- 1. Columbus, Indiana (about 50 minutes)
- 2. Bloomington (about 1 hour)
- 3. Brown County State Park and Nashville (about 1 hour 15 minutes)
- 4. Turkey Run State Park (about 1 hour 15 minutes)
- 5. Madison, Indiana (about 1 hour 30 minutes)
- 6. French Lick and West Baden (about 2 hours)
- 7. Cincinnati (about 2 hours)
- 8. Louisville (about 2 hours)
- 9. Indiana Dunes National Park (about 2 hours 45 minutes)
- 10. Michigan City and the lakeshore (about 2 hours 45 minutes)
- 11. Chicago (about 3 hours)
- 12. St. Louis (about 4 hours)
- Getting out of Indianapolis without a car
- Cheap weekend getaways from Indianapolis by car
- Last-minute weekend getaways from Indianapolis
Indianapolis sits within a comfortable drive of more variety than most people give it credit for, and the twelve below are ordered by how long it takes to get there. Drive times are for clear roads, so add to them for a Friday evening start.
1. Columbus, Indiana (about 50 minutes)
A small Indiana town with buildings by Eero Saarinen, I. M. Pei and Harry Weese, because a local industrialist paid the architects’ fees for decades. The architecture tour is the reason to come and it is genuinely remarkable.
2. Bloomington (about 1 hour)
Indiana University’s limestone campus, a good independent food scene and the Eskenazi Museum of Art. Lake Monroe is fifteen minutes south for the water.
3. Brown County State Park and Nashville (about 1 hour 15 minutes)
Indiana’s largest state park, hilly and heavily wooded, and spectacular in the third week of October. The village of Nashville at the gate is craft shops and cider.
4. Turkey Run State Park (about 1 hour 15 minutes)
Sandstone ravines, ladders bolted into the rock and creek beds you walk up rather than alongside. Wear shoes you do not mind soaking.
5. Madison, Indiana (about 1 hour 30 minutes)
A preserved Ohio River town with one of the largest historic districts in the country, and Clifty Falls State Park on its edge.
6. French Lick and West Baden (about 2 hours)
Two enormous resort hotels built on mineral springs, one with a domed atrium that was called the eighth wonder of the world when it opened. Worth seeing even if you do not stay.
7. Cincinnati (about 2 hours)
Over-the-Rhine is one of the largest intact 19th-century districts in America and is now full of restaurants. Add the riverfront, the Freedom Center and, if the timing works, a Reds game.
8. Louisville (about 2 hours)
Bourbon, Churchill Downs, the Muhammad Ali Center and a walkable Main Street with the Slugger museum on it. An easy two-night trip.
9. Indiana Dunes National Park (about 2 hours 45 minutes)
Fifteen miles of Lake Michigan shoreline with dunes behind it, and one of the most biodiverse national parks in the country despite the steel mills on either side.
10. Michigan City and the lakeshore (about 2 hours 45 minutes)
Beach, a lighthouse and the start of the Michigan side of the lake. Combines naturally with the Dunes into a single weekend.
11. Chicago (about 3 hours)
Straight up the interstate and the biggest change of scene available. The Art Institute, the lakefront path and the architecture river cruise are the efficient two-day version.
12. St. Louis (about 4 hours)
The far end of a long weekend. The Arch, Forest Park, and a zoo and art museum that are both free once you have arrived.
Getting out of Indianapolis without a car
Amtrak’s Cardinal runs only three days a week in each direction, north to Chicago and south-east towards Cincinnati, which makes it awkward for a two-night trip unless the days happen to line up. Intercity buses to Chicago, Cincinnati and Louisville run far more often and are usually the better answer.
Cheap weekend getaways from Indianapolis by car
- Columbus, Indiana: much of the architecture is visible from the pavement
- Brown County: one state park fee covers the whole day
- Turkey Run: the ravine trails are the attraction and they are included
- Bloomington: student-town prices for food and beds
Last-minute weekend getaways from Indianapolis
- Brown County or Turkey Run, both walk-in state parks
- Columbus, Indiana, under an hour
- Bloomington, a college town with late availability
- Cincinnati, large enough for a same-day room
If you are deciding on the day, work backwards from the drive rather than the destination: anything under two hours leaves you a genuine Saturday, and anything past four is really a three-day trip wearing a weekend label.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
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