https://hitchwiki.org/en/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Dorfdisco&feedformat=atomHitchwiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T11:52:04ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.32.3https://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Frankfurt_an_der_Oder&diff=74584Frankfurt an der Oder2014-03-23T16:24:38Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox German Location<br />
|country = Germany<br />
|map = <map lat='52.337' lng='14.567' zoom='11' view='0' /><br />
|state = Brandenburg<br />
|pop = 62,000<br />
|plate = FF<br />
|motorways = A12/E30<br />
}}<br />
'''Frankfurt/Oder''' is a town in the very east of [[Germany]] in the federal state Brandenburg on the [[Poland|Polish]] border. If you do end up here, then check out the graffiti, and try and make some friends to take you to the squat, which is almost a museum of graffiti.<br />
<br />
== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
<br />
=== West towards [[Berlin]] {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
If you want to go to Berlin, or generally direction west, take tram #1 or #5 in the direction ''Neuberesinnschen'' ( 1,40 Euro, April 2013) and get off at the last stop. Then walk some 100 metre along the street ''Mühlenweg''. You will see a Shell petrol station on the other side of the street. You can hitchhike at the exit of the station. It usually takes 10-20 minutes until somebody offers a ride. You can also hitchhike where the turn-off to the gas station begins, close to the traffic light. This has the advantage that drivers will see you from further away and often stop or slow down due to red light. A lot of cars will turn there, because it is a short cut for many people (via the gas station), so don't be irritated. <br />
<br />
Even if you are not going to Berlin, it might help to have a sign for Berlin when hitchhiking at the exit of the petrol station to get a lift out of the city. <br />
<br />
[[User:N0id|n0id]] hitchhiked there several times and generally finds it easier to find a lift by asking then by thumbing. One time he was sent away by the staff claiming that he was disturbing customers. Ever since, he's been hitchhiking before the gas station at the traffic light. Mostly, because he very same staff member seems to work there quite regularly. His waiting times vary between 5 minutes and up to one hour. He usually does not carry a sign for Berlin though, which would probably increase his chances.<br />
<br />
=== East towards [[Poznań]], [[Warsaw]] {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
Hitchhiking into Poland is best done from point where the E30 crosses the border. This border station is actually on the Polish side, because the actual border is in the middle of the river Oder. To get there on foot you have two options: one will take you for sure an hour, maybe 90 minutes, if you know the way and the other only 15 minutes but you have to walk along the motorway which is forbidden in Germany. <br />
<br />
For the first option take tram #1 in the direction ''Lebuser Vorstadt'' and get out at the station ''Magistrale'' (it's very close to the McDonalds). Now you have to walk for a very long time. First of all you have to cross into Poland via the city bridge and then head right on the street ''1 Maja''. After some 30 minutes you'll pass the bazaar and 300 metres later take the road which splits from ''1 Maja'' to the right. This street's name is ''Powstancow Wielkopolskich''. Keep on walking on this street until another fork in the road. Take this fork and keep on walking. After about 50 minutes you'll reach the border station.<br />
<br />
Along that route you will pass a bunch of petrol stations, beginning at the bazaar, where you might get in touch with a truck driver (look out for the TIR label) or a passenger car heading towards Poznan (licence number PXX) or Warsaw (WXX). Probably the best station is Ecotank where you find a lot of truck drivers resting.<br />
<br />
For the faster option take bus #984 from the central station 'Bahnhof' to the stop 'Leinengasse'. You will notice that you pass the highway just before the bus stop already. Walk back, make your way to the highway and start walking. It is about 2km to the border station. Be aware that the bus runs not very often, so check [http://www.svf-ffo.de/fahrgastinfo/liniennetzfahrplan/Folder/Linie984.pdf the schedule] before hand.<br />
<br />
=== East & West - Alternative {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
A very good way to hitch out of the city is going to the petrol station "Biegener Hellen" on the motorway A12 (Berlin - Poland). To get there take a train from Frankfurt to '''Pillgram'''. The train goes once per hour, takes less than 10 minutes and costs eur 2.60 (March 2013). From the train station in Pillgram follow the street "Zum Bahnhof" until the end, turn left and the next big street right. Walk for some minutes and you will get out of the village. There will be a small path for workers of the petrol station. This path will take you to the petrol station. Traffic is not huge because most people prefer to fill gas in Poland where it's cheaper, but still it is no bad spot.<br />
In total you have to walk for two kilometres, but it is by far the best option to get out of the Frankfurt and Słubice.<br />
<br />
=== Non-hitchhiking alternatives ===<br />
As mentioned above Frankfurt (Oder) und Słubice are not the best places to start hitchhiking. In case you're heading towards Poznan and Warsaw a cheap alternative might be the train that departs from Frankfurt main station. It costs about 6 EUR for students to Warsaw who get a 50% discount. At the moment the time tables looks as follows:<br />
<br />
* Frankfurt (Oder) to Poznan, departure 3:02pm<br />
* Poznan to Warsaw, departure 6:28pm<br />
<br />
Do not forget to buy the ticket to Warsaw already in the first train to Poznan rather than two separate tickets.<br />
<br />
*[[User:dorfdisco]]: Sorry, but this informations are unreliable. In March 2013 the train from Frankfurt only to Poznan costs already 19 Euro and the student discount inside Poland is only for students registered on a Polish university (German train company will not be interested in that anyway). <br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Germany}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Brandenburg]]<br />
[[Category:E30]]<br />
[[Category:Germany]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Frankfurt an der Oder]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Frankfurt_an_der_Oder&diff=69211Frankfurt an der Oder2013-04-24T11:17:06Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox German Location<br />
|country = Germany<br />
|map = <map lat='52.337' lng='14.567' zoom='11' view='0' /><br />
|state = Brandenburg<br />
|pop = 62,000<br />
|plate = FF<br />
|motorways = A12/E30<br />
}}<br />
'''Frankfurt/Oder''' is a town in the very east of [[Germany]] in the federal state Brandenburg on the [[Poland|Polish]] border.<br />
<br />
It is not a good place to get stuck in. [[Słubice]], its Polish counterpart, on the other side of the river is just as bad, if not worse. It's probably worth coughing up the euros to get you to [[Warsaw]] - if you're here, you've probably cocked up somewhere. Maybe you got here on the train from [[Berlin]], and didn't want to pay the extra to go to Warsaw. If you do end up here though, then check out the graffiti, and try and make some friends to take you to the squat, which is almost a museum of graffiti.<br />
<br />
== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
<br />
=== West towards [[Berlin]] {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
If you want to go to Berlin, or generally direction west, take tram #1 or #5 in the direction ''Neuberesinnschen'' ( 1,40 Euro, April 2013) and get off at the last stop. Then walk some 100 metre along the street ''Mühlenweg''. You will see a Shell petrol station on the other side of the street. You can hitchhike at the exit of the station. It usually takes 10-20 minutes until somebody offers a ride. <br />
<br />
Even if you are not going to Berlin, it might help to have a sign for Berlin when hitchhiking at the exit of the petrol station to get a lift out of the city. <br />
<br />
[[User:N0id|n0id]] hitchhiked there several times and generally finds it easier to find a lift by asking then by thumbing. One time he was sent away by the staff claiming that he was disturbing customers. This had never happened before though.<br />
<br />
=== East towards [[Poznań]], [[Warsaw]] {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
Hitchhiking into Poland is best done from point where the E30 crosses the border. This border station is actually on the Polish side, because the actual border is in the middle of the river Oder. To get there on foot you have two options: one will take you for sure an hour, maybe 90 minutes, if you know the way and the other only 15 minutes but you have to walk along the motorway which is forbidden in Germany. <br />
<br />
For the first option take tram #1 in the direction ''Lebuser Vorstadt'' and get out at the station ''Magistrale'' (it's very close to the McDonalds). Now you have to walk for a very long time. First of all you have to cross into Poland via the city bridge and then head right on the street ''1 Maja''. After some 30 minutes you'll pass the bazaar and 300 metres later take the road which splits from ''1 Maja'' to the right. This street's name is ''Powstancow Wielkopolskich''. Keep on walking on this street until another fork in the road. Take this fork and keep on walking. After about 50 minutes you'll reach the border station.<br />
<br />
Along that route you will pass a bunch of petrol stations, beginning at the bazaar, where you might get in touch with a truck driver (look out for the TIR label) or a passenger car heading towards Poznan (licence number PXX) or Warsaw (WXX). Probably the best station is Ecotank where you find a lot of truck drivers resting.<br />
<br />
For the faster option take bus #984 from the central station 'Bahnhof' to the stop 'Leinengasse'. You will notice that you pass the highway just before the bus stop already. Walk back, make your way to the highway and start walking. It is about 2km to the border station. Be aware that the bus runs not very often, so check [http://www.svf-ffo.de/fahrgastinfo/liniennetzfahrplan/Folder/Linie984.pdf the schedule] before hand.<br />
<br />
=== East & West - Alternative {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
