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Best urban core caching city?


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What has been your opinion of the best urban "downtown" cities you've cached in? Can be any criteria. Purely a subjective opinion.

 

I have argued that Tampa has one of the most saturated downtown areas in the country (Portland being pretty dense too). Most shy away from placing caches in the city, but I don't. Between myself a few others, we've made Tampa almost saturated (pretty much was until some recent archiving needed to take place).

 

Of course, saturation doesn't make it the best (unless you just like to find everything).

Edited by TheWeatherWarrior
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For me, probably Prague. As it is a lovely city to walk around, and also a very strong caching community. Lots of caches near tourist sights but also interesting places off the normal tourist trail. And the beer is good. Followed closely by Budapest for similar reasons. (The beer is better in Prague, but Budapest has hot springs).

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I have always felt that Ottawa is a great city to cache in. Downtown, there is considerable variety in the caches available and hardly any of those forgettable traditionals that are a sad scourge in many places.

 

I may be there in May for a conference and have already looked at the caching possibilities. I didn't realize that the province boundary went right through the middle of the city. The trip would provide my first finds i Canada and in two provinces.

 

I would add Rome, Italy to the list. It might not be much like what many in the U.S. would describe as urban but it's a wonderful walking city with lots of history around every corner, beautiful fountains, the opportunity to find caches in two countries (Vatican CIty State), and has developed a fairly sizeable number of caches. When I first cached there in 2007 I think that there were about a dozen caches in the city and now there over 400 within 10 miles of the city center.

 

 

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To me, the answer would factor in not only cache density (which is of minor importance to me, since I don't cache for numbers), but scenic locations, quality of caches, and even more importantly local dining and drinking establishments.

 

When our little group does cache runs to other states, our working rule is "at least one cache per state, and as much great local food and drink as possible". We all stay pretty happy that way.

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To me, the answer would factor in not only cache density (which is of minor importance to me, since I don't cache for numbers), but scenic locations, quality of caches, and even more importantly local dining and drinking establishments.

 

I don't cache for numbers either but I think reasonable cache density is still a important criteria. I used the advanced search form to get the number of caches within 10 miles of the cities mentioned so far just to provide some numbers for comparison.

 

Tampa, FL: 674

Prague, CZ: 2702

Budapest, Hungary: 1801

Ottawa, Canada: 2489

Rome, Italy: 481

 

And a bunch of others urban cities not mentioned for comparison

 

Seattle, Wa: 1879

Boston, MA: 826

Chicago, IL: 985

Denver, Co: 2459

Atlanta, GA: 945

Dallas, TX: 972

New York, NY: 1035

San Francisco, CA: 1565

 

Paris, France: 1897

Amsterdam, NL 929

Copenhagen, DK 2991

Lisbon, PT 2586

London, UK 1650

Munich, Germany 2258

Berlin, Germany 3765

Istanbul, Turkey 202 (7th most populated city in the world)

Beijing, China 141 (3rd most populated city in the world)

Tokyo, Japan 1086

 

 

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I agree Ottawa is nice too. When I go there I'm generally working long days in a suburb, but I had one day caching downtown a couple of years back and enjoyed it. Good variety of caches and a beautiful city.

 

I've not been to Rome since becoming a cacher. I've been to Milan and found not much there cache-wise - though recently found some outside the city.

 

Lisbon is cache dense. I've only found them in one part of the city where I've been for work. Another nice place.

 

Paris I struggled with caching wise. I had lots of DNFs.

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Atlanta, GA: 945

 

I live in Atlanta and I'd say that 80 to 90% of those are not what you would typically call "urban" hides. Atlanta's downtown proper (even expanded to midtown) could be considered "urban", but a very large part of Atlanta is suburban or park land.

 

I used the same criteria for all of the cities. Entering the city name will just return a set of lat/long coordinates and the search returns anything within 10 miles of those coordinates. I don't think that there is a specific definition of "urban" and certainly different cities have varying levels of real estate that one might describe as urban. Maybe reducing the search radius to 5 miles might produce a greater percentage of "urban" caches,

 

I forgot to add Portland, which the OP mentioned:

 

Portland, OR 4036 !!

 

In any case, the numbers show that in terms of caches in large cities, the cache density varies considerably.

 

 

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Atlanta, GA: 945

 

I live in Atlanta and I'd say that 80 to 90% of those are not what you would typically call "urban" hides. Atlanta's downtown proper (even expanded to midtown) could be considered "urban", but a very large part of Atlanta is suburban or park land.

 

I used the same criteria for all of the cities. Entering the city name will just return a set of lat/long coordinates and the search returns anything within 10 miles of those coordinates. I don't think that there is a specific definition of "urban" and certainly different cities have varying levels of real estate that one might describe as urban. Maybe reducing the search radius to 5 miles might produce a greater percentage of "urban" caches,

 

I forgot to add Portland, which the OP mentioned:

 

Portland, OR 4036 !!

 

In any case, the numbers show that in terms of caches in large cities, the cache density varies considerably.

