36 Hours in Indianapolis

1) 3 P.M. A Museum to Love

On 152 acres, the comprehensive Indianapolis Museum of Art ($18 admission) attracts both nature and art lovers. Its signature artwork, Robert Indiana’s Pop Art “Love” sculpture, was restored this spring after years weathering the Midwestern extremes and moved indoors where it is a gateway to an impressive American art collection (don’t miss the American Impressionist paintings). Take the escalators with the Robert Irwin light installation to the Asian collection, considered one of the nation’s largest. Hike the grounds to visit Roy Lichtenstein’s serial “Five Brushstrokes” sculptures on the front lawn, a hillside ravine garden designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm in the 1920s and a 100-acre park devoted to native trees and large-scale sculptures.

2) 6 P.M. Whiskey Tango

An Iraq War veteran, Travis Barnes used the military’s phonetic alphabet to name his two-year-old distillery Hotel Tango after his wife, Hilary, and himself. Located in a 1906-vintage horse stable and carriage house in the trendy Fletcher Place neighborhood, the bustling bar serves cocktails made with Hotel Tango booze, such as the herbaceous gin-lemon-rosemary Kristofferson ($9) or the fruity raspberry-ginger-limoncello Speedy Rewards ($10). Local hipsters crowd around barrel tables and a stone fireplace. The place is pet-friendly; the house cat Fletcher Pickles even has his own Instagram account.

3) 8 P.M. Dinner of Champions

Across the street from Hotel Tango, the farm-to-table faithful Bluebeard, named after a novel by the Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut, is a hard reservation to score (put your name in before heading to Hotel Tango). Abbi Merriss’s unbounded menu mixes small plates like octopus with shishito peppers ($16) with large ones such as chipotle-sauced pork chop ($36). Vegetables are particular stars as is anything with bread, including the charcuterie plate ($15); Bluebeard’s sibling business, Amelia’s bakery next door, provides the airy sourdough. Each of three dining spaces in a former 1924-vintage warehouse has a different vibe, including the barroom filled with antique typewriters and megaphones repurposed as lampshades and the shady brick courtyard. But take any table on offer.

4) 8 A.M. Capitol 5K

The city is known for at least two things other than the 500: amateur athletics (the N.C.A.A. has its headquarters here) and the greatest number of war memorials outside of Washington. Combine them in a Historic Downtown 5K run with ActiveIndy Tours ($20). The company founder, Nathan Smurdon, ran track and cross country at local Butler University and worked for Indianapolis’s convention bureau, meaning he can talk about the city’s canal system, the historic effort to lure the American Legion to town with a series of war memorials, and the symbolism on the towering Soldiers and Sailors Monument and Memorial while running effortlessly past those sites. But he keeps the client’s pace and genially stops for pictures or excessive panting.

5) 10:30 A.M. Brunch Mechanic

When the line cook leans over the diner counter proffering house-cured salmon and chirps, “Here’s your bialy!” you’ll understand why everyone loves Milktooth, the Fletcher Place brunch spot from the chef Jonathan Brooks in an old auto garage: The chefs seem to be enjoying themselves. The music is loud, the décor is thrift-shop eclectic and the creative fare may include breakfast (sourdough carrot cake waffle, $12) and lunch (twice-fried Korean chicken thighs, $16). The lines are constant, but so is the cheer.

6) Noon; Cultural Cruising

Some $63 million went into building an eight-mile recreational trail for cyclists and pedestrians that has prompted development downtown and in adjacent neighborhoods. The resulting Indianapolis Cultural Trail organizes a convenient route to those neighborhoods and makes it easy to follow with special signage and brick paving. Pedal along aboard a Pacers Bikeshare ($8 for one day), making stops along the way at the solemn Shrine Room in the Indiana War Memorial Museum (free), the food-stall-filled Indianapolis City Market or the observation deck atop the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (free for stair-climbers, or $2 for the elevator).

7) 3 P.M. Critical Mass Shopping

One spur on the Cultural Trail runs up Massachusetts Avenue — or Mass Ave as it is known — a stretch lined with restaurants, bars, public art and some of the best boutiques in the city. Start browsing at Silver in the City, which sells artist-made jewelry, accessories and sundries including bags and wallets from PUP, or People for Urban Progress, a nonprofit using recycled industrial materials like the stadium roof of the former RCA Dome. Next door, Global Gifts carries fair-trade goods from around the world including soapstone carvings from Kenya and Mexican ceramics. Progress to Boomerang Boutique for funky T-shirts and kicky stud earrings in dollar signs or tangerine shapes. Homespun: Modern Handmade stocks housewares, stationery and ReFind Originals upcycled leather bags.

8) 5:30 P.M. Flight Deck

Another branch of the Cultural Trail links to Fountain Square, where New Day Craft Mead & Cider pours its house-made beverages in an inviting tap room stocked with board games. Flights ($8) include any six of the honey-based meads or hard ciders currently on tap. Among ciders, if available, try the dry Gold Rush cider and the strong bourbon-barrel-aged Barrel Aged JC. Meads are refreshingly light and balanced, including the blush-colored cherry mead Washington’s Folly, and cheese and meat plates (each $8.50) appease peckish bargoers.

9) 8 P.M. Northside Nosh

Drive around a bit of the Old Northside neighborhood to see the elaborate Victorian-era mansions that once housed the city’s movers and shakers (including President Benjamin Harrison) before arriving at Tinker Street Restaurant & Wine Bar. Adjacent to the historic district, tiny Tinker Street has an outsize following for its vegetarian-friendly dishes and its carefully chosen, value-driven wine list. The menu changes often but might include crispy quinoa falafels ($12) and pork belly with spicy kimchi and an unctuous duck egg ($21).

10) 10:30 P.M. Nightcap Classics

Toast at least one late-night Indy classic with a nightcap. On Massachusetts Avenue, squeeze into compact Chatterbox Jazz Club for a set in the narrow dive decorated with Christmas lights, racing flags and graffitied dollar bills. Downtown, drop into St. Elmo Steak House for last call. The clubby restaurant, with a vintage wooden back bar and tuxedoed waiters, dates back to 1902. If the main bar is too crowded, or traditional, take the side stairs up to the 1933 Lounge, a speakeasy-style hideaway, for an Elmo Cola ($14), similar to a bourbon-spiked cherry Coke.

11) 9 A.M. Historic Brew

Join the laptop crowd tapping into free Wi-Fi at the new Coat Check Coffee, where the kitchen resides in the former coat check at the Athenaeum, a historic 19th-century German social center, on Massachusetts Avenue. Order a Tinker Coffee Co. drip ($2.50) or latte ($4.50) and a just-made croissant ($3) or slice of quiche ($5.50) and lounge on the modular furniture that attracts local creative entrepreneurs, students and families.

12) 10:30 A.M. Unpack the Park

Downtown’s 250-acre White River State Park contains a something-for-everyone selection of cultural attractions. Spanning both sides of the White River, they include the Indianapolis Zoo, home to the International Orangutan Center; the Indiana State Museum, with a piece of art embedded in the facade for each county in the state (look for Delaware County, once home to Ball canning jars and Garfield the cartoon cat); and the rich Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, set to hold its 25th annual Native American art market and festival June 24 and 25. Take a break, and a few photos, on the White River Promenade, a shady pathway along the tranquil river.

Contemporary art fills public spaces and 209 guest rooms at the Alexander hotel as well as its skyline-framing lobby bar, serving craft cocktails with free truffle popcorn. Rooms from $189; thealexander.com.

Luxurious touches like espresso machines in its 100 rooms, a residentially furnished lobby and local art distinguish Le Méridien Indianapolis. Rooms from $239; lemeridienindiapolis.com.