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Iowa

Des Moines with Kids

Des Moines works from about age 2, and most families need 2 to 3 days.

Des Moines is a small state capital that is unusually easy to visit with children, largely because nothing about it is crowded or expensive: parking is plentiful, the main sights are free or close to it, and the whole city is crossed in twenty minutes. The draw is a downtown sculpture park open at all hours, an art centre with no admission charge, an open-air farming museum in the suburbs, a compact zoo and a gold-domed capitol that can be toured. For eleven days each August the city becomes something else entirely, when the Iowa State Fair fills a permanent fairground east of the centre with livestock barns, agricultural competitions, fairground rides and food sold on sticks. The trade-off is scale: outside the fair, two or three days exhausts the list, and Des Moines works better as a stop on a longer drive than as the reason for a trip.

Best for ages
2+
Suggested stay
2–3 days
Best months
May–Oct
Daily budget
€240

Mid-range, family of four

Why Des Moines works with children

  • A lot of it costs nothing

    The downtown sculpture park, the art centre, the capitol tour and the riverside trails are all free, which changes what a wet afternoon costs a family of five.

  • Farming as an attraction, not a backdrop

    An open-air museum west of the city works four farms from different centuries with period tools, animals and staff in role, which lands better with children than a display case does.

  • Short distances and easy parking

    Almost everything sits within a fifteen-minute drive of downtown, and car parks are cheap and rarely full, so the day is not planned around transport.

  • A downtown skywalk for bad weather

    Enclosed walkways link a large part of the central blocks above street level, which covers the gap between a hotel and lunch on a cold or wet day.

Where to stay

Best areas in Des Moines for families

3 areas cover most trips here; the difference is mainly short car-free stays versus cheaper all-suite rooms and a pool.

  • Downtown & the Western Gateway

    Best for short car-free stays

    The sculpture park, the central library, the river and the skywalk are all here, and most of the full-service hotels with it. It is a business district, so restaurants are busy at lunchtime and quiet on Sunday evenings.

  • East Village

    Best for families who want somewhere to walk in the evening

    A few restored blocks between the river and the capitol, with independent shops and restaurants and a short walk up to the capitol lawn. Accommodation here is mostly apartments and small hotels rather than family rooms.

  • West Des Moines & Jordan Creek

    Best for cheaper all-suite rooms and a pool

    Suburban hotels along the western interstate corridor, typically with a breakfast included and an indoor pool, next to shopping centres. Everything here needs a car, and the drive into downtown is fifteen to twenty minutes off-peak.

Family hotel picks in Des Moines

  • Skywalk-linked hotel in downtown Des Moines
    Downtown / Western GatewayMid-range

    Skywalk-linked hotel in downtown Des Moines

    Puts the sculpture park, the library, the river trails and the capitol within a short walk or drive, and connects to lunch and shops above street level when the weather is bad.

    • Enclosed skywalk access to much of the central district
    • Walking distance to the free sculpture park and the river
    • Indoor pool at most of the larger properties
    • Parking garages that are cheap by American city standards

    Fitting a family in

    Two-double-bed rooms sleeping four are standard; suites and connecting rooms are available but in smaller numbers than in a larger city.

    Watch out. This is a business district — restaurants are busy at lunchtime and several close early on Sunday, and the streets are very quiet after dark. Rates and availability across the whole metro area change sharply during the state fair in August.

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  • All-suite hotel in West Des Moines
    West Des Moines / Jordan CreekBudget

    All-suite hotel in West Des Moines

    The cheapest comfortable way to sleep a family of five here, with breakfast, an indoor pool and free parking, and a straightforward fifteen-minute drive into the centre against the traffic.

    • Separate living area and kitchenette in most suites
    • Breakfast included and an indoor pool
    • Free parking and easy access to the interstate ring
    • Supermarkets and family restaurants within a few minutes

    Fitting a family in

    One-bedroom suites with a sofa bed take four to five; a handful of properties have two-bedroom units aimed at extended stays.

    Watch out. Everything here needs a car, including dinner, and the surroundings are shopping centres and car parks with nothing to walk to. Some properties sit close enough to the interstate for road noise on one side of the building.

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Things to do in Des Moines with kids

  • Pappajohn Sculpture Park
    Culture

    Pappajohn Sculpture Park

    Des Moines

    An open city block in downtown Des Moines set with large contemporary sculptures on lawns and paths, free and unenclosed. It sits beside the central library and a short walk from the river, and works as a run-around stop between indoor attractions.

