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One of our favorite kid-friendly mid-west cities, Indianapolis is a great destination for a quick fall trip. We visited in mid-October with our almost 2-year old and 6-month old baby. A 4-day trip felt just right – enough time to explore museums, enjoy outdoor walks, and get a refreshing break from home life. The weather was mild, the fall colors were starting to appear, and both accommodations and experiences were affordable. Here is an overview of our trips and some tips we learned with traveling with two young kids.

How to Get to INdianapolis

Indianapolis is a quick drive from most Midwest cities. We came from St. Louis, after a 3.5 hour drive. It is a great central spot in the midwest. It is 3 hours from Chicago; 4 hours from Detroit; 2.75 hours from Columbus; 4.5 hours from Nashville and Milwaukee. If you are coming from outside of the Midwest or would like to avoid the road trip, the Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is a short 20-minute drive from downtown. That said, once you’re in the city, having a car is essential, especially with young kid and the spread-out attractions.

Where to Stay in Indianapolis

Most of the spots on this itinerary are north of the city and I recommend staying north of the city as well. If you are looking for an Airbnb or home stay, I’d recommend the Meridian-Kessler, Broad Ripple or the Butler-Tarkington neighborhoods. We stayed in an Airbnb close to Butler University and enjoyed it immensely. The neighborhood streets had well-maintained sidewalks and we were able to walk from our Airbnb to Holcomb Gardens on the University’s campus.

There are not many options for hotels in these areas but staying in a hotel in downtown Indy is also a great choice. Look for one close to White River Park or the canal walk.

Itinerary Overview

This itinerary is meant for families with young toddlers and babies, especially ones that might struggle with having all of their naps on the go. Prior to kids, we preferred itineraries that were go go go. After kids, we’ve learned to slow down, visit less places but for longer and take time to relax. While there are definite struggles to traveling with kids, I’ll take a family trip and exploring a new place with my kids over a solo trip any day. There is something magical about going at a slower pace.

Arriving at our Airbnb in Indianapolis - in the Butler Tarkington Neighborhood

We took this trip the week before my oldest’s second birthday. We decided until she has friends to invite to birthday parties, she’d likely enjoy a trip over a party. This trip was our gift to her so it was a bit more kid focused than other trips we take with our kids. However, I believe it still does have a good mix of more kid-centric places (like children’s museums) and places that are mostly for our enjoyment but just happen to be kid friendly as well (nature walks).

Day 1: Arriving and White River Park

If you are driving in like us from a midwest city, you’ll likely end up arriving around early to mid afternoon. Despite the google maps directions saying it would take 3.5 hours to get to Indianapolis, it took 5 hours. Diaper changes, breastfeeding and snack stops, lunch, a quick run around a playground – all added to the extra time.

If you get in before your hotel or Airbnb allows you to check in, I’d recommend stopping by White River Park in downtown Indy. White River State Park is a large park that encompasses the Zoo, the baseball field, and museums. What I would recommend checking out on this first day is just the free waterfront spaces along the White River and nearby. You can walk part of the canal walk - a 3-mile loop that follows along a canal. It starts in the park and continues through downtown. You can also walk across the Old Washington Street Bridge. This pedestrian only bridge offers great views of the river and downtown Indianapolis. If you are not up for a walk, there is also plenty of green spaces in the park to have a picnic or just sit down and people watch. The park has what it calls a “children’s maze” that is essentially just a random arrangement of concrete blocks. Despite not being much of a maze, it is still a nice spot for you to sit while your kids run around.

Day 2: Zoo & NewFields

Indianapolis Zoo is unique in that is triple-accredited as Zoo, Aquarium, and Botanical Garden. Having been to quite a lot of all three of those (though separately) places around the world, I would not say it is my top choice for any of those. However, combined, it is quite an enjoyable Zoo to visit for the whole family. Very easy to navigate and understand as a first-time visitor. The zoo was clean and well kept. The price is affordable, especially if you can visit on a weekday. In the fall, they have a ZooBoo event, on Wednesdays–Sundays from the end of September to the beginning of November. The Indianapolis zoo also has a lot of extra add-on animal experiences. If you or your older kid is really into a particular animal, like elephants or Cabybaras, look through the zoo’s list of experiences to add to your visit. Unfortunately, they all have a minimum age of 6 or older.

