Davenport is the largest of the Quad Cities and the main Iowa anchor on this bend of the Mississippi. It is a working river city rather than a polished weekend escape, with bridges, bluffs, old industrial edges, and enough museums to reward a stop.
The riverfront is the obvious place to start. Figge Art Museum gives downtown a serious cultural landmark, the Davenport Skybridge offers a quick river view, and Modern Woodmen Park makes baseball feel very close to the water. Inland, Vander Veer Botanical Park and the Putnam Museum are the strongest non-river stops.
Davenport works best when you treat it as part of a cross-river cluster. Bettendorf, Moline, and Rock Island are minutes away, and the Mississippi River Trail ties the area together better than the municipal boundaries suggest.