Amana Colonies Convention and Visitor Bureau Review

We have been planning a trip here for some time now. We spent 3 days in the colonies. 2 days would have been enough time to see all the sites and eat at every restaurant and shop at every store. Nice place but none of the shops opens till around 10am. Restaurants opened around 7am or 8am. All the shops and museums close about 5pm. Some of the people that operated the shops were not very friendly. For a place that is based mostly on tourism they are not friendly. We would have spent more money and time in the shops if we felt welcome. Overall we had fun but not planning a trip back. We were told by others Amana was just for tourist and it was expensive. We should have listened and taken a trip more friendly and welcoming. For a day trip Amana is ok. Of the 5 wineries in town 2 of them were nice friendly staff. The others seem like we were wasting their time. Some of the shop keeper the same. Some were nice others just seemed like they could careless if we were there. One place to go hands down was the bakery in Amana. That place was amazing.

When we went through it was like a ghost town possibly due to the season I expected more

A great German attraction. Interesting piece of Iowa's history with good shops and food for all ages to enjoy. I try to stop by here once a year.

Cute area, lots of wooden "older" houses. A leftover from a German "cult" that had a certain view on how to worship "god" that left Germany back in the 19th century , some German text here and there, but mostly inaccurate compared to actual German.
Also a plethora of cute shops with fudge and decoration, wine and gifts.

Cute tourist trap - pricing is high but based on the tourism i think that's why they get away with it. It's a very unique area to see though. As a local i do still go to some festivals but still feel it's a little over priced for our area.

Great place to shop for antiques, eat and drink also learn about the history

Very informative. Go to this place first to get information. Take the van tour if you can.

So many unique stores! So much to see! So much delicious food!

May fest was such fun...music, May pole dances, great food, and so many nice visitors.

Don't think they get alot of African Americans out that way. Cause everyone just stare at you and don't wave or say hello.

This is the most beautiful wood furniture in the country!

Surprise. Showed up during Octoberfest. Totally unexpected. Great deals for the occasion.

Visit was very nice. Tours were excellent. I rated 2 stars because we purchased 2 bottles of wine after sampling them, dandelion and elderberry. When we returned home and opened the dandelion wine, it had turned to vinegar. Just opened the elderberry and it, too, was bad. I have made wine for thirty years, both dandelion and elderberry, and I know a bait and switch when I experience it. It is very disappointing when a place like the Amana Colonies pulls a stunt like this. If you purchase wine from them, sample the bottle they sell you before you leave.

This is a quaint string of villages that have quite an interesting story to tell of how they survived and prospered over the years. This group of Amish people are unlike their namesake back East. They embraced mechanization which lead to the commercial walk in cooler as The Electrical Equipment Co. in Middle Amana, then into to Amana Refrigeration Inc. employing many individuals from the Colonies. It has since been sold to Whirlpool Corp in 2002 but still manufactures appliances in Middle Amana. The towns are different and you have to travel a little to find out the gems but it was an worth the effort. The people we met were super nice and their stories fun and educational. Takes some time and explore we enjoyed and think you will too. Take note, it's kind of a adult trip old things to see, lots of talk, trinkets to buy, and good food, not much for the kids to do.

Dealing with covid madw this stop much easyer today. Not so manu people ro deal with but always a nice stop.

Wonderful Buildings. Go to the museum first to lest all about there culture.

Lots of walking with a great selection of crafts and wine if you are in to either.

It was fun visited some shops ate lunch at a bakery was delicious bought some bread also excellent.

Everyone is made to believe that is a Amish community, when it actually a small German Town from a small group who wanted to run from the Christian Church.

A great place to visit. You'll need more than one day to see and shop it all. Good food and drink and friendly people. Mostly for adults. Not a lot for children to do there.

Cute little community, lovely shops with some great finds, good food, interesting culture.

Was a big disappointment they went to commercialized. There are better places to go to.

I am from Colorado and have been stopping at Amana's 7 villages for 20 years while visiting family in Iowa. We always bought whole pies to take to family and to take home to Colorado. It was our routine for years! Stopped in yesterday to get a pie for my grandpa, they said come back tomorrow. We drove 30 miles today to get him a pie only to be told I can't buy a whole pie, and wouldn't sell me enough pieces to make a pie at $5.25 each! I will NEVER return to the Amana's now, and I am thoroughly disappointed that it has become such a money game it has lost the beauty of the old Amana's...so sad my kids will never enjoy it how I did. My family and I will never stop there again.

