Iowa City earns its nickname, the Athens of Iowa, by fusing brains and brawn in one vibrant college town. Poets read where Pulitzer Prize–winning authors once drank. Fans send the Hawkeye Wave rolling through Kinnick Stadium. Sidewalks, pedestrian areas, and bike paths link independently owned shops, a percolating coffee scene, celebrated restaurants, and the region’s finest arts and entertainment venues.

Slurp a pie shake at a national whistle stop for presidential hopefuls. Listen to bluegrass on a “bridge to nowhere.” Catch a world premiere at Riverside Theatre or a Broadway show at Hancher Auditorium. Check out a bike at the Bike Library, then chase “hero dirt” on the mountain bike trails at Sugar Bottom. Feel “Wrestletown USA’s” muscular heritage at Carver Hawkeye Arena, or acquire some cool kicks at Vice.

100 Things to Do in Iowa City maps out all of it and more. Written by journalist Ceil Miller Bouchet, whose family has called Iowa City home for generations, this guide invites you inside a cosmopolitan regional capital with a small-town heartbeat.