# How Many Capitals Have You Visited? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317 "2014-08-11T17:24:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/41 "2014-08-11T23:15:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s an internet meme that Denver isn’t really the capital of Colorado. Is there any context that will enable me to get the joke, or is it not worth it? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/42 "2014-08-11T23:25:59Z")
Countries: Washington DC Ottawa London Paris Rome Copenhagen Stockholm Oslo (Just passed through) States of US I’ve stayed overnight (or at least driven through) the following Augusta (driven through only) Concord Boston Providence Hartford Albany Harrisburg (driven through only) Charleston (driven through only) Atlanta Tallahassee Lansing (driven through only) Madison St. Paul (driven through only) Des Moines Topeka (driven through only) Salt Lake City Helena Boise Denver Olympia (driven through only) Juneau Honolulu ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/43 "2014-08-11T23:32:23Z")
US: Washington DC, Little Rock (Arkansas), Springfield (Illinois), Des Moines (Iowa), Saint Paul (Minnesota), Lincoln (Nebraska), Austin (Texas), and Madison (Wisconsin). I would have thought more, but I guess not. Some flight connections, but that’s all. Internationally: Reykjavik (Iceland), Dublin (Ireland), London (UK), Paris (France), Athens (Greece), Rome (Italy). Also a couple of flight connections. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/44 "2014-08-11T23:33:45Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Canada: > > Ottawa, Ontario (also the national capital) > Charlottetown, PEI Ottawa is only the national capital. Toronto is the capital of Ontario. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/45 "2014-08-11T23:37:28Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > London > Vienna > Tel Aviv > > USA: > Boston > Denver > Hartford > Annapolis > Santa Fe > Providence > Salt Lake City > Washington, DC Oops. Add: Quebec City Toronto ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/46 "2014-08-11T23:45:38Z")
Canada: Ottawa, Canada Toronto, Ontario Québec, Québec Halifax, Nova Scotia Fredericton, New Brunswick Winnipeg, Manitoba Victoria, British Columbia Regina, Saskatchewan Edmonton, Alberta St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Whitehorse, Yukon Missing: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and Iqualuit, Nunavut. United States: Washington, D.C. Boston, Massachusetts Other Countries: London, U.K. Dublin, Ireland Paris, France New Delhi, India Canberra, Australia Sydney, New South Wales Melbourne, Victoria Adelaide, South Australia ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/47 "2014-08-11T23:45:39Z")
Canadian provincial capitals: Victoria, Edmonton (outskirts only), Regina, Winnipeg (airport stop only), Toronto, Quebec City, Charlottetown, Halifax. US state capitals: Madison, WI --incredibly, that’s the only one I’m sure of. Most of my US traveling was either car trips when I was a teenager where I don’t remember the route, or a couple of business trips later on that definitely didn’t go anywhere near a state capital. National capitals: Ottawa, Washington, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Paris, London. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/48 "2014-08-11T23:47:00Z")
Outside the US: Rome Vatican City US-based: Washington DC Atlanta, GA Annapolis, MD Boston, MA Lansing, MI Austin, TX Madison, WI Charlotte Amalie, USVI ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/49 "2014-08-11T23:59:39Z")
Within the US: Washington, DC Columbus, OH Lansing, MI Indianapolis, IN Springfield, IL Frankfort, KY Nashville, TN Charleston, WV Richmond, VA Atlanta, GA Annapolis, MD Boston, MA Within Japan: Tokyo Fukushima, Fukushima Niigata, Niigata Maebashi, Gunma Utsunomiya, Tochigi Mito, Ibaraki Chiba, Chiba Saitama, Saitama Yokohama, Kanagawa Nagano, Nagano Kofu, Yamanashi Toyama, Toyama Kanazawa, Ishikawa Kyoto, Kyoto Nara, Nara Osaka, Osaka Kobe, Hyogo Okayama, Okayama Matsue, Shimane Hiroshima, Hiroshima Fukuoka, Fukuoka Miyazaki, Miyazaki Others: Seoul Jeju City, Jeju (Korea) Toronto, Ontario So only about **37** total if you count provincial and prefectural capitals. Only 3 national capitals. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/50 "2014-08-12T00:01:00Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Chillicothe (on March 1st, 2003, when it was capital of Ohio for one day) Wait, what? I’m finding that Chillicothe was Ohio’s first state capital, and March 1st, 2003 was Ohio’s bicentennial. There were celebrations in Chillicothe, but I don’t see anything mentioning restoring its capital status, even ceremonially. My country-only capitals are: Washington, D.C. Quito San Jose Paris Berlin (and Bonn when it was a capital) Athens Rome Brussels London Amsterdam Vienna Helsinki Moscow Seoul Beijing Hanoi Phnom Penh Vientiane Bangkok Singapore Hong Kong (before the handover) Cape Town and Pretoria Mbabane Canberra Wellington ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/51 "2014-08-12T00:15:41Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Outside the US: > Rome > Vatican City > > US-based: > Washington DC > Atlanta, GA > Annapolis, MD > Boston, MA > Lansing, MI > Austin, TX > Madison, WI > Charlotte Amalie, USVI Forgot - Genoa, Liguria, Italy ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/52 "2014-08-12T00:35:11Z")
