2025's 8 Best Small Towns To Visit In Iowa
America’s 29th State, Iowa, situated in the Upper Midwestern United States, is best known for its quintessential attractiveness, besides the gently rolling landscape, sizable cornfields, uncrowded country roads, and unique eastern and western borderlines defined by the Mississippi, Missouri, and Big Sioux Rivers. Owing to these paradisiacal natural settings, artistic enchantments, rich immigrant history, and generous hospitality, the Hawkeye State provides out-of-towners with all that is needed for a rejuvenating excursion. Beyond the magnetism of the urban agglomerations of Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport, which are for most of the time the initial favorites, there are numberless excellent small towns peppering this 55,858 sq. mi. state that are peerless locales to enjoy a vacation in 2025.
Decorah
This center of administration of Winneshiek County, named for Waukon Decorah, a tactical leader of the native Ho-Chunk tribe, is set in northeast Iowa’s Driftless Area on the bluffs of the Upper Iowa River, at the meeting of Iowa Highway 9 and U.S. Highway 52. Home to the privately-owned Luther College, Decorah is globally acclaimed for its Norse-American heritage, where retro buffs must not miss touring the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum - the largest Norwegian Museum in the United States, displaying an appreciable number of artifacts delving into the diversity of American immigration. Also, take note of the rare ice formations that remain inside the Ice Cave in Decorah Ice Cave State Preserve even during the warm months, and spend time hiking, picnicking, and nature watching along the mind-blowing 200-foot waterfall in the wooded Dunning’s Spring Park.
Clear Lake
A captivating town in Northern Iowa’s Cerro Gordo County, Clear Lake has been named after the homonymous natural spring-fed lake alongside which it is located. Placed on Interstate 35, approx. midway between the state capital and the Twin Cities, the town acts as a regional center for North-Central Iowa, supporting several tourism enterprises such as the full-service Clear Lake Boats Marina; the 50-acre Clear Lake State Park on the Clear Lake’s southern shores featuring a swimming beach, campgrounds, hiking trails, and picnic grounds; and dining establishments like 7 Stars Family Restaurant. The Clear Lake Fire Museum - housing some of the town’s earliest firefighting equipment, the Clear Lakes Arts Center - a cultural complex hosting visual arts exhibitions by regional artists, and Lake Theatre - a vintage single-screen movie theatre showing popular movies are some conspicuous points of interest. Annually, be present at Clear Lake’s award-winning Christmas by the Lake event on the first weekend of December.
Le Claire
Set by a gorgeous bend on the upper Mississippi River, this Scott County town, identified as a suburb of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, is one of the rapidly growing communities in the Quad Cities region. Travelers on a sojourn to this bewitching settlement, christened in deference to the Metis trader Antoine LeClaire, should pay attention to the multiple mid-to-late 19th-century buildings in the Cody Road Historic District, shop for old-time treasures and collectibles at the flagship Antique Archaeology store, and taste classy home-cooked-style food at Crane & Pelican Café. Furthermore, head to the Buffalo Bill Museum, which tells stories about regional history and the life and times of the American West showman William Frederick Cody; and enjoy a 1.5-hour sightseeing cruise aboard a wonderfully reproduced Victorian Riverboat by the family-managed Riverboat Twilight.
Waverly
Bremer County’s seat, Waverly, situated by the Cedar River in Northeastern Iowa, forms a portion of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. All year round, tourists flock to this 10,394-resident town in crowds, enraptured by the well-known Wartburg College campus, plus outdoor sports stores like CrawDaddy Outdoors, florist shops like Love & Lace, and restaurants like Frederick’s Sips N Eats that cram the Main Street District. Additionally, inspect the many contributing buildings like the Waverly Municipal Hydroelectric Powerhouse in the nationally recognized Waverly East Bremer Avenue Commercial Historic District, traverse the 7-mile-long and 10-foot-wide asphalt Waverly Rail Trail, and attend the yearly Waverly Oktoberfest to be held on October 3 and 4, 2025, at Kohlmann Park.
Dyersville
Baptized after the early landholder James Dyer, who immigrated from the English village of Banwell, Dyersville stretches across the eastern part of Delaware County and the western part of Dubuque County next to the North Fork of the Maquoketa River. Vacationers on a trip to this ‘Farm Toy Capital of the World’ must marvel at the farm machinery-based showy models, full-scale replicas, and toys exhibited at the National Farm Toy Museum; visit the iconic Field of Dreams movie site, where they can see the beautifully maintained baseball field; and note the well-designed Basilica of St. Francis Xavier. Explore the Heritage Trail - a 26-mile-long, multi-use rail trail that links Dyersville with Dubuque, in addition to joining the Toy Farmer Magazine’s National Farm Toy Show scheduled for November 7, 8, and 9, 2025.
McGregor
Founded in 1847 as MacGregor’s Landing by Alexandar MacGregor, this town with only 742 residents in Clayton County, Northeast Iowa, is located by the side of the Mississippi River on the valley base of highly steep sandstone bluffs: the Jordan Formation and St. Peter Sandstone. Whilst on a trip to McGregor, make a reconnaissance of the contributing properties like the Joseph ‘Diamond Jo’ Reynolds Office Building & House, the interesting exhibits on the town’s history at the McGregor Historical Museum, and the art venue McGregor-Marquette Center for the Arts lining the Main Street. Outdoor lovers must go directly to the 960-acre Pikes Peak State Park, which has campgrounds, hiking trails, and RV facilities, apart from trekking the sinuous walking paths presenting stunning Mississippi River Valley panoramas.
Eldora
Eldora, called by a native mother in memoriam of her deceased infant female offspring, is the Hardin County seat situated on the eastern tip of Altmont Moraine, immediately west of the Iowa River gorge that fringes the glacial moraine. The town’s entrancing Downtown features numerous conscientiously preserved National Register-listed structures such as the 1892-built Hardin County Courthouse, the Hardin County Farm Museum that conserves the area’s agricultural past, eclectic gift shops like Backwoods Gallery, and the mouthwatering American fare served at Sunshine Café Eldora. Adrenaline junkies can instantly access the Pine Lake State Park’s many miles of developed trails, fish-stocked lakes, as well as the Lake-to-Lake State Park Bike Route that connects the Pine Lake State Park with George Wyth Memorial State Park.
Pella
Having a population of 10,464 (as per the 2020 US Census), Pella is an appealing Marion County settlement located about 40 miles southeast of Des Moines. Primarily settled by Dutch immigrants in 1847 and titled after ‘Pella of the Decapolis,’ the town is lauded for the gigantic whirling windmills, Hollandized architecture, many-colored tulips, winding canals, and lip-smacking Dutch pastries from local bakeries, all of which help the town showcase its Netherlandish heritage. Pella’s famous highlights include the Klokkenspel with eight 4-foot mechanical figures portraying people and events in Pella’s history, the Vermeer Windmill promoted as the US’s tallest operating windmill, the Pella Historical Village - a 22-period building complex that covers the town’s history, and the Molengracht Plaza highlighting a Dutch-style canal, coffee shops like Smokey Row Coffee, and the quaint Royal Amsterdam Hotel.
From Le Claire - a photographic riverside getaway to Pella’s storied Dutch heritage, these lesser-known teeny towns in the 31st most populous state of the nation are superb destinations proffering a seamless blend of adventures and relaxation. Whether you wish to spend a quiet weekend amidst eye-catching surroundings, attend quirky festivals, or acquire knowledge about community chronicles, these Iowa towns are refreshing alternatives to the heavily frequented urban centers. So, pack your suitcases and take the wanderlust path as you plan your 2025 travels to discover the magic of these Hawkeye State towns.