The Zoo is on the smaller side and you probably won’t spend more than half a day there. If you luck out and avoid all meltdowns and just power through, you can see the entire zoo in just a couple hours.

Parking at the Zoo is currently $10. With early waking kids, we arrived at the zoo right at opening and it wasn’t busy. Animals also tend to be more active in the morning. We went to the dolphins first to avoid potential crowds later in the morning then walked around the rest of the zoo. The zoo is organized into biomes and our favorite areas were the forests, the plains and the orangutans in the middle of the zoo. After we visited the animals, we explored the White River Gardens near the entrance before leaving.

We typically try to prioritize one nap for young toddlers and babies in our accommodations. So between the zoo and our next stop, we went back to our home stay, had the kids take a nap and ate lunch.

After our mid-day break, we went over to Newfields Art Museum. We visited on the first Thursday of the month and were able to get free entry for our whole family. We did have to make advanced reservations beforehand. We spent most of our time visiting the outside gardens. They were decorated for Harvest Nights which takes place during October. While there weren’t the activities and food available that comes out at night, we were able to see a lot of the decorations. My 1 year old had a great time just pointing out all the different type of pumpkins. Note, strollers are not allowed inside the Lilly House, but there is stroller parking just outside of it.

For us adults, there were cool sculptures, fountains, beautiful fall foliage, and nice architecture. After walking through the gardens, we went back inside to check out a couple of the art galleries until our kids wouldn’t tolerate it anymore. At Newfields, you are allowed to bring outside food & drink for outdoor picnics but cannot bring food inside the museum exhibits.

After visiting the art museum, we loaded the kids and the stroller back in the car to drive 2 minutes down the road to Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. This park, while technically part of Newfields, is completely free to visit and is open dawn to dusk. We loved this park and I truly feel like it is a must-see in Indianapolis if you have kids. There is a mix of several large permanent art sculptures and a few temporary ones throughout the huge park. All of them fit well within the nature and are interactive. Art that kids can play on and explore. There are even benches around the main lake that are part of the art.

The most popular of the art installations, or at least the only one I knew of before visiting, is Funky Bones. Kids can sit, climb, and jump between the different concrete parks of this skeleton. If you have a good stroller that works on gravel or older kids who can walk moderate distances, I’d recommend walking the 1.4 mile nature trail around the park. The trail is quite wide and takes you past all of the art installations, follows along the lake, and through the woods. It was time for our baby’s nap so we skipped the stroller and I had her in the carrier while my almost 2-year old walked half of the trail and was carried for the other half.

Day 3: Holcomb Gardens & Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Our big plan of the day was the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. It is the biggest Children’s Museum in the world, has 5 floors and many exhibits. The museum is open typically 10am-5pm. We decided to visit in the afternoon (2pm-5pm) so my almost 2-year old would have a good nap right before and there would be less kids. That definitely worked out, as we were arriving, kids on field trips and families that visited in the morning were leaving. We knew that our kids wouldn’t be able to spend the entire day there but if you have older kids (4+), you probably could spend the entire day really appreciating every floor, play space, exhibit and paid extras.

In the morning, we explored the area where we were staying. Before that, we got some donuts from Long’s Bakery - Indianapolis’s most famous donut shop. Note that it is cash only but it is quite affordable.

We were staying within walking distance from Butler University and their Holcomb Gardens. After walking through the cute neighborhood streets, stopping at a small playground along the way, we made it to the campus. We started our walk through the gardens at the Holcomb Gardens fountain.

These gardens are a bit of a secret local gem. You’ll see some families walking and some runners but by and large it is fairly empty and peaceful. There are several walking and biking trails, a koi pond, a canal and bell tower.

