Enjoy your complimentary stay at the pre-cruise hotel. The evening is yours to become acquainted with the city. Our Hospitality Desk will be located in the hotel, and our friendly staff can assist with everything from general questions about your upcoming voyage to reserving premium experiences. Both American Queen Steamboat Company and local representatives will be readily available to provide you with dining, entertainment and sightseeing options to maximize your time here.

This authentically quirky port is a muse to artisans of mixed mediums – from sidewalk chalk to street fare – and home to cultural diversity that quickly captivates the heart of its visitors. The local tradition that lives within images of Derby hats, Old-Fashioned cocktails and the 120-foot Louisville Slugger that towers over the friendly city is better lived than seen. Explore the red penguin-peppered Main Street. Embrace oddity. Experience Louisville. 

INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSIONS: Louisville Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
Museum Row  
Louisville's Museum Row is housed in America's second largest collection of cast-iron facades. Museum Row is home to nearly 10 local attractions in one historic neighborhood.
Suggested Visit: 30 minutes - 1.5 hours  
  
The Frazier History Museum  
With three floors of exhibit space, the Frazier History Museum is a world-class museum that provides an unforgettable journey through more than 1,000 years of history with ever-changing and interactive exhibits, daily performances by costumed interpreters, and engaging special events and programs. 
Suggested Visit: 1 - 2 hours    

Mark Payton Glass Center  
Visit this glass blowing studio and tour the amazing techniques and artwork created by professionals. Make sure to stop in the gallery to explore finished products or the gift shop where you can purchase some unique and beautiful souvenirs. 
Suggested Visit: 15 - 30 minutes    

Cathedral of the Assumption  
The steeple rises 287 feet above the Louisville skyline, and the coronation window is one of the oldest surviving examples of hand-painted stained glass in the country. 
Suggested Visit: 30 minutes
   
4th Street Live!  
Restaurants and entertainment venues in the complex include Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, Hard Rock Cafe, T.G.I. Friday's, Sully's Irish Pub,  The Sports & Social Club (bowling alley and restaurant), tavern on 4th street, The Fudgery, and the first-ever Maker's Mark Bourbon House & Lounge.  
Suggested Visit: 30 minutes - 1 hour    

Louisville Visitor Center  
The Louisville Visitor Center is a one-stop-shop for brochures, maps, experience itineraries, dining suggestions, coupons, and shopping for Louisville and Bourbon Country-themed items. 
Suggested Visit: 15 - 30 minutes

Louisville Museum Row Shuttle
With its unique streetscape program and a collection of museums and cultural institutions, West Main Street has become a true destination. Both residents and visitors alike enjoy its vitality and creative energy, from its 120-foot bat to the red penguins roaming its rooftops. 
 

Tucked away between Cincinnati and Louisville is Madison, a quaint river town rich in character. This charismatic port flaunts its personality throughout the streets, where a 130-block historic district showcases its collection of classic architectural artistry. Admire the antique machinery at the Schroeder House, or an example of fine craftsmanship at the Lanier Mansion State Historic Site. The downtown shopping district is a unique showcase of unbeatable hospitality, with each shop locally owned and operated. Madison’s heritage is woven into every stop, ensuring a glimpse of beauty and history. Join us to discover all the hidden treasures of Madison.

INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSIONS: Madison Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
Schroeder Saddletree Factory  
This factory is America's very last 19th century saddletree factory. For 94 years, workers at the Ben Schroeder Saddletree Company crafted tens of thousands of wooden frames for saddle makers throughout the United States and Latin America. It was the nation's longest lasting, continually operated, family-owned saddletree company. After his death, Ben's family kept his dream alive by adding stirrups, hames for horse collars, clothespins, lawn furniture and even work gloves to their line of saddletrees. The factory closed in 1972 and was left completely intact.
Suggested Visit: 30 minutes - 1 hour      

Broadway Fountain  
One of Madison's landmarks, the original Broadway Fountain stood in the middle of Broadway for almost 100 years before it was dismantled and recast in bronze in 1976. The original Janes, Kirtland, and Company cast iron fountain was displayed at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.

Take a stroll through Cincinnati – the birthplace of baseball and its own distinctive chili recipe. The city is filled with downtown destinations that flaunt shops and amenities. Bound by the many parks; each district has its own personality, and you can meet them all – because the city’s compact downtown is anchored to the river, where our guests meet the shore. New hotspots and long-lasting classics give this oasis of commerce its colorful character. Seize the day in this old-fashioned urban jewel in Ohio. 

INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSIONS: Cincinnati Hop On-Hop Off Tour
Oak Bluffs
This seaside resort from the Victorian era was constructed on historic campgrounds. Today, it features over 300 “gingerbread” cottages and other buildings from the 19th century. The Oak Bluffs is also home to one of the oldest platform carousels, the Flying Horse Carousel.

Edgartown
Enjoy this storybook setting along the waterfront. Gaze upon the elegant Greek revival structures that housed the whaling captains in their heyday. Edgartown is home to many historic structures from the Old Whaling Church to the Harbor Lighthouse.

Maysville’s heightened passion for diversity of art and live entertainment proves that as long there is a story to be told, it will flourish. A flick of fate’s baton sprung an ensemble of award-winning theaters, visual arts and historic landmarks that play harmony for the pace of life here. Its long-standing romance with opera – embodied in the 1889 Washington Opera House – serves as a heightened, multisensory means of introducing visitors to beautiful yet complicated truths about humanity. Join us as Maysville sets the stage for the traditional overtures and eccentric interludes of life. 

INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSIONS: Maysville Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
Russell Theatre 
Constructed in 1929, the Russell Theatre is one of only two atmospheric theatres in Kentucky. The dream of Colonel J. Barbour Russell, a well-known businessman in the wholesale grocery business next door to the theatre, The Russell opened its doors in 1930. Russell’s favorite byline was “What the roxy is to New York, the Russell will be to Maysville.” In 1953, Rosemary Clooney premiered her film, The Stars Are Singing, and today, the lobby is filled with memorabilia that is sure to intrigue any Clooney fans. Admire opulent Spanish Colonial décor that permeates the building from the moment you enter. The Russell has undergone extensive preservation and restoration efforts since 1995, when local townspeople formed The Russell Theatre Corporation (TRTC), saving the historic theatre from demolition with grassroots fundraising.
Suggested Visit: 30 minutes – 1 hour

 

Learn of river life, great floods, boat construction, sternwheel steamers, river disasters and the local river industry’s contribution to World War II at the Point Pleasant River Museum. Widely recognized for the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge, this sleepy river town became a focal point of paranormal enthusiasts in search of Mothman, a creature said to inhabit an abandoned TNT factory from World War II.  

INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSIONS: Point Pleasant Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
Tu-Endie-Wei State Park  
Located on 4 acres at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers, Tu-Endie-Wei State Park means "point between two rivers" in the Wyandotte language. Inside the park is an 84-foot granite monument that commemorates the frontiersmen who lost their lives in the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant. This battle was fought with Chief Cornstalk on October 10,1774, and is recognized as the decisive engagement in a proactive series of Indian wars. The park also features the Mansion House Museum, which is the oldest and largest log cabin in the Kanawha Valley. Built-in 1796, it was used as a tavern for many weary frontiersmen, including Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton.
Suggested Visit: 15 - 30 minutes

Marietta vaunts a stout mix of museums, walking tours and historic sites to broaden the landscape of the mind. Take part in a farmers’ market and ghost stories alike as you wander the town. Shaded, hand-laid brick streets pervade its charm, and fringing them are dollhouse homes featuring stained glass, intricate woodwork, lofty towers and ornate turrets. All that and more plays a vital role in the visual and spiritual pleasantries of this place. The past fuels the present, keeping pace and pushing forward with the same gusto as the paddlewheel.

INCLUDED SHORE EXCURSIONS: Marietta Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
Mound Cemetery  
Established in 1801, Mound Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries of the original Northwest Territory. The cemetery holds founders and settlers of Marietta and veterans of almost every American war are also buried here. Mound Cemetery is home to the largest number of Revolutionary War officers buried in a single location. In the middle of the cemetery, the earthwork structure known as Conus Mound prominently stands 30 feet high. Conus is thought to be an actual burial mound, probably containing the remains of hundreds of Native Americans. Visitors can take the steps to the top, where there are benches to sit and admire the view. Suggested Visit: 15 - 30 minutes

Watch small river towns and lush landscapes slowly become lost in the horizon as sunlight plays upon the deck. Take hold of a literary classic, curl up on a plush chair in a cozy corner and relish in the moment of tranquility. Experience the fulfillment that river cruising offers.

As your American Queen Voyages journey concludes, there are other opportunities for you to take in the town -- whether it's an optional premier post-cruise experience or a quick transfer to the airport for your final trip home -- your AQV team can pre-arrange everything for you.