The Best Things to See, Eat, and Do in Galena & Dubuque, Iowa

My Birthday Weekend in Galena & Dubuque, Iowa

I had a very busy weekend celebrating my 34th birthday with five of my friends! We decided to visit Galena and Dubuque for an extended girls' weekend, and it was perfect.

Where We Stayed in Galena

We stayed in the Galena Territory during our trip, which was around 15 minutes outside of the Downtown area. Our Airbnb was right on a lake, so it was beautiful and peaceful. After everyone arrived, we ordered Cannova's Pizzeria, one of the ONLY places that delivers in the entire town! Luckily, it was delicious.

The First Place We Visited

The first place we went when we got to Downtown Galena was the Dowling House for our Galena Ghost Walk. We made multiple stops throughout the area over the course of around 90 minutes. If you want to read more about our ghost tour from the Haunted Galena Tour Company, click HERE!

Bar Hopping in Eastern Iowa

After our tour, we ended up hopping around to a few different bars in the area, including The Grape Escape and Embe Eatery & Lounge. Later that night, we hitched a ride back to our Airbnb with Galena's General Express. There isn't really an Uber presence in Galena, so we were very thankful to find them. They were awesome!

Foodie Adventures in Galena

On Saturday afternoon, we headed back to Downtown Galena for a tour with Galena Foodie Adventures. Our tour guide Devin, who is also the founder of the company, is actually a native Iowan! He grew up in Iowa City and his family still lives in the Corridor.

We got to sample food and beverages from five different places during our Downtown Galena Food & Drink Tour. The list includes:

Here's a look at everything we did (and ate) during our time in Galena:

Courtlin's First Trip to Galena

Here's a look at everything we did (and ate!) in Galena in May of 2025:

Gallery Credit: Courtlin

Spending a Day in Dubuque

But wait... there's more! On Sunday, we took a little drive over to Dubuque for brunch and a visit to the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. Like Galena, I had never been to Dubuque before, so I looked up good places for brunch on Google. One of the places with the best reviews is called Roses & Berries Cafe, so that's where we went! It was a very cute restaurant and we all enjoyed our food. The best part of the day, though, was definitely the otters. I was SO EXCITED to see them! Here are the photos from our afternoon in Dubuque: