Kentucky Derby 2026

[DMurphy]

Taking a break from planning hunting and fishing trips to look into going with the wife and a small group to the Kentucky Derby. Any suggestions on do's and don'ts, ticket packages, or anything else would be appreciated. We will also likely be hitting a distillery or two while in the area, so any insider info on the best distillery tours would also be appreciated.

 

[bayou0509]

Subscribed. I've been interested in this as well

 

[cbat]

Following

 

[CMF]

We've been to Churchhill downs, but not the Derby. They had a family day the weekend we were there, and stuff for kids.
I know one weekend a year at Fairgrounds in NOLA, they do exotic racing like ostrich and zebra races, which was entertaining.
Not exactly the topic, but related...

 

[jek5224]

Don't get tickets for the infield unless you want to be shoulder to shoulder with 50,000 other people and wade through mud and beer cans. Fun if you are in college. Not fun if you aren't.

Most distillery experiences in Ky are worth it. I like going to some of the more historic ones, but the newer ones are always competing to be bigger and better. While not necessary in Louisville, the best ones IMO are Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey, Maker's Mark, Four Roses, Jim Beam, and Bardstown Bourbon Co. It's been a while since I have done any of the Louisville ones, but my recollection is that Stitzel Weller was our favorite. If you have a car they are close enough to make the drive.

 

[Laramie]

Be mindful of scams. My mom and aunt bought tickets about 10 years ago. It was a bucket list trip for them. They were both in the mid 60s at the time. Long story short, they made the trip, by vehicle,, from Wyoming only to find out the tickets were fakes. I offered to get them tickets for another one because I felt so bad but neither of them were willing to try again.

 

[Reburn]

@Steve O is the resident expert on distillery tours I'm sure he will have valuable insight.

 

[Abacist]

If you're looking for a great horse racing experience without the pageantry and incredible mass of humanity that attends the Derby, consider going to Keeneland in Lexington. If you are determined to have the Derby experience, look at the Kentucky Oaks race, which is held at Churchill Downs the day before the Derby.

 

[Donjuan]

If you’re into baseball the Louisville slugger museum is pretty cool

 

[Steve O]

@Steve O is the resident expert on distillery tours I'm sure he will have valuable insight.

Hah. I’ve been to a few. I think Bardstown is fantastic. They are ultra modern but give a lot of love to the history. Any tour there that includes their bourbon library will knock your socks off. So will the on site bar/restaurant; farm to table impressive.

Castle & Key has the most beautiful grounds I’ve seen; like you would be cool with your daughter having her wedding there. Makers Mark would be the place I would want to see during Christmas with a dusting of snow. Another beautiful place.

Old Forester is a cool little tour right on Whiskey Row; they have an awesome speak easy next door. Angels Envy is walking distance from there but I’ve not done any tours there.

Woodford has a great tour where they teach you how to taste the flavors. Buffalo Trace is big but I’ve enjoyed every tour we’ve taken there and always learn something new.

You want to book your tours WAY in advance and there are times when you have to be on the phone the second certain ones become available.

 

[ColPenguin]

Makers Mark and Woodford Reserve are the most beautiful distillery locations. Makers Mark is kind of out of the way though, about 30 minutes from Bardstown. There are a lot of good tour options though. Willett, Jim Beam and Buffalo Trace are good tours. Limestone Branch, near Makers Mark, is a smaller craft bourbon run by a Beam family master distiller.

Heaven Hill is primarily a tasting, not a big tour. While I like Wild Turkey products, on the occasion that I did a tour it was the most bland corporate tour that I have done. Four Roses was also not very interesting, to me.

Our strategy has been reserve one tour, and squeeze in another tour unscheduled. It's feasible to do 2 bourbon tours in one day. You also don't have to buy anything if you just want to walk in and get a stamp on your bourbon trail passport.

Pass on buying souvenir bottles of most gift shop offerings unless they are exclusive to the visitor center, or limited purchase or distribution. Local liquor stores usually have better prices on flagship offerings of bourbon.

 

[DMurphy]

Thanks to all for sharing all of this valuable information!

 

[Dirty530]

Don’t feel the need to buy seats, GA is just fine as you’ll be seeing the sites at CD and likely running to the windows frequently (If you’re like me). Avoid Airbnbs during this time as they can get crazy expensive and often cancel out of nowhere. Also worth watching the girls run on Friday for the Oaks if you enjoy racing

 

[Gman12]

I bought a trip to the Derby for my wife and her two girlfriends a few years ago. I was in disbelief how expensive everything was in comparison to any other sporting events that I've ever been to in the past. Everything involved jacks up the prices including the airlines and hotels. I ended up saving a lot of money by booking airfare to Indianapolis instead of Louisville. It is only a little over 100 miles straight down the interstate and the airfare was half of what it would have cost to fly to Louisville. For hotels, if you stay across the river in Indiana the prices are also much less expensive. I didn't have many options for Derby tickets and bit the bullet and bought from Stubhub. Probably saved $2000 flying into Indy and staying across the river from Louisville. I was a little nervous purchasing tickets from many of the different websites so I went with Stubhub which I knew was legit. Hope this helps. They brought home some cool bottles of bourbon too. I would like to go myself one day.