A very good way to hitch out of the city is going to the petrol station "Biegener Hellen" on the motorway A12 (Berlin - Poland). To get there take a train from Frankfurt to '''Pillgram'''. The train goes once per hour, takes less than 10 minutes and costs eur 2.60 (March 2013). From the train station in Pillgram follow the street "Zum Bahnhof" until the end, turn left and the next big street right. Walk for some minutes and you will get out of the village. There will be a small path for workers of the petrol station. This path will take you to the petrol station. Traffic is not huge because most people prefer to fill gas in Poland where it's cheaper, but still it is no bad spot.<br />
In total you have to walk for two kilometres, but it is by far the best option to get out of the Frankfurt and Słubice.<br />
<br />
=== Non-hitchhiking alternatives ===<br />
As mentioned above Frankfurt (Oder) und Słubice are not the best places to start hitchhiking. In case you're heading towards Poznan and Warsaw a cheap alternative might be the train that departs from Frankfurt main station. It costs about 6 EUR for students to Warsaw who get a 50% discount. At the moment the time tables looks as follows:<br />
<br />
* Frankfurt (Oder) to Poznan, departure 3:02pm<br />
* Poznan to Warsaw, departure 6:28pm<br />
<br />
Do not forget to buy the ticket to Warsaw already in the first train to Poznan rather than two separate tickets.<br />
<br />
*[[User:dorfdisco]]: Sorry, but this informations are unreliable. In March 2013 the train from Frankfurt only to Poznan costs already 19 Euro and the student discount inside Poland is only for students registered on a Polish university (German train company will not be interested in that anyway). <br />
<br />
== Sleeping ==<br />
<br />
If you need a place to sleep, just contact user [[User:dorfdisco|dorfdisco]] who just moved to the city. Hitchhikers are always more than welcome! Same user name in Couchsurfing and BeWelcome.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Germany}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Brandenburg]]<br />
[[Category:E30]]<br />
[[Category:Germany]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Frankfurt an der Oder]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Frankfurt_an_der_Oder&diff=69210Frankfurt an der Oder2013-04-24T11:16:03Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox German Location<br />
|country = Germany<br />
|map = <map lat='52.337' lng='14.567' zoom='11' view='0' /><br />
|state = Brandenburg<br />
|pop = 62,000<br />
|plate = FF<br />
|motorways = A12/E30<br />
}}<br />
'''Frankfurt/Oder''' is a town in the very east of [[Germany]] in the federal state Brandenburg on the [[Poland|Polish]] border.<br />
<br />
It is not a good place to get stuck in. [[Słubice]], its Polish counterpart, on the other side of the river is just as bad, if not worse. It's probably worth coughing up the euros to get you to [[Warsaw]] - if you're here, you've probably cocked up somewhere. Maybe you got here on the train from [[Berlin]], and didn't want to pay the extra to go to Warsaw. If you do end up here though, then check out the graffiti, and try and make some friends to take you to the squat, which is almost a museum of graffiti.<br />
<br />
== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
<br />
=== West towards [[Berlin]] {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
If you want to go to Berlin, or generally direction west, take tram #1 or #5 in the direction ''Neuberesinnschen'' ( 1,40 Euro, April 2013) and get off at the last stop. Then walk some 100 metre along the street ''Mühlenweg''. You will see a Shell petrol station on the other side of the street. You can hitchhike at the exit of the station. It usually takes 10-20 minutes until somebody offers a ride. <br />
<br />
Even if you are not going to Berlin, it might help to have a sign for Berlin when hitchhiking at the exit of the petrol station to get a lift out of the city. <br />
<br />
[[User:N0id|n0id]] hitchhiked there several times and generally finds it easier to find a lift by asking then by thumbing. One time he was sent away by the staff claiming that he was disturbing customers. This had never happened before though.<br />
<br />
=== East towards [[Poznań]], [[Warsaw]] {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
Hitchhiking into Poland is best done from point where the E30 crosses the border. This border station is actually on the Polish side, because the actual border is in the middle of the river Oder. To get there on foot you have two options: one will take you for sure an hour, maybe 90 minutes, if you know the way and the other only 15 minutes but you have to walk along the motorway which is forbidden in Germany. <br />
<br />
For the first option take tram #1 in the direction ''Lebuser Vorstadt'' and get out at the station ''Magistrale'' (it's very close to the McDonalds). Now you have to walk for a very long time. First of all you have to cross into Poland via the city bridge and then head right on the street ''1 Maja''. After some 30 minutes you'll pass the bazaar and 300 metres later take the road which splits from ''1 Maja'' to the right. This street's name is ''Powstancow Wielkopolskich''. Keep on walking on this street until another fork in the road. Take this fork and keep on walking. After about 50 minutes you'll reach the border station.<br />
<br />
Along that route you will pass a bunch of petrol stations, beginning at the bazaar, where you might get in touch with a truck driver (look out for the TIR label) or a passenger car heading towards Poznan (licence number PXX) or Warsaw (WXX). Probably the best station is Ecotank where you find a lot of truck drivers resting.<br />
<br />
For the faster option take bus #984 from the central station 'Bahnhof' to the stop 'Leinengasse'. You will notice that you pass the highway just before the bus stop already. Walk back, make your way to the highway and start walking. It is about 2km to the border station. Be aware that the bus runs not very often, so check [http://www.svf-ffo.de/fahrgastinfo/liniennetzfahrplan/Folder/Linie984.pdf the schedule] before hand.<br />
<br />
=== East & West - Alternative {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
A very good way to hitch out of the city is going to the petrol station "Biegener Hellen" on the motorway A12 (Berlin - Poland). To get there take a train from Frankfurt to '''Pillgram'''. The train goes once per hour, takes less than 10 minutes and costs eur 2.60 (March 2013). From the train station in Pillgram follow the street "Zum Bahnhof" until the end, turn left and the next big street right. Walk for some minutes and you will get out of the village. There will be a small path for workers of the petrol station. This path will take you to the petrol station. Traffic is not huge because most people prefer to fill gas in Poland where it's cheaper, but still it is no bad spot.<br />
In total you have to walk for two kilometres, but it is by far the best option to get out of the Frankfurt and Słubice.<br />
<br />
=== Non-hitchhiking alternatives ===<br />
As mentioned above Frankfurt (Oder) und Słubice are not the best places to start hitchhiking. In case you're heading towards Poznan and Warsaw a cheap alternative might be the train that departs from Frankfurt main station. It costs about 6 EUR for students to Warsaw who get a 50% discount. At the moment the time tables looks as follows:<br />
<br />
* Frankfurt (Oder) to Poznan, departure 3:02pm<br />
* Poznan to Warsaw, departure 6:28pm<br />
<br />
Do not forget to buy the ticket to Warsaw already in the first train to Poznan rather than two separate tickets.<br />
<br />
*[[User:dorfdisco]]: Sorry, but this informations are unreliable. In March 2013 the train from Frankfurt only to Poznan costs already 19 Euro and the student discount inside Poland is only for students registered on a Polish university (German train company will not be interested in that anyway). <br />
<br />
=== Sleeping ===<br />
<br />
If you need a place to sleep, just contact user [[User:dorfdisco|dorfdisco]] who just moved to the city. Hitchhikers are always more than welcome! Same user name in Couchsurfing and BeWelcome.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Germany}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Brandenburg]]<br />
[[Category:E30]]<br />
[[Category:Germany]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Frankfurt an der Oder]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Terespol&diff=68689Terespol2013-03-19T18:44:11Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Terespol''' is a small town in [[Poland]], famous for being on the border to [[Belarus]].<br />
Chances you will find yourself in this place are quite small, it is located at the most busy border crossing between Poland and Belarus, but despite that, the town itself is not very interesting.<br />
In case you decide to make a stop here on your way to or from Belarus, the border crossing is quite easy to reach <br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
=== East/West towards [[Minsk]] , [[Warsaw]] ===<br />
<br />
On the border crossing you will find some shops and a parking spot. A lot of people are stopping here because ques on the border can be long and it a good place to get some food or drinks to prepare yourself or relax after some hours of waiting.<br />
From here you find a lot of traffic in both directions.<br />
<br />
To get to this place from the train station in Terespol, walk out of it and turn right into the street "Janowska". When you reach the end, turn left to "Wojska Polskiego". Walk it for quite a while and it will automatic turn right to "3 go Maja". This street leads directly to the border crossing.<br />
<br />
== Other useful info ==<br />
<br />
When crossing into Belarus don't buy more cigarettes and food than necessary here, after the border it will be much cheaper.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Poland}}<br />
__NOTOC__</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Poland&diff=68688Poland2013-03-19T18:21:09Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{infobox Country<br />
|country = Poland<br />
|language = Polish<br />
|capital = [[Warsaw]]<br />
|map = <map lat='52' lng='19' zoom='5' view='0' country='Poland' /><br />
|pop = 38,135,876<br />
|currency = Złoty (PLN)<br />
|hitch = <rating country='pl' /><br />
|BW = PL<br />
}}<br />
