---
title: "Des Moines – what to see, and every way to get there | Mixroutes"
description: "How to get to Des Moines from Omaha, Kansas City and Chicago: every way compared, with today's quickest and its fare. Des Moines is the capital and most…"
url: "https://www.mixroutes.com/places/des-moines"
markdown: "https://www.mixroutes.com/places/des-moines.md"
image: "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Morning_Skyline_-_Des_Moines%2C_Iowa_-_Winter_on_the_Des_Moines_River_%2824805016620%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/3840px-Morning_Skyline_-_Des_Moines%2C_Iowa_-_Winter_on_the_Des_Moines_River_%2824805016620%29_%28cropped%29.jpg"
---

![Des Moines](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Morning_Skyline_-_Des_Moines%2C_Iowa_-_Winter_on_the_Des_Moines_River_%2824805016620%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/3840px-Morning_Skyline_-_Des_Moines%2C_Iowa_-_Winter_on_the_Des_Moines_River_%2824805016620%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)

# Des Moines

Des Moines is the capital and most populous city in the U.S.

[Plan a trip to Des Moines](https://www.mixroutes.com/?to=Des%20Moines) [From Omaha](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Omaha&to=Des+Moines)

## Every way there

- Omaha → Des Moines 198 km · quickest by road, 2h 39m · $17–24 [Guide](https://www.mixroutes.com/routes/omaha-to-des-moines) [Today](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Omaha&to=Des+Moines)
- Kansas City → Des Moines 290 km · quickest by road, 3h 45m · $25–34 [Guide](https://www.mixroutes.com/routes/kansas-city-to-des-moines) [Today](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Kansas+City&to=Des+Moines)
- Chicago → Des Moines 495 km · quickest by road, 6h 34m · $43–60 [Guide](https://www.mixroutes.com/routes/chicago-to-des-moines) [Today](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Chicago&to=Des+Moines)

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

The field note

What is in and around Des Moines, ranked by how widely it is written about, how you reach it, and the nearest places where we have researched how people move.

[Read the note on Des Moines](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/des-moines)

What Des Moines has

- Y Scheduled flights Des Moines (DSM), 8 km
- Y Trains and coaches Transitous carries 5 timetable feeds for this country, 2 with real-time
- N Ferries no crossing within 25 km
- Y Driving and taxi OpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
- N Bike and scooter share no share feed known
- N Cruises no open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known.

41.600°, -93.609°

state of Iowa. It is named after the Des Moines River, likely derived from the French Rivière des Moines meaning 'River of the Monks'. The city was incorporated in 1851 as Fort Des Moines and shortened to Des Moines in 1857. Its population was 214,133 at the 2020 census. The six-county Des Moines metropolitan area has an estimated 750,000 residents, the largest metropolitan area located entirely in Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, with parts south of County Line Road extending into Warren County.

Text adapted from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Des_Moines%2C_Iowa), CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.


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