4 Days in Indiana (Itinerary)
November 10, 2022 by Laura
Read all about our 4 days spent in the state of Indiana. From exploring the capitol in Indianapolis to learning everything about Indiana in the state museum to joining in on the fun during the Covered Bridge Festival to seeing all of the beautiful fall foliage, we had a blast on our trip to Indiana. Our very first state for our 50 States by 50 bucket list challenge!
The Best Indiana Vacation
I could not be more thrilled to be writing this blog post- my very first post for our 50 States by 50 challenge. If you are curious about our journey to all 50 states and how we are doing it, check out my 50 States Bucket List Post.
The first state that we drew out of the hat was Indiana! I'll be honest.. the only thing I could thing of after drawing Indiana was Indy 500. However, after a little bit of research I discovered so much that this state had to offer, and we were so excited for this trip. I wish I could go back because of the beauty and all the fun we had. I see you, Indiana. I see you.
If you are looking for blogs that go into more detail over certain parts of our trip check out our other travel blogs!: Covered Bridge Festival, A Fall Weekend Spent in Indiana, Our 1 1/2 Days in Indianapolis, Food in Indiana, Turkey Run State Park, and Our 4-Day Indiana Trip Budget.
☼ 8:00 AM
Since we flew in on a late flight the previous day, we stayed at a hotel near the airport. One of my favorite things is a good and free hotel buffet breakfast. We took the hotel shuttle back to the airport to grab our rental car then we were off to explore!
Hotel: Hyatt Place
5500 West Bradbury Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46241
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
☼ 10:00 AM
When we drew Indiana as our state to visit, the only thing I could think of was the Indy 500 so a trip to the track was a must. There is so much history in this building. We didn't have enough time to take the tour around the track, but walking around all the past winning cars and learning about the race was fun and entertaining.
I would consider this an Indiana must-see.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
4750 West 16th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46222
Rally's
☼ 12:00 PM
As a food lover, you normally won't catch me at a fast food restaurant on a vacation. However, this trip we made an exception.
A few months ago, I posted a video where my husband and I were rating our favorite fast food burgers. Multiple people said that if Rally's was in the running, it would have won.
It's difficult to know whether or not this burger would have been number one without them all side-by-side, but I can confidently say it would have been somewhere in the top. It was really good, and the fries were even better!
Rally's
3807 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46241
Indiana State Museum
☼ 1:00 PM
One of our checklist items for a completed visited state is going to the state museum. Indiana has a wonderful state museum! We had so much fun wondering around all the exhibits, and there were a lot!
From science to mastodons to cultural history to cars to everybody famous from Indiana to limestone information- there was a lot to learn about Indiana. We spent a little over 2 hours here, but we definitely could have stayed longer if we weren't on a schedule. Highly recommend!
Indiana State Museum
650 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Bottleworks District
☼ 4:00 PM
The Bottleworks District is such a cute place to hang out. It was perfect for a date night with my husband. We didn't stay in the hotel located in the district, but just from the looks of it, it would be a fun place to stay.
For dinner, we wondered into The Garage which is a food hall filled with lots of restaurants. There's so many food choices that everybody in your group is sure to find something that they love.
Bottleworks District
850 Massachusetts Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Newfields Harvest Nights
☼ 8:00 PM
Newfields is an art museum located in Indianapolis. While I was pretty bummed out that we didn't have enough time to visit the museum during the day, I was thrilled to learn they were having a Harvest Nights event every day during October.
It was an absolute blast and had all the spooky vibes. I couldn't recommend Harvest Nights enough if you are planning an Indianapolis trip during October. 10/10!
Newfields
4000 North Michigan Road
Indianapolis, IN 46208
Airbnb
☼ 10:00 PM
We stayed the night in this adorable Airbnb. We found a house that was located right next to the Bottleworks District which was nice since we could leave the car at the house and just walk right over to dinner.
Plus, we were already located right next to where we planned to eat breakfast the next day.
→ You can read about our time spent in Indianapolis in more detail on our Indianapolis Itinerary Blog!
Sidedoor Bagel
☼ 8:00 AM
I love bagels and if there is a bagel shop nearby, you'll find me there. Sidedoor Bagel did not disappoint. We ordered a Lox & Loaded and an everything bagel with pumpkin brown butter. Excellent.
Since this bagel shop is quite popular, I highly recommend ordering through the website the day before you want to pick the bagels up.
