This city of roughly 320,000 full-time residents — which celebrated its 250th birthday in 2025, a year ahead of the US — is primarily known for horses and bourbon. While it indeed produces some of the world’s finest examples of both, there’s much more here than meets the eye. Here’s why you should plan a long weekend (or more) in Lexington, too.
Just want the recommendations?
You can eat around the world without leaving the city (vegetarians, too).
Lexington is home to more than 100 independently owned non-chain restaurants serving everything from traditional Southern fare, to authentic global cuisine, to the aforementioned fresh seafood — an anomaly made possible by the city’s proximity to UPS’s international hub in Louisville, where fish arrives from all over the world within hours of being caught…