'''Poland''' is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. It is an awesome country for hitchhiking and even one of the most hitchhiker friendly countries in whole Europe. Many drivers generally believe that others do not stop and that hitchhiking days are over in Poland, which however does not prevent hundreds of them from stopping. Since 1958 till the beginning of 90's hitchhiking in Poland was an official way of traveling organized by National Tourist Board, when hitchhikers had their ID with [[insurance]] included and drivers could win prizes every year. Thousands of people were hitchhiking through all these years – and most of them have cars today, so very often do they repay the debt. <br />
<br />
=== General Hitchhiking Info ===<br />
Quite common way to [[hitchhiking|hitchhike]] in Poland is to stand on the side of the road with your hand extended and/or thumb pointing upwards. Some hikers also wave their hands up and down, which is widely understood as ''"I only need a short ride"''. This way of hitchhiking is popular between villagers and high school students who look for a lift for a short distance. They very rarely write their destination on a [[signs|sheet of paper]] or piece of cardboard. Waving is enough to make a driver stop. <br />
<br />
Travellers looking for a longer ride usually make a sign with the name of a city they're going to or through. Some drivers prefer to take travellers and tourists. Because of this it's a good idea to place your backpack in front of you and make a sign which makes you look like a ''professional hitchhiker''.<br />
<br />
[[File:Krakow_to_ukraine.JPG|left|thumb|250px|Hitchhiker in [[Kraków]]]]<br />
<br />
=== Tips ===<br />
[[CB radio]] is quite popular in Poland not only among truck drivers, which might help in getting a ride. If you're lucky they can ask other drivers to take you further. You might even ask them gently to do that, especially in bad weather conditions or by night.<br />
Hitching by night is possible in Poland but not easy. On national roads try to find bright spot where drivers can see you. Use bright clothes. The best options are petrol stations where you can speak with the drivers while they fill up the tank.<br />
<br />
'''Public transport''' While staying in bigger cities check [http://jakdojade.pl/Welcome.jsp?locale=en jakdojade.pl]. It will find for you every single connection between point A and B within city limits and show ticket price, route on google, bus stops names and timetables. Just write the name of a street where you are in a form called "Z" (or pick a point on google map) and the place you want to go in form "DO". It will do the rest.<br />
<br />
=== Hitchhiking at night ===<br />
On small roads it is to be avoided for sure as the traffic is low at night and the light even worse. On a spot with good light you can still try your luck. On the motorways it works perfectly good, maybe better than everywhere else in Europe. On the petrol stations the light is good and people are very helpful and will not be comfortable with the idea to leave you there over night, especially when it rains or it is cold, what is quite often the case in this country.<br />
<br />
=== Borders ===<br />
As mentioned above Poland joined [[Schengen Agreement]] which means there is no more passport control on the borders with Lithuania, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany. In most places there are still speed limits on the borders, there are also parking lots, toilets and currency exchange offices, which makes these places pretty good spots for hitchhiking. On newly built roads however there are no speed limits anymore. To Ukraine you can go by foot in Medyka, but not in Korczowa!!! (there you can wait for 3 hours because there are too many cars.)<br />
<br />
=== Roads ===<br />
Even though the Polish road network has improved enormously over the last two decades, by Western European standards, Poland has still quite a poorly developed road infrastructure. The road network consists of motorways (''autostrada'') i.e. A2, expressways (''droga ekspresowa'') with lower speed limits than motorways i.e. S6, national roads (''droga krajowa''), which are mostly single lane i.e. 92 and other regional roads. At the moment there is a lot of investment in the road network, especially since Poland hosted the European Football Championship final tournament in 2012.<br />
[[File:Autostop.JPG|260px|thumb|right|Restaurant on a Polish service station (A4) :-)]]<br />
Except for the motorways and expressways, it is generally acceptable to hitchhike on the side of the road in almost any suitable place. Unlike many European states, the police are generally friendly towards hitchhikers as long as they behave properly. Some of the newly-refurbished national roads have "no pedestrians" signs near major towns, but it's still uncommon. This means that if you plan to go through any major town in your journey, it is usually better to exit the car before arriving in the city - otherwise, you might have to walk till the end of the no-pedestrians area.<br />
On motorways and expressways the best place to hitchhike is either a sliproad or, preferably, one of the petrol stations or toll booths.<br />
<br />
See also: <br /><br />
[[Changes in Polish motorways and expressways network|Up-to-date info about investments in Polish motorways and expressways network on Google Maps]]<br /><br />
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_and_expressways_in_Poland Roads and expressways in '''Poland''']<br /><br />
<br />
=== Language ===<br />
[[File:Guaka-hitching-in-poland-2008.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[User:Guaka|guaka]] hitching in Poland]]<br />
According to a 2009 survey by CBOS [http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2006/K_177_06.PDF] (Polish survey office), roughly 46% of Poles declare they can communicate in at least one foreign language. Generally, 24% of Poles speak English, 20% speak Russian, 12% speak [[Germany|German]]. Other languages spoken are [[France|French]] (2%), [[Czech Republic|Czech]], [[Slovakia|Slovak]] and other Slavic languages. According to the similar survey in 2006 [http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2009/K_111_09.PDF], among the youngsters (students and pupils) the percentage to speak at least one foreign language reached 77, as compared to 59% of those under 35 and 40% of those between 35 and 54 years of age. According to a another survey prepared in late 2005 by TNS Opinion & Social for the European Commission, the percentage of people who speak one foreign language decently is 57%. At the same time roughly 32% are bi-lingual and 4% tri-lingual [http://www.egospodarka.pl/13770,Znajomosc-jezykow-obcych-w-Europie,1,39,1.html]. Except for younger people, foreign languages (mostly [[England|English]]) are commonly spoken by businessmen and educated people (87%), urban populations (50%) and small business (48%). However, it is hard to predict the knowledge of languages of a driver by his car as educated people in '''Poland''' are generally poorly-paid.<br />
<br />
Apart from the people who speak foreign languages, a vast majority of Poles do understand some basic constructions of other Slavic languages and of English. Due to World War II history and the number of war films created afterwards, also some basic words of the German language are commonly known.<br />
<br />
=== Communication & Dictionary ===<br />
[[File:Warsaw - poznan.JPG|thumb|left|225px]]<br />
The Polish language is generally hard to learn for most native English speakers. Even the most basic constructions you might need while on the road require the usage of quite complicated grammar and the use of grammatical gender, proper declension and a number of other categories non-existent in modern English. However, contrary to French or German people, Poles are generally friendly towards foreigners who try to speak their language. Because of that do not be afraid to commit mistakes. They might at times sound funny, but most Polish people would be astonished by the fact that you tried. That said some Polish drivers may find local hitchhikers suspicious as they are scared of crime. Foreign hitchhikers are excluded from this fear because nobody might expect a foreigner to have nothing better to do than pretending to be a hitchhiker and steal from their drivers. So when your Polish skills are good enough that people will not recognize you as a foreigner, mention it as well.<br />
<br />
Apart from the basic set of words and constructions found in every guidebook, there are some words hitchhikers might find particularly useful. Check also the Wikipedia articles on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_language Polish language] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_phonology Polish phonology] for more info on proper pronunciation. You can buy a decent guidebook or dictionary in any major town in '''Poland'''.<br />
* hitchhiking – autostop / stop (“awto-stop] / [stop“)<br />
* hitchhiker – autostopowicz (“awto-stopovich“)<br />
* we're travelling to... – jedziemy do... (“yeh-dzhye-mee doh“)<br />
* Where is the best place to hitchhike to...? – Skąd najlepiej łapać stopa do...? [skont nay-leh-pyey wapach stopa do...“)<br />
* Which way to...? – Którędy do...? (“ktoo-ren-dee doh“)<br />
* Where is the nearest...? – Gdzie jest najbliższy...? (“g'dzhe yest nay-bleezh-shee“)<br />
* motorway exit for... – zjazd na... (“zyazd nah“)<br />
* phone booth – budka telefoniczna (“boot-ka teh-leh-fonn-eech-nah“)<br />
* bus stop – przystanek (“pshee-stah-nek“)<br />
* train station – dworzec (“dvoh-zhets“)<br />
* filling station – stacja benzynowa (“stats-yah behn-zee-nova“)<br />
* ATM – bankomat (“bankomat“)<br />
* dictionary – słownik (“swoh-v-nick“)<br />
* guidebook/guide – przewodnik (“psheh-vod-nick“)<br />
* map / plan – mapa / plan (“mah-pah] [pla-n“)<br />
* road shoulder – pobocze (“poh-boh-cheh“)<br />
* lane – pas (“pass“)<br />
* Good morning - Dzien dobry ("dzhehn dobri")<br />
* Good bye - Do widzenia ("do veedzehnah")<br />
* See you later - Do zobaczenia ("do zobahchehnah")<br />
* It's nice to meet you - Milo mi ("meewo mee")<br />
* Excuse me - Przepraszam ("pshehprahshahm")<br />
* Yes - Tak ("tahk")<br />
* No - Nie ("neh")<br />
* Please - Prosze ("prosheh")<br />
* Thank you - Dziekuje ("dzhehnkooyeh")<br />
* Hello - Dzien dobry ("dzhehn dobri")<br />
* I'm sick - Jestem chory ("yehstehm hori")<br />
<br />
See also the Polish dictionary in Hitchwiki's [[Eastern Europe phrasebook]].<br />
<br />
=== Number plates ===<br />
Here you find a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plcarplates379v06.png#file map] with the car registration plate codes of '''Poland'''.<br />