After the Holcomb gardens, we took a short nap break for our youngest and then ventured over to the Crown Hill Cemetery. Cemeteries aren’t typically on our radar of places to visit in a new city, but the Crown Hill Cemetery is one of the largest in the U.S., is the resting place for many notable people, and offers views of the downtown skyline. The cemetery was first established in 1863 and became a national cemetery a few decades later. It houses Benjamin Harrison and several vice presidents, along with poets, criminals, political activists, inventors, and so on. It also houses thousands of trees, several sculptures, wildlife, and unique mausoleums.

We parked close by and walked along the trails through the cemetery. There is a 5-mile loop trail along the inner perimeter road, which would be too much for the time we had and our kids attention spans. We just visited a couple of the main sites like The Crown which offers views of downtown Indianapolis, the Gothic Chapel and President Benjamin Harrison’s grave. This map also gives you other notable spots you can visit.

Then it was time for lunch and a mid-day nap break followed by the Children’s Museum. Parking at the Children’s Museum is free and we did not have any issues finding a spot when we got there at 2pm. It is recommended to get tickets in advance. Tickets are not required for kids under 2 years of age - so both of our children were free. Prices vary based on the day of the week and the season. There are additional fees for the carousel, ferris wheel and the haunted house in October. If you are visiting on the first Thursday of the month, you can come between 4-8pm for just $6 a person.

Follow your child’s lead but our favorite spots were the Playscape, ScienceWorks, Dinosphere, and Take Me There: Peru. The Playscape is an exclusive area for kids 5 and under. It features places to play with water and sand, things to build with, hands on art and music experiences, and a baby area for kids under 2. At this time, my 7-month old was just starting to crawl and pulled up to stand for the first time here! We visited a couple years ago and were cautious of covid with 2 young kid so we masked, but it felt quite safe and there were plenty of hand sanitizer locations around. There is also a great outdoor sports area for those with older kids.

Day 4: Garfield Park Conservatory & Gardens & Departing

The final day. All of the packing up, checking out and driving back home. Before we drove home we checked out the Garfield Park Conservatory & Gardens. Admission to the conservatory is $4 a person (2 and under are free). The Sunken Gardens and Blake’s Garden nearby are free to visit. The gardens and conservatory open at 10am most days.

The conservatory is gorgeous and well maintained. The highlight of the conservatory for my kids were the large koi ponds and waterfalls. They often have different temporary shows or exhibits on - like a gnome scavenger hunt or carnivorous plants that are also fun for kids. We spent about 15-20 minutes inside, including stops for looking at the fish and taking pictures.

Right outside the entrance of the conservatory is Blake’s Garden, which is an interactive children’s garden. There were still things growing when we visited in October and there were fun interactive bits to do with kids. And chickens! The Sunken Gardens are adjacent to the conservatory and are a formal garden with active fountains.

Other spots to visit if you have more time

If you want to save a bit of money, especially if you have more time or are planning on visiting more places - you can get the 3-day Indy Pass in advance. It includes entry fees to 8 Indianapolis attractions – including the Children’s Museum, Indianapolis Zoo, and Newfields that are on this itinerary. It also includes Conner Prairie, Eiteljorg Museum, Indiana Historical Society, and Indiana State Museum.

The first spot I’d recommend with kids if you have more time is the Conner Prairie. This museum is about 30 minutes outside of downtown Indianapolis. It is a mainly outdoor museum with interactive experiences to learn about Indiana’s nature and cultural heritage. These include animal encounters, a prairie town, an Indian camp, a nature trail and a treehouse. In the fall there is also a corn maze and other fall festival activities.

The other museums on the 3-day Indy Pass have some interactive exhibits that are kid friendly, but I would only recommend them if you have a interest in the exhibitions.

Indianapolis is of course known for the Indy 500. You can visit the museum and take a tour of the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway if you have racing fans in your family.

If you are looking for the best area to explore downtown, I’d recommend the Mass Ave arts district. This is a walkable area with shops, murals, and restaurants.

What to bring

Indianapolis has many beautiful outdoor places and large museums that necessitate a lot of walking. If you have younger kids (under 5), bring a good stroller and/or baby carrier.

A lightweight daypack filled with snacks, water, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, extra layers, portable phone charger, and some easy activities for restaurants.

If you are visiting Conner Prairie, bring some bug spray.