Don’t spend a weekend in Indianapolis without reading this perfect itinerary. Filled with delicious food, funky bars, and quirky things to do, Indianapolis will surprise you as an underrated weekend getaway.

Filled with delicious food, funky bars, and quirky things to do, Indianapolis will surprise you as an underrated weekend getaway.

I’m a firm believer that the American Midwest is criminally underrated. Whenever I visit my family, who now happily live in Bloomington, Indiana, I try to visit the state’s capital, Indianapolis. There is no shortage of hidden gems and cultural treasures awaiting you in Indianapolis. Known for its rich history, thriving arts scene, and welcoming Midwestern hospitality, Indianapolis is the ideal destination for a rejuvenating weekend getaway.

Whether you're a sports enthusiast, history buff, or connoisseur of culinary delights, the capital of Indiana promises an unforgettable experience that seamlessly blends urban sophistication with small-town charm. This weekend itinerary reveals the dynamic spirit of Indianapolis and includes all my favorite places to eat, hotels to stay in, and things to do there.

the greenhouse at Newfields {Indianapolis Museum of Art}, Indianapolis

where to stay in Indianapolis ↴

Indianapolis offers plenty of accommodation options to fit every budget. You can find Airbnb and VRBO rental options throughout the city, as well as boutique hotels and cozy bed and breakfasts. My top recommendations are:

The Alexander | a modern hotel in a convenient location
The Conrad Hotel | a luxurious Hilton hotel with contemporary touches
Indy’s Palm Pad | a Palm Springs-themed Airbnb that’s perfect for a weekend away with friends
Bottleworks Hotel | a Coca-Cola bottling factory turned luxury boutique hotel

We love using Booking.com to book the best places to stay around the world.

when to visit Indianapolis ↴

The best time to visit Indianapolis depends on your preferences for weather and what activities you enjoy. Here are some considerations for different seasons:

Spring (March to May) | Spring is a pleasant time to visit Indianapolis. The weather is mild, and the city starts to come alive with blooming flowers and outdoor events. It's a great time to explore parks and gardens.
Summer (June to August) | Summer in Indianapolis is peak tourist season. The weather is warm and humid, with temperatures ranging from the 70s to 90s Fahrenheit (21-35°C). Throughout the summer months, Indianapolis hosts many outdoor events, festivals, and activities, including the famous Indianapolis 500 in late May.
Fall (September to November) | Fall is a popular time to visit thanks to Indiana’s famously vibrant autumn colors. It's a good time for outdoor activities, thanks to milder temperatures and fewer crowds.
Winter (December to February) |Winters can see temperatures often dropping below freezing. While the city does experience winter events and festivals, outdoor activities may be limited. If you enjoy basketball, however, this is the best time of year to visit!

how to get around Indianapolis ↴

If you don’t drive, getting around Indianapolis can be a bit of a pain. In the summer, biking, walking, and ride-sharing are your best options. However, during the bitter cold winter months, you’ll probably lean heavily on having a vehicle or utilizing ride-sharing apps like Uber.

Renting a car is a convenient option, especially if you plan to explore areas beyond the downtown area. Several car rental companies operate in the city, and the road system is generally easy to navigate. The city offers mostly metered parking, so you’ll want to factor this in when planning your trip. Services like Uber and Lyft are available in Indianapolis. Uber might be a more cost-effective way to get around the city than renting a car if you’re visiting without a vehicle of your own.

IndyGo is the public transit system in Indianapolis, operating buses throughout the city and surrounding areas. They offer a network of routes that cover many popular destinations. You can check their website for route maps and schedules.

Indianapolis has been working on becoming more bike-friendly. The city has a bike-sharing program called Pacers Bikeshare. This is a network of bike rental stations.

Downtown Indianapolis is pedestrian-friendly, with many attractions, restaurants, and shops within walking distance. Exploring on foot is a great way to experience the city's atmosphere. If you happen to visit during the warmer summer or autumn months, consider exploring on foot.

Mass Ave is the arts center of Indianapolis

weekend itinerary for Indianapolis ↴

Saturday

Breakfast at City Market or Sidedoor Bagels, Catacombs tour, Indy’s Teen Statue of Liberty Museum, Garage Food Hall, Cultural trail or Crispus Attucks Museum, Tappers Arcade Bar or Duckpin Bowling, + Pacers game

Start your day by grabbing breakfast from the Indianapolis City Market. The market is an important cultural and community space, dating back to the city’s earliest days. It opened in 1886, but today it’s a hub for over 30 locally-owned artisan stalls selling everything from handicrafts and homemade food, to flowers and fresh produce.