 

I wish I'd known about geocaching when I was in grad school in Portland...could have been something good to do in my off time. I suppose there weren't nearly as many back in 2001-2003, though.

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For me, probably Prague. As it is a lovely city to walk around, and also a very strong caching community. Lots of caches near tourist sights but also interesting places off the normal tourist trail.

+1! AND, many cache pages provide local history, so they provide a "guided" tour of the city.

 

Hamburg, Germany, is also very nice and has several caches that deservingly have thousands of favorite points.

Edited by Ladybug Kids
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I don't cache for numbers either but I think reasonable cache density is still a important criteria. I used the advanced search form to get the number of caches within 10 miles of the cities mentioned so far just to provide some numbers for comparison.

 

10 miles might be a bit much for some of the cities you used.

 

I guess in Vienna you should get a higher result than for Prague, certainly more than 3000.

 

As a tourist I probably could not decide between Prague and Vienna, as a cacher with my preferences I clearly would decide for Vienna but not due to caches close to the sights and more due to some very nice non urban caches.

Edited by cezanne
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Leaving density aside because I am unlikely took for most traditionals, my choices include London (a 16th Century pub and the trail of Jack the Ripper), Washington DC (virtuals!), Edinburgh (the Parliament multi-virtual, Arthur's Seat, and the ruins of Craigmiller Castle with a nearby puzzle), Victoria (a nice set of virtuals, earthcaches, webcam, letterbox, and Wherigo still leaves time for tea), and a nod to my nearby town of San Francisco, though I have not cached there in a long time.

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While I enjoy caching in Paris (and there's a brilliant multi at the Gare du Nord :rolleyes: ) it's very puzzle-heavy so (much as I like puzzles and can get by in French) not so good for a quick visit.

I'll agree with the earlier mention of Hamburg.

Lisbon, lots of caches, great city.

I recently found myself in London for a couple of meetings and helped my Jasmer grid with some 10+ - year - old caches taking me off the beaten track. Pleasantly surprised.

I've been to Budapest 4 times but all pre-caching - have a good friend there - can't wait to go back.

Never been to Prague but might have to rectify that situation.

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What has been your opinion of the best urban "downtown" cities you've cached in? Can be any criteria. Purely a subjective opinion.

 

I have argued that Tampa has one of the most saturated downtown areas in the country (Portland being pretty dense too). Most shy away from placing caches in the city, but I don't. Between myself a few others, we've made Tampa almost saturated (pretty much was until some recent archiving needed to take place).

 

Of course, saturation doesn't make it the best (unless you just like to find everything).

In my limited experience, I'd say Portland, OR. Lots of variety, that's for sure.

 

Also, Durham, NC has been a really fun place to go caching--some great multis which take you on tours of some interesting history of the town (and the Durham Bulls baseball field!) :grin:

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What has been your opinion of the best urban "downtown" cities you've cached in? Can be any criteria. Purely a subjective opinion.

 

I have argued that Tampa has one of the most saturated downtown areas in the country (Portland being pretty dense too). Most shy away from placing caches in the city, but I don't. Between myself a few others, we've made Tampa almost saturated (pretty much was until some recent archiving needed to take place).

 

Of course, saturation doesn't make it the best (unless you just like to find everything).

In my limited experience, I'd say Portland, OR. Lots of variety, that's for sure.

 

Lots of caches. period. When I was doing a 10 mile radius search using different cities, Portland with 4033 caches had the highest number I saw.

 

 

Also, Durham, NC has been a really fun place to go caching--some great multis which take you on tours of some interesting history of the town (and the Durham Bulls baseball field!) :grin:

 

I found 1 cache in Durham while at a small conference there. I didn't have a vehicle and I was heavily engaged in presentations during the conference so spent most of the time at the hotel. I saw cache listing for the Durham Bulls cache but did't find that one. However, I did one at Abner Doubleday field in Cooperstown, NY (about 2 hours from here) near the Baseball Hall of Fame.

 

Although I didn't get to do a lot of caching there I also liked caching and saw quite a variety in Austin, TX. I got there late in the evening so checked into a hotel near the airport. In the morning I checked to see if there were any caches nearby. The closest was about 350 feet away. It was at the entrance where "Friday Night Lights" was filmed. I would have done more caching in Austin but; Texas. In August.

 

 

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Nice thing about Portland is all the BIKE TRAILS! Cache density has gone up dramatically since I was there.

The virtuals in Washington, D.C. provide a unique caching experience well worth doing.

Vienna is tough to beat but Budapest has more dramatic vistas.

Personally, I preferred Milano for the sights, the food and the wine.

Then again...can we consider Hilo urban?

Well, never mind, I could go on for hours on this topic.

Edited by Michaelcycle
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I wonder how the numbers play out when doing a limited radius (like 3 or 5 miles)?

 

Those are some great cities for caching. I hope to take advantage of some in the future.

