Best free things to do in Indianapolis?

Hi Valerie!  Indy has a bunch of fun outdoorsy things that you could do.  There is a city bike share program (yellow bikes... you will see them everywhere downtown) and you can ride along the Indianapolis Cultural Trail or the Canal Walk.  There are also several monuments and sights downtown including the Indiana War Memorial that are nice to go too.  The Indianapolis Museum of Art is actually great -- they just started paying a fee, but it is worth it to go in.  But, even better is the 100 Acres park at the Museum of Art.  It is great outdoor fun and totally free (if you saw The Fault in Our Stars... the skeleton sculpture they are at is there).  Massachusetts Ave or Fountain Square are great neighborhoods to just wander around... lots of really good food and cool shops to walk through (shops are better on Mass Ave).  If you are in Fountain Square at all, Action Duckpin Bowl is fun and not expensive.  They have the original lanes from the 50's and 20's (I believe).  Another neat place (even though it might sound a bit creepy) is Crown Hill National Cemetery.  They do tours or you can just walk.  The top of the hill is the best place to watch the sunset from and the grounds are absolutely beautiful.  I am sure there are a million things I am missing, but one last fun off the beaten path tour is the Indianapolis City Market catacombs tour.  The market is open daily with great food vendors, but on Saturday mornings you can go on a tour of the underground catacombs.  Enjoy Indy -- you shouldn't have any trouble filling your time with inexpensive things to do!

Definitely some repeats here :) But check out the 100 Acres at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The IMA costs money, but 100 Acres is a free park with a bunch of art fixtures - great if it's a nice day. 

There are some good neighborhoods that you can just walk around and duck in and out of shops. Mass Ave. is my favorite and is a good artsy district, Broad Ripple (Indiana) is pretty popular and is right on the Monon Trail and the Canal, so some good trails for walking. Fountain Squarealso has some great and unique places and is fun to walk around and stop for a drink or two at various places. The Canal Walk Downtown is also really nice, and you could rent a paddle boat or take a gondola ride if you wanted. 

There are also Pacers Bike Share bikes that are available across the city and are great for riding around on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail and seeing different areas. 

Have fun!

Walking on the canal is fun. It is downtown Indianapolis lots to look at, and it is free. The Indianapolis Museum of Art is free on Thursday afternoons. They also have what they call the 100 acre woods, more enjoying the outdoors and art, and I believe it is also free.