RT Lexington

Second-largest city in Kentucky and known as the "Horse Capital of the World", it is the heart of the state's Bluegrass region

Places to See in Lexington

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Arboretum State Botanical Garden of Kentucky

★ 5.0

Public garden featuring native plant collections, themed horticultural displays, and educational exhibits across a diverse landscape.

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Ashland The Henry Clay Estate

★ 5.0

Historic estate offering guided tours of a 19th-century mansion, formal gardens, and exhibits honoring a prominent American statesman.

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Aviation Museum of Kentucky

★ 5.0

Museum featuring historic and modern aircraft, aviation artifacts, and interactive exhibits housed in a hangar at a regional airport.

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Headley Whitney Museum of Art

★ 5.0

Decorative arts museum showcasing fine art, jewelry, dollhouses, and rotating exhibitions in a scenic countryside setting.

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Keeneland

★ 5.0

Equine business including two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex

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Kentucky Horse Park

★ 5.0

Working horse farm, international equestrian competition venue, and an educational theme park

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Lexington Cemetery

★ 5.0

Historic garden cemetery featuring notable monuments, landscaped grounds, arboretum collections, and the final resting places of many influential figures in Kentucky history.

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McConnell Springs Park

★ 5.0

Natural park and historic site featuring artesian springs, karst landscapes, and educational trails in a tranquil woodland setting.

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Waveland State Historic Site

★ 5.0

Antebellum estate offering guided tours of a Greek Revival mansion, historic outbuildings, and gardens that reflect 19th-century plantation life.

Overview

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky, in the heart of the Bluegrass region, and it is known as the "Horse Capital of the World." The rolling hills around the city are lined with white plank fences and thoroughbred horse farms, including famous farms that have raised Kentucky Derby winners, and the city is the home of the University of Kentucky and its Wildcats basketball team. The combination of horse culture, college sports, and bourbon makes it a distinctive Southern city.

Visitors come to Lexington for the Kentucky Horse Park, for races at Keeneland in April and October, and for tours of horse farms. They also come for the historic homes such as Ashland, the Waveland State Historic Site, and the Lexington Cemetery, as well as for bourbon distilleries and the restaurants of downtown.

History

Lexington was founded in 1775 when frontiersmen camped here, hearing the news of the Battle of Lexington in Massachusetts, and named the site in honor of that battle. In the late 1700s and early 1800s it grew into the largest city west of the Appalachians and became known as the "Athens of the West" because of Transylvania University, founded in 1780. Henry Clay, the statesman known as "The Great Compromiser," lived here at Ashland, and Mary Todd Lincoln grew up in the city. Horse breeding began in the 1780s, and Keeneland, opened in 1936, became one of the most important thoroughbred racing and sales venues in the world. The city has also grown with the University of Kentucky, healthcare, and technology.

Sightseeing and Popular Landmarks

The Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm and educational theme park with the International Museum of the Horse and a statue of Man o' War, and Keeneland is a historic racecourse with a stone grandstand and a track kitchen where visitors can watch morning workouts. Ashland is the former estate of Henry Clay, and Waveland is a Greek Revival mansion showing life on a plantation. The Lexington Cemetery is a beautiful Victorian garden cemetery, and Rupp Arena and the University of Kentucky campus are popular.

Culture and Museums

The International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park has exhibits on the history of the horse and horse racing, and the Headley-Whitney Museum of Art has a collection of decorative arts and jeweled objects. The Aviation Museum of Kentucky shows historic aircraft, and the University of Kentucky Art Museum and the Lexington Opera House provide cultural events. Lexington is also a stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, with distilleries such as Town Branch and Bluegrass Distillers.

Parks

Lexington has a variety of parks and green spaces. The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky has 100 acres of gardens and trails, and McConnell Springs Park is a natural area with a spring and a cave on the site of the city's founding. Jacobson Park has a lake and trails, and the Legacy Trail connects the city to the Kentucky Horse Park. Raven Run Nature Sanctuary and the Red River Gorge are within an hour's drive.

Seasons and Weather

Lexington has a humid subtropical climate. Summers are warm and humid, with highs in the 80s°F, and winters are cool, with highs in the 40s°F and about 12 inches of snow. Spring and fall are the best times to visit, with the Keeneland meets in April and October and the spring bloom of the bluegrass pastures.

This article uses material from Wikipedia as well as information from official tourism and institutional sources. Key references include VisitLEX, Kentucky Horse Park, Keeneland, Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate, Kentucky Tourism, and National Weather Service Louisville. Wikipedia material is from the article "Lexington, Kentucky", and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.