Visit Indianapolis, Indiana

Think of Indianapolis, and you think of car racing. It's that simple. Since AAA established its national driving championship and sanctioned the first Indy 500 in 1911, millions of people around the world have watched the checkered flag come down at the Brickyard. But there's so much more to see—the stately homes of presidents and poets, stunning art collections, one of the largest children's museums in the world. Visitors to Indiana's capital are surprised to find a canal inspired by the waterways of Venice, a Grecian shrine modeled after the ancient mausoleum at Halicarnassus and a spacious urban park often compared to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In fact, the city was laid out by Alexander Ralston—apprentice to Pierre L'Enfant in designing the federal capital—and his vision of broad avenues radiating out from a central hub gives Indianapolis an Old-World feel.