Explore the Hawkeye State on a Charter Bus in Iowa!

Compared to those of other states, Iowa's amusement parks are smaller. But that does not make them any less fun. You can enjoy thrilling and exciting rides and attractions at amusement parks in Iowa at a price that is friendly to your pocket.

Check out Adventureland (Altoona, IA 50009) with its more than 100 rides, including the Raging River ride, wooden roller coaster, the Sidewinder, water rides, kiddie rides and others.

You could also go to Arnolds Park (Arnolds Park, IA 51331) where you can get on the Northwest Bank Legend Roller Coaster, one of the oldest roller coasters in the country. They also have a carousel, bumper cars, a Ferris wheel and other rides.

Two other amusement parks you should visit include:

• Fun City (Burlington, IA 52601)
• Ranch Okoboji Amusement Park (Okoboji, IA 51355)

Aside from amusement parks, you can also take your pick of Iowa's water parks, such as Lost Island Waterpark (Waterloo, IA 50701), King's Pointe Waterpark Resort (Storm Lake, IA 50588), Wasserbahn Water Park Resort (Williamsburg, IA 52361), Beach Ottumwa (Ottumwa, IA 52501), Boji Splash Indoor Water Park (Arnolds Park, IA, 51331) and Grand Harbor Resort and Water Park (Dubuque, IA 52001).

For art lovers, Cedar Falls is a great destination. Cedar Falls is consistently a part of the 100 Best Small Art Towns in America list. Be sure to get a charter bus in Iowa and visit Cedar Falls!

Most of the arts and culture venues you would see here are free and there are a lot of public art all around Cedar Falls. Check out the Hearst Center for the Arts (Cedar Falls, IA 50613) gallery, or stroll along Downtown Cedar Falls. You should also check out the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center where you can catch world-renowned productions without the high ticket prices that you pay when you see them in New York and other larger cities.

And that's just in Cedar Falls!

You should also see the outdoor sculptures in the state, such as the The Boy with the Leaking Boot, The Lone Sailor and Molecule Man.

Art museums and galleries also abound in Iowa. Check out the University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art where you could see the works of such notable artists as Berenice Abbott, Romare Bearden, Harold Eugene Edgerton, and Pablo Picasso.

Other places you should visit include:

• Brunnier Art Museum (Ames, IA 50011)
• Christian Petersen Art Museum (Ames, IA 50011)
• Des Moines Art Center (Des Moines, IA 50312)
• Figge Art Museum (Davenport, IA 52801)
• MacNider Art Museum (Mason City, IA 50401)
• Museum of Art Cedar Rapids (Cedar Rapids, IA 52401)
• Sioux City Art Center (Sioux City, IA 51101)
• University of Iowa Museum of Art (Iowa City, IA 52246)

Meanwhile, performance arts is alive and well with these sites and groups:

• Bucksbaum Center for the Arts (Grinnell, IA 50112)
• Civic Center of Greater Des Moines
• Five Flags Center (Dubuque, IA 52001)
• Orpheum Theatre (Sioux City, IA 51101)
• Paramount Theatre (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
• RiverCenter/Adler Theatre (Davenport, IA 52801)
• Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts (Fairfield, IA 52556)
• Theatre Cedar Rapids (Cedar Rapids, IA 52401)

Festivals held here include:

• 80/35 Music Festival
• Bix 7 Road Race and Memorial Jazz Festival
• Hardacre Film Festival
• Landlocked Film Festival
• Nordic Fest
• Saturday in the Park

Lastly, you could find some of the best examples of architecture all over the state. From Beaux-Arts to Italianate, to Tudor Revival, it is all here for you to enjoy!

When it comes to food, Iowans have it good. They get to enjoy delicious food with fresh ingredients at very low prices. Not only that, they revel in variety as well. It is very difficult even for seasoned chefs and food experts to fully define or even categorize Iowa's restaurant fare.

Some of the best are featured on TV shows such as Man Vs. Food, Bizaare Foods America, Outrageous Food, and Food Paradise, including:

• B and B Grocery (2001 SE 6th St., Des Moines, IA 50315)
• El Bait Shop (200 Sw 2nd St. Des Moines, IA 50309)
• Fong (223 4th St., Des Moines, IA 50309)
• Gramma's Kitchen (3408 N Plainview Rd., Walcott, IA 52773)
• Jethro's BBQ (3102 Forest Ave., Des Moines, IA 50311)
• Kelly (1701 E Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50316)
• Zombie Burger (300 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50309)

And these are just a few of the places here that were featured on TV. It is certainly patently difficult to come up with a best list when it comes to food places in the state. It depends on what kind of cuisine or taste you are craving for or what kind of atmosphere you want to try. For example, if you are looking for a great atmosphere to impress a date, then you should go to Cafe Dodici (122 S Iowa Ave, Washington, IA 52353) or have a great lunch at Green Gourmet (Fairfield, IA 52556). Other recommendations:

• Sushi: Shokai Sushi (Fairfield, IA 52556) and Konomi in (Coralville, IA 52241)
• Vegetarian: Green Gourment (Fairfield, IA 52556) and Trumpet Blossom (Iowa City, IA 52240)
• Coffee or tea shop: Earth & Water (Fairfield, IA 52556) and Java House (Iowa City, IA 52240)

Meanwhile, shopping in Iowa gives you a lot of options. There are farmers markets everywhere here in every city and in every month. So take your pick! If you want to explore the malls in Iowa, there are quite a few that you should not miss, including NorthPark Mall (Davenport, IA 52806), Valley West Mall (West Des Moines, IA 50266), Coral Ridge Mall (Coralville, IA 52241) and Jordan Creek Town Center (West Des Moines, IA 50266). For outlet malls, go to Factory Stores of America in Story City (IA 50248) and Tanger Outlets in Williamsburg (IA 52361).

