Kaunas

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Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania.

Hitching in and around

When coming from Poland (or actually everywhere), ask your driver to let you out at the "Mega" supermarket next to the motorway in the north of town. There are buses from the bus stop: 1) 38 which goes to the bus/railway station and 2) 21 which goes to the old town (to Kaunas castle (Kauno pilis)).

If you are coming from the north and your driver is going into Kaunas or onto Vilnius, and you want to continue onto Marijampole or Poland, asked to be dropped off at the bus-stop (Devintas fortas) on the A1 just before the A1/A5 intersection. From here, you can walk 1.3kms along the A1 onto the A5 until the Statoil petrol station where you can continue hitching.

Hitchhiking out

<map lat='54.895564790773385' lng='23.87744873046875' zoom='10' view='0' float='right'/>

http://www.marsrutai.lt/ - the best tool to go from one place (A) to another (B). You can enter an address or a bus stop, also you can choose time when you want to leave or arrive. Above this is 'Tvarkaraščiai' - schedules of trolleybuses, buses and minibuses, and disstrict's buses and minibuses.

Alternatively, http://www.stops.lt/kaunas is also a great journey planner, and includes timetables for all public transport. Also has translation in 11 languages.

http://www.maps.lt/ - this is useful when you look for a bus stop. Enter an adress and you can see all bus stops around. Also, this is very useful to look where exactly is the right house with it's number.

East towards Vilnius E 85

Along the road towards Vilnius

When going to Vilnius the best way is to take buses 10, 16 or 28 and get out at the bus stop 'Parduotuvė'. Cross the street, there's a path to the motorway where is a bus stop. Another way is to take bus 37 or trolleybuses 7, 10, 15 or 16, get out at the bus stop 'Kauno saulėtekis'.Then cross the park, street and you'll reach Partizanų street and see the same bus stop called 'Parduotuvė'.







South towards Marijampolė & Poland E 67

The best way to get to Poland is to get to the petrol station on the A5 (E67) after Garliava (8km south of Kaunas). There are two ways to get to this hitching spot with public transport:

1. Mini-bus 105 goes from the train station to this petrol station so you don't need to walk.

2. Take bus 6 (on weekdays) or 6A (on weekends) and get out at the stop 'Garliavos vidurinė mokykla'. Start walking in the direction the bus came from (west) for 1.5km until you reach the petrol station.

Hitching point for Marijampolė and Poland

You can either hitch from the entrance or exit roads of the petrol station (there are advantages and disadvantages to both). Hitching from the entrance road: place for vehicles to stop by the bus-stop in front of the station, or on the entrance road itself (or turning into the station). Hitching on the exit road (as shown in the photo): there is room for a truck to stop, but usually by the time they see you, they are going quite fast. This is not a busy petrol station but you can also catch the slow moving station traffic, most of which is only going to Marijampole - be brave and turn these lifts down and hold out for one going directly to Poland if that is your destination. If you've ever tried to hitch from Marijampole or its bypass, you will understand perfectly. You might want to have a PL sign handy. You can ask your driver to let you off right at the border. If you walk back towards Lithuania from the border and make a left, you will get to a very large parking area where loads of trucks are parked up. You may be able to get a ride to nearly any country in Western Europe.


Alternatively, you can get to the Statoil petrol station on the A5 (E67) north of Kaunas, where the highway from Vilnius joins up with the E67 (Baltic Way). Take minibus 57 from the centre and get off at the terminus: '9-ojo Forto gatve'. From here, walk northwest in the direction of the A5 (E67) highway for 350m. Cross under the highway and then immediately turn left and climb up the grass embankment to the highway itself. There you will see the Statoil petrol station 100m ahead. You can hitch here or walk 1km or so further along the highway to find good spots to hitch. With a PL or Warsaw sign, you should easily get a lift from a truck to the Budzisko-Kalvarija border checkpoint or further. Be aware that the border is now virtually non-existent, except for an occasional random check, so try to get a ride to at least Suwalki or Augustow.

West towards Klaipeda, north towards Latvia

The best option to reach Klaipeda is to take buses 38 or 21 and get out at the last bus stop next to the MEGA mall in the north part of the city. When you get out of the bus, go straight along the highway A1 (in the direction Klaipeda/Riga). After you pass the mall parking and cross some side roads, climb up the hill a bit and you will find a bus stop right on the highway. It's relatively easy to get a ride from there.

(Alternatively, to get to the same place as above, you can take bus 23 or 35 and get out at the stop '9-ojo forto muziejus'. Walk a little bit back to the motorway and the bus-stop).

Also, when you arrive at MEGA, you can go directly on motorway and start hitchhiking, going towards Klaipėda, and you'll pass under the bridge, where you can hide from rain or intensive sun.

  • Heading for Latvia you want to get on the Klaipeda road (the A1) and then turn onto the Via Baltica (the A8). You can accept rides going to where the roads split (20 km) and then hitch past that point. From there it should not take you more than 10 minutes to get a ride. Whatever you do, try not to get dropped off on the Panevėžys ring. Garthelgard got stuck there for more than 4 hours. (There is a great petrol station a few hundred meters north from the northern junction of the Panevėžys ring and a lot of space on the side of the road).

North-east towards Jonava, Ukmerge, Utena, Zarasai, Daugavpils

Take the bus 29 and get out at the bus stop 'Biruliškės'. It's a great spot to hitchhike! Also, sometimes there's lots of cars on the road next to nursey garden so it's hard to catch a car. Then is better option to get out at the further stop 'Narėpai' and walk a little towards petrolum station.

Resources

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :) nomad:Kaunas trash:Kaunas nomad:Kaunas