It facilitates hitching at spots where you can see a car registration plate (petrol stations, borders, traffic lights)and choose the proper one. In short, the plates consist of two or three letters and four digits. The first letter denotes the voivodeship (region) and is followed by one or two letters denoting a major town. Usually voivodeship capitals and major towns have two letters, while smaller towns have three. For instance cars from Warsaw could have plates ranging from WA XXXX to WZ XXXX, while all cars from [[Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki]] have WND XXXX plates.<br />
<br />
When you see some English, Swiss or German registration plates, they still might be Polish people there, on vacation to their former homeland.<br />
<br />
== Border crossings ==<br />
<br />
=== [[Belarus]] ===<br />
The most exhausting border crossing with long waiting ques and hassles to recieve the visa. Police has the reputation to be quite rude, but this is not the case every time.<br />
<br />
* "[http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=13034915224636727578,52.069786,23.642091&saddr=2%2FE30+%4052.069786,+23.642091&daddr=52.073732,23.673027&mra=mi&mrsp=1,0&sz=16&sll=52.074073,23.666546&sspn=0.008573,0.022745&ie=UTF8&ll=52.070116,23.646183&spn=0.068588,0.181961&z=13 Warsaw Bridge]" (Варшавский мост) – the biggest crossing point located on [[E30]] near [[Terespol]]. Crossing is possible only in a vehicle. Opposite to what you could guess, the crossing is hassle free and the police not more unfriendly than elsewhere. Prepare yourself for long waiting time, if there is a lot of traffic, even very long waiting time. Even when there are just two or three cars in front of you, you can find yourself waiting for several hours.<br />
* "[http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=18391996812509845743,52.106891,23.558036%3B5287091177967822326,52.110654,23.561225&saddr=68+%4052.106891,+23.558036&daddr=52.116665,23.564816&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=16&sll=52.114886,23.566296&sspn=0.008565,0.022745&ie=UTF8&ll=52.516221,24.483032&spn=2.172906,5.822754&z=8 Kozlovichi]" (Козловичи) – for trucks only. Located at the north-western edge of the Belarussian city Brest.<br />
* "[http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=13433892993726185330,51.771666,23.569832%3B8225709824099370420,51.760479,23.611216&saddr=63+%4051.771666,+23.569832&daddr=Unknown+road+%4051.760479,+23.611216&sll=51.766075,23.590525&sspn=0.017263,0.04549&ie=UTF8&ll=52.722986,25.378418&spn=4.325896,11.645508&z=7 Domachevo]" (Домачево) – vehicular crossing located some 40 kilometres south of the Belarussian city Brest.<br />
<br />
=== [[Czech Republic]] ===<br />
<br />
No controls, part of the Schengen zone.<br />
<br />
=== [[Germany]] ===<br />
<br />
No controls, part of the Schengen zone. When crossing to Germany, custom controlls might get on your nerves from time to time.<br />
<br />
* [[Jędrzychowice border crossing]] <br />
* [[Świecko border crossing]]<br />
<br />
=== [[Lithuania]] ===<br />
<br />
No controls, part of the Schengen zone.<br />
<br />
=== [[Russia]] ===<br />
<br />
* [[Bagrationovsk-Bezledy border crossing]] with Russia's [[Kaliningrad Oblast]]<br />
<br />
=== [[Slovakia]] ===<br />
<br />
No controls, part of the Schengen zone.<br />
<br />
* [[Barwinek-Vyšný Komárnik border crossing]]<br />
<br />
=== [[Ukraine]] ===<br />
<br />
* [[Dorohusk-Jahodin border crossing]]<br />
* [[Hrebenne-Rava Ruska border crossing]]<br />
<br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [[Overview of good hitchhiking spots from former website Digimer Autostop]]<br />
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_and_expressways_in_Poland Roads and expressways in Poland]<br />
<br />
{{hitchbase_country|155}}<br />
{{IsIn|Eastern Europe}}<br />
{{Cities Poland}}<br />
{{Voivodeships Poland}}<br />
{{Template:Europe/countries}}<br />
__NOTOC__<br />
[[trash:Poland]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Poland| ]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Polen]]<br />
[[es:Polonia]]<br />
[[fi:Puola]]<br />
[[fr:Pologne]]<br />
[[pl:Polska]]<br />
[[ru:Польша]]<br />
[[tr:Polonya]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=User_talk:Xnothingxheldxbackx&diff=68532User talk:Xnothingxheldxbackx2013-03-08T12:09:02Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>Always been an inspiring human! Rest In Peace! --[[User:dorfdisco|dorfdisco]] ([[User talk:dorfdisco|talk]]) 13:08, 8 March 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Hey, welcome to the hitchwiki. Can't wait for you contributions :-) Hugs, [[User:platschi|platschi]]<small><sup>[http://blogs.hitchwiki.org/platschi site], [[user talk:platschi|wikitalk]]</sup></small> 18:03, 10 February 2008 (CET)<br />
<br />
Hey Taylor?!,<br />
<br />
I'm Craig (20) from Germany. With my brother I'm planning on hitching from Turkey to M'sia though we dunno yet how to deal with Bangladesh/Myanmar region, so it's pretty much a part of the route yo've been taking to Singapore. Right?!.<br />
<br />
ANYWAYS, I wanna ask you bout Turkey, Iran, Pakistan. Gimme your most important pieces of advice for:<br />
<br />
1. route<br />
<br />
2. approximate distance you can hitch in a day comfortably for some areas (i noe it's random, but please)<br />
<br />
3. Visa<br />
<br />
Hope to see you on abgefahren e.V. race in Freiburg in two weeks!<br />
<br />
I'd love to switch to another communication channel, to ask u some more.<br />
<br />
Thanks. Dankeschön, yours Craig<br />
<br />
--[[User:Halt, Stop! Reudnitz kommt.|Halt, Stop! Reudnitz kommt.]] 20:06, 30 May 2011 (CEST)<br />
<br />
Taylor!<br />
<br />
I'm John (30) want to talk to you how you got your visa to Afghanistan!<br />
<br />
email me at surfflyskate@hotmail.com</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Talk:Frankfurt_an_der_Oder&diff=68531Talk:Frankfurt an der Oder2013-03-08T11:52:08Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>I don't really see, why it hitchhiking out of Frankfurt/Slubice is supposed to be difficult. I hitchhiked a number of times to towards Warsaw, Berlin and further west than Berlin. The gas station towards Berlin is great for asking, you can just stand there by the road as well. From Slubice there is a road with few good spots to stop, before the train station (which is 2-3km out of town), but there are a couple of gas stations as well. Anybody got a different opinion/experiences? --[[User:N0id|N0id]] ([[User talk:N0id|talk]]) 12:20, 7 March 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
<br />
I agree to your point of view, but I just added the gas station on the motorway a couple of days ago, before it was not mentioned at all. In my opinion it is a good place to hitch, arrived there several times on my way from or to Poznan. Especially towards Poland it is great because the petrol station right at the border crossing is only on the other side. <br />
Also tried to hitch inside of Slubice when I was to lazy to walk from the motorway to the center, was no problem. But depends where, from the very end it might be harder, especially for a girl, because there are some prostitutes. Hitching out of Slubice from a gas station was much harder for me, most cars are local from German villages/towns nearby. Worst case scenario was that once I got stuck in the center of Frankfurt and wanted to continue to Poznan in the middle of the night, so I convinced a taxi driver to drive me for only a few Euros to a parking on the motorway. <br />
But in total for sure not as difficult as the article makes it appear to be. --[[User:dorfdisco|dorfdisco]] ([[User talk:dorfdisco|talk]]) 12:51, 8 March 2013 (CET)</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Serbia&diff=68423Serbia2013-03-05T17:23:39Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__ {{infobox Country<br />
|country = of Serbia<br />
|in = Southern Europe<br />
|map = <map lat='44.2373283' lng='20.448' zoom='6' view='0' width='300' height='320' /><br />
|language = Serbian<br />
|capital = [[Belgrade]]<br />
|pop = 10,350,265<br />
|currency = Serbian Dinar (RSD)<br />
|BW = RS<br />
|hitch = <rating country='rs' /><br />
}}<br />
'''Serbia''' (Serbian: ''Србија / Srbija''), is a country in [[Southern Europe]], located in former ''Yugoslavia''. It contains two autonomous provinces: [[Vojvodina]] and [[Kosovo]] & Metohija. However, Kosovo declared independence in 2008.<br />
<br />
It is pretty easy to hitchhike in '''Serbia''' during the day, but at night it gets very hard. Street lights are rare outside of the cities, and even the smaller cities are not so easy to hitch beside.<br />
<br />
In '''Serbia''' most of the main roads have junctions off towards the cities, so you could be dropped 4 or 5 km away from the nearest place and find yourself having to walk to the next decent junction. <br />
<br />
Roads are generally of excellent quality compared to other countries in the region (e.g. [[Romania]] or [[Bulgaria]]).<br />
<br />
Hitchhiking on the motorway is frowned upon, but you won't get into any trouble. Police will only please you to go off at the next ramp. If you hitchhike on the motorway, it is better to get out at the toll stations, where it is considered normal to hitchhike. <br />
<br />
* ''According to [[User:Rozwal|Rozwal]]'s experience (October 2011) it is very hard to get a ride in the Serbian countryside of Vojvodina. The waiting time is long and the distance covered very little. However, when people are approached directly at small fuel stations at the end of a village they take hitchhikers very eagerly. When hitchhiking in Serbia, according to my experience - it is even more important to try to talk to the drivers than in other countries. Unfortunately, not always is there a place where drivers can be approached personally'' <br />
<br />
[[File:Serbia_platschi.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[User:platschi|platschi]] hitching towards [[Serbia]]]]<br />
<br />
=== Safety ===<br />
<br />
Hitchhiking along the motorways seems to be no problem during the day. Serbian drivers tend to be friendly. When it's getting dark it is recommended to search a safe place to stay. While riding through the night, vicious attacks to cars and people on parking areas or along the road seem to happen from time to time. Make sure that you get out at a 24h petrol station or motel along the way.<br />
<br />
=== Cities ===<br />
* [[Belgrade]]<br />
* [[Kragujevac]]<br />
* [[Krusevac]]<br />
* [[Niš|Nis]]<br />
* [[Novi Sad]]<br />
* [[Subotica]]<br />
* [[Uzice]]<br />
* [[Zrenjanin]]<br />
<br />
== Border crossing ==<br />
* [[Bulgaria]]<br />