However, if you are looking to mix a day trip with your shopping, then you should go to Decorah, Iowa. Here, you could buy top quality pewters, linens and sweaters while also immersing yourself in local artworks at the Agora Arts Gallery. After shopping, you can also go biking or skating at Trout Run Trail, or fish in the Iowa River. You could also find the Vesterheim-Norwegian American Museum at 502 W. Water St. Decorah, IA 52101.

And let's not forget about Amana, Iowa where you could buy traditional Iowa crafts and taste real Iowa food.

Sports fans, especially baseball aficionados, should go to Field of Dreams. Located on Lansing Rd in Dyersville, IA 52040, Field of Dreams is a working baseball field, but it was built for a movie with the same title.

The state has teams that play professional hockey, football, basketball and baseball, including the Burlington Bees, The Sioux City Bandits, Iowa Wild, Iowa Energy, and the Quad Cities Riverhawks. On top of that, there are also collegiate sports teams such as the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the University of Northern Iowa Panthers. So you might want to catch a game at one of the state's top stadiums and arenas, including Kinnick Stadium, Jack Trice Stadium, Drake Stadium, UNI-Dome, Carver-Hawkeye Arena and Wells Fargo Arena.

Other than these, there are also golf courses in the state where avid golfers and beginners could play a challenging or relaxing round of golf. Some of the best courses in the state include:

• Blue Top Ridge at Riverside in Riverside, IA 52327
• Cedar Rapids Country Club in Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
• Davenport Country Club in Pleasant Valley, IA 52767
• Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, IA 50266
• Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines, IA 50266
• Spirit Hollow Golf Course in Burlington,IA 52601
• The Harvester Country Club in Rhodes, IA 50234
• Tournament Club of Iowa in Polk City, IA 50226
• Wakonsa Club in Des Moines, IA 50321

Iowa has a great collection of historic sites across the state. You could learn about the state's earliest inhabitants at sites like the Hopewell burial mounds and Blood Run National Historic Landmark near Sioux Falls.

You could also learn more about prominent Iowans at places such as Plum Grove (Iowa City, IA 52240) and Montauk (Clermont, IA 52135).

Other sites you should visit include:

• The Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop (Marshalltown, IA 50158)
• The American Gothic House (Eldon, IA 52554)
• The Abbie Gardner Sharp Cabin (Arnolds Park, IA 51331)
• Iowa State Capitol (Des Moines, IA 50319)

Apart from visiting these sites, you should really consider going on the Western Historic Trails Center where you can learn more about Lewis and Clark, and other trails.

Other historic monuments you should not miss include:

• Abraham Lincoln Statue and Park (Clermont, IA 52135)
• Dillon Memorial (Davenport, IA 52801)
• Episcopal Church of the Saviour (Clermont, IA 52135)
• Julien Dubuque's Mines (Dubuque, IA 52003)
• Sergeant Floyd Monument (Sioux City, IA 51106)
• Soldier's Monument (Davenport, IA 52803)

There are also a lot of history museums in Iowa where you could learn more about the state's past. Visit the State Historical Museum (Des Moines, IA 50319), for one, or the local history museums in various cities in the state.

In Iowa, you could have your fill of outdoor activities, from climbing and rappelling, to swimming or boating, to horseback riding and cross-country skiing.

But Iowa is best known for hunting, fishing, camping and hiking. Check out Arrowhead Park (Neola, IA 51559), Elk Rock State Park (Knoxville, IA 50138), Hitchcock Nature Center (Honey Creek, IA 51542) and Maquoketa Caves State Park (Maquoketa, IA 52060) for some of the best camping sites and hiking trails in the state.

Meanwhile, Casey Lake (LaPorte City, IA 50651), Lake Delhi (Delhi, IA 52223) and Lake Hendricks (Riceville, IA 50466) are great for fishing.

Other notable state parks include:

• Ambrose A. Call State Park (Algona, IA 50511)
• Backbone State Park (Dundee, IA 52038)
• Beed's Lake State Park (Hampton, IA 50441)
• Fort Defiance State Park (Estherville, IA 51334)
• Pikes Peak State Park (McGregor, IA 52157)

There's also Sundown Mountain, where you could go snowboarding and skiing on 21 trails, 7 of which are perfect for beginners, and Okoboji City, which offers a lot of fun attractions during the summer.

Blank Park Zoo (Des Moines, IA 50315) is an accredited zoo in the state, with more than 800 animals including exotic ones. Other zoos in the region include Bever Park Children's Zoo (Cedar Rapids, IA 52403), Fejeruary Zoo (Davenport, IA 52804), and Osborne Conservation Center (Elkader, IA 52043).

Also, check out the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (Dubuque, IA 52001).