Louisville Bourbon & Food Walking Tour in NuLu: Tastings & Dinner

Bourbon pours paired with full dinner at Louisville's hardest-to-book restaurants.

This guided walking tour through NuLu pairs bourbon tastings and craft cocktails with dishes from award-winning restaurants, covering roughly one mile across three hours. You'll start at the Church of Bourbon, move through a local bottle shop for a guided tasting and cheese plate, then walk to restaurants serving paired bites that add up to a full dinner. The tour traces bourbon's real history (the unfiltered version distillery tours don't tell), and suits both newcomers and seasoned drinkers. Minimum age is 21. Dietary restrictions (vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free) and mocktail options are available with 24 hours' notice.

Step-by-step itinerary

Bourbon tasting and food pairing walk

• Start at Church of Bourbon collection
• Guided bourbon tasting and cheese plate
• Shop for rare and premium bottles
• Pair bourbon with dishes in NuLu

The experience

You begin seated at the Church of Bourbon, in front of one of the largest bourbon collections in the world. From there, the tour moves to a local bottle shop where a guide walks you through a bourbon tasting paired with a cheese plate, and you get time to shop for rare and premium bottles if anything catches your eye. This isn't a distillery tour. The guide covers bourbon's origins in the Appalachian foothills and traces how it became central to Louisville's identity, with stories and context the standard trail tours leave out.

The walking part takes you through NuLu, a neighborhood AFAR named one of the best food neighborhoods in the USA. You'll stop at multiple restaurants, each one pairing bourbon pours and cocktails with dishes designed around them. The bites add up to a full dinner across the stops, and these are tables that are normally hard to book on their own. The tour covers roughly a mile and runs three hours total, so the pace is built around tasting and eating, not rushing between points.

A premium bourbon upgrade is available if you want to add four rare and premium tastings to the standard experience. Groups stay small for a more personalized pace. The tour runs in rain, shine or snow unless weather becomes severe, and it's wheelchair accessible with public transportation nearby. If you don't drink alcohol, mocktail options are available. Just let the operator know at least 24 hours before the tour starts.

What’s included

• Guided bourbon tasting at a local bottle shop with a cheese plate.
• the unfiltered history of bourbon from its Appalachian roots to today's Louisville scene.
• paired bourbon pours and craft cocktails across multiple stops.
• a full dinner from award-winning NuLu restaurants.
• small group experience for a personalized pace.
• vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free options available with 24 hours' notice.
• mocktail alternatives for non-drinkers.

Information

Lasts 3h, runs Wednesday to Friday at 17:00, from US$ 209 per person, with a live guide in English, in groups of up to 12 and with free cancellation up to 24 h before.

Days and timesWednesday to FridayDeparts at 17:00Another day? ›

GroupUp to 12

Live guideEnglish

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.

Book up to1d before

AgesAdult (21 and older) · Under 21: can't be booked

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather or if the minimum number of travelers isn't reached. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated 2 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effortWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportPets welcomePublic transport nearbyNot recommended during pregnancy

Operated by Louisville Food Tours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to taste bourbon and eat at restaurants that are normally hard to get into, all in one guided experience: the small group size and reserved tables solve the problem of booking these places separately. Skip the standard distillery tour if you're after the real history and the stories the official bourbon trail doesn't cover.

Traveler reviews

4.86★★★★★★★★★★

191 verified traveler reviews

5 ★179

4 ★4

3 ★4

2 ★2

1 ★2

Read all the reviews ›

Top questions

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

What exactly is the Church of Bourbon where the tour starts?

The Church of Bourbon is a tasting room and bourbon collection space in Louisville where you'll be seated to begin the tour. It holds one of the largest bourbon collections in the world and sets the context for the bourbon history the guide covers before you move to the bottle shop and restaurants.

How much walking is involved on this NuLu tour?

The tour covers roughly one mile of walking across the three-hour experience. The pace is built around tasting and eating at multiple stops rather than covering distance, so the walk is broken up by time spent at the bottle shop and restaurants.

Will I get a full meal, or just small tastings?

The paired bites across the restaurant stops add up to a full dinner. Each restaurant serves dishes designed to pair with the bourbon pours and cocktails, so you're eating a complete meal across multiple locations rather than sampling small plates at one place.

Can I do this tour if I don't drink alcohol?

Mocktail options are available for non-drinkers. You'll need to message the operator at least 24 hours before the tour starts to let them know, and you'll still experience the food pairings and bourbon history with a non-alcoholic alternative to the pours.

What's the difference between the standard ticket and the premium bourbon upgrade?

The premium upgrade adds four rare and premium bourbon tastings to the standard tour experience. Both include the guided history, the bottle shop tasting, the restaurant pairings and the full dinner. The upgrade gives you additional high-end pours to taste.

Do I need to arrange my own transportation to and from the tour?

Transportation to and from the tour is not included, but public transportation options are available near the NuLu neighborhood where the tour operates. The tour itself is wheelchair accessible and the area has accessible transportation options nearby.