Sidedoor Bagel
1103 East 10th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Soldiers & Sailors Monument
☼ 9:30 AM
We began our day in downtown Indianapolis. First, we visited the Soldiers & Sailors Monument. This monument was way bigger than I had pictured it in my head! It is huge, beautiful, and the small details in the sculptures around/on the monument are incredible.
This area in downtown Indianapolis is, to put it simply, fun. Besides the monument, there's the fountain, music that plays over speakers, and shops that encircle the monument. It is worth seeing!
Soldiers & Sailors Monument
1 Monument Circle
Indianapolis, IN 46204
South Bend Chocolate Co./ Chocolate Cafe
☼ 10:00 AM
We spent some of our time at one of the cafes near the monument enjoying a S'mores Hot Chocolate and a Spooky Spiced Chai. Sitting at the chocolate cafe, sipping something warm and sweet, and people watching makes for a fine morning in downtown Indianapolis.
South Bend Chocolate Co.
30 Monument Circle
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Indianapolis City Market
☼ 10:30 AM
On a Saturday morning, the city market is pretty desolate. Many of the vendors and restaurants are closed on the weekends. However, it still proved to be a great place to grab a cup of coffee and just sit for awhile.
Also, if you have time and you are there on a certain Saturday, you may be able to catch one of their catacombs tours!
Indianapolis City Market
222 East Market Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Indiana State Capitol Building
☼ 11:00 AM
Seeing the capitol building in person is another one of our checklist items. It's a great one because, well, every state has a capitol building! Indiana's is absolutely gorgeous.
While I'm kind of kicking myself for not making enough time to tour the inside, it was still fun to see and walk around the outside of the building.
Indiana State Capitol Building
200 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
→ You can read about our time spent in Indianapolis in more detail on my Indianapolis Itinerary Blog!
Anderson Orchard
☼ 1:00 PM
After spending the morning in downtown Indianapolis, we hopped in the car and headed to Mooresville, Indiana. If you are going to be visiting Indiana in the fall, I believe that a stop at Anderson Orchard is totally worth it. There is so much to see and do here!
You can pick your own apples, listen to live music, shop for pumpkins and other goodies, and eat all the delicious treats made from their apples. We tried the apple cobbler, caramel apples, apple cider slushie, and fried biscuits with apple butter. While all of these treats were good, the fried biscuits were hands-down our favorite!
Anderson Orchard
369 East Greencastle Road
Mooresville, IN 46158
Bean Blossom Covered Bridge
☼ 2:30 PM
To continue on with our fall day in Indiana, we went to visit a covered bridge. The covered bridges in Indiana are so beautiful (especially with surrounding fall foliage) and are absolutely worth the drive.
Bean Blossom was just the first of many covered bridges that we saw on this trip, but it just might have been my favorite. The fact alone that it was built in 1880 makes it so cool!
Bean Blossom Bridge
4619 Covered Bridge Road
Nashville, IN 47448
Nashville, Indiana
☼ 3:00 PM
After doing extensive research over must-do things in Indiana during October, I kept running into Nashville, Indiana. This town is straight out of a Hallmark movie. It has shops galore, local art, great food, and tons of people.
And man, do I mean tons of people. Of course, we visited on a Saturday so I do believe that it was booming more because it was the weekend. A local also told us that day we visited (3rd Saturday in October) was the most popular day of the year due to the changing leaves.
I loved spending time in Nashville, but my advice- if you are visiting in October, try to visit on a weekday.
Brozinni Pizzeria
☼ 5:00 PM
There were many places to choose from when deciding were to eat at in Nashville. The trick is finding a place that doesn't have a 2-3 hour wait time on a Saturday evening in October.
We decided to get a pizza to-go and go sit on a park bench while the people strolled on by with all their new treasures they had bought that day. The pizza was excellent, the weather was amazing, and the view was spectacular.
Brozinni Pizzeria
140 West Main Street
Nashville, IN 47448
Brickhouse Loft
☼ 7:00 PM
After a very long fun day, we were ready to call it a night. We drove to Martinsville to stay at this adorable boutique hotel. This was such a cozy place to stay. The hotel is a big house which operates like an Airbnb meaning you check yourself in.
Each suite has its own living space, bathroom, and bedroom and is decorated perfectly. They even had to-go muffins and other breakfast items when upon leaving in the morning. Highly recommend if you ever find yourself in Martinsville, IN.
