Lexington (Kentucky) Sights

Full Lexington Travel Guide »    Lexington Interactive Map »    Print This Article »

• Triangle Park, especially at night. Enjoy slipping off your shoes or sandals in the summertime and wandering in the step-like fountains that ring the backbone of this park. Get plenty of pictures of the illuminated fountains against the Lexington Convention Center. Cross the street and talk to the concierge at the Radisson Hotel to book a horse-drawn carriage tour of downtown.
• The Kentucky Theatre is a historic two-screen cinema with restored architecture and beautiful interior murals located downtown on Main Street. Its schedule tends to emphasize foreign, independent, and art films, plus occasional concerts and panel discussions at the premiers of controversial films. During the Summer Classics Series every Wednesday night a classic film is shown. The theatre has an offbeat side as well, and raucous midnight showings of movies like the Rocky Horror Picture Show draw crowds of nearby University students, adults, and teens every weekend. http://www.kentuckytheater.com/
• Ashland (Henry Clay Estate), 120 Sycamore Road, www.henryclay.org. check website.. Home of the famous Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, set near downtown Lexington. Beautiful park surrounding the home accessible even if you do not wish to take a tour. $7 Adults, $4 children (ages 6 - 18), children 5 and under free..
• Mary Todd Lincoln House is the two-story girlhood home of Abraham Lincoln’s wife. Located on Main Street in downtown, the 14-room house contains period furniture, furnishings from the Todds and Lincolns, and family portraits. The nation’s first shrine to a First Lady is open for visitors, call (859) 233-9999 for more information.
• Waveland State Historic Site was built in 1848 by Joseph Bryan, a grand-nephew of Daniel Boone. The Greek revival home preserves 19th century plantation life in Kentucky with acres of hemp and grain. The smokehouse, icehouse and slave quarters still stand as outbuildings. Call Waveland at (859) 272-3611 for information about tours.
• Hunt-Morgan House was built by the first millionaire west of the Alleghenies, John Hunt-Morgan. The house showcases early Kentucky furniture, 19th century paintings and antique porcelain. The Alexander T. Hunt museum featuring Civil War memorabilia is located on the second floor. The house was built in 1814 when Lexington was known as the “Athens of the West.” Tours of the house in historic Gratz Park are given on the hour and vary throughout the year. Call Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation for information about tours: (859) 233- 0362.

• http://www.kentuckytheater.com/
• www.henryclay.org