Your guide to summer family fun in Louisville
As summer kicks into high gear, create memories with a trip to Louisville.
Whether you're planning a family vacation, a weekend outing, or just trying to keep the kids entertained during summer break, Louisville offers plenty of options for every age and interest. From outdoor adventures and hands-on attractions to baseball games, amusement parks, and sweet treats, there's no shortage of ways to fill your summer days.
Use this guide to discover family-friendly activities across the city and start building your summer bucket list.
Outdoors
Explore Louisville’s green spaces at Iroquois Park with winding trails, playgrounds, basketball courts, horseback riding and more. Plus, check out the Iroquois Amphitheater event schedule for free movie nights and concerts.
Made up of four parks and The Strand that connects them, the Parklands offers year-round outdoor fun. With about 19 miles of the Louisville Loop and more than 60 miles of hiking, biking and paddling trails open daily from dawn to dusk, there’s always something to explore.
Wander through ruins of the 100-year-old abandoned Rose Island amusement park, located on the north bank of the Ohio River in Indiana’s Charlestown State Park.
Located on a 3.5-acre space, this custom-built playground gives a distinctive hands-on playground that shows the area's river history and heritage.
Idlewild Butterfly Farm & Insectarium
Visit the tiny residents of Idlewild Butterfly Farm & Insectarium, where regional native butterflies are raised for zoos, botanical gardens and conservatories across the country.
Blackacre State Nature Preserve
With more than 300 acres of nature preserve, an 18th-century homestead and Louisville’s largest garden, Blackacre State Nature Preserve offers plenty to do, from hiking and feeding animals, to gardening and scheduled learning activities.
Stop and smell the flowers at Waterfront Botanical Gardens, a 5-acre preserve built on top of a former city dump, where a wide variety of beautiful plants creates a peaceful garden escape.
Sports
With different sports simulation rooms, you can play a round of golf, practice your swing or choose from a range of competitive games, no matter the weather.
Louisville City FC and Racing Louisville FC
Catch a men’s or women’s pro soccer match at Lynn Family Stadium. Louisville City FC is a premier second-division men's soccer club, and Racing Louisville is the National Women's Soccer League. Keep an eye out for themed nights.
Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory
Set up to the plate at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. Take a guided tour, see bats used by baseball legends, explore the history of America’s favorite pastime and get a behind-the-scenes look at how the iconic Louisville Slugger is made.
Head over to Puttshack for an interactive miniature golf experience with larger-than-life obstacles, lights and music.
Go out to the ballgame at Louisville Slugger Field to cheer on Louisville’s own minor league baseball team. Don’t miss the Cosmic Baseball takeover in June and other themed nights throughout the season.
Thrills
Once a limestone mine, the Louisville Mega Cavern is the largest man-made cave system in North America. Enjoy the cave by zip lining through the world’s only fully underground course, get a narrated tour, walk around the cave or try the aerial ropes challenge course.
For indoor fun and games, check out Activate Games where high-tech games test your physical and code-breaking skills — it’s almost like being a part of the movie “Tron”.
Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay
Enjoy outdoor thrills and chills at Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay amusement park with over 70 rides and attractions throughout the park and over 25 water slides, plus a wave pool at the water park. Plus, don’t miss the annual Bluegrass & Booms event Fourth of July weekend.
Wall-to-wall trampolines await at Sky Zone Trampoline Park with a ninja warrior course, slides, dodgeball, foam pit and more.
Just two miles south of downtown, discover America’s most haunted neighborhood in Old Louisville, known for its Victorian-era architecture and even spookier stories.
Iconic Attractions
Trace Muhammad Ali’s journey from his Louisville roots to becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion and humanitarian through the museum’s exhibits, films and immersive experiences.
Explore more about the “the fastest two minutes in sports,” at the Kentucky Derby Museum. With over 200,00 artifacts, exclusive Churchill Downs tours and immersive exhibits, you can experience all the fun of derby day.
Experience Louisville’s history aboard the Belle of Louisville, a National Historic Landmark and an icon of the Louisville waterfront that has been cruising since 1914. Don’t miss kid-themed cruises, like silent disco night and a princess cruise.
Explore Kentucky’s culture through an extensive collection of historical items and exhibitions. Don’t miss seeing some memorable artifacts including a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette C6, ABA Kentucky Colonel basketball team uniforms and a plywood boat with which Tori Murden McClure became the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Ready to meet some four-legged friends? Stop by the Louisville Zoo, where you’ll meet Peace the polar bear, King Louie the white alligator and Amber the orangutan, knowing for snooping through visitor’s purses, just to name a few. Plus, visit the zoo at night during Wild Lights, happening through July 26.
Sweet Treats
Known for its small batch gourmet ice cream, this NuLu ice cream shop makes ice cream from local dairy, with their own jams, sauces and baked goods to make crowd favorites like pistachio honeycomb and banana cookies and cream.
Named the “Best Cookie Shop in America” USA Today in 2023, Please & Thank You is known for its giant cookies that are gooey on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Open for more than 50 years, Dairy Kastle is a well-known soft serve staple in Louisville with ice cream, hot dogs, walking tacos and more.
Elizabeth Namusoke Kizito, founder of Kizito, Inc., brought her family’s baking tradition from Uganda to America at 17 years old. Taught by her father as a child, she still handcrafts every cookie and brownie at her bakery right here in Louisville.
From Louisville's classic glazed to maple bacon and everything in between, you will be able to find your new favorite donuts or pastries.
For more than 70 years, Dairy Del has been serving ice cream in Louisville, from sundaes to soft serve, and even burgers, chicken, hot dogs and more. It's a great end to a great day in Louisville.
Louisville has no shortage of events happening all summer long. Check out our calendar of events to see what is going on while you're in town.