Reviews of Top of Iowa Welcome Center (Travel Agency)

Tara Stage

Awesome place

Merrill Bowman

Great place to buy souvenirs and stretch your legs.

Nikki C

Super clean and friendly staff

Matthew Lingscheit

Lots of vending machines. The machines take cards too.

Hungry Duncan's

Unique Travel Center for the whole family and Fido too. Barn shaped border building features all the typical rest stop necessities with the added fun of a snack/coffee shop and gift shop. It has many historical features and travel information for one end of the state to the other. If you can't find what you are looking for on the information boards, then any one of the staff members will help with a smile. The gift shops has many unique and handmade items from the area. There is plenty of room to stretch your legs, take a walk, or even picnic. Your puppy dog even has his own spot for relief.

Jackie Lafountain

Fun rest stop for a picnic

Jerome Fitzsimons

Torrie and the rest do an excellent job there. Most welcoming visitors center I've ever been to. Pies the serve are home made and incredibly good.

Scott Oren

Very clean and nice.

Amy Osman

Love stopping here on our trips! There's a cool coffee shop upstairs in the barn, and a gift shop with really fun and unique items. Plus free maps and info on hundreds of attractions. Right next to gas stations and casino, easy access from the highway.

Wally Graeber

$5 Pie, ice cream & coffee! What a treat!

Jenny Miller

Very nice and clean rest stop. Shop was closed when we got there. Loved the painted rock out back for women serving our country back to the civil war. It is a must see if your in the area!!

Leslie Ramirez

Very nice place to stop to stretch out for a long trip. Nice gift shop to look around, coffee to sit and relax for couple minutes, and information desk in the upper part of the barn. Restrooms in the first level are cleaned. Vending machines if you need some drinks.

Kenneth Tyrrell

Great place to visit when you need to stretch your legs. Little shop and restaurant inside too with a dog park right outside the main building.

Mike Hurt

This is by far the nicest welcome center I have been to. There are more pamphlets and guides than I have seen at any other center in any other state. They also had a person there who could help answer questions or find materials that might interest you. There are no restaurants, but there is a small gift/coffee shop and they sell pies. There are some vending machines, and of course bathrooms and water fountains. Ample parking, and easy to access. Definitely stop here if you are on your way into Iowa for the first time!

Mark Javers

One of the nicest rest stops/ welcome centers that you will ever visit.

Kathleen Riley

One of my favorite rest stops! In addition to the basics like bathrooms, snacks and never in machines, there is a gift shop upstairs (where I buy Post Cards on almost every trip) travel information, a coffee shop with cookies, pies, biscotti and more. There is information for all parts of Iowa available and currently there are displays with information on Clear Lake and Mason City. If you aren’t familiar with those two areas, Mason City is known for Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and is the setting of the musical The Music Man. Clear Lake is the location of the Surf Ballroom and slightly north of town the Buddy Holly crash site. Ample parking for cars, RVs, trailers and tractor-trailers. Across the parking lot is Diamond Jo Casino and hotel, a fuel station and a Burger King. There are additional hotels and gas stations at the intersection too. Easy on and off the Interstate and if you like t take the backroads there are plenty of interesting side trips too.

Patti Joyal

Very clean. Gift shop and Cafe open during daylight hours.

Pat Addy

Great Stop for pie!

Gerald Bonnstetter

Good rest stop on I35 just south of Minnesota border.

Fa'iz -

Clean, safe and well taken care of! The cafe could use a few less sugary and fresher items, but it's nice that they have one.

Thomas Grable

Nothing special, just your average welcome center/ rest stop.

Koala S

Wonderful stop for everyone. Tons of pamphlets and information. Wonderful little coffee shop with fresh baked foods. Cute little gift shop with lots of hand made items for all ages. Area for pets to walk and use bathroom. Clean bathrooms. 6-8 vending machines.

Jacob McClernon

Super clean, nice rest stop. Kinda annoyingly far from the interstate for a rest area. The gift shop and food is usually closed when we are stopping (in the late evening). Lots of space to walk your dog!

