Nightlife/Upscale Area of Lexington? (Frankfort, Ashland: hotels, homes, university)

[internetuser]

I am visiting Lexington, KY soon and I was wondering where the better part of town is.

I am interested in staying in the more upscale area, where there is the best concentration of bars/shopping/nightlife/restaurants. I want to avoid college type crowds if possible.

Also, can anyone suggest fun things to do/see in Lexington? The best restaurants and attractions?

What are some high end bars?

I appreciate any advice !

[CraigCreek]

Well, Lexington's traditional attractions aren't restaurants and high-end bars, but historic homes such as Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate, the Mary Todd Lincoln House, and Waveland, museums, including the University of Kentucky art museum and the Headley-Whitney Museum, the Kentucky (State) Horse Park (which has several excellent museums plus daily horse shows and many other activities), and the surrounding manicured rolling green thoroughbred horse farms.

Nearby attractions include Shakertown at Pleasant Hill, a restored 19th century Shaker village (with a paddleboat ride down at Shaker Landing the nearby Kentucky River), Old Fort Harrod State Park, the similar Boonesboro State Park, Berea, the arts and crafts capital of Kentucky (try dining at Boone Tavern - it's not a bar, however!), Frankfort, the actual capital, with museums and more historic homes and of course, the capitol building itself, the Red River Gorge, a mountainous, forested area with many, many natural arches, rock formations, cliffs and rock shelters, plus one natural bridge.

Many bars and restaurants are congregated in downtown Lexington, but that's also close to UK, so college students do visit them. However, UK is currently in summer session, and far fewer college students are in town as a result.

As for restaurants, what sort of food do you especially enjoy? We have many barbecue restaurants, lots of pizza places, many traditional Southern food establishments, and many ethnic restaurants of various kinds. I often take visitors to Billy's Barbecue - it's hardly "upscale", but it's consistently voted the best in town and it has a lot of quirky charm. There's also Joe Bologna's restaurant, noted for pizza and other pasta dishes. It's located in a former church and synagogue. Dudley's is downtown and has gone more upscale since its last move. Ramsey's has good Southern food, made with fresh locally grown ingredients in season, and has several locations. There are more - many more.

How long do you plan to stay in Lexington?

[lexingtongal]

Downtown. Bars- Parlay Social, Belle's, Enoteca, Table Three Ten
Restaurants. Village Idiot, Dudley's (has a nice rooftop dining area) on Short St.
On Jefferson St Blue Heron or Nick Ryan's
If you stay downtown you can walk to many of these. As for attractions what are your interests? Visitlex.com has a fairly comprehensive list of thing to do and see.

[Lex-Ed]

Most hotels around Lexington are going to be relatively nice as long as you're sticking with the larger chains. Some are definitely newer than others. But as far as hotels go during a visit, you need to decide what you want to be near. If you want to walk to bars and attractions, stay downtown. That's going to be the Hyatt or the Hilton. If you want shopping, stay in Hamburg Pavilion. If you want safe, quiet and near the airport, stay in Beaumont Center.

You can't really escape the college kids, UK practically makes up half of Lexington when it's in session. The best bars to go to to avoid the college crowds are going to be SkyBar and Parlay Social. Stay away from Two Keys and Tin Roof, as well as Wildcat Lounge and McCarthys. Very college.

I would second Billy Barbecue and Joe Bologna's for food, as well as Nick Ryans. Bellini's and Portofino make for a fancy meal (and a bill to match it). Atomic Cafe has great caribbean food and a good atmosphere, and Local Taco is good for a small bite.

CraigCreek covered many of the touristy things, but in the summer you can try to hit Thursday Night Live downtown for beer and music, KY Cork and Tap on Fridays for more of the same, and the Farmer's Market and Artist's Market on Saturdays.