Why Guided Tours are Great for Geocachers

March 27, 2017

John Bishop

tl;dr - Guided tours of countries often include 'Free Days' in beautiful, geocache-rich cities. AMS Travel Sales offers tours through G Adventures specifically chosen to facilitate geocaching, and offers free .gpx files of geocaches in those destinations. Want to know more? Submit a Quote Request

"Hardcore" Geocachers love statistics. They watch their smiley count rise daily, and watch their Project GC Maps turn from white to green with each new county and state added. Challenge caches and events have been created around the accumulation of geocache finds. Highest, lowest, oldest...all these stats matter!

If you are one of these who geocachers who loves the stats and milestones, take a look at that world map for a minute. If you're like me, and I have more opportunity to travel than most, it's probably looking a little bare. I sure would like to make that map look like it could be used on a St. Patrick's Day T-Shirt.

My Project-GC World Map as of March 2017.

To me, the country count is the most important of all the statistics. According to the internet, there are about 196 countries in the world as of today. Currently, my Country Count is an embarrassing "3". I did a lot of travel before I started geocaching. I have some make up work to do - and I'd like you to join me.

Geocaching Tours are a great way to see the world!

The great thing about geocaching is that it goes hand in hand with travel. What better way to really get to know the heart of a destination than through geocaching?

Geocaching groups have been exploring new destinations via cruise ships for several years. Travel Agencies (like my own AMS Travel Sales) have sprung up to facilitate and organize Geocaching Cruises. I want to suggest a different trail for my hardcore caching friends- the guided tour. Cruises are an amazing value, and a LOT of fun, but they have a fairly big limitation- they need oceans and port cities with big time infrastructure. A lot of great destinations are out of reach to cruise ships.

The guided tours I recommend for geocachers have small group sizes and one very important feature - at least one "Free Day" in a geocaching rich city or area. These lightly structured days allow the members of your group to explore as they wish. If some of your fellow tourists are photographers, foodies, or museum buffs, they're free to do their own thing. You are free to wander around with a GPS or smart phone and look for geocaches! That way, the group doesn't get held up while you try an avoid a DNF. Some tours are pretty fast paced, and wouldn't be able to accommodate devoting much time to a tricky micro hunt. The tours we recommend to geocaching groups offer a balance of traditional touring and sightseeing and free time for caching.

AMS Travel Sales offers a host of tours recommended for geocachers, in a multitude of locations. Most of the tours we recommend are part of the G Adventures product line. G Adventures philosophy of making the world a better place through travel is a perfect compliment to the underlying stewardship principles of geocaching. They have a small group size and most importantly, Guaranteed Departures. Unlike other tour companies, if you pay, you're going. Some tour companies are forced to cancel trips even for paid guests if the participation in a tour does not meet a minimum number of guests.

AMS Travel Sales offers a unique benefit to geocachers. Since this is a travel agency owned by a geocacher, we know what you need to make the most of this trip. For most international destinations, we recommend a handheld GPS rather than a smart phone. Included with each of our recommended geocaching tours is a free .gpx file* of all the geocaches that exist in the areas you will visit. We will create and send the file to you within a few days of your departure so you have current log information.

Want to know more? Check out these Guided Tours we recommend for Geocachers, all from G Adventures! The prices below are based on double occupancy and do not include airfare, travel insurance, accommodations prior to or after the conclusion of the tour. Each departure date has different pricing. Be sure to call for the latest updated information on pricing and departure dates.