the Frost Building, originally a Carnegie Library, and the student built Phelps Stokes Chapel. What would a college in this arts & crafts town be without a successful art program of its own? Enjoy a tour of the Student Crafts program production areas, where students produce handmade items via broomcraft, weaving, woodcraft, and wrought iron. All items are sold to local gift shops and galleries. Berea College visitor's center is a minute's walk to the popular Boone Tavern Hotel as well as the shops and galleries in College Square, Berea's main part of town.

Berea has three main shopping areas: The Artisans Village of Old Town, Chestnut Street, and College Square. Old Town's visitor's center, a restored railroad depot from 1917, is an interesting place to visit. In Old Town you will see many of Berea's working studios and participate in workshops. You can buy pottery, art quilts, hand crafted jewelry and accessories, or purchase a glass blown item made just for you at the Glass Factory. As you stroll from shop to studio, enjoy homemade fudge from the Berea Fudge Shoppe. The town center of College Square has many shops and galleries where you can find plenty of regional handmade crafts, foods, and gifts for every taste, including the Appalachian Arts & Crafts Quilt Shop. Chestnut Street is lined with antique shops, a sprinkle of craft shops and studios, and Berea's public buildings.

Visit Berea in July when 120 artists from 20 states take over the town for the Berea Crafts Festival, at the historic Indian Fort Theater in the middle of Berea College Forest. Aside from great arts and crafts and a chance to meet the artists, the festival has great food and music. If you're feeling inspired by all the art around you and want to take a shot at an art class in Berea, the tourism office has the listing of classes.

Berea Forest is a great place to enjoy hiking and biking. There are scenic overlooks where you can stop, relax and take in the beautiful views. Hiking can also be done in Anglin Falls, Indian Fort Theater and Owsley Fork Reservoir. Biking can be done on the Peytontown Loop, or College-Moran Summit Loop. If you didn't bring your own bike, there are plenty of bike rental stores in Berea.

Berea has a mix of chain and local restaurants ranging from Mexican and Chinese to American and family style cuisiune. If you want an original Berea treat, dine at the Boone Tavern, where they serve spoon bread, a soft corn bread with a sweet taste that's eaten with a spoon. Spoon bread is so popular in Berea, there's even a festival named after it! Whatever you fancy, eateries in Berea meet the challenge. Local accommodations range from quaint B&B's to inns and campgrounds.

Berea is near the edge of central Kentucky's Blue Grass Region, about 20 minutes from Berea-Madison airport, 39 miles south of Lexington, Kentucky, 113 miles southeast of Louisville, Kentucky, and 132 miles north of Knoxville, Tennessee.