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Amana Colonies, Amana, IA

Photo: Kepper66 at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

SightseeingHistory BuffFoodie Favorite

Amana Colonies

Wander seven historic German villages with a working woolen mill, bakeries, craft shops, restaurants and small museums.

622 46th Ave · Amana, IA

About Amana Colonies

The Amana Colonies are seven villages in Iowa County: Amana, East Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana, South Amana, West Amana and Homestead, founded from 1855 by German Pietists of the True Inspiration Congregations. The whole district is a National Historic Landmark. The woolen mill, begun in 1859, still operates, and you can visit the Museum of Amana History in a former communal kitchen building. Today the villages draw visitors for heritage, restaurants and craft shops.

  • #historic villages
  • #german heritage
  • #craft shops
  • #national historic landmark

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What's around here?

The closest stops to Amana Colonies, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sightseeing

    High Amana General Store

    Check prices

    A historic general store in High Amana, Iowa, dating to the communal era and still furnished much as it was.

    3.5 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums
    History Buff

    National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library

    Under $25

    See galleries on Czech and Slovak history and immigrant life, a large collection of folk dress, and a Prague-style astronomical clock.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    16 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Lake Macbride State Park

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    A lakeside state park in Johnson County, Iowa, offering trails, swimming, boating, fishing, camping, and winter recreation.

    16 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors

  • Museums
    Rainy-Day Pick

    University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art

    No admission fee

    See Jackson Pollock's Mural and a large African art collection for free in the University of Iowa's art museum, rebuilt in 2022.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    20 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

    No admission fee

    Tour Herbert Hoover's two-room birthplace cottage, a blacksmith shop, a Quaker meetinghouse and the Hoover gravesite.

    29 mi awayMore like this

  • Sightseeing

    Cedar Rock State Park

    Check prices

    An Iowa state park centered on a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home set on a limestone bluff above the Wapsipinicon River.

    42 mi awayMore like this