Tours
Let our experience be your guide
Motor coaches and tour groups are always welcome. We offer a Step-on Tour Guide Service of the Amana Colonies, featuring a unique Two or Three Entree Banquet dining experience with friendly service, ample coach parking, handicap access to dining areas, and clean restrooms on every floor.
We provide a complimentary meal for one escort and the driver. The experienced guide will provide a complete history of the Amana Colonies and make stops along the way providing time for shopping and browsing. We suggest a three or four hour tour. We will adjust times to fit your schedule.
There are many tour features included with your Ox Yoke Inn Restaurant Package:
- Tour times of 3,4, or 6 hours
- Welcome reception/orientation with complimentary refreshments at the Amana Colonies Visitors' Center
- All admissions, gratuities & taxes
- Certified Amana Colony Step-on host/guide
- Historically Entertaining to places off the beaten path
- A Visit to several Amana villages including:
- Middle Amana
- West Amana
- High Amana
- South Amana
- Homestead
- Stops(s) to multiple specialty/craft shops on the tour route, which may include:
- 2hr. - choose 2 sites * 3hr. - choose 3 sites * 4hr. - choose 4 sites * 6hr. - choose 6 sites.
- Village Hearth Bakery
- Amana Arts Guild Gallery Shop
- Broom & Basket Craft Shop
- Quilt Shop
- Furniture Factory
- Butcher Shop & Smoke House Tower
- Winery & Tasting Room
- Woolen Mill
- Old-Fashioned Village General Store
- Village Blacksmith
- AJ's Copper Shop
- Stops at admissioned attractions/craft-demonstration(s) on the tour route, which may include:
- 2hr. - choose 1 site * 3hr. - choose 2 sites * 4hr. - choose 3 sites * 6hr. - choose 3 sites.
- Communal Kitchen House
- Communal Agricultural Museum
- Amana Church Museum w/Storyteller
- Museum of Amana History
- Village Potters Studio
- Village Rug Weaver
- Village Tinsmith
- Buildings & Garden Tour
- Apple Cider Mill
- Village Walking Tour
- Antique Show and Tell
- AJ's Copper Factory
- Opa's Tractor Barn (please add 3.00 per person to package price)
The Ox Yoke Inn Tradition
When William and Lina Leichsenring opened the Ox Yoke Inn in 1940, they were committed to keeping their Amana heritage alive. William was born in what is now the Ox Yoke's Amana Dining Room, and Lina spent many long hours as a young girl working in an Amana Colonies communal kitchen learning the traditional recipies. The restaurant's first family-style dinners of fresh meat and vegetables, raised and grown in the Colonies, were served for 65 cents.
Today, the Ox Yoke Inn tradition is carried on by William and Lina's son, Bill Leichsenring Jr. and his family. Four generations have worked at the Ox Yoke Inn.
The building that is now the Ox Yoke Inn was built in 1856 and was once a traditional Amana Colonies communal kitchen. Amana Colonies farmers would come in from the fields to feast on hearty meals prepared by their wives and daughters. The recipies for many of the dishes enjoyed in the communal kitchen are still used at the Ox Yoke Inn. Our delicious German dishes - Wiener Schnitzel, Sauerbraten, and Jager Schnitzel - have Old World origins and continue to be popular with our guests.
On December 29, 1998 the restaurant located at I-80 Amana exit 225 was acquired and renamed the Ox Yoke Innterstate. We are proud to bring a taste of the Amana Colonies - serving Amana made meats, breads, wines, and beers.
More about the Amanas
The Amana Colonies were founded in 1854 by Inspirationists, a people dedicated to family life, religious freedom, tradition and hard work. They were skilled craftsman and women who labored to make fine furniture, woolens, wines, beers, meats, cheeses and baked goods that remain at the heart of the Amanas. While you're visiting the Amana Colonies, don't miss an opportunity to stop in our fine shops and museums and take a little of the Amana Colonies tradition home with you. To find out more, visit the Amana Colonies website.
