Burlington is a Mississippi River port town with a rich Native American, German pioneer, and transportation history. Downtown Burlington is home to two National Historic Districts, Heritage Hill and West Jefferson Street. For outdoor recreation, area parks offer camping, hiking, and caving. The city has two public golf courses. Bowling, go-karts, laser tag, restaurants, and a climbing wall supply hours of entertainment at Fun City, an amusement and water park.

Cedar Rapids is Iowa's second largest city and the industrial capital of the state. A variety of events, nightclubs, museums, and attractions are accessible via skywalks. Main entertainment venues downtown include the Paramount Theatre which hosts Broadway shows and the area's symphony orchestra, and the U.S. Cellular Center, which presents many of the area's biggest concerts and sporting events. State, city and county parks offer unlimited recreational activities including golfing, camping, and access to the Cedar River for boating, swimming, and fishing. Facilities for BMX biking, ice skating, snowmobiling, disc golf, sledding, skateboarding, and in-line skating round out an excellent mix of outdoor venues.

Dubuque, population 57,546, is an industrial Mississippi River port in eastern Iowa near the Wisconsin and Illinois border. Sightseeing and dining tours of the Mississippi are available by riverboats, paddle wheelers, and yachts. Dubuque is also the setting for many outdoor activities. Bird watching is popular because a variety of birds, including bald eagles, make the river valley their home.

Iowa City is home to the University of Iowa. The University of Iowa resides on the state's original capital grounds. Along with Big Ten basketball and other sports, the university houses medical, art, and natural history museums. Coralville Lake's Devonian Fossil Gorge is Iowa City's most popular outdoor destination. Fossils cover the 15-foot-deep gorge's bedrock surface. The 5,400-acre lake provides fishing, boating, and swimming access.

The Mississippi River forms the eastern border of Missouri. In the past the river carried Native Americans, explorers, early settlers and Lewis and Clark. Today this historic river transports agricultural products, provides recreational venues and scenic views, and is home to many historical sites and communities.