Nashville · the midpoint
Nashville is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, located on the Cumberland River. Read more →
The fair place to meet is Nashville, TN — the city closest to the midpoint of Indianapolis and Memphis. From the farther side that’s about 5 hr 16 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Nashville, TN
From Indianapolis
5 hr 16 min
251 mi to Nashville
From Memphis
4 hr 7 min
196 mi to Nashville
Memphis has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 1 hr 9 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Indianapolis and Memphis are about 384 miles apart.
Indianapolis and Memphis are about 384 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Nashville, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 5 hr 16 min of driving on the Indianapolis side and 4 hr 7 min on the Memphis side — the fairest single meeting point among the cities near the middle.
That's a half-day drive from each side, so Nashville suits an overnight or a weekend rather than a quick coffee — long enough to want a reason to stay, short enough to drive.
If Nashville doesn't have what you're after, Louisville and Cincinnati are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Indianapolis and Memphis.
Nashville is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, located on the Cumberland River. Read more →
Indianapolis, colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of the White River. Read more →
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Read more →
City descriptions adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); photos via Wikimedia Commons, credited above.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.