A very pleasant day in London

[+RAY9042]

Spent a day caching in London. Not everyone's cup of tea I know but I really enjoyed it. Got a train ticket for 10 pounds return into king's cross and armed with a pre-planned route off I went. It made a change not doing all the regular tourist stuff and found some lovely tucked away spots. There were some very clever hides and some containers that the cache hiders obviously spent a lot of time and effort creating.

[+Kentish Maids]

Sounds like fun. I haven't given London ago yet but after reading your post I think I will. My only concern is the sheer number of muggles around. Did you find that a problem?

[+richard701]

I'm not a London fan myself, although a couple of times lately I have been there and there are loads of caches around. Most of the caches I did there were in touristy areas and to be honest there are so many people around, many doing quirky things anyway that muggles were not a problem at all. I'll definitely be going back soon, particularly to finsh the Jack the Ripper and the Sherlock Holmes series' and will no doubt find a few others while I am up there.

[+Wintonian]

Sounds like fun. I haven't given London ago yet but after reading your post I think I will. My only concern is the sheer number of muggles around. Did you find that a problem?

Have spent a couple of days there on caching trips, not normily a great fan of uban caching, but for example I was doing a cache in site of Chering Cross station at rush hour and to be honest if you covertly have a nose round without trying to draw too much attention it can kind of fun nosing arround whilst piles and piles of commuter rush past you as if they were late for work about an hour ago, while you are solitry minding your own buisness at a lesurly pace with out a care in the world, the commuter breed is too concearned about getting to work that they don't even notice you, far more worried about how long it takes the traffic lights to change.

 

Not everyones cuppa but a nice feeling to just carry one and let the world rush pat you, in a literal sense.

[+CanUK_TeamFitz]

I work in London a lot of the time and I've been able to do a few caches on my lunch or way home. The problem I have found is with series caches - a lot of the caches seem to be set up for tourists or part of series that would require you spending at least half a day finding.

 

Sadly these ones I ignore but they still show up on my radar. Being here 5 days a week means I have no urge to travel in on a weekend to do them.. but one day I probably will!

 

(I commute from Watford)

[+Kentish Maids]

Thanks guys. I will certainly give it ago.

[+goldpot]

Oh no! Not more caching tourists travelling up to town!

 

Better get some more logsheets ready!

Edited September 3, 2009 by goldpot

[+smstext]

@ OP how many did you get done?

[+Jonovich]

@ OP how many did you get done?

 

Luckily, the OP is the type of cacher who logs their finds on the website, so we can see which caches they did and what they thought of them.

 

J

[+RAY9042]

Hi

I found muggles not to be a problem really as it is fairly busy and no one seems to take notice of you. Some caches warned about the police but never had any problems with these either, maybe the locations were not in 'sensitive ' areas? I found 12 and had 3 DNF. I planned a route from the train down to the river and back again and never used the tube. What surprised me was how far we walked in a day...15miles...My wife thought it was about 5 miles but the gps does not lie!

Goldpot. Many thanks for your hides as we went to places we never would have.

I'm planning to go again to complete a couple of multis.

Thanks.

[+tsiolkovsky]

Sounds like fun. I haven't given London ago yet but after reading your post I think I will. My only concern is the sheer number of muggles around. Did you find that a problem?

 

Of course, so you've got to pick your caches with care.

 

So far done two caching trips in London - mostly post work stuff. What I tend to do is walk from central london back to Paddington Station taking in caches on the way. Given how small central london is this is actually possible without too much effort and it is rather nice to simply wander down the less well trod paths being led to some lovely green spaces like Holland Park or Brompton Road Cemetery.

 

I definately don't recommend doing some of the more touristy spots unless you do them early in the mornings (5am / 6am) and right now I don't suggest doing them at all until at least next week due to hightened security within these areas.

 

Rik

[+MartyBartfast]

I've done a fair bit of London caching too, all pre or post work. One thing I would add is don't be afraid to go "saarf o' the river mate". There are some great caches along the south bank, and I've had a couple of very pleasant trips walking from Waterloo to Canary Wharf along the Thames path on the south side (anyone doing this can get a ferry over the river from Rotherhithe). There's also some good caches to be had round Greenwich park. Also London Invasion is well worth the effort.

[+HouseOfDragons]

Definitely some great ones along the South bank. We had such a fabulous laugh doing the one at the National Theatre. Superb. the one behind the Tate Modern is a personal favourite too - mainly because we made such a meal out of DNFing it once and then finding it. It's one of my favourite caches. Didn't enjoy the Greenwich Park ones so much (apart from one at a pub with an anchor - hilarious due to Muggles).

Edited September 12, 2009 by HouseOfDragons

[FamilyHuss]

Definitely some great ones along the South bank. We had such a fabulous laugh doing the one at the National Theatre. Superb. the one behind the Tate Modern is a personal favourite too - mainly because we made such a meal out of DNFing it once and then finding it. It's one of my favourite caches. Didn't enjoy the Greenwich Park ones so much (apart from one at a pub with an anchor - hilarious due to Muggles).

I'm a novice and London-based geocacher and, as previously suggested, would certainly recommend south of the river - Clapham Common and Battersea Park in particular.

 

I'm also a freelance journalist and am researching a feature on geocaching as a great urban actvity - if you'd be happy to be interviewed for the feature please could you contact me via my website www.sarahhusselmann.com? I plan to target London-wide daily newspapers in the first instance and aim to give readers an insight into geochaching in London, without giving too much away! Thanks in advance.

Edited September 13, 2009 by FamilyHuss

[+drsolly]

I just spent a good day out in London. What I do, is go in on Sunday, when parking and traffic is a lot easier. I put the bike in the car, find somewhere to park, and then go round on the bike.

[+goldpot]

Goldpot. Many thanks for your hides as we went to places we never would have.

.

 

 

My pleasure and that's what Geocaching is all about.

[+currykev]

Goldpot. Many thanks for your hides as we went to places we never would have.

 

Under bushes and in hedges no doubt.

[+saddler21]

Goldpot. Many thanks for your hides as we went to places we never would have.

 

Under bushes and in hedges no doubt.

 

Pot calling the kettle a rather dark colour! May I refer you to the Barnes Bonus?!

[+Hollys Hikers]

A year ago I did 2 and half days in London, didn't use any transport apart from my own 2 feet and covered 32 miles, did about 55 caches.

 

You either like or don't city caches, but they do take you about some interesting locations (as they should) and alot were linked to lots of history.

 

The Hikers had a similar experience in Edinburgh with some great multi's over a couple of days.

 

Oh and yes my feet were sore after the 32 miles!

[+goldpot]

Goldpot. Many thanks for your hides as we went to places we never would have.

 

Under bushes and in hedges no doubt.

 

Pot calling the kettle a rather dark colour! May I refer you to the Barnes Bonus?!

 

Hear, hear!

[+currykev]