Things to Do in Indianapolis

Indianapolis divides its major attractions between the downtown core (walkable, compact, with Monument Circle as the anchor) and outlying destinations accessible by car or rideshare — the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 7 miles west, the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields 4 miles north, and the Children’s Museum 2 miles north. The Mass Ave and Fountain Square neighbourhoods add evening restaurant and entertainment options within a 15-minute walk or rideshare from downtown hotels.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The IMS (4790 W 16th St, Speedway) is the largest sports venue in the world by permanent seating capacity — 257,325 fixed seats with the infield able to accommodate an additional 100,000+ spectators. The 2.5-mile oval has hosted the Indianapolis 500 every year since 1911 except during the World Wars. On race day (Memorial Day weekend), the crowd of approximately 300,000 is the largest single-day sporting event audience in the world.

Outside race season, the IMS Museum (open daily 10am–5pm) houses 75 Indy cars spanning the full history of the race — including Mauri Rose’s 1947 winner, Emerson Fittipaldi’s 1989 car, Hélio Castroneves’s 2002 car, and Simon Pagenaud’s 2019 winner. Museum admission approximately $15 for adults as of 2026; children 5–15 approximately $8; under 5 free. The museum is free for active military and veterans.

Track experience tours run approximately March–October: the “IMS Behind the Wheel Tour” (approximately $25 for adults) includes the pit lane, the Pagoda media centre, and the track surface itself. An added “Pace Car Ride-Along” (approximately $50–$75) takes visitors around the oval in a replica pace car at speed. Track time and availability vary; book via indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

The MotoGP United States Grand Prix runs at IMS each September; Formula 1 has expressed interest in returning after the successful 2014 USGP at IMS. Check the current IMS events calendar.

Monument Circle and Downtown

Monument Circle is the geographic centre of the city: a circular street 80 feet wide surrounding the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1902), a 284-foot limestone obelisk with a bronze personification of Indiana at the apex. The observation deck (accessible by elevator, approximately May–October, free) provides a view of the downtown grid radiating from the circle.

The Circle Centre Mall (49 W Maryland St) connects underground and overhead to several downtown hotels and the Convention Center. Directly surrounding the circle: the Christ Church Cathedral (founded 1837, one of the oldest Episcopal congregations in Indiana), the Hilbert Circle Theatre (home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra), and a cluster of restaurants and bars.

The Indiana War Memorial (431 N Meridian St), one block north of the circle, is a Greek Revival temple housing a military shrine in its lower floor and an observation room accessible to the public. Free admission; open Tuesday–Saturday 9am–5pm. The grounds include the American Legion Mall and several war memorials in a 5-block campus.

Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields

Newfields (4000 Michigan Rd) is the 152-acre campus of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, transformed in 2017 from a pure art museum into a multi-program campus. The museum building holds approximately 54,000 works; the painting collection is strongest in European masters (Turner, Monet, Cézanne, El Greco) and American 20th-century work (Hopper, O’Keeffe, Warhol). The garden campus includes:

• The Garden — 100 acres of landscapes, ponds, and contemporary art installations rotating seasonally
• Lilly House and Gardens — the 1910 estate of pharmaceutical pioneer J.K. Lilly Jr., on the campus grounds
• 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park — an outdoor contemporary art installation park with works by Andrea Polli, Atelier Van Lieshout, and others
• Beer Garden — seasonal (April–October), with local craft beers and food trucks

Admission to the full campus approximately $18 for adults; children under 17 free as of 2026. Museum open Tuesday–Sunday 11am–5pm; Friday until 8pm. The outdoor grounds are accessible with general admission.

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

At 576,000 square feet across 5 floors, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (3000 N Meridian St) is the largest children’s museum in the world by floor space. The permanent collection is taken seriously: an actual ancient Egyptian mummy in a historically contextualised gallery, a natural history floor with a Brachiosaurus skull and Cretaceous fossils, and the Dinosphere — an immersive walk-through a Cretaceous landscape with full-scale dinosaur models.

Worth noting for adult visitors: the ScienceWorks exhibit covers applied physics and chemistry at a level that holds adult attention; the SpaceQuest Planetarium shows are accessible to mixed ages. Admission approximately $21 for adults, approximately $16 for children 2–17, as of 2026. Open Tuesday–Sunday 10am–5pm (open Mondays during school holidays).

Mass Ave

Massachusetts Avenue (from East New York Street to about East 16th Street, a stretch of about 1 mile through the Old Northside neighbourhood) is the city’s most active independent commercial corridor. The entertainment cluster: Theatre on the Square (627 Mass Ave, independent cinema and performance space), Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre (705 N Illinois St), and the Madame Walker Legacy Center (617 Indiana Ave, a 1927 Afrocentric theatre building, National Historic Landmark). Evening restaurant and bar traffic is densest from 5pm–midnight Thursday–Saturday.

Canal Walk and White River State Park

The Central Canal (built 1839, originally meant to connect Indianapolis to the Ohio River) runs 3 miles through downtown, with a paved path along both banks. The Canal Walk passes through White River State Park, a 250-acre park housing several attractions: the Indianapolis Zoo (1200 W Washington St, admission approximately $23–$26 for adults), the Indiana State Museum (650 W Washington St, admission approximately $15 for adults), and the NCAA Hall of Champions (700 W Washington St, admission approximately $8 for adults). All three are within a 10-minute walk of each other.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

The Indiana Pacers (NBA) play at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (125 S Pennsylvania St), which reopened in 2022 after a $360 million renovation. The arena hosts NBA games (tickets from approximately $30), concerts, and NCAA tournaments. The in-arena food and beverage quality improved substantially after the renovation. Book directly via Pacers.com or major ticket platforms; resale available most games.