A31 (Germany)

The A31 is a 241 km long motorway in the West of Germany going in North-South direction from Emden to Bottrop in the Ruhr Area.

By many people this motorway is called the Friesenspieß or Emslandautobahn, because it's going straightforward through the Emsland, and especially at night you'll see no cars for miles along the motorway here. This part of the motorway is one of the most emptiest streets in Germany.

You can find one petrol station between Lingen and Wietmarschen. Two petrol stations are in planning (Aschendorf and Hochmoor), but it's not sure when they are finished.

Hitching the A31

Legend:  (very good) |  (good) |  (average) |  (bad) |  (senseless)

<map lat='52.415527220441405' lng='7.0890625' zoom='8' view='0' width='200' height='600' float='right' />

	(1) Emden-West
	(2) Pewsum
	(3) Emden-Mitte
	(4) Emden-Wolthusen
(good) at the beginning of the bypass	(5) Emden-Ost
	(6) Riepe
	(7) Neermoor
	(8) Veenhusen
	(9) Dreieck Leer * connection to the A28
	(10) Leer-Nord
(average) Easy to get a ride to the Netherlands since a lot of Dutch people go shopping in Leer.	(11) Leer-West	(bad) It's very difficult to hitchhike in the direction of Oldenburg since most (if not all) people will take a different on-ramp.
	(12) Jemgum
	(13) Weener
	(14) Dreieck Bunde * connection to the A280
	(15) Papenburg
	(16) Rhede (Ems)
	(17) Dörpen
	(18) Lathen
	(19) Haren (Ems)
	(20) Wesuwe
	(21) Meppen-Nord
	(22) Twist
	(23) Geeste
	(24) Wietmarschen
Raststätte Ems-Vechte West		Raststätte Ems-Vechte Ost
	(25) Lingen
(bad)	(26) Emsbüren Get off here if you want to hitch along the A30. Walk away from this ramp in direction south-west for 1 km and you'll get to the Schüttorf-Nord ramp along the A30. There you can try hitching towards Osnabrück easily, towards the Netherlands it's a bit more difficult because of missing traffic. Hitchhiking the Emsbüren ramp is not the best option, it's quite empty in both directions.	(bad)
	(27) Kreuz Schüttorf * connection to the A30
	(28) Schüttorf-Ost
	(29) Ochtrup-Nord
(bad)	(30) Gronau/Ochtrup No way to hitch this ramp because it's on the B54. On this ramp cars drive around 100 km/h and it's hard to stop and dangerous for you! If going towards Gronau, Enschede or Münster,	(bad)
	(31) Heek
	(32) Legden/Ahaus
	(33) Gescher/Coesfeld
	(34) Borken
	(35) Reken
	(36) Lembeck
	(37) Schermbeck
	(38) Dorsten-West
	(39) Kirchhellen-Nord
	(40) Kirchhellen
	(41) Gladbeck
	(42) Dreieck Bottrop * connection to the A2

German highways

Major highways: A1 • A2 • A3 • A4 • A5 • A6 • A7 • A8 • A9

Minor highways: A10 • A11 • A12 • A13 • A14 • A15 • A17 • A19 • A20 • A21 • A23 • A24 • A25 • A26 • A27 • A28 • A29 • A30 • A31 • A33 • A37 • A38 • A39 • A40 • A42 • A43 • A44 • A45 • A46 • A48 • A49 • A52 • A57 • A59 • A60 • A61 • A62 • A63 • A64 • A65 • A66 • A67 • A70 • A71 • A72 • A73 • A81 • A92 • A93 • A94 • A95 • A96 • A98 • A99