Americans in Europe

[+emonty0001]

I am a 'newbie' (3 weeks/42 finds) who is going to spend some time in Europe this year, specifically Germany, France, and the Netherlands. I know there are caches there but are there local issues or practices i should be aware of?

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Language restrictions aside, it would probably be best to ask those who reside in those locales.

 

Further down in the forums lists, you will find language (country) specific forums.

 

Somebody there invariably will speak English, if you aren't up on those languages.

[+fotimyr]

Apart from the regular tourist dos and dont's in those countries, probably not. Oh, and quite a few of the cache descriptions and hints will probably not be in English. That may or may not cause some DNFs. Logging in English will probably be okay, no matter what you've heard about the French. They understand English, but they just aren't too keen admitting it

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I am a 'newbie' (3 weeks/42 finds) who is going to spend some time in Europe this year, specifically Germany, France, and the Netherlands. I know there are caches there but are there local issues or practices i should be aware of?

 

I've found caches in all three of those countries and can't think of anything you'd need to be aware of other than understanding enough of the local language to avoid trespassing or going into some other prohibited area. Don't worry about trying to find a lot of caches. Look at the cache listings in areas where you'll be traveling and pick out a few caches that look interesting. Depending on where you go in these countries you might find that most of cache pages have English translations. The further you get from larger cities the more likely you'll encounter cache pages only in the local language.

[+DragonsWest]

What I'd do: (shamelessly copied from an event by a brit visiting SFO)

 

1. Find a good spot to organize a flashmob event.

2. Meet some local cachers.

3. Find some who can take you around or give you guidance.

[+Walts Hunting]

What I'd do: (shamelessly copied from an event by a brit visiting SFO)

 

1. Find a good spot to organize a flashmob event.

2. Meet some local cachers.

3. Find some who can take you around or give you guidance.

 

I have seen that before. A couple of weeks ago I was camping in Port Richey Florida and there was an event posted by a guy from Chicago who was going to be in the area for some time and wanted to meet locals. Great idea.

[+Trail Cachers]

We spent the month of May caching in 23 countries in Europe. We did occasionally have a problem with language but if the cache was rated 2-2 or lower we did not have any problem at all.

[+popokiiti]

You could always do a few challenges which may take you to interesting spots also. You will probably find the European cachers eager to meet you, so pop a request in the appropriate forum. Have a fun time!

[+CanadianRockies]

Most of North America has the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), which improves GPS accuracy. When we visited Scotland, we were surprised by how much wider our search radius had to be. Perhaps with this in mind, many of the Scottish cache listing pages had very helpful hints.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

You could always do a few challenges which may take you to interesting spots also. You will probably find the European cachers eager to meet you, so pop a request in the appropriate forum. Have a fun time!

 

You can also send a PM directly to a cache owner that owns a cache that you might be interested in finding. I did that on a difficult puzzle cache in South Africa and after a couple of message back and forth he invited me to meet while I was there so that we'd could go caching. Unfortunately, during that visit I only had an overnight layover before getting on a plane for Zambia the next morning so I never got much more than a block from my hotel (but did find a cache while I was there).

[+Otis.Gore]

I am from germany, even though I am currently living in Vienna.

 

One thing you might have to be aware of is that occasionally, some caches might require you to trespass (even though you can avoid even looking for such a cache by reading the log and looking at the map).

On the other hand, trespassing isn't such a big deal here and noone will shoot you

They'll probably ask you politely to leave if they catch you.

Also, since germany has one of the highest cache densities in the world, there'll be a lot to find

But as said before, the best way is to find a local cacher that goes caching with you, because if it isn't a major city (like Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg etc.) the description will probably not be in english.

I am sure you'll find someone who will gladly help you.

 

Most important: Have fun

[+overskill]

 

One thing you might have to be aware of is that occasionally, some caches might require you to trespass (even though you can avoid even looking for such a cache by reading the log and looking at the map).

On the other hand, trespassing isn't such a big deal here and noone will shoot you

 

I'm currently stationed in Germany and I agree entirely. The locals seem laid back about their property. Language is usually not a problem (every now and then I have to google translate an item or two. The only problem I've been running in to is that the multis here are fairly complicated and pretty much impossible without being fluent. Lots of caches to find, though.

