Vacation Rentals & Villas

The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continuously held horse race in the country. It is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, the key Civil War political figures of the Union and the Confederacy, were both born in Kentucky less than one hundred miles apart and within nine months of each other. More than 100 native Kentuckians have been elected governors of other states. Kentucky is ranked 37th in the United States in terms of area, and with nearly 4.3 million people it ranks 26th in the terms of population. The capital of Kentucky is Frankfort, but its largest city is Louisville.

When in Kentucky you would primarily experience a humid subtropical climate, characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters.Your Kentucky vacation home would seem just a stone's throw away, thanks to a well connected network of road, rail and air both within and without. Kentucky's primary airports include Louisville International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and Blue Grass Airport in Lexington. There are also a number of regional airports scattered across the state.

Before you begin your Kentucky journey, check yourself into a comfortable Kentucky vacation home, it's a decision for which you will thank yourself later, especially after a tiresome day of sightseeing and activities when you crave some much deserved rest and relaxation. Begin with a jaunt to the Kentucky Derby; the derby is best described by this quote from an article in the Time magazine “Kentucky Derby represents a perfect and unique marriage of place and event. You can play the Super Bowl anywhere, and no place, not even New York City has a claim on the World Series, but you could no more take the Kentucky Derby out of Kentucky than you could run the Ohio River to Nebraska”.

After a day at the races, venture out on an exploration of Old Louisville, Louisville grew up on the Ohio falls, where travelers disembarked for the rapids. It's where Lewis and Clark set off for the Pacific, Old Louisville – especially at St James's Court, Belgravia and Central Park – features street upon street of fine Victorian mansions (no two houses, no two porches, appear the same), some with gas lighting. For some literary and criminal history, visit the Old Seelbach hotel, a setting for the Great Gatsby and where Al Capone would dine, and escape the cops through a secret door (the now not-so secret door is still there).

If boxing is your sport, visiting the Muhammad Ali Center is imperative. It's an interactive museum, where you can shadow-box with Ali and have his boxer daughter Laila teach you her dad's shuffle in the ring. But best of all, you can grab a ringside seat for Ali's most dramatic bout – the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman in 1974 in Zaire – it's rerun, on video, in its entirety. Beer lovers can head to Heaven Hill near historic Bardstown ('the bourbon capital of the world'), the only family-owned distiller left, and maker of Fighting Cock and the noble 18-year Elijah Craig single barrel. Colonel Michael Masters and his wife, Margaret Sue, offer tastings of bourbon and home-cooked southern food at their old Bardstown home.

With the most delicious piece of fried chicken having originated in this state, you can ill afford to miss the birthplace of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). Near the falls, squatting on the old 25 'Dixie Highway' at Corbin, where the Rolling Hills start climbing steeply into the Appalachians of eastern Kentucky, sits Sanders' Cafe, the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken. You can't miss it, there's a 200ft high KFC sign to guide you in. As well as serving KFC, there's a small museum, rebuilt kitchen and office to show you how the colonel started. All the things mentioned above, are a glimpse of the great time you would have on your trip to Kentucky. So without further ado, book yourself a comfortable Kentucky vacation home, pack your bags and head for the airport.