offwegooo.com
Travel guide
Indianapolis
5 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June and September to October
offwegooo.comPrint it, fold it, take it with you
Welcome
Indianapolis, in a few days
Indiana's capital lives to the rhythm of a 4 km oval of brick and asphalt, home of the Indianapolis 500, raced every late May since 1911 in front of more than 300,000 spectators. The rest of the year, people come for the largest children's museum in the world, a canal lined with museums, a compact downtown around an 87-metre obelisk and one of the finest war memorials in the country.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 1 thing
- D2 Day 2 1 thing
- D3 Day 3 1 thing
- D4 Day 4 3 things
- D5 Day 5 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Indianapolis Motor Speedway · half a dayThe 1909 Brickyard oval, the world's largest sporting venue and home of the Indianapolis 500, with a museum of race-winning cars, the Borg-Warner trophy and tours down to the yard of bricks.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Le Méridien Indianapolis ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€160 a night
D2
Day 2
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Newfields · half a dayA 61-hectare campus on the White River combining the 1883 art museum, strong in Neo-Impressionism and home to Robert Indiana's LOVE, with gardens, the Lilly House and a woodland art park.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Le Méridien Indianapolis ↗€160 a night
D3
Day 3
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Children's Museum of Indianapolis · a full dayThe world's largest children's museum, founded in 1925, with the Dinosphere's complete skeletons, a 13-metre Chihuly glass tower, history and science galleries and an outdoor sports experience.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Le Méridien Indianapolis ↗€160 a night
D4
Day 4
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Indiana War Memorial · about 1 h 30A limestone memorial inspired by the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, whose soaring marble Shrine Room holds a blue crystal star chandelier above a huge flag, with a museum of Indiana's wars below.
- Afternoon · Monument Circle free · about 1 hThe city's exact centre since 1821, a cobbled circle around the 87-metre Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument of 1902, which becomes a giant Christmas tree with the Circle of Lights.
- Evening · Massachusetts Avenue free · an eveningA diagonal avenue of early 20th-century brick buildings filled with theatres, galleries, bars and restaurants, the city's liveliest evening district, ending at the Art Deco Bottleworks District.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Le Méridien Indianapolis ↗€160 a night
D5
Day 5
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Canal Walk and White River State Park free · 2 to 3 hA 5 km promenade loop along the 1830s Central Canal leading to the city's great urban park, with museums, the zoo, the ballpark and pedal boats or kayaks on the water.
- Afternoon · Eiteljorg Museum · about 1 h 30On the canal, one of the great collections of Native American and Western art east of the Mississippi, from beadwork and pottery to contemporary Indigenous artists, Remington and O'Keeffe.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €145 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June and September to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/indianapolis
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.