Louisville & Cincinnati: Two River Cities, Three Days

Indianapolis sits midway between two of the most culturally distinct mid-American cities — Louisville, Kentucky 110 miles south, and Cincinnati, Ohio 110 miles east. Louisville is the capital of American bourbon production, home to Churchill Downs, and the birthplace of Muhammad Ali; its NuLu neighborhood is one of the most interesting short-block arts and food districts in the South. Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood is the largest intact urban historic district in the United States — 1,000 buildings from the mid-19th century German immigrant settlement, now housing breweries, galleries, music venues, and restaurants in a walkable 10-block area. The Cincinnati Art Museum on Eden Park hill holds one of the strongest permanent collections of any American museum outside the coastal cities.