Winter visitors might opt to grab drip coffee and delicious doughy bagels at Sidedoor Bagels. City Market isn’t very lively at all during the winter months. When I’ve gone during the cold months, it’s been incredibly dead with only Cath’s tea open for business.

Sidedoor is a great breakfast alternative! They serve bagels with lox or bagel breakfast sandwiches if you require something more substantial. You can drive from Sidedoor to City Market because regardless of where you get your first meal of the day from, you’ll want to be sure to see all that’s on offer at the market stalls.

If you opt to start your morning at City Market and are visiting during the summer, book a tour of the catacombs beneath the market. That’s right! Hidden beneath the city’s marketplace are creepy catacombs. Their origin is shrouded in mystery. Even locals aren’t exactly sure what they were used for or how many people died in them over the years, and trust me, I’ve tried to find out! What I do know is quite vague: they were likely the setting for some criminal scheming during Prohibition, served as housing for the city’s homeless in the early 1900s during a particularly frigid winter, and may or may not have been the Indy Police Departments firing range. If you’re looking to get more clear answers about the catacombs, I highly recommend joining a tour! Events occasionally take place in the catacombs throughout the year, so if you’re keen for spooky karaoke or to attend an eery dinner below ground, keep your eye on the catacombs’ website.

From the quirky catacombs to another Indianapolis oddity, make your way by car or on foot to Indy’s Teen Statue of Liberty Museum. This unique collection of Lady Liberty memorabilia was accumulated over three decades by Indianapolis locals, Tim Harmon and Julie Crow. Don’t forget to look up when you enter the museum! Atop the building sits a scaled-down Statue of Liberty with a lit torch that has never gone out since the museum’s opening in 2016.

By now you might have worked up an appetite for lunch, and Garage Food Hall has a taste of everything! Located in the trendy Bottleworks District, Garage Food Hall houses independent food and drinks vendors. It has quickly established itself as a community hub, hosting events for the public regularly. I was amazed by the variety of cuisine on offer the first time I ate at the Garage Food Hall; Neapolitan pizza, Japanese ramen, Pakistani curries, and more. Credit card is accepted (and often preferred) here.

Walk off all the delicious food with a stroll along the 8-mile urban Indianapolis Cultural Trail. It’s roughly a 20-minute walk to the Cultural Trail from the Garage Food Hall, and since you’ll already be walking a bit, it’s worth driving to the trail, unless the weather is particularly good and you’re keen to get your steps in.

For visits that time with bad weather, opt for a visit to the Crispus Attucks Museum. Housed in the high school for Black students in Indianapolis during the segregation era, Crispus Attucks Museum shares local Black history, including its musical legends, sporting icons, and exhibits spanning two centuries of the African American experience in Indianapolis.

If you have the time, slot in a game or two of vintage bowling! TDuckpin Bowling features vintage pins from the 1930s and 1950s.

Next, grab drinks and soak up the nostalgia at Tappers Arcade Bar! This bar is filled with vintage pinball machines and video games. You can also enjoy a non-alcoholic beverage. All of the games except for the pinball machines are free to play with the purchase of a drink.

It might not be possible to eat any more food, but you really should attempt to save room for dinner at Bluebeard. Widely regarded as one of Indy’s best restaurants, Bluebeard’s menu speaks to the city’s multicultural identity, with menu items like “Kimchi Bokumbap” and “Baby Octopus”.

The trouble with Bluebeard is that it’s such a popular eatery that you might not be able to get a seat (and they are a no-reservations establishment). Instead, head to King Dough for unbelievable pizza or Condado Tacos!

If you’ve timed your stay well, you’ll be able to spend your Saturday night at an NBA game watching the home team, the Indianapolis Pacers! I’ve now been to two Pacers’ games while visiting my family in Bloomington, and I always have the best time. The atmosphere is lively and the tickets are reasonable (sometimes cheaper than a college-level game at Indiana University). I can’t think of a better way to finish off your Saturday in Indy!

Sunday

Brunch at Milktooth, Loudmouth Books, Newfields, Lunch at Public Greens Urban Kitchen, + Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Your first port of call in the morning is Milktooth, my favorite brunch spot in the city. Alternatively, grab a bite at Root & Bone, a farm-to-table restaurant that blends southern comfort food with Australian coffee culture, or Love Handle, known for its modern takes on southern comfort classics.

