Cheap things to do in Indianapolis
Cheap eats, free museums, good bars, and no guilt about the bill.
This is Indianapolis done on a tight budget without feeling like you're missing anything. You'll eat well on sandwiches, tacos, and legendary donuts, drink cheaply at dive bars and arcade bars, and spend your afternoons in free parks and museums. It suits anyone who'd rather have a second beer than a white-tablecloth entrée.
Day 1: Monument Circle and Mile Square
Start downtown with coffee at Patachou, fossils at the free State Museum, and end the night losing quarters to vintage arcade games on Mass Ave.
- 9:30 AM
Café Patachou
Solid local café just steps from Monument Circle, grab a coffee and ease into the morning.
Map - 10:15 AM
Depew Memorial Fountain
University Park's 1919 fountain, ringed with bronze dancing figures; free and a nice pause downtown.
Map - 12:30 PM
Subito
Cheap, well-loved sandwich spot right in Mile Square, perfect quick lunch before the afternoon.
Map - 2:00 PM
Indiana State Museum
Mastodons, Ice Age fossils and Indiana's story on the canal; open Wednesday to Sunday.
Map - 7:30 PM
Loughmiller's Pub
Downtown tavern famous for its breaded pork tenderloin sandwich, pounded wide as a dinner plate, must-try Indy classic.
Map - 9:00 PM
Ball & Biscuit
Mass Ave cocktail bar in a long, low-lit room, open from 4pm; keep it to one classic.
Map
Day 2: Broad Ripple and the North Side
A loose, walkable day of canal paths, free park trails, cheap Mexican food, and a no-frills dive bar to close it out.
- 10:30 AM
Broad Ripple Park
A morning stroll through Broad Ripple Park by the White River, free, flat and easy.
Map - 12:30 PM
La Piedad
Cheap, top-rated Mexican in Broad Ripple, exactly the kind of no-frills lunch this day calls for.
Map - 2:00 PM
Holliday Park
Free walk through Holliday Park's trails and ruins sculpture, a proper local green escape just west of here.
Map - 7:30 PM
Yujo - Indianapolis Ramen & Boba Tea
Cheap ramen and boba in Nora; worth the short drive north if you have a car.
Map - 9:00 PM
Average Joe's
Local dive bar Average Joe's, cheap drinks, no pretension, perfect nightcap within walking distance.
Map
Day 3: Newfields, the Near Northside, and Long's
Newfields' galleries and gardens, a deli sandwich from Goose the Market, a corned beef supper at Shapiro's and a pint at Upland.
- 10:30 AM
Newfields (Indianapolis Museum of Art + Gardens + Fairbanks Park)
152 acres of galleries, gardens and the Lilly House; go on a First Thursday to pay what you wish.
Map - 1:30 PM
Goose The Market
Goose the Market's deli counter: a sandwich of house-cured salumi to eat on the go.
Map - 6:00 PM
Shapiro's Delicatessen
Shapiro's, an Indianapolis deli since 1905: a corned beef sandwich and a slice of cake.
Map - 9:30 PM
Upland College Avenue Tasting Room
Upland's College Avenue taproom for Indiana-brewed sours and pale ales at pub prices.
Map
Where to stay
Tru by Hilton Downtown Indianapolis
The cheapest downtown option, walkable to Day 1 and Day 3 stops, and honest about what it is.
TownePlace Suites Downtown Indianapolis
Suite-style rooms at a budget price right downtown, which helps when you need somewhere to stash a bag of Long's donuts.
Make Indianapolis your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum: weeks ahead
- The Children's Museum of Indianapolis: a few days ahead
- Newfields: a few days ahead
- Indiana Medical History Museum: weeks ahead
- Brickyard Crossing: weeks ahead
- The Fort Golf Course: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Circle Centre Mall and generic chain dining on Maryland St when Mass Ave and Virginia Ave are a 10 minute walk away.
- Expecting the Zoo to be a best in America zoo. It is good, but Newfields plus the Children's Museum is usually the stronger day.
- Planning lunch at Indianapolis City Market: the market house has been closed for redevelopment since March 2024 with no reopening date. Use The Garage Food Hall instead.
- Paying luxury hotel money for highway motels in May, and treating the Canal as a nightlife destination when it quiets at night.
The full Indianapolis travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around