Totally forgot about Juneau. Been there too. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/53 "2014-08-12T00:35:42Z")
I forgot a couple. Basseterre (St. Kitts and Nevis) St. George’s (Grenada) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/54 "2014-08-12T01:06:07Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I forgot a couple. > > Basseterre (St. Kitts and Nevis) > St. George’s (Grenada) That reminds me- Hamilton, Bermuda ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/55 "2014-08-12T01:20:55Z")
Not very many. Outside the US: Rome, Italy Vatican City London Dublin In the US: Washington DC Boston MA Phoenix AZ Denver CO Hartford CT Atlanta GA Indianapolis IN Annapolis MD Trenton NJ Santa Fe NM Albany NY Oklahoma City OK Providence RI Richmond VA ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/56 "2014-08-12T02:24:32Z")
Amsterdam Andorra la Vella Athens Bangkok Beijing Berlin Bratislava Brussels Budapest Buenos Aires Canberra Caracas Copenhagen Dublin Hamilton Hanoi Helsinki Kampala Kuala Lumpur Lima Lisbon London Lusaka Luxembourg Madrid Maputo Monaco Montevideo Nairobi Oslo Papeete Paris Phnom Penh Prague Cape Town (Legislative, it looks like South Africa has 3 capitals) Quito Riga Rome San Jose (Well, I was in the airport, which doesn’t really count) Santiago Sarajevo (not really, passed through on a train) Singapore Stockholm La Paz Talinn Tokyo Vatican City Vienna Vientiane Vilnius Warsaw Washington DC Wellington And I think Bern, Zagreb and Lilongwe. Pretty sure about Zagreb. Let’s see, in the USA: Phoenix Sacramento Denver Airport in Honolulu Boston Saint Paul Carson City Salt Lake City Driven through Olympia, I think. Madison Whoa, thought I had mistakenly deleted the national capitols! Phew! ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/57 "2014-08-12T02:33:17Z")
Washington London Dublin Paris Madrid Amsterdam Luxembourg City Brussels Berlin (and Bonn when it was West Germany) Copenhagen Stockholm Athens Sacramento Seattle Honolulu Carson City Phoenix Santa Fe Oklahoma City (drove through) Baton Rouge Montgomery Knoxville Atlanta Harrisburg Indianapolis Denver Salt Lake City (changed planes at the airport) Baltimore (drove through) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/58 "2014-08-12T02:50:11Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Is there any context that will enable me to get the joke, or is it not worth it? If there’s a deeper context, I don’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/59 "2014-08-12T02:50:38Z")
Outside US: Guatemala City Lima Buenos Aires Yaounde Bamako Addis Ababa Lusaka Harare Johannesburg Beijing Ulan Bataar Manila Bangkok Kathmandu Delhi London Paris Rome Vienna Vatican City Inside the US: DC Sacramento ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317/60 "2014-08-12T03:51:54Z")
I don’t get the Denver Internet meme either. I notice at least one Tel Aviv. That one’s controversial. An editor over here recently told me he’d just received an angry letter from a reader demanding that Jerusalem stop being referred to as the Israeli capital. Never been myself, but the wife has been in Jerusalem a couple of times for a for a few weeks each. A project she was in charge of here in Thailand was receiving funding from Hebrew University. She stayed in Jerusalem but also visited Tel Aviv. The same project also received funding from Utrecht University, so she lived there for half a summer, also visiting Amsterdam and the Hague. While there, she also took a trip with a colleague and stayed in Luxembourg City and Brussels. In addition to Jerusalem/Tel Aviv, she’s been to every other Asian capital I’ve listed in the OP too and in the US visited Honolulu, Santa Fe, Boston and Washington DC. We passed through Oklahoma City twice while driving on the interstate but didn’t stop, so I won’t count that one for her. I almost visited Bern. I changed trains there and spent an hour or two in the station. Actually I was supposed to call some distant relatives in the city, from the branch of the family had that had stayed in Switzerland back in the day. But this was pre-Internet days, and I discovered when I was in the station that I’d lost their contact info and even their names! I’d been backpacking around, no real firm plans to meet up with them, I’d already spent time elsewhere in Switzerland with other members of the family (one of them gave me the Bern info and said I should call), so blew it off and just jumped another train to Brussels, where the time for my flight home was fast approaching anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-capitals-have-you-visited/695317.md?page=4)