ESPN

The place where basketball and the Brickyard are kings, Indianapolis has long made a name for itself with its passion for sports. But in recent years the city has taken care to nurture its growing arts scene. The "Crossroads of America" has targeted cultural districts for development, expanded the Indianapolis Museum of Art and has hosted the Indy Jazz Festival since 1999. Even the Indianapolis Zoo is enjoying a new look with its dolphin exhibit. Of course, Indianapolis won't neglect its sports in the midst of all this renovation and expansion. Between Indy Motor Speedway and Conseco Fieldhouse, it's already home to some of the most enviable venues in the world, and now the NFL's Colts have their own state-of-the art facility on the way.

IndyGo, the Indianapolis-area bus system, is the only public transportation option available and can get visitors to most major destinations for $1.25, but having a car makes getting around the area much more convenient.

Indianapolis International Airport is approximately 10 miles southwest of downtown and offers IndyGo service into the city. Taxis charge a $7 minimum, but a trip into town will get up to about $20.

Witness "the Greatest Spectacle in Racing"
With a total capacity of more than 400,000 fans, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - "The Brickyard" - is the largest sports venue in the world. Two years after the track opened in 1909, it began hosting the Indianapolis 500, now held annually on Memorial Day weekend. Rich in history and tradition, the Indy 500 packs the facility, making it the world's biggest one-day sporting event in terms of attendance.

Experience Indiana's Cathedral to Basketball
Following the lead of the retro-ballpark craze in baseball, the Indiana Pacers built a home court meant to be both traditional and modern. The result is Conseco Fieldhouse, one of the most distinctive facilities in the NBA, with a vast promenade and entry pavilion that takes fans into an arena abundant in basketball nostalgia.

See the High-Scoring Colts in Action
The Colts didn't arrive in Indianapolis under the best of terms - their former home city of Baltimore screamed betrayal when the team packed up and moved in 1984. Now a perennial powerhouse and boasting one of the NFL's most potent offenses, the Colts are scheduled to move into a new retractable-roof facility - Lucas Oil Stadium - in 2008.

Visit a Top-Rated Minor League Park
Indianapolis doesn't have a major-league baseball team, but it does have a minor-league affiliate with a stadium consistently ranked among the country's best small ballparks - Victory Field. The Indianapolis Indians, Pittsburgh's Triple-A club, enjoy the 12,500-seat park, which offers views of the downtown area, lawn seating, a variety of activities for fans and even luxury suites.

Get the Story Behind "Hoosiers"
If you're a fan of the movie "Hoosiers" and want to learn more about the team that inspired the celebrated film, take a trip about 80 miles southeast to the tiny town of Milan. There you'll find the Milan '54 Museum, which celebrates the famous underdogs from the 161-student school who stunned powerhouse Muncie Central in the 1954 Indiana State High School Basketball Championships.

More Wheels for True Racing Fanatics
The Indy Motor Speedway doesn't stop at Formula racing. It also hosts NASCAR's Allstate 400 at The Brickyard (formerly known as the Brickyard 400), and interestingly, the winner of that race went on to win the series championship five times in 12 years. If you're into two-wheeled action, Indiana University holds the Little 500 bike race, or "Little Five" each year, in which relay teams of four bikers race 200 laps around a track. Another event to achieve Hollywood fame, the Little Five was dramatized in the 1979 movie "Breaking Away."

More Sports Museums
Indianapolis has no shortage of exhibits dedicated to sports history. Others you might want to check out include the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hall of Fame Museum, the NCAA Hall of Champions and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, 50 miles east in New Castle.

Lockerbie Square District
Near downtown, bordered by Cleveland, Miami, Davidson and Michigan Sts., Indianapolis, IN, 317-634-4474
Indianapolis's oldest surviving neighborhood dates to 1847. A collection of Italianate, Federal and Queen Anne houses, the district is one the nation's finest Victorian restorations. The linchpin is the James Whitcomb Riley House. The home of the beloved "Hoosier poet" is now a beautifully restored museum.
http://www.lockerbiesquare.org/history.html

Indiana State Museum
650 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204, 317-232-1637
The preeminent museum of everything Indiana - cultural, historical, artistic, scientific.
http://www.in.gov/ism/AboutUs/

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
500 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204, 317-636-WEST
The Eiteljorg houses one of the nation's top collections of Native American and western art. Don't miss its Great Plains collection.
http://www.eiteljorg.org/ejm_Collections/Default.asp

Indiana Museum of Art
4000 Michigan Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46208, 317-920-2550
Indianapolis boasts one of the oldest and largest art museums in the U.S. It has exceptionally strong Gauguin, Seurat and J.M.W. Turner collections.
http://www.ima-art.org/collections.asp?SID=C2AA49B8E0D741489C312F26AEB449AF

Children's Museum of Indianapolis
3000 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46208, 317-334-3322
This is the largest museum of its kind in the world. Interactive, fun, educational, it attracts more than one million visitors a year. Don't miss the Dinoshpere exhibit - one of the largest collections of juvenile and family dinosaur fossils in the U.S.
http://www.childrensmuseum.org/themuseum/currentexhibits.htm

2007 Indianapolis Colts (defeated Chicago Bears 29-17)