Viroqua Shopping: Why Is There a Pair of Doves Indoors?

In 1992, Smithsonian Magazine called Viroqua the town that beat Walmart, because its Main Street shops kept going after the big box opened on the edge of town. Walk the downtown blocks today and you can see why: Viroqua shopping is still small, independent and a little eccentric, from an indoor market with live doves to a used bookstore in a tobacco warehouse.

Almost all of it fits into a few blocks of South Main Street, so park once and walk. Here is the route, shop by shop, with the hours you need.

Where is the shopping in Viroqua?

Viroqua's shops sit along the 100 and 200 blocks of South Main Street and around the corner on Walnut Street, inside the Viroqua Downtown Historic District. Two worthwhile stops, the Liberty Pole Store and the Amish farm shops, need a car.

The district has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2003, and many of the storefronts date to the 1880s. The building at 113 to 117 South Main is an 1885 Italianate block that once held three shopfronts, and the Schultz Brothers Building at 121 to 123 South Main went up in 1924. Look up from the window displays and you will see the old cornices and brickwork.

The town also keeps its storefronts filled on purpose. The chamber's Pop-Up Shop program has let new businesses use an empty downtown space rent-free over the holiday season, which helps keep the blocks filled.

A walking route through the shops

Start at the north end of the South Main blocks and work south, then cut east to Walnut Street. The whole loop is well under a mile.

Ewetopia at 102 and Driftless Angler at 106 South Main sit side by side at the top of the block, with Bluedog Cycles across the street at 201. Keep walking south to the Public Market at 215 and VIVA Gallery right next door at 217. From there, Driftless Books is about a third of a mile northeast on Walnut Street, and the Co-op is about half a mile north on North Main.

Add the farmers market at 220 South Main on a Saturday, directly across from the Public Market, and you have covered downtown in a morning.

Viroqua Public Market

The Public Market holds 4.7 stars from 214 Google reviews. Give it longer than you think. The point is to wander, and the good finds sit in the corners. There are free lots and street parking right outside, and gender-neutral restrooms inside, which makes it a useful first stop.

VIVA Gallery

Driftless Books and Music

Reviewers tell you to block off an hour, or four. The building has no wheelchair-accessible entrance or restroom, so that is worth knowing before you go. With 4.7 stars from more than 370 Google reviews, it is the shop people drive to Viroqua for.

Yarn, flies and bikes

Three specialist shops sit at the north end of the South Main blocks, within a few doors of each other. Each one is the kind of shop that people plan a trip around.

Ewetopia Fiber Shop at 102 South Main, a women-owned shop, sells yarns for every fiber craft: its own line, locally milled yarn, major brands and international fibers, plus tools, patterns and classes. It hosts open handwork times on Tuesdays and Saturdays, when anyone can bring a project and sit with the regulars. Ewetopia is open Monday through Wednesday and Friday 10 to 5, Thursday 10 to 6, Saturday 9 to 5 and Sunday 10 to 3.

Driftless Angler at 106 South Main is the fly shop for the region's spring creeks, with gear and flies chosen for local water and a guide service. Driftless Angler is open Monday through Saturday 8 to 5 and Sunday 8 to noon.

Across the street at 201 South Main, Bluedog Cycles has sold and repaired bikes since 2005, including mountain, gravel and e-bikes, and rents e-bikes for riding the farm roads. In winter it carries Nordic skis and snowshoes. Bluedog is open Tuesday through Friday 10 to 6 and Saturday 9 to 3.

Food to take home

Downtown, Noble Rind Cheese Company inside the Hotel Fortney runs a specialty food and wine market alongside its cheese counter, and Tangled Hickory sells local wine, cheese and chocolate alongside its bar.

On Saturdays from May through October, the farmers market at 220 South Main adds honey, maple syrup, preserves and handmade crafts. For sit-down meals between stops, Viroqua restaurants are on the same few blocks.

Liberty Pole Store, out on Highway 27

Amish goods around Viroqua

The ridges around Viroqua are home to Amish farm families, and many sell from their homes. Watch for hand-painted roadside signs advertising quilts, oak and willow furniture, rugs, baked goods and candies, and follow them up the farm lanes.

Farm shops keep their own hours and many take cash rather than cards, so carry some. Do not photograph people without asking.

For a shop with set hours, Amish Quilts and Crafts in Norwalk, about 19.7 miles north-northeast, sells handmade quilts and other Amish-made goods.

Organic Valley, the farmer-owned dairy cooperative based in the area, also runs retail stores in nearby Cashton and La Farge, which are worth a stop for its cheese and butter.

Gifts to take home from Viroqua

The best souvenirs here are things made or grown within a few miles. A bag of Wonderstate coffee, roasted in Viroqua with solar power, is the easy one, and the Cheese Corner has a small gift shop beside its deli counter.

For something to keep, look at the paintings, ceramics and jewelry at VIVA, a skein of locally milled yarn from Ewetopia, or a rare used book from Driftless Books. In season, the farmers market sells maple syrup, honey and preserves that travel well in a suitcase.

Parking and accessibility

Parking downtown is free, on the street and in the lots near the Public Market. Google lists wheelchair-accessible entrances at the Public Market, VIVA Gallery and Ewetopia, and full accessibility, including restrooms, at the Public Market.

Driftless Books and Music is the exception, with no accessible entrance or restroom, so call ahead if that matters for your group.

Shop hours at a glance

These are the hours posted on Google in October 2026. They shift with the seasons, so check before you make a special trip.

When to shop

Saturday is the day. Every shop on the list is open, the farmers market is running from May through October, and the street has the most life. Weekday mornings are calm, but Bluedog and Liberty Pole keep shorter weeks, and Bluedog is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Arriving on a Monday, you will still find the Public Market, Ewetopia, Driftless Angler and the Co-op open.

In the weeks before Christmas, the pop-up shops and the holiday displays make December a good time for gifts. Make a day of it with the rest of what to do in downtown Viroqua, from the Temple Theatre to the county museum.