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 Jill and her Ford Escape at
Start of our Iowa Trip by deecat, 1 more photos
Jill and I realized when we began our 8-day tour that it would be far more expensive than our annual trips have been in the past. We had to pay between $3.29 and $3.59 per gallon. I will say that it was much cheaper in Iowa that week than it was in Illinois!
Another reason to drive [if you shop like we do] is that you need plenty of room for the purchases. Jill is a quilter, and she purchases lots of fabrics. She also purchased clothing, shoes, a hat, several purses, and a hat. Some of the fabric that we purchased was for a new quilt for my bedroom.
Also, being typical American women, we need plenty of room for the clothing and shoes that we take along [between 8-10 outfits each]. And, since we were staying in a time share where we could cook, we also took along supplies.
We found the roads in Iowa to be excellent. At times the signage was a bit difficult, but we managed. One of the best experiences was traveling the scenic and historic Great River Road. It's a 3,000-mile network of highways that parallels the Mississippi River; thus, it goes along Iowas eastern border. Leave a Comment Theme: Car/Motor Home
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I recommend flying into Chicago, then renting a car and driving on I-80. You can take this interstate all the way through the state, and most sights are on the way.
You need a car! There is little or no public transport! Leave a Comment Theme: Car/Motor Home
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 by TinyTuckLeave a Comment Theme: Car/Motor Home
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 by erikajj
It is a must to have access to a car. Some of the cities have good metro bus systems, but to see the countryside, you will have to drive. We Iowans think nothing of driving two or three hours to spend some leisure time. Leave a Comment Theme: Train
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 by KLomaskin
Recommend shipping bikes via UPS
The only way to go. Leave a Comment Theme: Bicycle
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While the best means to get around Iowa is by car (or rental car), one can manage to get around by bus if you are attentive to the less frequent schedules. Leave a Comment Theme: Other
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 by Ukarumpa
DEFINITELY by car, in the area where David lives. Really, you would have to have a car to get anywhere. I guess if you were travelling between cities then you could use Greyhound or Amtrak same as most places, but there were no Amtrak or Greyhound stations anywhere close to David's town. Leave a Comment Theme: Airplane
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The best way to get here I think is by car, otherwise you will have to rent one (since there really is no other transportation). Airfare is usually expensive in Des Moines anyways.
Pratically the only way to get around Iowa is by car. There really is not a lot of transportation. Theme: Airplane
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Interstate 80 runs right through the middle of Iowa and has several lanes in each direction so it looks as though it would be a quick, easy way to get where you need to go. Most of the time, that's true but, a lot of the time it isn't.
80 has A LOT of truck traffic for exactly the reasons I mention above. In addition to all the trucks, you mix in a little weather - some snow or some rain - and driving the 80 can get really dangerous. The trucks also seem to shed an awful lot of tires on their way to wherever they'e going and those tires, flying down the road at 70 mpg or so can become very dangerous projectiles - trust me, I, unfortunately, know all about that.
So, as an alternative, try some smaller roads. Highway 30 comes in from Chicago and is an excellent road. It goes through Davenport, Cedar Rapids, and Ames. The 20 is just a little further north and runs through Dubuque, Waterloo, and Fort Dodge. Running north to south, Hwys 151, 71, and 65 can usually get you where you need to go with a more pleasant driving experience. Leave a Comment
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