7 Most Neighborly Towns In Kentucky

Kentucky has a lot of local pride that runs deep in its small towns. Bardstown brings people together through distillery culture and the lively Kentucky Bourbon Festival, where locals and visitors mingle over local traditions. Corbin gives people a place to swap stories over fried chicken at the Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum and enjoy classic entertainment at the Pinball Museum of Corbin. These seven towns show a side of Kentucky where hospitality is a given.

Bardstown

Sometimes all it takes is a few good drinks and one conversation to make a friendship that lasts a lifetime. That's certainly part of the culture of Bardstown, a major Bourbon whiskey distillery community. It's at the very center of the Bourbon Trail, which connects several distilleries in the region, such as the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience in Bardstown.

The town comes alive in September with the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, which has been running annually for 35 years. There's more than just bourbon in this community. They also have a rich historical legacy on display at the My Old Kentucky Home State Park. This park features a garden and an 1818 plantation mansion associated with Stephen Foster’s song. The site inspired the imagery in the song "My Old Kentucky Home," which remains Kentucky's official state song to this day.

Georgetown

Georgetown is one of the fastest-growing towns in Kentucky, due to the good jobs and neighborhoods here. Some of the neighbors you might find here are of the four hoof variety, as retired thoroughbred horses come here, including Kentucky Derby winners. They are kept in the peaceful Old Friends retirement home, and you can meet the horses and hear their stories on a guided tour.

Folks here in Georgetown take pride in all their biggest attractions. For example, you can take a tram ride through the Toyota factory at the Toyota Kentucky Experience Center, or take a tour through Ward Hall, a Greek Revival mansion that was home to Sallie Ward. In the mansion, you'll hear from experts about Sallie's scandalous activities, such as showing up for guests in the nude or her interactions with Queen Victoria.

Corbin

There's nothing like sitting down for a family meal with a bucket of fried chicken. Corbin knows this more than anywhere else, as it was here that Colonel Sanders first debuted his fried chicken recipe. He had a small cafe here, which he later sold when he franchised his business as KFC. The cafe is still here in Corbin as the Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum, featuring his original kitchen. Corbin has a distinctly vintage vibe, as seen at the Pinball Museum of Corbin, which offers dozens of pinball machines from the 1960s to the present day.

Corbin also stands out for its natural beauty at the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. This waterfall is often compared to Niagara Falls, as it's 68 feet tall and 125 feet wide. One special feature of the waterfall is that during a full moon, it sometimes produces a moonbow(a rainbow created by moonlight).

La Grange

You don't have to travel far from Louisville to find a peaceful small town with a charming culture. It's right here in La Grange, just a few miles east of Louisville. Where this town really comes alive is along Main Street, where freight trains still roll directly through downtown. Those passing trains give visitors and residents alike a front-row view of one of La Grange’s most distinctive daily sights.

The town has a long history as a railroad hub, which is why it honors that history at its La Grange Railroad Museum & Learning Center, featuring artifacts, displays, and a learning center. La Grange's biggest event is the Rail Fest, held annually in May, which is one of the best ways to meet La Grange's kind locals. The town aims to be a kind place, which is why you'll see “Be Kind” signs all around La Grange when you visit.

Winchester

There's more to Kentucky drinks than Bourbon whiskey. One of Kentucky's lesser-known contributions to the soft drink industry is Ale-8-One, first introduced in the 1920s. It's still locally produced and bottled at the Ale-8-One factory in Winchester. That's not the only culinary innovation Winchester has to offer. It was also the birthplace of beer cheese dip, which is served up in a variety of styles at pubs and restaurants throughout the small town via the Beer Cheese Trail. Winchester maintains a homey vibe with its shopping outlets, such as The Ole Red Barn Mall, an antiques outlet that is beloved by locals for its rare items. Lastly, you can get a little history lesson by stopping at the Bluegrass Heritage Museum in downtown Winchester, which preserves artifacts and exhibits tied to the region's past.

London

This tight-knit community is a cyclist's paradise. It has so many bike shops and trails that it's been called the Cycling Capital of Kentucky. Its biking trails run through downtown and into the woods for beginners and intermediate cyclists alike, including the Yellow Route, which loops around downtown London, and the Broken Spoke mountain biking trail through the woods around the London-Laurel County Fairgrounds. Although this town seems quiet today, it was actually the site of one of the first Union victories in Kentucky. Visitors can view the battlefield or witness an enactment. London shows its fun-loving side at its World Chicken Festival, held in September. The festival's organizers serve up fried chicken from the World's Largest Stainless Steel Skillet.

Elizabethtown

One sign you've stepped into a quirky community is that residents refuse to call the town by its real name and instead use a nickname. That's why folks from Elizabethtown call their home Etown instead. Downtown Etown blends local history with a solid mix of boutiques and small businesses. Here you'll find the Hardin County History Museum and the Swope's Cars of Yesteryear Museum, which feature antique cars from the early 1900s onward. One of its most unique historic spots isn't a building, but rather a Civil War Cannonball lodged in a building. It got stuck there during a Confederate raid, and even when the original building was torn down, town residents put the cannonball back into a new building at nearly the original spot where it landed. Speaking of landing, if you really want a thrilling experience, Etown is home to Skydive Kentucky, where you can go for a tandem skydiving drop with a friendly and experienced skydiver.

A Welcoming Side of Kentucky

These Kentucky towns offer relaxing places to pull up a seat and enjoy a good meal in good company, whether that's fried chicken in London or whiskey in Bardstown. When you sit down and talk with the residents from here, you'll learn a lot about their communities, from the fascinating history of the Civil War in London and town to the trailblazing days of Daniel Boone in Winchester. You might find yourself wanting to become a real neighbor after spending a day or weekend in these Bluegrass communities.