Amber Fairchild

Wish bathroom stalls had hooks! Nice location and extras, though! Clean

Thad melson-jr

Nice and clean

Melissa Dobson

Great stop for lunch. We parked and walked across the street for burger king and took it back to the rest area to eat. No smoking through the entire place.

Avery Abney

Don't be fooled by the second floor, this building is actually a split level. Nevertheless, this is a quality rest-stop

Sherry Lewis

Great rest area had a coffee shop, little shop with intricate gifts.

Misty Claybaker

Clean friendly pretty amazing information in there and it's easy to get to

Brian Reeves

Great place to rest

Jeff Bakken

Extremely clean and nice place to visit!

Daniel Randolph

Nice place to stop and cute. Pay attention to how you come in. We didn't and had to do a weird turn around. Also, I didn't use it, but it says there is WiFi and there are place to sit. So if you need a break on the road, seems like this is a place you could get connected and take a break at.

Bill Lindeman

Super clean bathrooms a small coffee shop and gift shop. Nice place to stop.

Mary Dollins

This rest stop rocks. It's in a barn looking building. Tons of restroom stalls, it's clean, there's water fountains, vending machines, and a coffee shop. Very nice and safe. No camping

J & J

We always make this stop whether we need a rest or not. A favorite.

John Marino

Clean, clean, clean. Beautiful gift shop, plus you can buy apple pie, cookies and hot drink. Feels like a family barn on steroids.

Youa Vang

Always our stop, either on way to Minnesota or back home to Missouri.

Jennifer Smith

Bathrooms are always clean. Easy on & off I-35.

Heidi S

This rest stop was nice. It included a coffee shop and gift store. I was disappointed there was no playground for kids.

Andrew Sipes

Beautiful spot, more like a park, than a rest stop. BBQs, benches, and tons of snack machines.

Rhonda Ryckman

It's always sooo clean! I like a clean restroom.

Myron Lupkes

Great place to take a break from driving

Tom O'Connor

It was a cool place to stop and take a break

Russ Blacksmith

Rest stop. Clean bathrooms.

Donald Faust

Very friendly staff. Quaint little rest stop with snack bar, shop, and brochures of practically every town in Iowa.

Lonnie McDonald

Good friendly staff and enjoyed the center.

Donna Miller

This Welcome Center has become my all time favorite. We enjoyed coffee and pie, while browsing through the brochures. The employees were very helpful and knowledgeable.

Jessica Anderson

Nice clean restrooms. Beautiful inside and out. Coffee for sell. Road information.

Jim White

Really unusual Welcome Center in northern Iowa. Shaped like a barn. Really nice folks working in there. Gift shop and some special patriotic touches!

Amanda Bieber

The cookies and pie upstairs are amazing! Homemade and very good!

ken neeld

Clean, nice gift shop and coffee bar, unexpected. Friendly people proud to talk about Iowa

Margaret Cumberworth-Bucher

Very nice place to stop. Beautiful surroundings!

April Backous

Great place to pull over. Restrooms clean and we'll cooled in summer. Cute landscaping

Tim Knudsen

Great rest stop. Very clean and lots of information about Iowa. There is a Casino near by if you want to try your luck.

Omar Castillo

Awesome rest stop and gift shop and sight seeing place. It is the last rest stop before you make it to the state line with MN. Take your time when visiting, make sure to go to the second floor, it has a very nice gift shop. Take lots of pictures outside, there are some monuments and landmarks with history.

Randy Nelson

Nice rest area to stop at. Friendly people!

Bryan Moats

As far as Visitor Center goes or rest areas this place is phenomenal.

Michelle Ozaki

It is clean and beautiful. It has an upstairs with lots to see.

Brian Bartelt

The have a pay phone! Friendly helpful staff and clean restrooms! Thanks!

jennifer Pothen

this place is really cool for a welcome center. Loads is info available. Nice people.

Sherry Jones

Very clean facility and friendly people. The gift shop was unique.

Kelly Thorsfeldt

We met some family from Wisconsin and had a great visit.

Matthew Ryan

Great service center and location. Some of the isles weren't big enough for two people to be in at the same time.

Austin King

When you order an iced coffee be prepaired to have a literal cold coffee. No sugar or milk just coffee with icecubes in it.

Katrina Meier

Dated facilities although clean. No garbage can in the women's restroom and sinks don't work that well.

Jon Boyce

Perfect place for us to pit stop at on the way to southern Iowa and gas up if needed.

John Enger

Very clean, friendly and helpful staff, always plenty of travel information.

J Stringer

Iowa has the best rest stops in the Midwest and this spot is probably its finest. Good information spot, coffee shop is non-franchise and excellent in quality, the local resource/docent/guide is a wonderful host. It is also right next to the casino where the dining is quite good. Relax here for as long as you wish.

Jason Wegner

Excellent facility

Chaitanya Kulkarni

Lots of brouchers and maps to help your stay in Iowa.

Tamara Blalock

Always a good stop to stetch and walk our dog. Interesting and unique items in gift shop, lots of information for things to see and do. Clean restrooms. We stop here everytime we are headed north.

Billie Bergmann

This is our "Half of the Way" stop between Des Moines and Minneapolis. My kids love to run around the outside of this place and the snacks inside. I love that it's clean and organized!

Robert Sanderson

Nice, friendly staff. Good Hot Chocolate.

Robert Elsenpeter

Very clean rest stop, the best I've stopped at

Tom Franklin

Pleasant, good snacks, stop by when you are close.

DeLeon Deleon

Nice place

Joel Walker

Great rest area.

The Paiks

This is a friendly place with good coffee, pie, and info on your Iowa visit. Upstairs, they had $3 peach, strawberry rhubarb, and apple pie slices that you can even take to go if you're in "get somewhere" mode. You can make your pie a la mode. Take a few extra minutes if your schedule allows!

Mike Kleiner

Lots of great information. Clean restrooms and excellent coffee shop

Deb Spivey

Always a fun place to stop. The staff is nice and friendly.

Greg D

Don't remember.

Benjamin Koch

Impressive rest center. Has a gift shop and a place to get coffee if it's open.

Diane Haugesag

Very friendly staff! Tons of maps and attraction info.

Paul Schmitz

Very clean. Nice Bathrooms

Brittany Dueker

Great place to get state maps and a cup of coffee.

timothy lindstrom

When heading south on I-35 or returning, it's a great place to get off the motorcycle and WALK. TV weather monitoring live. Nice to know the weather and purchase snacks or water. There is more buildings popping up. Around this rest area!

Lyle Sexton

What a neat place never seen at rest area Visitor Center like that my life very helpful we get food too

Samuel Kidder

Best rest stop ever

Patricia Michna

Nice place to stop, good coffee and pie today, gift shop one of my favorites has elevator to top floor handicapped accessible all the way through easy access.

Tracy Lambert

U can go to the bathoom

Floyd Sawatzky

A large and Super clean rest area.

Dru Ring

Great picnic tables outside, with a short loop sidewalk. Inside is a nice little coffee shop with pie. Bathrooms are clean.

Jeff Mergler

Well worth a stop for a coffee or bathroom break.

William Murphy

Stopped here with my mother to use the bathroom. She's in a wheelchair and the stalls we're barely big enough for us to get her into and onto the toilet. There is not a unisex toilet with sufficient space like another rest area further south. Had to wedge her chair in along side the toilet and then help her to transfer. If they were to remove one of the stalls to the side then there would be better access. Furthermore, the stalls on both women's and men's room we're equally afflicted. We started with the lady's room, but a young mother was in the accessible stall and said there was liquid on the floor. I cringed thinking how bad the men's rooms are usually. It was at least clean and not a stinking fetid mess. First time my 86 year old mom has visited the men's toilet.

Chawni Whitlock

Nice places to stop. Though gift shop was closed and bathrooms smelled.