    Ages
    0–16
    Time
    45 min
    Adult, from
    Free

    Good to know. There is almost no shade and no shelter, so it is a brief visit in a heatwave or a downpour. The paths are flat and paved. Climbing on the works is not permitted, which is worth saying to children before arriving rather than after.

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  • Living History Farms
    Culture

    Living History Farms

    Des Moines

    A large open-air museum in Urbandale, west of the city, working several farms from different centuries alongside a reconstructed 1870s town, with staff in period role, livestock, crops and craft demonstrations. Visitors walk or take a tractor-drawn cart between the sites.

    Ages
    4–14
    Time
    3h 30m
    Adult, from
    €18

    Good to know. Seasonal — it operates from roughly spring to autumn and closes for the winter apart from special events. The site is large and the walking between farms is on gravel and grass with long exposed stretches; a pushchair works but is hard going, and there is little shade on a hot day.

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  • Blank Park Zoo
    Animals

    Blank Park Zoo

    Des Moines

    A compact zoo on the south side of the city with African and Australian sections, a walk-through kangaroo yard, a small aquarium building and a farm area with feeding. Its size is the point: it is comfortably covered in a morning with young children.

    Ages
    1–10
    Time
    2h 30m
    Adult, from
    €16

    Good to know. Mostly outdoors with limited cover, so a summer visit works best early in the day. It is small enough that children over about ten may finish it quickly. Several of the feeding and close-contact experiences carry a separate charge on top of admission.

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  • Science Center of Iowa
    Museum

    Science Center of Iowa

    Des Moines

    A hands-on science museum downtown with a planetarium, a large-format cinema and floors of interactive exhibits covering the body, weather, flight and engineering, aimed squarely at primary-school ages.

    Ages
    3–12
    Time
    2h 30m
    Adult, from
    €18

    Good to know. Entirely indoors, which makes it the reliable wet or freezing-day option. The planetarium and the large-format film are usually charged separately from general admission, and the exhibits are pitched young enough that teenagers often lose interest.

    Check tickets — opens Klook in a new tab (affiliate link)

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through one, the price is the same for you and we may earn a commission. How this works.

Getting around Des Moines

A car is effectively required. Public buses run on a coverage-focused network aimed at commuters rather than visitors, with long gaps between services and little use for a family crossing town midday. Distances are short and traffic is light outside the morning and evening peaks, and parking is inexpensive downtown and free at the suburban sights. During the state fair the roads around the fairgrounds and the parking fields are the one genuine congestion point of the year, and the park-and-ride shuttles from car parks around the city are usually faster than driving to the gate.

Des Moines tips for families

  • When to go

    Book far ahead for the August fair, or stay out of town

    The state fair fills hotel rooms across the whole metro area and lifts prices for its eleven days in August. Families who are not there for the fair usually find better value in the week either side; families who are should book months out or plan to drive in from a smaller town nearby.

    Check prices — opens Klook in a new tab (affiliate link)

  • Money & costs

    Build the day around the free sights

    The sculpture park, the art centre and the capitol carry no admission charge, so a full day can cost only lunch and parking. Saving the paid attractions for the afternoon also means the free ones are seen before anyone is tired.

  • When to go

    Spring and early summer bring severe storms

    Iowa sits inside the belt where tornadoes are most frequent from roughly April to June, and thunderstorms in that period can be sudden and heavy. Warnings are broadcast on phones and by outdoor sirens, hotels have a designated shelter area, and outdoor plans in that window benefit from a flexible afternoon.

Des Moines with kids: common questions

How many days do you need in Des Moines with kids?
Two or three outside the state fair, which covers the sculpture park, the zoo, the science centre and a morning at the farms museum. During the fair, add a full extra day for the fair alone.
Is the Iowa State Fair worth it with children?
It is if the family is comfortable with a long, hot, crowded day outdoors. The livestock barns, the fairground rides and the food are the core of it, and there is far more than one day's worth. Shade is limited, the walking distances are large and pushchairs are hard work in the crowd.
Do you need a car in Des Moines?
Yes, in practice. The bus network is built for commuters and the attractions are spread across the metro area. Distances are short and parking is cheap and easy, so the driving itself is undemanding.
What is there to do in Des Moines in bad weather?
The science centre, the art centre and the botanical garden are all indoors, and the downtown skywalk links a large part of the centre above street level. The open-air farms museum is the one attraction that a wet day genuinely spoils.

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