We greatly enjoyed our visit to the colonies. I wish we would have been able to spend multiple days here exploring each of the colonies.
It was totally worth the half hour detour on our way home. We'll see you next road trip!

Amana colonies Iowa is place to see! Rich history. Good shoppe. Good quality restaurants. 3 major historical society museums a must see.

Went to the Noble Stone. We love this store! Beautiful stones and awesome fossils! Perfect for the amateur geologist, Paleontologist, and even a few things for an amateur archeologist.

First time to Amana and very happy we came. Had so much fun walking the shops. Picked up some moccasins I haven't found in years. Had an early dinner. So much more to do still. Will definitely be back.

Friendly people. Cool to stop. Picture is from the Tannenbaum festival

This is a must for traveling through Iowa! German heritage at its best. Breweries and wineries really top off the local shops.

Love the Amana colonies, friendly people and unique shopping.

Very interesting historic villages. Really liked my visits there.

Interesting to see the various locations spread out over a few miles. Nice welcome center and gift shop. Staff here were friendly and willing to answer questions and educate about the area. Probably would be more interesting during a festival.

I have visited Amana colonies several times and I loved the food and shops and the beer garden

A beautiful colony to go from shop to shop. We went for 4 hours and we didn't even make a dent in all the shops. A very unique place to eat authentic German foods and to buy one of a kind gifts. We will be returning very shortly.

Beautiful place to visit for a nice walk . Many shops to choose from. Very charming atmosphere. A perfect place to visit on a nice e summer day.

Great food, great shops with unique locally made and sourced products, and some of the best drinks around. Highly recommend the Oktoberfest beer and the barrel aged oktoberfest. Brau Haus is great with an excellent patio

Employee at visitor center was very uninterested in providing info on the village. Simply said we have restaurants stores and trails. Very disappointing bought a Christmas ornament and left.

The woman working was the sweetest thing. She helped plan out where to visit, the best routes, the best shops for our interests, just so sweet. Love that they had all of the resteraunt menus there too, made planning easier.

Prices are high but the food at Ox Yoke in was outstanding

A favorite spot to visit with plenty of good options for food, and shopping, and really nice people too.

Really fun place to visit, great meat and wine markets.

Please put the accurate hours on this google and your website we came on a sunday got there at 5ish and was told everything was closed lady there said all stores in the colonies close by 5 everyday and this site and google says your open to 8pm every day so therefor i didn't get to experience the colonies due to the wrong info and i had driven 5hrs to get there and had to go home disappointed.however the lady did let us in to buy a couple things but we couldn't experience anything else

Make a day out of walking around the colonies and shopping the many stores! There is so much to see that I could go again, and still find new and unique items.

The host was very kind and gave us suggestions of where to take our kiddos. We walked all the way to the top of the visitors center to get a feel for the top of an old corn crib. The rugs on the wall remind me of the ones my grandma made. We walked around as a family and checked out the art. This is a must return. I loved the whirly gigs, the fossil rock shop and the art. I had my car and not the van!!

Shopped here as we traveled through the state. Well worth the time spent.

Still fun to go to but compared to 30 years ago, so few businesses.

My husband and I shared a weekend adventure exploring the colonies. We loved it and will be back.

Great lil' weekend getaway. Quaint shops and restaurants with a german theme.

Great polka bands, lots of good food and good Octoberfest beer!!

Great experience it was interesting learning of their past.

Very quaint town with friendly people, good people and even better food.

Several small shops with local handmade goods. A little pricey but a nice place to visit and take in some history. Some good deals can be found depending on what your looking for.

A definite destination location but fun even if you can only spend one day. AND...you can have just as much fun and not spend any money (though it is a challenge). So many fascinating shops and goodies to eat. Beautiful place to stay and ride bicycles around too. A trip worth repeating. Beautiful flower pots and interesting yard ornaments full of flowers too.

Was interesting place to visit,lots of history and old homes and businesses.

Beautiful friendly community. It is like stepping back in time. Make sure to stop in the visitor's center to get a map. Most of the wineries and breweries offer tastings.

Fun day trip, great food options. Lots to do and see

The restaurants, chocolate shops, brewery, shops, and wineries in the Amanas make for a great day trip.

Fun place with a great variety of places and things. Good food too.