We've "done" the Mississippi River between the Twin Cities and Dubuque many times and love it. We like places like Stillwater, Red Wing, La Crosse, Prairie Du Chien and Galena. For a change of pace we are thinking of heading south from Dubuque to St. Louis.

Is it as nice as the Wisconsin/Minnesota portion? We're looking for recommendations. We enjoy quaint towns, galleries, antiques, history, good food, B&B's and, of course, beautiful scenery.

I just joined the Fodors discussion, so hope this is not too late. Alton along the Great River Road is a wonderful place to enjoy antiques and good food and the scenery on the bluffs is outstanding. Elsa is a quaint little village not far from Alton on the Great River Road. It has some really quaint Bed and Breakfasts and some really good dining with home made food. The people are so friendly and service is outstanding. We stayed at The Maples B&B many years ago, and when we drove through Elsa last summer, it was still there. Grafton is equally wonderful and you must visit Pere Marquette State Park, and they have a Lodge there that has wonderful accomodations. I hope this helps. If you visit in the fall during the changing of the colors of the trees - it is sooo beautiful.

There are many lovely areas along the Great River Road in Illinois. I second the recommendation for Pere Marquette State Park. But I would caution you that, if you want to stay in the very nice lodge there, make reservations well ahead.

Another area you might want to consider checking out between Dubuque and St. Louis is Hannibal, MO, birth place of Mark Twain.

No it is not as nice as the coulee region http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulee_Region

But has worth of its own.

I just came across the responses to my earlier post and want to thank you for taking the time to reply. The trip did not come off as anticipated because the weather was in the triple digits when we planned to go. We don't enjoy bumming around and discovering new places in that kind of weather so we stayed close to home instead. I will file the info for next spring or summer. Thanks again.