Indianapolis School & Youth Tours
Connect with Landmarks in Downtown Indy
Field trips and private tours help students of all ages learn about history and architecture.
School & Youth Tours
K-12 educational groups, including public, private, homeschool, and recreational groups, can enjoy tours at a discounted rate.
To reserve your field trip or get more information, please complete our Tour Inquiry Form or email tourism@indianalandmarks.org
Prefer a program that comes to you? Check out our Indy Explorers Virtual Tour and Speakers Bureau talks.
Elementary School
Historic Downtown Field Trip
Length: 60 minutes
Recommended Age Groups: 4th Grade. This tour correlates with Indiana Department of Education Academic Standards.
Experience Hoosier history within landmarks in downtown Indianapolis. Guides will facilitate student learning through ongoing interactive dialogue about history, architecture, and the importance of careful observation.
Highlighted landmarks include the Soldiers & Sailors Monument, the Indiana Statehouse, the L.S. Ayres building, and more. Students will leave with a better understanding of connections between places they see and people and events that have shaped the Hoosier state.
Indy Explorers (Virtual Field Trip)
Length: 45 minutes
Recommended Age Group: 4th Grade. This tour correlates with Indiana Department of Education Academic Standards.
Look closely at landmarks in downtown Indianapolis and discover how they tell the early history (1800-1865) of Indiana and its capital city. Guides will help students analyze details on each landmark and think critically about their meaning and importance.
Highlighted landmarks include statues of Oliver Morton and William Henry Harrison, the Soldiers & Sailors Monument, and more. This virtual field trip is designed to bring the landmarks of Indianapolis into the classroom.
Middle & High School
Athenaeum Building Tour
Length: 60 minutes
Explore Indy’s German heritage while exploring the historic Athenaeum. Guides will point out unique architectural features; discuss how the building reflects the founders’ “sound mind in a sound body” ethos; and share the impact Athenaeum members have made on the Indianapolis community. We proudly present this tour in partnership with the Athenaeum Foundation.
Indiana Landmarks Center Building Tour
Length: 60 minutes
Learn how Indiana Landmarks transformed a nineteenth-century church into a modern cultural venue in the Old Northside. Tourgoers will examine architectural details, while hearing stories of the site’s many lives. Participants will leave with a greater appreciation for historic preservation and the mission of Indiana Landmarks.
Historic Downtown Walking Tour
Length: 60 minutes
Experience Hoosier history within landmarks in downtown Indianapolis. Guides will facilitate student learning through ongoing interactive dialogue about history, architecture, and the importance of careful observation.
Highlighted landmarks include the Soldiers & Sailors Monument, the Indiana Statehouse, the L.S. Ayres building, and more. Students will leave with a better understanding of connections between places they see and people and events that have shaped the Hoosier state.
Monument Circle Historic District Walking Tour
Length: 60 minutes
Experience the heart of the Circle City while learning how these blocks have come to define Indianapolis. Guides will share stories and little-known history, revealing how the district’s art, architecture, and unique combination of public and private spaces create its distinctive character as the state’s capital.
Featured landmarks include exteriors of the Soldiers & Sailors Monument, Christ Church Cathedral, Circle Theatre, and more.
White River State Park Walking Tour
Length: 60 minutes
Explore the park’s significance from the time of Indianapolis’s settlement to the present day. Guides will trace how the area evolved from a hub of transportation and industry to a center for recreation, culture, and entertainment.
Featured landmarks include the 1916 Washington Street bridge, 1870 pumphouse, Central Canal, and more. We proudly present this tour in partnership with the White River State Park Development Commission.
Decoding Downtown Indy Walking Tour
Length: 90 minutes
Explore historic Indianapolis and learn to decode stories hidden within the city’s architecture. Guides will help tourgoers discover distinctive building details, identify architectural styles, and consider what questions to ask when encountering a new streetscape.
Featured landmarks include exteriors of the Indiana Statehouse, Soldiers & Sailors Monument, St. Elmo’s Steakhouse, and more.
Indy's Notable & Notorious Walking Tour
Length: 90 minutes
Discover Indianapolis through tales of some of the most memorable characters to shape the Circle City. Guides will help tourgoers get to know 16 contenders and rank their favorites through a tournament-style bracket. Featured figures include entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker, actor James Dean, First Lady Caroline Scott Harrison, and more.
Chatham Arch Neighborhood Walking Tour
Length: 90 minutes
Amble through a neighborhood of modest cottages, grander homes, apartments, churches, and commercial buildings, first developed in the mid-nineteenth century. Learn about its array of architectural styles as guides share its evolution into a walkable, vibrant place to live downtown.
Herron-Morton Place Neighborhood Walking Tour
Length: 90 minutes
Connect to Indianapolis’ diverse heritage as guides share stories from each chapter of the urban neighborhood’s 160-year history. The narrative will highlight its unique role as a hub of LGBTQ+ life and culture during some of the community’s most vulnerable decades.
Old Northside Neighborhood Walking Tour
Length: 90 minutes
Stroll the historic neighborhood where business rivals, publishing magnates, and influential women competed for prestige in the late nineteenth century. Learn about architectural styles and hear stories behind its historic houses, churches, and cultural institutions, including the community’s post-1960s revitalization into a flourishing residential historic district.