Justin Chapman

Oh man. Whatever you hope to find at a welcome center, this will blow your expectations out of the water. I am not lying. When we stopped here, I was hesitant because it required crossing the interstate and a couple of turns. I was not disappointed. Opening the door revealed not just clean restrooms and an few vending machines, but a beautiful wood-plank barn-style interior. The lower level is the usual rest stop stuff, but more attractive. That alone would be worth the stop, but the upper level is what takes the cake. In the beautiful wood-framed, light-filled, high-ceilinged interior there is a little shop selling coffee and delicious, FRESH, HOMEMADE PIE! And it's only $3 a slice! It was amazing. Sweet, warm fruit in a flaky crust. Oh man. There was also a gift shop and more information about Iowa than you thought existed and friendly staff. It's such a good spot, it's almost worth a drive just for the welcome center!

Fangstang _

A true throw back look to the Iowa farms of yester year. As a true Iowan it reminded me of the farms I would see driving to visit relatives when I was a child growing up and some of my family's farms. If you have a few minutes on a trip it's a good rest stop.

Leland Jackson

Clean and a little Iowa history to check out

Andrew Trautman

This place is adorably cute. It is technically a rest stop, so nice clean bathrooms and a place to stretch the legs. Upstairs they have a little store with homey items for sale and a little coffee shop. It is shaped like a really cute barn.

Rick Besk

Best rest area around. Very nice and clean

Stu Ford

Very clean and well m

jereme schulz

One of my favorite stops between mn and Iowa. It'd always clean, when you see staff they ate friendly. There is the map on the wall as well as Iowa maps to take with you. Well lit and comfortable. Also right next to a casino and gas station if you need more than a rest stop.

Lynne Silva-Breen

A rest stop gem!

Jennie Orr Thomas

Clean. Has free WiFi

aleane velez

Clean place and good prices for the food at the cafe

Lisa D

Really nice welcome center that was a great place to stop and walk around.

Allan Boucher

Clean, clean, clean! Very pleasant rest stop!!!

Tina Vanderhoff

Out of all the rest stops in all the state's that we've been to this is always my favorite.

Marilyn Brustad

Always clean. Helping.

Michael Cisar

Cool place to check out and see, a great welcome to iowa

Blaine DCmblza

Always clean and well maintained

johnny higginbotham

Surprising distraction to a 13 hour drive

dave bergum

Very friendly staff with very clean facility. Popcorn was excellent!

Ted Coppock

Excellent facility. One of top in Iowa. VERY CLEAN!

Alan Albrecht

One of the nicest rest stops in the nation. They even have a little coffee shop where you can pick up a piece of pie.

Pete Johannsen

Very nice! Clean with an area for our dogs to go as well! The upstairs area (when open) is a destination in itself with a gift shop....a little (very well done) museum...and a "coffee shop"! (Don't expect Starbucks....but 100X better than vending machine coffee....and the employees are 100X nicer here than they are at Starbucks!)

Jason Bliss

As far as rest areas go it's off the main road enroute to a casino. Easy access and clean, lots of sending machines and even a coffee shop. I only give it three stars though as there is no changing table in the men's room!

Dan Jensen

Clean restrooms, what more could one want. Friendly staff, there is a small so upstairs and coffee vender. Also a lot of info on Iowa.

Jim Stanford

This is a very charming place to stop.

mindy johnson

Love the layout

Lynn bakken

We are in an RV and they are one of the few stops we can dump. The center had great facilities.

Mary Anderson-Dick

Great little stop. Gift store. Snacks, Restroom. What more could you want?

Brandon Kettman

Very clean and spacious

allan baumann

Great place to stop and rest. Like always was very clean.

Ashley Hanel

The people here were so friendly. What a great first experience into Iowa. This is the best rest stop I've ever been to before. The pie and coffee was very good here. Rhubarb pie and ice was very reasonable prices. There is also a cute gift shop upstairs for farmhouse related gifts.

Joy Walters

Very unique and attractive travel stop!

