Louisville to Dallas road trip: Distance, drive time & best stops

Planning a Louisville to Dallas road trip itinerary

The Louisville to Dallas drive takes you from the biggest city in Kentucky to northern Texas.

Louisville is the biggest city in Kentucky, and has a strong range of attractions to enjoy. The Louisville Mega Cavern has underground zipline tours, the Churchill Downs race track hosts America’s most famous horse race – the Kentucky Derby – and the Louisville Slugger Factory makes the world’s most famous baseball bats. You can take factory tours and there’s a museum attached.

Good Louisville experiences include Old Louisville ghost tours, the Kentucky Derby Museum and a tasting tour of multiple bourbon distilleries. The food and history tours are also worth checking out.

Top Louisville accommodation choices include the history-drenched Brown Hotel and the art-packed 21C Museum Hotel.

The Kentucky Derby Museum isn’t just about the nation’s top horse race – it’s about the phenomenon that surrounds it. Museum entry tickets include the chance to see the trophies, learn the backstories of famous winners and watch an immersive theater screening. Best of all, they also include a walking tour of the Churchill Downs Racetrack. Find out more here.

David Whitley, author of Best3Stops.

Dallas has plenty of high quality cultural attractions. These include the Nasher Scupture Center, Pioneer Square and the Perot Museum of Science and Nature.

But for many visitors, the main reason to visit Dallas is the JFK assassination. Yes, you can go up to the Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly took his shot from.

Top Dallas experiences include a JFK Assassination and Museum tour, the GeO-Deck at Reunion Tower and a self-guided scavenger hunt.

Top Dallas accommodation choices include the plush Hyatt Regency downtown and the charismatically luxurious Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.

The best way to combine the JFK sites in Dallas is a special themed tour. This takes in the JFK Memorial, Dealey Plaza and the Grassy Knoll before heading to Lee Harvey Oswald’s rooming house. It finishes in the Sixth Floor Museum of the Texas Book Depository. On the way, expert guides take you through the assassination facts and theories. Find out more here.

Louisville to Dallas distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Louisville to Dallas is 836 miles. That makes for a driving time of around 12 hours and five minutes.

The best stops to add to a Louisville to Dallas road trip itinerary are Nashville, Memphis and Hot Springs AR. For more stops, check out the guides to individual legs of the journey.

Louisville to Dallas drive: Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is renowned for its country music, but the National Museum of African American Music is also in the Tennessee capital.

The best Nashville experiences include backstage tours of the Grand Ole Opry House, helicopter flights over the city and tasting tours at the Big Machine Distillery. You can also try line dancing classes, the Country Music Hall of Fame and haunted pub crawls. Or, for lavish old homes, visit Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, the Travellers Rest Historic House Museum and Belmont Mansion.

Excellent Nashville accommodation choices include the gloriously evocative Belle Air Mansion and Inn, plus downtown’s grand dame, the Hermitage.

You can save money in Nashville by combining a tour ticket with admission to two top attractions. These combo tickets give you a half day tour of the main sights, plus entrance to the Ryman Auditorium and Country Music Hall of Fame. Find out more here.

Louisville to Dallas road trip attractions: Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee, is a pilgrimage site for Elvis fans. The King’s Graceland mansion is one of the top tourist sites in the US. But the cultural heritage extends beyond music, as you’ll discover on an African-American history tour.

Try the Rock and Soul Museum, plus the Memphis Music Hall of Fame and the 19th century Woodruff-Fontaine House.

Ways of seeing the city include ghost walks, Downtown food tours and musical bus tours. There are also guided walks down music central, Beale Street, and city tours that take you inside the legendary Sun Studios.

Best stops between Louisville to Dallas: Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs in the Ouachita Mountains has loads to do. The natural highlight is Hot Springs National Park, which strings thermal springs together on a series of hiking trails. The historic bathhouses are also part of the national park.

There are also several amusement parks, of which Magic Springs is arguably the best as it has a water park.

Other Hot Springs experiences include zip line adventures and the Star Wars and superhero-obsessed Galaxy Connection.

For well-rated Hot Springs accommodation with charm, go for the Hilltop Manor B&B or the Gables Inn.

The Old Dallas County Courthouse in Dealey Plaza, Dallas.
The Old Dallas County Courthouse in Dealey Plaza, Dallas. Photo by David Whitley/ Best3Stops.

More Louisville road trips

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