Start from 32 curated places around Council Bluffs, IA, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
712 Eat + Drink
Named for the local area code, this is the closest the town has to a destination farm-to-table spot, leaning on locally grown ingredients across a New American menu. It's the room locals pick for an anniversary or a long weekend brunch with a drink.
Barley's Bar
A nearly 25-year-old institution on the historic 100 Block with around 30 taps heavy on Iowa and Nebraska breweries. The crowd helped revive downtown, and the kitchen does honest pub food, burgers, pickle chips, a Thai chicken pizza, late into the night.
Trails & outdoors
Lake Manawa State Park
A 1,500-acre oxbow lake left behind by an old Missouri River flood, ringed by about seven miles of paved trail plus unpaved singletrack for mountain bikes. It's the town's all-purpose outdoor hub for a flat loop walk, a beach afternoon, or a paddle.
Tom Hanafan River's Edge Park
An 85-acre riverfront park on the Missouri with a great lawn, amphitheater, and uninterrupted views of the Omaha skyline. It's the Iowa-side anchor of the riverfront and the launch point for the pedestrian bridge.
Things to do
Union Pacific Railroad Museum
The town's flagship indoor attraction and a free one, with hands-on exhibits on the transcontinental railroad inside a grand old Carnegie library. It's the rainy-day, all-ages anchor downtown, deep enough to hold adults and interactive enough for kids.
Mid-America Center
The metro's mid-size arena and convention complex, the room for touring concerts, hockey, family shows, and big sporting events. It anchors an entertainment district with a brewery and movie theater within walking distance.
Landmarks & sights
Historic Pottawattamie County Squirrel Cage Jail
One of only three rotary 'Lazy Susan' jails left standing, and the only one built three stories tall. The whole drum of pie-shaped cells once cranked around a fixed door so a single guard could control everyone, and you can still see the gears that turned it.
Union Pacific Railroad Museum
Housed in the city's grand turn-of-the-century Carnegie library, this is the deep dive into why Lincoln pointed at Council Bluffs and called it the eastern start of the transcontinental line. Hands-on exhibits cover the Golden Spike, presidential rail cars, and the brutal labor of laying track west.