** [[Kalotina-Dimitrovgrad border crossing]]<br />
* [[Hungary]]<br />
** [[Horgos-Röszke_border_crossing]]<br />
* [[Kosovo]]<br />
** [[Merdare border crossing|Merdare]]<br />
* [[Romania]]<br />
** [[Iron Gates]]<br />
**[[Stamora Moravița-Vatin border crossing|Stamora Moravița]]<br />
<br />
=== Money ===<br />
<br />
When only hitchhiking through '''Serbia''' to get to [[Hungary]], [[Bulgaria]] or wherever, you can pay at most service stations along the motorway with euro notes or bank card. Sometimes they also offer cash machines to withdraw euro notes. The country itself is quite cheap compared to [[Hungary]] or other Western European countries. Drivers will not ask you to pay for the ride.<br />
<br />
=== Phrasebook ===<br />
<small><br />
{{Phrasebook/Serbian}}<br />
</small><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
[http://www.serbiatravelers.org/en/index.php/hitchhiking Hitchhiker's guide to Serbia]<br />
<br />
[http://lana-in-serbia.blogspot.com/2010/09/hrvatska-and-crna-gora-part-1.html Lana in Serbia] (hitchhiking through the Balkans)<br />
<br />
{{Template:Europe/countries}}<br />
[[trash:Serbia]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Serbia| ]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Serbien]]<br />
[[es:Serbia]]<br />
[[fr:Serbie]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Serbia&diff=68422Serbia2013-03-05T17:23:19Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__ {{infobox Country<br />
|country = of Serbia<br />
|in = Southern Europe<br />
|map = <map lat='44.2373283' lng='20.448' zoom='6' view='0' width='300' height='320' /><br />
|language = Serbian<br />
|capital = [[Belgrade]]<br />
|pop = 10,350,265<br />
|currency = Serbian Dinar (RSD)<br />
|BW = RS<br />
|hitch = <rating country='rs' /><br />
}}<br />
'''Serbia''' (Serbian: ''Србија / Srbija''), is a country in [[Southern Europe]], located in former ''Yugoslavia''. It contains two autonomous provinces: [[Vojvodina]] and [[Kosovo]] & Metohija. However, Kosovo declared independence in 2008.<br />
<br />
It is pretty easy to hitchhike in '''Serbia''' during the day, but at night it gets very hard. Street lights are rare outside of the cities, and even the smaller cities are not so easy to hitch beside.<br />
<br />
In '''Serbia''' most of the main roads have junctions off towards the cities, so you could be dropped 4 or 5 km away from the nearest place and find yourself having to walk to the next decent junction. <br />
<br />
Roads are generally of excellent quality compared to other countries in the region (e.g. [[Romania]] or [[Bulgaria]]).<br />
<br />
Hitchhiking on the motorway is frowned upon, but you won't get into any trouble. Police will only please you to go off at the next ramp. If you hitchhike on the motorway, it is better to get out at the toll stations, where it is considered normal to hitchhike. <br />
<br />
* ''According to [[User:Rozwal|Rozwal]]'s experience (October 2011) it is very hard to get a ride in the Serbian countryside of Vojvodina. The waiting time is long and the distance covered very little. However, when people are approached directly at small fuel stations at the end of a village they take hitchhikers very eagerly. When hitchhiking in Serbia, according to my experience - it is even more important to try to talk to the drivers than in other countries. Unfortunately, not always is there a place where drivers can be approached personally'' <br />
<br />
[[File:Serbia_platschi.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[User:platschi|platschi]] hitching towards [[Serbia]]]]<br />
<br />
=== Safety ===<br />
<br />
Hitchhiking along the motorways seems to be no problem during the day. Serbian drivers tend to be friendly. When it's getting dark it is recommended to search a safe place to stay. While riding through the night, vicious attacks to cars and people on parking areas or along the road seem to happen from time to time. Make sure that you get out at a 24h petrol station or motel along the way.<br />
<br />
=== Cities ===<br />
* [[Belgrade]]<br />
* [[Kragujevac]]<br />
* [[Krusevac]]<br />
* [[Niš|Nis]]<br />
* [[Novi Sad]]<br />
* [[Subotica]]<br />
* [[Uzice]]<br />
* [[Zrenjanin]]<br />
<br />
== Border crossing ==<br />
* [[Bulgaria]]<br />
** [[Kalotina-Dimitrovgrad border crossing]]<br />
* [[Hungary]]<br />
** [[Horgos-Röszke_border_crossing]]<br />
* [[Kosovo]]<br />
** [[Merdare border crossing|Merdare]]<br />
* [[Romania]]<br />
** [[Iron Gates]]<br />
**[[Stamora Moravița-Vatin border crossing|Stamora Moravița-<br />
<br />
=== Money ===<br />
<br />
When only hitchhiking through '''Serbia''' to get to [[Hungary]], [[Bulgaria]] or wherever, you can pay at most service stations along the motorway with euro notes or bank card. Sometimes they also offer cash machines to withdraw euro notes. The country itself is quite cheap compared to [[Hungary]] or other Western European countries. Drivers will not ask you to pay for the ride.<br />
<br />
=== Phrasebook ===<br />
<small><br />
{{Phrasebook/Serbian}}<br />
</small><br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
[http://www.serbiatravelers.org/en/index.php/hitchhiking Hitchhiker's guide to Serbia]<br />
<br />
[http://lana-in-serbia.blogspot.com/2010/09/hrvatska-and-crna-gora-part-1.html Lana in Serbia] (hitchhiking through the Balkans)<br />
<br />
{{Template:Europe/countries}}<br />
[[trash:Serbia]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Serbia| ]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Serbien]]<br />
[[es:Serbia]]<br />
[[fr:Serbie]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Horgos-R%C3%B6szke_border_crossing&diff=68421Horgos-Röszke border crossing2013-03-05T17:21:38Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>The '''Horgos-Röszke border crossing''' links [[Hungary]], near the city of [[Szeged]], with [[Serbia]] near the town of Horgos.<br />
<br />
<map lat='46.176036' lng='19.979103' zoom='11' view='0' float='right' height='270' width='350' /><br />
<br />
It is situated on the E75, which is a motorway to [[Budapest]] and an express carriageway to [[Novi Sad]]. There is heavy traffic, both trucks and cars. Hungary is part of the [[Schengen Agreement]] but Serbia isn't, so border controls can take some time. Leave the truck and cross the border on foot. On the Serbian side it happened to [[User:Pite|pite]] twice that he was sent away by the police to the petrol station further down the road.<br />
<br />
A lot of Serbian people living next to the border cross here frequently for some, well, unknown reasons. They may not be the most cooperative people in terms of taking hitchhikers. Also the police likes to control people for cigarettes and other stuff, that's why it can be tricky to get a ride crossing the border. As it is possible to cross the border by walking, just convince the drivers to leave you nearby the border crossing and walk. Anyway it will be much faster than the whole procedure with a car. On Hungarian side walk for 300 meters and you will find a petrol station where you can ask drivers. Be aware that most of the cars are Serbian drivers going somewhere nearby, so it is not that easy to get away, but you will not starve there either.<br />
<br />
[[File:Röszke.jpg|300px]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Hungary]]<br />
[[Category:Serbia]]<br />
[[Category:E75]]<br />
[[Category:Border crossings]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Frankfurt_an_der_Oder&diff=68420Frankfurt an der Oder2013-03-05T17:00:21Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox German Location<br />
|country = Germany<br />
|map = <map lat='52.337' lng='14.567' zoom='11' view='0' /><br />
|state = Brandenburg<br />
|pop = 62,000<br />
|plate = FF<br />
|motorways = A12/E30<br />
}}<br />
'''Frankfurt/Oder''' is a town in the very east of [[Germany]] in the federal state Brandenburg on the [[Poland|Polish]] border.<br />
<br />
It is not a good place to get stuck in. [[Slubice]], its Polish counterpart, on the other side of the river is just as bad, if not worse. It's probably worth coughing up the euros to get you to [[Warsaw]] - if you're here, you've probably cocked up somewhere. Maybe you got here on the train from [[Berlin]], and didn't want to pay the extra to go to Warsaw. If you do end up here though, then check out the graffiti, and try and make some friends to take you to the squat, which is almost a museum of graffiti.<br />
<br />
== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
<br />
=== West towards [[Berlin]] {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
<br />
If you want to go to Berlin, or generally direction west, take tram #1 or #5 in the direction ''Neuberesinnschen'' (€1,20) and get off at the last stop. Then walk some 100 m along the street ''Mühlenweg''. You will see a Shell petrol station on the other side of the street. You can hitchhike at the exit of the station. It usually takes 10-20 minutes until somebody offers a ride. <br />
<br />
Even if you are not going to Berlin, it might help to have a sign for Berlin when hitchhiking at the exit of the petrol station to get a lift out of the city. <br />
<br />
[[User:N0id|n0id]] hitchhiked there several times and generally finds it easier to find a lift by asking then by thumbing. One time he was sent away by the staff claiming that he was disturbing customers. This had never happened before though.<br />
<br />
Petrol station from the motorway:<br />
<br />
A very good way to hitch out of the city is going to the petrol station "Biegener Hellen" on the motorway A12 (Berlin - Poland). To get there take a train from Frankfurt to '''Pillgram'''. The train goes once per hour, takes less than 10 minutes and costs 2,60 Euro (March 2013). From the train station in Pillgram follow the street "Zum Bahnhof" until the end, turn left and the next big street right. Walk for some minutes and you will get out of the village. There will be a small path for workers of the petrol station. This path will take you to the petrol station. Traffic is not huge because most people prefer to fill gas in Poland where it's cheaper, but still it is no bad spot.<br />
In total you have to walk for two kilometers, but it is by far the best option to get out of the Frankfurt and Slubice.<br />
<br />
=== East towards [[Poznań]], [[Warsaw]] {{European Route Number|30}} ===<br />
<br />
Hitchhiking into Poland is best done from point where the E30 crosses the border. This border station is actually on the Polish side, because the actual border is in the middle of the river Oder. To get there on foot you have two options: one will take you for sure an hour, maybe 90 minutes, if you know the way and the other only 15 minutes but you have to walk along the motorway which is forbidden in Germany. <br />