After a lovely brunch, stop at Loudmouth Books. Loudmouth is a queer, Black woman-owned independent bookstore that sells banned books and aims to uplift marginalized writers. The bookstore was founded in early 2023 after regressive anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation sessions were held in Indiana.

Next, drive to Newfields (Indianapolis Museum of Art). Admission might seem a bit steep, but the art gallery is sprawling and includes entry to the surrounding greenhouses and the Lilly House.

For lunch, grab something off the menu at Public Greens Urban Kitchen. Located in the Broad Ripple neighborhood where David Letterman grew up, this modern farm-to-table eatery is transforming the way we think of “urban eateries”.

As you bid Indianapolis farewell, stop by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indianapolis is proudly the home of the largest single-day sporting event in the world: the Indy 500. For one day, over 300,000 fans gather to watch “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. What I found most surprising about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was that you do not need to be a motorhead or a car fanatic to visit and enjoy it! I could truly not care any less about about motor vehicles, but something about the folklore and racing traditions, along with the science of speed completely piqued my interest in the Indy 500. The museum sits a little further outside of the city, so it’s a good addition to the end of your itinerary if you’re driving onward.

what to see + do in Indianapolis ↴

If you would rather create your own itinerary and choose your own adventure, I’ve included a list of the best things to see and do in Indianapolis! Please keep in mind, that not every activity or tour is open on Sundays.

visit Newfields (Indianapolis Museum of Art)

By far and away my favorite thing to do in Indy is head to Newfields, which is the rebranded name for the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Newfields members get free admission to the galleries, exhibits, and surrounding properties (including greenhouses and the Lilly House), but non-members pay a steep USD $18 per person for entrance. Despite what seems like forking over a lot of cash, the museum is amazing. Floor after floor of art, including fantastic Native American art exhibits, blown glass pieces, and contemporary installations that take you on a “45-second experience”. The day I went was rainy, but even in the dreary weather, the greenhouses were fun and the Lilly House {owned by the family that started the Lilly pharmaceutical brand} was fully festive, which had my holiday spirits high.

EXPLORE MASS AVE

Mass Ave is widely considered to be one of Indianapolis’s coolest neighborhood! This is Indianapolis’ original arts and culture district, so the area is absolutely brimming with trendy restaurants, murals, independent boutique shopping, and quirky bars. Don’t forget to snap a photo at the “I am Indy” statue.

discover Indianapolis street art

The amount of murals and street art in Indiana as a whole has had me pretty pleasantly surprised. Indianapolis knows what it's doing when it comes to making the city look more vibrant. This is most easily seen in the downtown area, but there are pieces on the exterior of buildings all over. Just keep your eyes peeled and your camera at the ready.

Crispus Attucks Museum

The Crispus Attucks Museum is named after the first man slain in the American Revolution at the Boston Massacre- an African American man by the name of Crispus Attucks. The museum is housed inside a historic segregated school for Black students in Indianapolis. The exhibits inside tell the story of the city’s segregation era and shine a light on the barrier-breaking Black athletes from Indy (like Oscar Robertson and Hallie Bryant).

bowl with vintage balls + pins

There really isn’t much to say here except that the tiny balls and pins from the 1920s at Duckpin Bowling are kind of adorable and also will make you feel like a behemoth. There is food available, but I didn’t try any.

play old school arcade games

Tapper Arcade Bar is the perfect place to revive the childhood dexterity you once possessed by way of Atari, Super Smash Bros, and PacMan. The pinball machines in the back of the space cost, and there are coin machines available to dole out change, but for the purchase of a drink, you get free play of all the other games in the arcade bar. Luke and I went on a mid-day date and each had a soda (we were driving) and spent a couple of hours unleashing the most competitive part of my personality. Don’t worry, we left before our relationship took a hit.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the world’s largest auto racetrack. Ever heard of the Indy 500? Yeah, that’s held here. You can check out the museum, which is cool if you like looking at a million old race cars.

cheer at a professional sporting event

Indianapolis is home to an American football team {the Colts}, a baseball team {the Indians}, and a basketball team {the Pacers}. Ticket prices vary by the seat that you select and how close to the action you want to be, but the sporting atmosphere throughout the U.S. is something like nowhere else I’ve been {except for maybe at the New Zealand versus India cricket match, but I digress}. Tickets to Colts games are often cheaper on Groupon, so give them a geez there before you swipe your debit card.

