diff --git a/src/coordinates.jl b/src/coordinates.jl
index 92b780b8a..1890d03e4 100644
--- a/src/coordinates.jl
+++ b/src/coordinates.jl
@@ -46,24 +46,34 @@ Parent type of all coordinate types.
 """
 abstract type Coordinates{N} end
 
-Base.isapprox(c₁::C, c₂::C; kwargs...) where {C<:Coordinates} =
-  all(isapprox(getfield(c₁, n), getfield(c₂, n); kwargs...) for n in fieldnames(C))
+_fields(coords::Coordinates) = coords
+_fnames(coords::Coordinates) = fieldnames(typeof(coords))
+
+function Base.isapprox(coords₁::C, coords₂::C; kwargs...) where {N,C<:Coordinates{N}}
+  f₁ = _fields(coords₁)
+  f₂ = _fields(coords₂)
+  all(isapprox(getfield(f₁, i), getfield(f₂, i); kwargs...) for i in 1:N)
+end
 
 # -----------
 # IO METHODS
 # -----------
 
 function Base.show(io::IO, coords::Coordinates)
-  name = nameof(typeof(coords))
+  name = prettyname(coords)
   print(io, "$name(")
-  printfields(io, coords, compact=true)
+  fields = _fields(coords)
+  fnames = _fnames(coords)
+  printfields(io, fields, fnames, compact=true)
   print(io, ")")
 end
 
 function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", coords::Coordinates)
-  name = nameof(typeof(coords))
+  name = prettyname(coords)
   print(io, "$name coordinates")
-  printfields(io, coords)
+  fields = _fields(coords)
+  fnames = _fnames(coords)
+  printfields(io, fields, fnames)
 end
 
 # ----------------
diff --git a/src/coordinates/basic.jl b/src/coordinates/basic.jl
index 72975e2c1..93d04db51 100644
--- a/src/coordinates/basic.jl
+++ b/src/coordinates/basic.jl
@@ -30,23 +30,8 @@ Cartesian(coords::Vararg{L,N}) where {N,L<:Len} = Cartesian{N,L}(coords)
 Cartesian(coords::Len...) = Cartesian(promote(coords...)...)
 Cartesian(coords::Number...) = Cartesian(addunit.(coords, u"m")...)
 
-Base.isapprox(c₁::Cartesian{N}, c₂::Cartesian{N}; kwargs...) where {N} =
-  all(isapprox(x₁, x₂; kwargs...) for (x₁, x₂) in zip(c₁.coords, c₂.coords))
-
-function Base.show(io::IO, (; coords)::Cartesian{N}) where {N}
-  print(io, "Cartesian(")
-  fnames = _cartfields(N)
-  printfields(io, coords, fnames, compact=true)
-  print(io, ")")
-end
-
-function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", (; coords)::Cartesian{N}) where {N}
-  print(io, "Cartesian coordinates")
-  fnames = _cartfields(N)
-  printfields(io, coords, fnames)
-end
-
-function _cartfields(N)
+_fields(coords::Cartesian) = coords.coords
+function _fnames(::Cartesian{N}) where {N}
   if N == 1
     ("x",)
   elseif N == 2
diff --git a/src/coordinates/gis.jl b/src/coordinates/gis.jl
index de3d8399e..6e5e1584b 100644
--- a/src/coordinates/gis.jl
+++ b/src/coordinates/gis.jl
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ end
 
 EPSG{Code,N,Coords}(args...) where {Code,N,Coords} = EPSG{Code,N,Coords}(Coords(args))
 
+_fields(coords::EPSG) = coords.coords
+_fnames(coords::EPSG) = keys(coords.coords)
+
 """
     typealias(::Type{EPSG{code}})
 
@@ -23,22 +26,6 @@ Returns a coordinate type that has the EPSG `code`.
 """
 function typealias end
 
-Base.isapprox(c₁::T, c₂::T; kwargs...) where {T<:EPSG} =
-  all(isapprox(x₁, x₂; kwargs...) for (x₁, x₂) in zip(c₁.coords, c₂.coords))
-
-function Base.show(io::IO, coords::EPSG)
-  name = prettyname(coords)
-  print(io, "$name(")
-  printfields(io, coords.coords, compact=true)
-  print(io, ")")
-end
-
-function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", coords::EPSG)
-  name = prettyname(coords)
-  print(io, "$name coordinates")
-  printfields(io, coords.coords)
-end
-
 """
     LatLon(lat, lon)