<br />
For the first option take tram #1 in the direction ''Lebuser Vorstadt'' and get out at the station ''Magistrale'' (it's very close to the McDonalds). Now you have to walk for a very long time. First of all you have to cross into Poland via the city bridge and then head right on the street ''1 Maja''. After some 30 minutes you'll pass the bazaar and 300 metres later take the road which splits from ''1 Maja'' to the right. This street's name is ''Powstancow Wielkopolskich''. Keep on walking on this street until another fork in the road. Take this fork and keep on walking. After about 50 minutes you'll reach the border station.<br />
<br />
Along that route you will pass a bunch of petrol stations, beginning at the bazaar, where you might get in touch with a truck driver (look out for the TIR label) or a passenger car heading towards Poznan (licence number PXX) or Warsaw (WXX). Probably the best station is Ecotank where you find a lot of truck drivers resting.<br />
<br />
For the faster option take bus #984 from the central station 'Bahnhof' to the stop 'Leinengasse'. You will notice that you pass the highway just before the bus stop already. Walk back, make your way to the highway and start walking. It is about 2km to the border station. Be aware that the bus runs not very often, so check [http://www.svf-ffo.de/fahrgastinfo/liniennetzfahrplan/Folder/Linie984.pdf the schedule] before hand.<br />
<br />
Petrol station from the motorway:<br />
<br />
A very good way to hitch out of the city is going to the petrol station "Biegener Hellen" on the motorway A12 (Berlin - Poland). To get there take a train from Frankfurt to '''Pillgram'''. The train goes once per hour, takes less than 10 minutes and costs 2,60 Euro (March 2013). From the train station in Pillgram follow the street "Zum Bahnhof" until the end, turn left and the next big street right. Walk for some minutes and you will get out of the village. Some minutes later you will pass a bridge under the motorway. Turn left into the next path and you will be on the petrol station. From here it is very easy to catch a ride to Poland, especially Poznan.<br />
In total you have to walk for two kilometers, but it is by far the best option to get out of the Frankfurt and Slubice.<br />
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== Alternatives ==<br />
As mentioned above Frankfurt (Oder) und Slubice are not the best places to start hitchhiking. In case you're heading towards Poznan and Warsaw a cheap alternative might be the train that departs from Frankfurt main station. It costs about 6 EUR for students to Warsaw who get a 50% discount. At the moment the time tables looks as follows:<br />
<br />
* Frankfurt (Oder) to Poznan, departure 3:02pm<br />
* Poznan to Warsaw, departure 6:28pm<br />
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Do not forget to buy the ticket to Warsaw already in the first train to Poznan rather than two separate tickets.<br />
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*[[User:dorfdisco]]: Sorry, but this informations are unreliable. In March 2013 the train from Frankfurt only to Poznan costs already 19 Euro and the student discount inside Poland is only for students registered on a Polish university (German train company will not be interested in that anyway). <br />
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{{IsIn|Germany}}<br />
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[[Category:Brandenburg]]<br />
[[Category:E30]]<br />
[[Category:Germany]]<br />
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[[de:Frankfurt an der Oder]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=S%C5%82ubice&diff=68419Słubice2013-03-05T15:46:04Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
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<div>'''Słubice''' is a little town at the German/Polish border. It's not easy to hitch out of this town as the motorway is some kilometers south of the city and only reachable after a long walk. An option might be to thumb on the local road and try to find somebody that can take you to the A2. <br />
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== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
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For further information about how to hitchhike from a service station on the motorway please check the article of the German side of the border town, [[Frankfurt/Oder]].<br />
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=== East toward [[Poznań|Poznan]], [[Warsaw]] {{E|30}} {{National Road Number Poland|2}}, southeast toward [[Wrocław]] {{National Road Number Poland|29}} ===<br />
<br />
Walk along the the road until the end of town. This road, national road 29, is the only route leaving the town to the south and goes straight to [[Wrocław]]. Several kilometers south of the city, there is an intersection with the highway A2 which goes east to Poznan and Warsaw. There are a few gas stations along the road where you can ask for a ride to or onto the highway. One about one kilometre after the intersection in direction of Warsaw is service station on the highway.<br />
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=== West towards [[Germany]] ===<br />
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Instead of hitchhiking from Słubice, you can walk over the bridge to '''[[Frankfurt an der Oder|Frankfurt (Oder)]]''' and take a bus or tram to the German motorway.<br />
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It is also possible to go to the parking place of the cigarette shop in ''ulica Kościuszki''. You find it close to the roundabout opposite the Collegium Polonicum behind the shopping centre. A lot of Germans from [[Berlin]] and other places come here to buy cigarettes. You can ask them to get a lift, look out for their licences plates and if you approach them before they enter the shop you can point out that with one more person in their car they are allowed to legally import four extra carton of cigarettes (yes, the number is correct, there is a particular agreement between Germany and Poland about the legal amount of cigarettes).<br />
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{{IsIn|Poland}}<br />
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[[Category:Poland]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=S%C5%82ubice&diff=68418Słubice2013-03-05T15:45:13Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
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<div>'''Słubice''' is a little town at the German/Polish border. It's not easy to hitch out of this town as the motorway is some kilometers south of the city and only reachable after a long walk. An option might be to thumb on the local road and try to find somebody that can take you to the A2. <br />
<br />
== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
<br />
=== East toward [[Poznań|Poznan]], [[Warsaw]] {{E|30}} {{National Road Number Poland|2}}, southeast toward [[Wrocław]] {{National Road Number Poland|29}} ===<br />
<br />
Walk along the the road until the end of town. This road, national road 29, is the only route leaving the town to the south and goes straight to [[Wrocław]]. Several kilometers south of the city, there is an intersection with the highway A2 which goes east to Poznan and Warsaw. There are a few gas stations along the road where you can ask for a ride to or onto the highway. One about one kilometre after the intersection in direction of Warsaw is service station on the highway.<br />
<br />
For further information about how to hitchhike from a service station on the motorway please check the article of the German side of the border town, [[Frankfurt/Oder]].<br />
<br />
=== West towards [[Germany]] ===<br />
<br />
Instead of hitchhiking from Słubice, you can walk over the bridge to '''[[Frankfurt an der Oder|Frankfurt (Oder)]]''' and take a bus or tram to the German motorway.<br />
<br />
It is also possible to go to the parking place of the cigarette shop in ''ulica Kościuszki''. You find it close to the roundabout opposite the Collegium Polonicum behind the shopping centre. A lot of Germans from [[Berlin]] and other places come here to buy cigarettes. You can ask them to get a lift, look out for their licences plates and if you approach them before they enter the shop you can point out that with one more person in their car they are allowed to legally import four extra carton of cigarettes (yes, the number is correct, there is a particular agreement between Germany and Poland about the legal amount of cigarettes).<br />
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{{IsIn|Poland}}<br />
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[[Category:Poland]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Slubice&diff=68357Slubice2013-02-24T23:51:28Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
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<div>'''Slubice''' is a border town from [[Poland]] to [[Germany]]. <br />
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== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
It is a pain in the ass to hitch out of this town as the motorway is some kilometers south of the city and only reachable after a long walk. An option might be to thumb on the local road and try to find somebody that can take you to the A2.<br />
For further information please check the article of the German side of the border town, [[Frankfurt/Oder]].</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Bratislava&diff=68356Bratislava2013-02-24T23:38:30Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
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<div>'''Bratislava''' is the capital of [[Slovakia]]. The city has one [[Bratislava Airport | airport]]. If you just pass the city (f.e. from Prague to Budapest) avoid at all costs to get droped on a petrol station in the city by a driver that goes to Bratislava itself. The road splits inside the city, the motorway is in the middle and the local traffic goes on a side road. Because of a wall there is no direct connection between the streets and the petrol stations are not on the motorway, so you would leave it and find only domnestic traffic. In this case you have to follow the hitchwiki advice to get to another spot and lose plenty of time or find a cosy place to sleep...<br />
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== Public Transport ==<br />
Bratislava has a network of slow trams, buses and electric buses. <br />
