Often flying under the radar—or casually mistaken for Idaho—Iowa tends to get lost in a sea of flyover vowels. Use the Midwest stereotypes to your advantage: Here you’ll find uncrowded, unpretentious small towns buzzing with great beer, great food, and great bike trails. For example, Ames, home to Iowa State University, boasts 55 miles (86 kilometers) of paved trails. In bigger cities like Des Moines, you’ll get your pick of metropolitan adventures, from sculpture parks to James Beard Award-winning dining at spots like Harbinger. In short, open yourself to being surprised. (Spoiler: It’s not all flat!)
The shoulder seasons in this part of the United States are nothing short of spectacular. In spring, the state’s rolling hills turn lush with vivid greens. In fall, the hardwoods take on beautiful reds, golds, and oranges—in both seasons, temperatures are cool and days tend to be sunny. Despite falling largely into one climate, the southern portions of the state—like around Des Moines—do trend warmer year-round.
Come summer, Iowa is best described as two things: hot and humid. Still, the state has plenty of water parks, including Adventureland, Lost Island, and Boji Splash, where you can cool off in between sightseeing. If you visit in August, you can also catch the Iowa State Fair which welcomes more than one million visitors, from around the world, annually. Expect car shows, livestock exhibitions, carnival rides, and concerts from every genre.
Meanwhile, winters in the Hawkeye State can be brutally cold. That said, don’t expect a lot of snow. Even Allerton, the snowiest place in the state, doesn’t receive enough for proper sledding. That said,wWinter events in Iowa include skiing, snowboarding, and tubing at Seven Oaks Recreation in Boone and ice skating in downtown Des Moines. The capital city and other towns like Pella also hold Christmas markets in the month of December.
Bisected by Interstate 80 with even music festivals named after highways—looking at you, 20/35—Iowa is built for four wheels. You’ll want a car pretty much wherever you are, though the downtown areas in larger cities like Des Moines are certainly walkable. For what it’s worth, the RAGBRAI state is obsessed with biking—the proof seen in its 1,800 miles (2,897 kilometers) of bike trails.
Don’t write off small towns here as they can be some of the most pleasantly surprising spots. Take Grinnell, for example (population 9,500). About an hour from Des Moines, it’s here you’ll find “The Harvard of the Midwest,” the New York Times-reviewed Prairie Canary (a restaurant boasting inspired comfort food), midcentury modern hotels, wine bars and breweries, and more. Other small-town standouts include Mason City, Pella, and McGregor. Most towns have a welcome or visitor center where you can pick up a free map and find out where the locals like to go.