[majormajor42]

Look at the cache pages of some of the caches you intend on doing, that way you can use google translate to interpret the descriptions and logs if necessary.

 

With only a few dozen finds, have you cached far from home yet, even in the states? I love caching when travelling but it does take different preparation. Do you geocache with a GPSr or a smartphone. The smartphone may or may not work in the countries you are visiting, or may be very expensive to use. PQs can be very useful when travelling.

 

Now that we have the favorite rankings, didn't always, use them to find the best of each place you are visiting. Some may very well be worth going out of your way to get. As you may already know, geocaching, especially when on vacation, may be at it's best when it brings you to a place that isn't on the tourist map that some local placed a cache at to bring folks like us to. One of the best beaches I've ever visited was found this way. Like favorite rankings, bookmark lists can also bring you to recommended caches if you find the right list.

 

If you are using a GPSr, do you have maps of the areas you are going? I download OSM maps to my garmin when travelling. Helps with more than just geocaching, like finding the closest metro stations.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

I am making a return trip to Germany this summer, and will be passing through four other countries (Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland and France). I am spending time now looking at caches near spots I will be visiting, and the route I will be on. I've "cherry picked" about 30 caches that appear to be relatively easy to find, and are near interesting locations.

 

Google Translate appears to do a good enough for the easier caches.

[+hobgoblinkiteflier]

Most of North America has the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), which improves GPS accuracy. When we visited Scotland, we were surprised by how much wider our search radius had to be. Perhaps with this in mind, many of the Scottish cache listing pages had very helpful hints.

 

Most of Eurpoe is covered by the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) which does exactly the same as WAAS. It gives me as accuracy of 3 metres when the little D symbols appear. Maybe you were just unlucky with those caches you found to have poor coordinates.

[+CanadianRockies]

Most of North America has the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), which improves GPS accuracy. When we visited Scotland, we were surprised by how much wider our search radius had to be. Perhaps with this in mind, many of the Scottish cache listing pages had very helpful hints.

Most of Eurpoe is covered by the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) which does exactly the same as WAAS. It gives me as accuracy of 3 metres when the little D symbols appear. Maybe you were just unlucky with those caches you found to have poor coordinates.

We did Scotland back in June 2010, but it looks like EGNOS was in operation at that time. I see our new GPSr has a WAAS/EGNOS enabled setting, but I'm pretty sure our old GPSr only had a WAAS enabled setting. I guess I should have uploaded the most recent firmware before our trip.

[+wimseyguy]

Make sure your GPS can display meters as well as feet. Otherwise you will have to do the conversions in your head the whole time.

 

j/k

 

I've found caches in several European countries and not had any trouble with them that I didn't have back in the states. Just plan ahead and identify caches that look like fun near your route. If the pages don't already have English on them, you can use google translate to get the gist of what you will need to know. I was already with a group and attending events, but if I was on my own I would certainly consider hosting one if there wasn't already something on the calendar where I was planning to be. I love having geopals all around the world. It also makes my FB feed look neat.

[cezanne]

I am a 'newbie' (3 weeks/42 finds) who is going to spend some time in Europe this year, specifically Germany, France, and the Netherlands. I know there are caches there but are there local issues or practices i should be aware of?

 

I've found caches in all three of those countries and can't think of anything you'd need to be aware of other than understanding enough of the local language to avoid trespassing or going into some other prohibited area.

 

Are you sure? I vaguely recall that the laws with respect what is allowed in forest areas are quite different in different countries in Europe. In the Netherlands it is not allowed to leave the trails if I remember correctly (also causing troubles for the orienteering sport). Moreover, I think that burried caches (e.g. in the sand) are allowed in the Netherlands (provided that they are ok in all other aspects - the review process in the Netherlands is different and tougher than in Germany and France).

 

 

Cezanne

Edited March 13, 2012 by cezanne

[+Andromeda321]

American expat living in the Netherlands here. In my experience-

 

1) Google Translate is your best friend

2) Do a search for just a few miles in radius around where you're going (ex on the "find a geocache" page you can do this) and then sort them by favorite points. In tourist areas in particular the easiest to find and best caches will zoom straight to the top so you make sure you won't miss them.