The trams and electric buses are only at the eastern part of the city (East Danube side)<br />
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[http://imhd.zoznam.sk/ba/media/mn/00000528/Siet-liniek-MHD-20120414.png Here is a map of the public transport]<br />
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== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
<map lat='48.131348836914204' lng='17.14141845703125' zoom='11' view='0' float='right'/><br />
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=== North towards [[Brno]] or [[Prague]] (D2) {{European Route Number|65}} ===<br />
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* In the north of the city there is a small service station at the motorway going north to Brno. Take bus #34 or #83 from the old town, eg. from next to the Presidential Palace, to the bus stop ''Húščavova''. The bus stop is directly after the bus turns left and crosses the highway over a bridge. You need to indicate that you want to get off the bus at this station. In the worst case though, you can get off at the next stop ''Lipského'' and walk a bit more. When you leave the bus just walk back over the bridge and turn left and walk to the next traffic light to the station.<br />
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Another option of arriving at the service station is bus #30 (goes from Novy Most) - the stop name is Pridánky and it's just behind the service station. You need to indicate that you want to get off the bus so pay attention to the announcements.<br />
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* Second Option <br />
Go to a bus stop called Mokrohájska - buses 21,22,30,34,38,83 - the bus stop is on the road to Brno but it's not yet a highway. You can try hitch hiking directly 'behind' the bus stop, there's enough place for a hitch hiker to stand and for a car to stop. <br />
'''OR''' continue walking to the same direction the bus was going, about 300 meters forward there's a large popular gas station.<br />
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=== East towards [[Žilina]] {{European Route Number|75}}, [[Banská Bystrica]], {{European Route Number|58}} {{European Route Number|571}} ===<br />
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'''First option :''' There is a gas station directly on the highway D1 in Bratislava. It's near the AVION shopping park. You can take the bus 61 to near the airport, there's a stop called Fortuny. You can try either hitchhiking on the on-ramp or walking to the gas station. It's exactly 750m away from the bus stop. There are a lot of trucks going by this on-ramp, because this is one of the industrial parts of Bratislava.[https://maps.google.sk/maps?saddr=Ivansk%C3%A1+cesta&daddr=Nezn%C3%A1ma+cesta&hl=sk&ie=UTF8&sll=48.173842,17.190685&sspn=0.008715,0.01929&geocode=FRAJ3wIdyEkGAQ%3BFWYc3wIdEE0GAQ&t=h&mra=me&mrsp=1,0&sz=16&z=16 Click here to see the map]<br />
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'''Second option :''' Take tram 4 or 2 to the end of the line going east, the stop is called Zlaté Piesky. Cross over the big road to your right and walk down past the Porsche dealership. Hitchhike on the highway just beyond the bus stop. Its not the greatest spot, but there isn't any other. The road splits into the E75 and the E58/E571 approximately 30 km east from here.<br />
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=== South towards [[Budapest]] {{European Route Number|75}}, [[Vienna]] {{European Route Number|58}} ===<br />
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# '''Probably the best way :''' From the city centre take a tram number 4 in direction of Zlate Piesky, get off at the last stop. Then walk along the road around 15 minutes. When you see the beginning of the motorway with a sign Győr, Wien, on your righthand side you will notice a petrol station. Go a few metres through bushes, and once you get to the fence, there is a hole in fence. Jump over it (its just one metre or something) and you are at the petrol station directly on the motorway. From there its '''very''' easy to get a lift to Wien, a bit harder to Hungary. Some people also go to Italy using this way to avoid paying for vignets for Austria, which are expensive. You can get here also by buses 53, 56, 65 , 514. [http://imhd.zoznam.sk/ba/journey-planner.html?z1x=Hod%C5%BEovo+n%C3%A1m.&z1k=575&z2x=Kon-Rad&z2k=3670&odpr=0&datum=13.12.2012+ZAJTRA%2C+%C5%A1tvrtok&cas=12%3A48&mnp=2&np=5&ptyp=0&rch=1#spojenie1 This is how you can get here] [http://goo.gl/maps/hHTw3 Here is the map]<br />
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Attempted the above directions this morning and they need a little further explanation. Only tram 4 goes to Zlate Piesky, which is the name of the last stop. From here you'll see a footbridge, which you need to cross over and continue up the road in the direction the tram was heading. You'll be walking along a grass verge so be careful along the road. Have some faith, keep moving and you'll pass a lake on your right hand side. Continue on and you'll see a bridge up ahead with a petrol station on the other side of the carriageway. There are some offices to your right here. Push on under the bridge and you'll see in the distance the petrol station you're after. Follow the tracks in the field and you'll find the hole in the fence through to the station forecourt and truck stop. No problem from there. Here is the map [[http://hitchwiki.org/maps/?place=10688]]--[[User:Looking for Stu|Looking for Stu]] ([[User talk:Looking for Stu|talk]]) 17:38, 4 December 2012 (CET) <br />
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# '''A very good way :''' Motorway-petrol station in the northeast of the city. Take Bus 63 (crosses the whole town) and get out at Tesco Lamac (next to a shopping centre). Walk 1 km northwards and you get to a bridge that crosses the motorway. Go down the steps at the bridge and another 100m north and you're there. Or you can get there also by bus 83, 34, 22 and 20 or even 30. When taking the buses 83, 34, 22 and 20 you have to get off at the bus stop '''''Húščavova''''', walk back few meter to the bridge, go under it, and walk 50m to the gas station. When taking the bus 30. Get off at '''''Pridánky''''', cross the bridge over the highway, go under it, and walk 50m to the gas station. Both bus stops require you to give the driver a signal it's a button in the bus (When there's only one button that is it. When there are two buttons it's not the one that opens the door, it's the one that says STOP.) Most of the cars will be locals but there are also some trucks passing by here. If nobody is going far ask people also if they aren't going along the D2 to Jarovce and passing by the big gas station located there. [http://goo.gl/maps/ij3D Here is the map]<br />
# '''The most traffic but it's hard to get there :''' There is a big gas station on the D2 highway south of the city. It's a quite walk to get there. Go by bus 93 or 95 to the bus stop '''''Vyšehradská'''''(It is the last stop of the bus 93), Cross the big road called Panonská Cesta and walk to the gas staion. It a bit far.[http://goo.gl/maps/QWXe Here is a map]<br />
#walk towards Vienna. Following highway B9 parallel to the Danube walk towards Vienna with your thumb out. The traffic is slow and light enough that people can stop and pick you up easily. (2012.01.24 I took this route and only ended up walking about 6km between two people who gave me rides. Probably better than waiting in town for a ride. -lex)<br />
# get a bus ticket to Budapest for EUR 3(?) from the Student Agency on Obchodna Ulica. The place is, if facing towards the old town, on the left hand side of the street just before Postova Ulica, near the McD's/KFC and Slovak Pub. If you're under 26 don't forget to ask for the 10% discount.<br />
# Walk south over the UFO bridge and follow the pedestrian/cycle path to the right. You will arrive at a bus stop on Einsteinova, standing at the front of the marked off lane will give drivers a place to pull over. The road splits shortly after, but both ways lead towards Vienna, so to catch all possible rides it's best to wait before the fork. It's not ideal as three lanes of traffic are moving quickly by. If you are unsuccessful, two bus companies operating between Bratislava and Vienna pick up right at that bus stop about every 15 minutes during the day. Also, there's an on-ramp from the bridge onto Einsteinova, where cars have space to pull over, [[User:Zenit|Zenit]] got a ride there within 15-20 minutes.<br />
# OMV petrol station near shopping centre AUPARK. Try to get a lift to the first petrol station on the motorway named Jarovce.<br />
(I tried this option with a girlfriend. Enough cars, a lot of drivers speak English, but nobody is going to the motorway and everybody has a car filled with groceries, kids or a wife (MF))<br />
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== Sleeping ==<br />
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It is possible to sleep in many places around in Bratislava. You can try to sleep at the railway station but there is a chance that the guards will ask you either to leave or to show them a ticket by which you are going to travel so just tell them that you are going to Vienna tommorow but you haven't bought the ticket yet and you will buy it tomorrow. That should work. You can also try sleeping in the Sad Janka Kráľa which is located on the south side of the Danube river. It's a quite big park so that you should be able to sleep there without any problems. Another option is sleeping in the Pečianky les. Which is just a bit west from the Sad Janka Kráľa and is a forest where is a lot of place to hide and you can camp there without being noticed or disturbed.<br />
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== Internet ==<br />
# McDonalds<br />
# Julius Meinl cafe at MyBratislava. Only on the ground floor. You can sit outside if you want.<br />
# Many restaurants and bars display "free wifi" signs<br />
# By the river there's an artificial beach (just sand brought by trucks) sponsored by this cellphone company where you can use their computers for free, also the centre has free wifi. (But it's only in the summer.)<br />
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{{IsIn|Slovakia}}<br />
[[trash:Bratislava]]<br />
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[[Category:Slovakia]]<br />
[[Category:E65]]<br />
[[Category:E75]]<br />
[[Category:E58]]<br />
[[fr: Bratislava]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Prague&diff=68355Prague2013-02-24T23:21:27Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
