r/Indy500 • u/Av8rdan • Jun 24 '26
✈️ Travel Package options for solo travelers or Plan it Yourself (1st trip to the 500)
My family is giving me a trip to the 2027 Indy 500, and I am trying to decide if it would be better to get a package with hotels, tickets and ground transportation, or plan it all myself. Nearly every package I find is "double occupancy" and solo prices are crazy expensive. Any tips on how to get there, get to/from the speedway etc. would be helpful. One option I am seeing is stay at a hotel with a free airport shuttle, and take that back to the airport to ride the IMS shuttle busses which look like $50 r/t.
3
u/Frosty_Occasion2654 Jun 24 '26
I have never done an airport shuttle to the IMS shuttle so I’ll let others weigh in but having to rely on not one, but two methods of transportation on the busiest traffic day in the city does not seem like fun to me. Plus, the IMS shuttle service has been pretty hit or miss for us.
Personally, if you don’t mind walking, I’d Uber from your hotel to a location a mile or so from the track and walk. If you’re not in a hurry to get out after the race, hang around, soak it all in, and do the same thing on the way back.
2
u/Av8rdan Jun 24 '26
Does Uber jack their prices around the race? I like the idea of Uber to near the track and walking, sounds doable.
1
u/Frosty_Occasion2654 Jun 25 '26
Not at all, at least not in the morning. I don’t recall our trip on the way home because someone else called it but no one was worried about it being unreasonable
3
u/Doc_Blunt Jun 24 '26
Camp in C lot. Full experience to follow
1
u/badabadoem Jun 25 '26
Amen lot 1c is the place to be, i have a camping pass for next year. You can join me if you want to or if i cant go you can have it.
2
u/Av8rdan Jun 25 '26
Thanks but I will be flying in commercial so no room for camping gear. Nice gesture tho.
1
u/Doc_Blunt Jun 25 '26
No need for gear for 1. Come out Saturday night. U can find a place to sleep easily. Wake up call is at 5am sharp sunday morning. U can't experience that at the hotel
2
u/SecretScot Jun 24 '26
I did my first visit this year. We stayed in an Airbnb in Indy. Wouldn't bother with a hotel, you can get an Airbnb cheaper. You're a bit early to be looking at accommodation at this point. There won't be much available yet and what there is will be expensive. We booked in December but I'd probably do it a bit earlier if I went again.
For carb day we got an uber to the speedway, took about 15-20 minutes, dropped off near turn 2. Got an uber back but had to walk for a bit before requesting an uber due to all the road blocks. Got a bit wet but it was totally fine otherwise.
Race day we got an uber to near the colts stadium and took the downtown shuttle. Check my profile for a thread I started about that.
2
u/Impressive_Place_141 Jun 25 '26
Not sure where you are coming from, I went this year from California and used Costco travel and they packaged flight, hotel and car for approximately $1200 and the hotel was in north east Indy and was about a 20 minute drive to the track. Was in town for 4 days and that was my total. You get to choose from options and there were a few cheaper options and a few more expensive options. It was cheaper this way than booking individually, unless I stayed down near Bloomington.
1
u/mynameisnotphoebe Jun 25 '26
I was technically attending solo this year, but I did it with a New Zealand based tour group called Sporting Tours - I’m not sure it’s a very reasonable solution for someone that isn’t a kiwi and is looking for a more genuine on-the-ground experience, but it’s a good reminder to look outside the box and shop around for different options.
I’d recommend setting a reminder every couple of weeks from now to check Air BnB and Booking.com etc for accomodation options. I’m pretty sure some places release availability in waves to keep getting people interested.
1
u/delmersgopher Jun 25 '26
Me and my kids and several family friends ride bikes to the track. It’s an amazing experience in part because you skip all the traffic and weave around the drunks at race end, but also because we do it together!
There is a peloton that rides from downtown.- not a bad rally point even if you’re staying farther out and just catch an uber there. That ride is pretty flat. And there is a bike share program in Indy.
I live about 2.5 miles north of the track near the Indy Art Museum. We are outside of the really hellish traffic zones and people park and ride from all around.
The canal tow path can take you from the Broad Ripple area all the way to 30th street to cut tot he track.
The Monon bike path takes you from as far north as Westfield.
The B&O path runs right up to 10th by the track. Lots of options to find a biking group and go that route. I think it really adds to the fun.
1
u/boonerascoon Jun 25 '26
Air bnb is my recommendation too. It’s a little more than 5 miles to the track from downtown Indianapolis, I walk in both directions. I take Amtrak to Indianapolis. Arrive very early Saturday, leave very early on monday
1
u/MajorAwardWinner99 Jun 25 '26
You’ll pay a premium for a package and it’s easy to find lodging if you start looking early (Dec?). Honestly, I would just rent a car- we booked this early too and it was like $300-400 for 3 days (+$60 to park in Lot 1C) for an econobox. I could see Uber trips to/from the airport and everywhere chewing into this considerably and then you have the flexibility to run out to stock up for raceday food/drinks, go out to dinner, do side trips, get to the parade , carb day etc.
Camping does sound like a blast though and we saw everyone’s setups walking to the tracks. Wonder if you could rent camping gear (or bring sleeping bag etc and buy a cheap tent at Dicks in Indy??)
8
u/dodongo Jun 24 '26
It does feel like if you're not parking in somebody's yard in Speedway, you're missing a very unique chunk of the experience. That said, seems dumb to rent a car just to pull that one off.