Brickhouse Loft
240 North Jefferson Street
Martinsville, IN 46151
→ You can read about all of our fall activities in Indiana in more detail on my Indiana Fall Weekend Itinerary!
Covered Bridge Festival
☼ 10:00 AM
We woke up ready to head to Parke County for the annual Covered Bridge Festival. We actually planned our trip around this festival so that we could see what it was all about. Apparently it is Indiana's Largest Festival!
So with that said, if you can plan your Indiana vacation in October while the festival is going on, I'd say go for it! The festival is made up of 10 separate towns in Parke County. Within and between all the towns you can find multiple covered bridges.
The festival is quite a big deal! There were tons of people, and I'm so glad we were able to experience it. We spent the day searching for covered bridges, enjoying the beautiful fall foliage, walking through all the vendors, and eating so much good food. It was a blast!
Even if you cannot make it to Parke County while the festival is going on, I'd still recommend finding some of the bridges. The scenery just can't be beat and those bridges hold a ton of Indiana history.
We were able to find six covered bridges, and visited the towns of Bridgeton, Mecca, Montezuma, and Tangier.
Hotel: Best Western Plus
2600 Industrial Boulevard
Crawfordsville, IN 47933
→ You can read about the Covered Bridge Festival in more detail on my Covered Bridge Festival Blog!
Turkey Run State Park
☼ 10:00 AM
Another checklist item for a visited state is exploring a state park. Turkey Run State Park was such a great time. Again, another 10/10 for me.
We decided to do trail 3 which included the suspension bridge, climbing ladders, walking on ledges, Rocky Hollow, and the punch bowl. Make sure you wear shoes that have a good grip, bring your camera, and keep your eyes open for all the nature that is going to surround you. We found so many different types of mushrooms!
Turkey Run State Park
8121 Park Road
Marshall, IN 47859
→ You can read about Turkey Run State Park in more detail on my Turkey Run State Park Blog!
Covered Bridge Festival
☼ 1:00 PM
Since we had such a great time at the festival the previous day, we decided to check out two of the other towns that participate- Rockville and Mansfield.
While each town had its own charm, Rockville was my favorite. And as cheesy as this may sound, Rockville felt like it held a sense of home. Time passed slowly, everybody was kind, and you could tell love was poured into every vendor booth there.
→ You can read about the Covered Bridge Festival in more detail on my Covered Bridge Festival Blog!
Oasis Diner
☼ 6:00 PM
Another checklist item for a visited state is eating the foods voted most popular for that certain state. In Indiana this is the giant pork tenderloin sandwich and the sugar cream pie.
It's no wonder why both of these foods made the top of the list because they are amazing. Seriously, I would eat either one of these any day of the week. I mean who doesn't want a tenderloin that is as big as their face?!
Oasis Diner
405 West Main Street
Plainfield, IN 46168
→ You can read about all the food we tried in Indiana in more detail on my Food in Indiana Blog!
The End
After all the fun we had, it was time to hit the hay so we could wake up early the next morning and catch our flight back to Austin. A very successful and very fun trip, indeed!
Hotel: Springhill Suites
6014 Gateway Drive
Plainfield, IN 46168
50 States by 50
Indiana was our first state for our 50 states by 50 challenge. My husband, Brian, and I are planning to visit all the states in the United States by the time we turn 50 years old. To choose which state we travel to next, we will draw it randomly!
For each state, we will plan at least a 4 day trip that consists of visiting the state capitol and state museum, exploring a state park, and eating whatever food that state is most known for. I will be documenting all of our travels here on my blog and making vlogs as well which will be posted on YouTube. Read more about our 50 States by 50 Bucket List.
__________________________________
Thank you for reading about our Indiana trip! We had a wonderful time, and can't wait to head to another state soon. If you have any questions or just want to share your Indiana experiences, please leave a comment down below.
Category: Indiana, State Itineraries
Keywords: indiana vacation itinerary, visiting all 50 states, indianapolis itinerary, covered bridge festival, fall in Indiana
Discover More:
☼ Indianapolis Itinerary (downtown Indy, Indiana State Museum, Motor Speedway, The Garage Food Hall, & more)
☼ Indiana Fall Weekend Itinerary (fall leaves, southern Indiana, antique shops, Brown County Art Gallery, & tons of carved pumpkins)
☼ 4 Day Indiana Trip Budget (how much our 4-day, 5-night trip to Indiana cost for two of us)
Bon Voyage!
November 10, 2022 by Laura Ehlers
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