Robert Thomas

Great welcome center

Roland McG

Friendly folks and knowledgable

Kathy Buck

Cutest rest stop ever!! Nice people. Great coffee shop and boutique.

rickey odrisco

First let me explain I'm taking a trip across the country Crush 94 all the way to Washington State and I mean it's all long long long drive not by choice but because I got into a problem with the Canadian border patrol and their attitudes for some strange reason these people were rude crude obnoxious and downright nasty saying that sylheti itself was exceptionally clean the staff there knew exactly what service and quality of service is meant to be I am grateful that I walked into a clean bathroom some place that I could get a little snack and a drink and rest thank you very very much great job guys my hat goes off to you

Dick Van Aalsburg

Great place to stop for the necessities but also the coffee shop upstairs has the best homemade pie!

R M

They're made right

Krystal Neppl

Such a fun place to stop

Tanya McGrew

Clean restrooms. Good assortment of maps and tourist items for the area. Safe.

Craig Taylor

Very nice and very clean

Debby Hudella

Many drink machines to choose from. Cute upstairs area to sit with a coffee house. Bathrooms are very clean. Great outside area dedicated to our men and women in the US Armed Services. Area for pets is very nice also. Good place to stop.

Mary D

Nice clean bathrooms and some room to walk around and get information on Iowa.

Gordon Hawkins

Clean rest area. Nice place.

Rick Kies

Very nice Welcome Center with a lot of uniqueness to it

Mark Sogard

My Texan future wife loved it!!!

Heidi J

Large nice clean restrooms easy to get in and out of 24 hours a day. Vending machines in lobby AND If you stop between 9 am-5 pm the upstairs is open. Huge selection of maps and tourists brochures from all around the state. Helpful people on hand to help you choose which visits are a good for for you. Gift shops and fresh pies available for purchase. Cute place.

Frances Brown

A clean travel stop, up stairs has info clearly marked by area of state. Great host helpful, small gift shop. Cafe has home made pie and othe treats with coffee and tea. Easy parking for big rvs

Kelly Burroughs

Nice clean place to stop. Very nice people working the visitor center during the day.

Jennifer Pennington

What a great rest stop. They have delicous pie and a great garden out back!

Lexi Suby

Nice rest stop and the strawberry rhubarb pie is amazing. Plenty of vending machines with different beverages.

Justin Lee

Clean well maintained rest area

FredH Sorensen

Always clean and staff are friendly.

wendy knau

Great rest stop

Michelle Anderson

Great little spot. Need to move the truck lines about 20degrees to the right, then trucks could double row!!

Debra Matlock

Better than hy-vee on Logan Ave in w'loo IA

Tatiana Reyes

I love it.!!! Really creative and the hostess are super friendly and helpful. The pie and sundae was delicious.

Renee Zeilbeck

Great host! Homemade cookies! Free map for arkansas, which we needed!

Mel Shreve

This is my favorite rest stop across the US. Our family has stopped here at least 6 times in the past 6 months. We have been traveling across the US and nothing has come close to this in all rest stops across the Midwest and entire southern US. The gift shop with homemade knickknacks is my favorite part. And the coffee shop with fresh baked goods and coffee is great. The bathrooms have always been clean. The upstairs, elevator, and staircase layout of this barn style rest stop is great. And the kids really enjoy the play area. We will be stopping by again when we leave. I am so glad the state of Iowa has put so much effort into this rest stop. I would recommend it to anyone passing through to stop by. FYI - Upstairs shops are opened 9am to 5pm.

Glenda Brabec

Love this rest stop! Gift shop wonderfully clean bathrooms and very friendly, helpful people!

Courtney Mcinroy

our 1st annual stop we make every road trip we can

IROCKPAPERPLATES

Iowa is an ok place. Boom roasted Iowa. Also this place was really nice and the people here were great and welcoming.

Tina Womer

Very clean, modern rest area. It's very nice to have the coffee shop and gift shop there to take a break. It's right beside the casino if you want to stay a but longer.

Isabelle Ku

Stopped by here on the way to Minneapolis. It was very clean, had lots of vending machines as well as a small place selling coffee, hot chocolate, and some food. The gift shop was a bit small but had some interesting stuff. There was also a small collection of handmade quilts for sale.