Experience the best of Indianapolis

Indianapolis sits on the flat plain of central Indiana, beside the White River, and was planned from the start as a capital in 1821, with a mile-square grid and diagonal avenues radiating from Monument Circle. The tall Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument stands at its centre, and the neoclassical State Capitol is nearby. The Canal Walk, a landscaped waterway, runs through downtown.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track opened in 1909, hosts the Indianapolis 500 each May and has a museum of racing cars. The Children's Museum is one of the largest in the world, Newfields is an art museum set in gardens and parkland, and the Eiteljorg Museum shows art of Native America and the West. The Kurt Vonnegut Museum honours the novelist, who was born in the city.

Indiana's food is hearty: the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich that spills over its bun, sugar cream pie, and sweet corn, with Midwestern steakhouses and craft breweries. Brown County, an hour's drive south, has rolling woods and autumn colour, and Columbus, also to the south, is known for its modernist architecture. Humid summers and snowy winters give the city four distinct seasons.