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Urban Adventures: Hang Gliding in Los Angeles
For a bird's-eye view of the Southern California coast, head to Dockweiler State Beach and jump off the bluff on your very own hang glider. You’ll soar above a broad beach fronting the Pacific Ocean, but not so high that you’ll get in the way of planes taking off and landing at nearby LAX. Windsports Soaring Center provides all the gear and instruction you’ll need.
Urban Adventures: Rappelling in Cape Town
Smack in the midst of Cape Town, South Africa is Table Mountain National Park, which serves as an outdoor playground for adventure lovers. Take the aerial gondola to the top of the mountain — you can also hike or ascend by mountain bike if you’re feeling energetic — then let the professionals at Downhill Adventures outfit you for the rappel back down.
Urban Adventures: Skiing and Snowshoeing in Chicago
Any weekend when there are 3 or more inches of snow on the ground in the Windy City, head to Northerly Island, east of Soldier Field. There, you can strap on a pair of free skis or snowshoes and tramp through 91 acres of pristine powder. You’ll have incredible views of the Chicago skyline, including the Shedd Aquarium, the towering John Hancock Center and the Navy Pier Ferris wheel.
Urban Adventures: Flying the Trapeze in New York
Flying through the air with the greatest of ease isn’t just for the Flying Wallendas. At Trapeze School New York, overlooking the Hudson River at Houston Street in New York, anyone can be a free swinger. The school’s trained professionals offer advice and pointers for everyone from grounded first-timers to big-top wannabes.
Urban Adventures: Kayaking in Miami
The shallow waters of Miami’s Bear Cut Preserve straddle two worlds. To one side stand the kinds of mangrove forests that have been here for centuries, home to manatees, loggerhead turtles, osprey and Little Blue herons. To the other, the gleaming office towers of downtown Miami soar skyward. It’s a perfect spot for a leisurely kayaking trip. Guided tours and rentals are available at Crandon Park.
Urban Adventures: Ziplining in Las Vegas
Sin City got even more exciting last October with the addition of the Fremont Street Flightline, a 67-foot-tall high wire ride over the entire length of the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas. For as little as $15, you can glide through the canyon of downtown casinos, dropping to as low as 14 feet off the ground, just high enough to clear the heads of people staring up from below.
Urban Adventures: Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge
The best views of Sydney, the Opera House, the Blue Mountains and the surrounding harbor are from atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Anyone in reasonable shape can make the ascent, led by professional guides in groups of 14 or less. Climb at sunrise, sunset or even at night. For an even more hands-on experience, take the Discovery Climb through the inner arch, where you can touch the steel bridge’s rivets.
Urban Adventures: Kiteboarding in San Francisco
When the wind is streaming through the Golden Gate just right, there’s no better show in town than the daredevils flying across the water below San Francisco’s most iconic bridge. Just watching this combination of surfing, parachuting and human kite-flying from sunny Crissy Field is a thrill.
Urban Adventures: Stand-up Paddling in Honolulu
Easier than surfing but harder than kayaking, the ancient Hawaiian tradition of stand-up paddling is new again. What better place to try it out than Waikiki, where its renaissance began, and where the sands offer stunning Diamond Head views. The Waikiki beach boys will hook you up with gear and instruction. For formal lessons, try Hans Hedemann Surf School at the Park Shore Hotel.
Urban Adventures: Hot Air Ballooning Over Albuquerque
New Mexico’s clear blue skies and unique wind currents make it possible to gently float over Albuquerque any time of year. Contact Rainbow Ryders or World Balloon to arrange your flight, which usually includes a glass of champagne. If you visit in October, you’ll be treated to the 40th annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, when more than 700 brightly colored airships fill the sky.
Urban Adventures: Tunneling Under Paris
It’s technically forbidden to descend down under the City of Light in search of clandestine after-hours parties, secret murals and skeletons of Parisians past. But that hasn’t stopped a cadre of adventurous folks known as cataphiles. For a legal taste of Paris’s tunnels and underground quarries, visit the Catacombs below Place Denfert-Rochereau or wander the perimeter of the medieval moat in the basement of the Louvre in Paris.
Urban Adventures: Skydiving in Jacksonville, Fla.
It doesn’t get much more thrilling than jumping out of a plane flying more than 2 miles up in the sky. After a half-hour safety briefing, you’re ready for a tandem jump, where a trained skydiver is responsible for opening the parachute and steering you safely back to earth. Skydive Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Fla., also offers accelerated freefall training classes, in which you learn to skydive solo.
Urban Adventures: Sailing in San Diego
San Diego is a sailor’s paradise, and not just for the U.S. Navy that bases its Pacific Fleet here. The city has numerous bays, inlets and islands, and more than 300 sunny days a year to tickle the fancy of anyone who wants to sail away. For a spirited ride, climb aboard one of the racing yachts at Dennis Conner’s America’s Cup Experience.
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