 

The numbers is only part of it of course (for the sake of a fun thread to talk about). But I was rather proud to see (and build) Tampa's urban core cache count up (right now dense for under 2 mile radius, but growing). It was what got me thinking about this whole thing.

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I inadvertantly left New York City out of my list above. Park at the end of Staten Island (free on Sundays) and take the free ferry (with your bicycle, of course) to Battery Park in lower Manhattan. Pedal up the west side greenway until you can cut across to Central Park. Plenty of caches, plenty of interesting sights.

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I inadvertantly left New York City out of my list above. Park at the end of Staten Island (free on Sundays) and take the free ferry (with your bicycle, of course) to Battery Park in lower Manhattan. Pedal up the west side greenway until you can cut across to Central Park. Plenty of caches, plenty of interesting sights.

 

Very sound plan, I have done it several times from weehawken, yay on bike, also ride all thevway up to GWB.

 

Washington DC , national mall virtuals are primo

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Maybe it helped that I had a great local guide that gave me the history of the area and knew the best geocaches to show me, but Vienna really has a lot of great caches all within walking distance. The caches take you to see the highlights of the city too.

 

Examples:

 

http://coord.info/GC1D19M

 

http://coord.info/GCPNMZ

 

http://coord.info/GCR8N2

 

http://coord.info/GC3478T

 

http://coord.info/GC1RWRX

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I love Toronto Canada!

If you include the islands then I might agree with you - but just the downtown area? I'm not so sure. If the islands count (and I never got to them last summer when I was there - that's for another visit) then I can't think of a better city.

 

Otherwise it'd be London - lots of good stuff along the river to begin with and it's a really big city with lots of interesting history and lots of green bits as well.

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I love Toronto Canada!

If you include the islands then I might agree with you - but just the downtown area? I'm not so sure. If the islands count (and I never got to them last summer when I was there - that's for another visit) then I can't think of a better city.

 

Otherwise it'd be London - lots of good stuff along the river to begin with and it's a really big city with lots of interesting history and lots of green bits as well.

 

You don't agree that TeamSmiley loves Toronto?

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The first thing I do when I'm in a new city is figure out how to get out of town. (I've done rental car, bike, subway.)

My favorite "downtown" caching, however was Seattle, specifically the GC tour around headquarters. The best group of ten caches I've ever seen. If you're looking for quantity, of course, then you'll have to go someplace else...

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I love Toronto Canada!

If you include the islands then I might agree with you - but just the downtown area? I'm not so sure. If the islands count (and I never got to them last summer when I was there - that's for another visit) then I can't think of a better city.

 

Otherwise it'd be London - lots of good stuff along the river to begin with and it's a really big city with lots of interesting history and lots of green bits as well.

 

You don't agree that TeamSmiley loves Toronto?

I don't agree with their love of Toronto as a caching city. I found there to be too many nanos and the sort of micro cache that add little to my enjoyment of the city. A couple of good caches, sure, but nowhere near the same level as in London.

 

I might throw in York as well now that I think about it. Not so many caches right now, but the ones around the Roman walls there are excellent and it's got lots of good things going for it as a place where caches can help you explore.

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Chicago, IL: 985

Atlanta, GA: 945

Dallas, TX: 972

 

Wow, just did the search, and Providence has 1020 - more than the above cities and almost as many as NYC!

 

At least as far as Chicago goes, one must keep in mind that nearly half of the circle defined by a 10-mile radius using "Chicago, IL" as its center will be Lake Michigan - so the area is significantly more saturated than this stat suggests.

 

Also, the saturation goes well outside of ten miles into the surrounding counties. Frankly, I think it's too much - I'll never have any hope at finding them all. :)

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The two cities that I've enjoyed caching in the most have been Seattle and San Francisco.

 

San Francisco is a fun city to putter around in, lots of natural beauty, history and art. Full of interesting caches.

 

I'm extremely partial to Seattle, and think it's the best city in the country. I'm very biased, but I'm fine with it because I've traveled a lot so I think I'm informed. I've always said if I had to live in a big city (yuck), it would be Seattle. The only other city that I'd consider would be Sydney, and not coincidentally, the two cities remind me of each other. Lots of interesting caches in Seattle, you're not going to lose steam there. I like the parks and the water the most.

 

People have mentioned Portland - I think that there's lots of interesting looking caches there when you look at the map, but every time I visit I get frustrated with navigation, and I seem to feel let down that the city's not quite what I think it's going to be like. That's just me. I'd like to try and spend more time there to see if I can get over that impression, or if it's really the city. We're usually not there for very long, so maybe we've just been rushed.

 

I'm not sure if it qualifies as a big city, but the only other place that I really enjoyed caching was in Bellingham (WA). Very interesting places, there, with some quirky caches.

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Kyoto, Tokyo, and Seoul have good urban caching experiences.

 

I preferred Berlin and Munich to, say, Frankfurt. But then I haven't cached in Frankfurt in a while, so it may have improved.

 

Prague was fun during our visit, and since then it has become even more of a geocaching destination.

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