6 Outstanding Southern Cities to Visit This Year

2. Bowling Green, Kentucky

Fountain Park Bowling Green, KY
Downtown’s Fountain Square Park beckons passersby to relax a while in the well-tended green space.

Colorful history, modern niceties, and abounding beauty thrive alongside the well-known car culture of Kentucky’s Bowling Green. From a first-rate food scene and locally owned shops to a landscape ripe for adventure, surprises await around every bend.

The Bistro and Barbara Stewart Interiors, Bowling Green, KY
Left: Order fresh catch and Southern fare at The Bistro. Right: Barbara Stewart Interiors has been a mainstay for fine furnishings and gifts for decades.

A taste of Bowling Green is easy to come by at 440 Main and Little Fox Bakery. Pick up a hand-poured souvenir from Candle Makers on the Square, then catch a show at the top-notch Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center. 

Riverview at Hobson Grove, Bowling Green, KY
Antebellum landmark Riverview at Hobson Grove exhibits Victorian furnishings and Hobson family heirlooms dating back to the Civil War. The property’s lush gardens delight no matter the season.

Overlooking rolling hills, the Baker Arboretum showcases founder Jerry E. Baker’s vast collection of conifer and Japanese maple trees, interspersed with dogwoods, magnolias, and seasonal blooms. The adjacent Downing Museum exhibits myriad works by Kentucky-born artist Joseph Dudley Downing.

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