go back in time at the drive-in theater

As you know, I don’t write about anything I haven’t done personally on this blog. It’s not strictly ethical, especially since it means I’m recommending something without having firsthand experience. Tibbs Theater is something I haven’t had the pleasure of enjoying, but my parents have. The drive-in is open from March through September and welcomes a rotation of films, which you can check out in advance online. They take credit card and cash, and there are a bevy of concessions available if you get snack-y. It beings me back to the drive-in movies I use to enjoy in South Dakota.

where to eat in Indianapolis ↴

breakfast + Brunch in Indianapolis

Milktooth | When I found Milktooth via a Google search on a rainy Friday, we hopped in the car on a Saturday morning to kickstart our weekend at this incredibly industrial space with an “unmodifiable menu”. Milktooth is spendy and portion sizes are hit and miss, but the coffee and atmosphere, along with the sheer innovativeness of the menu make it a can’t-miss spot for brunch in Indy.
Coat Check Coffee | Expertly roasted coffee that stands up to some of the best I’ve had in the US.

Georgia Street Grind | While I recommend the brunch at Milktooth, the very best cup of coffee I’ve had in Indy is at Georgia Street Grind. There is great pour over here for true coffee lovers, so forget your frappes and head here for that black, life-giving liquid we all know and love.

Quills Coffee | If you’re not looking for Quills, you’ll probably miss it altogether. Its unassuming location makes it feel like a hidden gem. It’s small, but it’s got coffee and, in my book, that’s all you need.
Love Handle | A well-reviewed favorite amongst Indianapolis brunch-goers.
Café Patachou | Founded in 1989, this café serves award-winning food, including world-class breakfast. It was opened by six-time James Beard Foundation semifinalist Martha Hoover. The cinnamon toast here is out-of-this-world delicious, as is the “Vegan Breakfast”.

lunch + dinner in Indianapolis

Ezra’s Enlightened Café | Ezra’s serves patrons health-focused foods from a delicious seasonal menu. I loved their sweet potato and lentil curry!
Three Carrots | One thing that is not always available in surplus in this part of the country is vegan food. Luckily for Indy residents and visitors, Three Carrots serves up delicious plant-based food at two locations: a stall in the City Market and a location in Fountain Square. Their prices won’t make your wallet cry and they have a pretty fantastic variety.

Burgerhaus | Before the vegetarian police come at me, there are vegetarian and vegan options available at Burgerhaus, and I can confirm that their black bean patty does not mess around. As a matter of fact, you can add a veggie patty to any of their signature burgers at no extra charge— almost unheard of! The rustic-meets-speakeasy-vibe of this place really makes it feel like you’re in the best kind of Midwest atmosphere.

Sawasdee | Having had the real thing, I’d say Sawasdee is pretty darn good. Sure, it costs 20 times what a meal in actual Thailand would, but it’s cheaper than a plane ticket to Bangkok, so learn to love the compromise. This is a great place for an alternative dinner date!

Bridges Craft Pizza | Bridges Pizza has a long wine selection I cannot speak to the quality of, but the pizza here is delicious and it’s served fresh out of the oven. I highly recommend Bridges for pizza done right!
Garage Food Hall | Traveling with a group that can’t agree on where to eat? Indy’s Garage Food Hall is your solution. Offering an array of cuisines from around the world, this food hall has something for everyone.
Teejay’s Sweet Tooth | While Teejay’s isn’t strictly a lunch or dinner spot, this Black-owned business serves the ONLY donut ice cream sandwich in Indianapolis. Unfortunately, this is a little far outside of the city, but it’s worth making a special trip for.

cool cocktails + craft beer in Indianapolis

Tappers Arcade Bar | Mentioned above in the “things to do” section of this post, Tappers Arcade Bar is an essential stop for anyone looking to have a cold craft beer with a side of nostalgia. I didn’t have anything to drink, since I was driving, but there was a long list of beer on tap and the cocktails looked fun and varied. This is my top date night recommendation for those looking to let loose and unwind with a cold one with their partner or on a first date.
Sun King Brewery | Indianpolis’ original Sun King Brewery with a 15-barrel brewhouse. You can take a tour of the brewery and grab food from Nacho by La Margarita.

Big Lug Canteen | There is a mix of food on the menu here, which you’ll need if you’re going to leave Big Lug somewhat sober. The list of beers on tap includes a Key Lime IPA and a light hybrid ale. There are so many great craft brews here that you could easily spend a couple of hours here enjoying them without realizing the time getting away from you.
Chilly Water Brewing Company | Chilly Water Brewery is your typical brewery: housed in a beautiful, industrial-type space with pub food and homemade beer on tap.