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<div>{{Hitchhiking Zine nomination}}<br />
{{Infobox Czech Location<br />
|map = <map lat="50.0751" lng="14.4347" zoom="10" view='3' height='350' width='420'/><br />
|country = Czech Republic<br />
|state = <br />
|pop = 1.218.644<br />
|plate = old: A?? ???? new: ?A? ????<br />
|motorways = [[D1 (CZ)|D1]], [[D5 (CZ)|D5]], [[D8 (CZ)|D8]], [[D11 (CZ)|D11]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Prague''' (''Praha'') is the capital of the [[Czech Republic]].<br />
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A lot of Czech people don't speak English. (You can try German.) The Czech word for petrol station is "Benzinka". This might come in handy. (MF)<br />
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An abbreviation '''PHA''' written on your sign clearly informs a driver that you go to Prague.<br />
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== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
=== East towards [[Hradec Králové]], [[Pardubice]], [[Wrocław]] {{Motorway Number Czech Republic|11}}{{E|67}} ===<br />
From "Černý most", the last station of B-line metro (yellow) take bus to station "Na Kovárně" (221, 303, 304, 344, 353, 398), it is about 10 minutes ride and probably you are going to pay few crowns, but not much. Hundred metres behind the stop turn right and go along Tlustého street, after last house keep the right (bigger) road, then left before the cemetery. Go across the bridge to the petrol station. It is about 1,5 km, but I think it is the best hitch spot on this direction. There usually aren't too many cars, but I've never been there more than half an hour. If you get lost ask anyone about "Hummer Garden" (the place only for Hummers) which is just behind the station.<br />
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==== Second option ====<br />
Maybe better is to use K+R place near "Černý Most" metro station, lots of hitchhikers use this place. Use sign HK (Hradec Králové) or PL (if you want to Náchod and Poland). It's necessary to use the sign, because cars there are going to many directions.<br />
Disadvantage is that there are only cars traveling out of Prague - not those going from Prague ring road. But there is no non-freeway solution how to pick up those cars. My personal experience (dj-bobr) for east way (Hradec Králove, Poland) is that you can try to hitchhike at the beginning of D11 Highway (50.098664 N, 14.597708 E). It's a motorway, but police doesn't care, if you stand safe at the shoulder.<br />
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=== Northeast towards [[Mladá Boleslav]], [[Liberec]], [[Görlitz]] {{E|65}} ===<br />
[[File:Stop_hk.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Dj-bobr at the beginning of D11 Highway.]]<br />
You can hitch from a gas station on the E65. Take the metro line B (yellow) to the last station, Černý Most. From there catch bus number 220 to the stop called "Do Čertous". When you get off the bus the gas station is behind the big orange building with "H1" on it.<br />
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==== Second option ====<br />
Another option is to use K+R place near "Černý Most" metro station (the same for going to Hradec Králové), lots of hitchhikers use this place. Use sign MB (Mladá Boleslav), LB (Liberec). It's necessary to use the sign, because cars are there going to many directions. Because of building of Prague Ring (R1) sub-parts, long-distance traffic is lower each day, but this spot is still usable. For Hradec Králové and Poland direction, use spot at the beginning of D11 highway.<br />
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=== North, Northwest towards [[Dresden]], [[Berlin]] {{Motorway Number Czech Republic|8}}{{E|55}}===<br />
You can also get to an easily reachable petrol station on the motorway getting north walking.<br />
You must go to "Letňanská" (e.g. bus 195, 140, 158 from metro "Prosek"). Then going down from the bus, you can see the entrance of the motorway straight ahead. Put yourself so you have the motorway on your right, then cross the street (going north then), and then the parking, and go behind the buildings, looking for a small bridge (“most” in Czech), going above the motorway. From there you will see the petrol station. There are not so many people stopping there, but they all are (almost) going in the good direction. Just ask if they are going north (“sever”) or if they can just let you on the next petrol station (“příští pumpa”/“prschieschtee pumpa”), where there will be normally more cars.<br />
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==== Second option ====<br />
You need to get to the first big petrol station OMV with McDonalds on D8(E55). From metro station ”Letňany” take bus (195, 140, 158, 110, 269) to the stop “Obchodní centrum Čakovice”. Then on the other side of the road take bus (202) and ride one stop to “Na Lukách”. Bus goes once in an hour, so it's better to walk there for 10 minutes. The bus stop “Na Lukách” is very close to D8(E55) motorway. If you took bus or walked, then go towards the bridge and from there you can see the petrol station at left. From that petrol station you can either hitch-hike to Dresden directly or to the last petrol station OMV before Lovosice or to the Agip petrol station after [[Ústí nad Labem]]. The hitch-hiking position there is also good.<br />
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'''Warning''': If you are passing through Dresden, take a look on [[Dresden]] hitchwiki page.<br />
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==== Third option ====<br />
Use the third option, if you don't want to go with so many buses. Just take the red metro line (C) to the terminal station Letňany and then walk from there to the spot marked by Fatidik. It is 300m walking from there. Walk along the street Tupolevova (big bend road, where the metro exits and bus stations are on) in the direction the buses go (starting northwards, then bending westwards) and at the second crossing left into the Beranových until the end, then right and straight until you see a small walking path leading you to the service station. There are not so many cars and you may wait a little longer there.<br />
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==== Fourth option ====<br />
From the petrol station point described above walk about 2km at the side of the highway (in the direction Dresden/Berlin) and you will reach another OMV petrol station which has a McDonalds. This is way more populated spot, I only waited less than an hour to be picked up to be driven to Berlin.<br />
Thaddl was there on a sunday evening, when seemingly nearly only people from Prague came to have some McD-food and go back again, and had to wait several hours. And it is not so easy to walk there anymore, as after half the way a new exit ramp is blocking the way a little.<br />
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=== West towards [[Plzeň]], [[Nürnberg]] {{Motorway Number Czech Republic|5}}{{E|50}}===<br />
From metro "Zličín" (line B, yellow), take bus nr 380 or 308 to Rudná. The village main road goes straight through it. Stop around the center of the village, busstop "Rudná Hořelice" which is the 13th stop. Ticket costs approximately 18 Koruna. You'll see the motorway passing on the bridge on your right. Go under the bridge and walk on the main road until the 3rd right turn which is called Hořelická. Take the third road , go straight until the end and you will see (Ke hřisti). Take the small path at the end of the street, you'll arrive at the gas station. It's a 5-10 min walk. Avoid going into Plzeň or getting dropped off on the bypass. It's better to try to find a direct ride to [[Germany]] from the last petrol station before Plzeň. ( ** We 2 guys waited here for 45 minutes before getting a hitch hike upto the border of Germany post which going to [[Paris]] was easy. Verified on 6th September 2011) <br />
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==== Second option ====<br />
Take a tram (9, 10) to "Motol", that's where the motorway link starts. Not a perfect place, but cars are not too fast and there are quite a lot of Germans passing.<br />
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==== Third option ====<br />
From metro "Zličín" (line B, yellow) go the the crossroad on traffic lights, there's a bridge before (under the bridge are railways), so walk on the traffic light and stand right on the triangle, you can catch cars from both ways, they are going slowly there, and there's also a place to stop. We have been waiting there for 10 minutes. ( This OPTION Does not work - Don't Waste Time. verified on 6th Sep 2011 ) Look at the picture for details: [http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/7165/topilsen.jpg nice spot]<br />
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==== Fourth option ====<br />
I go quite often Prague<->Pilsen and this is the best spot for me. Take metro B (yellow line) to "Hůrka", walk around Albert shop, upstairs and over the small bridge. Walk around the school maintaining the same direction. You will see a wall that hides the road we need to take, so go behind it. There is a bus stop and a big road. Go right to the crossroads, there go left. You will se signs "Plzeň". Go over the bridge and down to the left just around the corner and there is a great place. Quite long and lot of space to stop. Police stopped only once but after 2 minutes talking they went out and let me there.<br />
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Without sign (or with sign "PLZ" or "Plzeň") you can easily get to Plzeň (don't take cars before Plzeň). For Germany is better to use sign ("D") (and again, take only cars going to Germany or at least to the border where is good petrol station).<br />
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=== Southeast towards [[Brno]], [[Bratislava]], [[Budapest]], [[Vienna]], [[Kraków]] {{Motorway Number Czech Republic|1}}{{E|50}}{{E|59}}{{E|65}} <br />+ south towards [[České Budějovice]], [[Linz]] {{National Road Number Czech Republic|3}}{{Motorway Number Czech Republic|3}}{{E|55}} ===<br />
It's important to write sign!<br />
==== First option ====<br />
Use the petrol station, it is a good place, easier to reach than the other options and you'll get rides quickly. From metro "Opatov" (line C, red) climb the steps to the road above (at the end of the station, just up to the bus stop). Look on the bus stop timetables for the stop "K Sukovu" on route 363 (you are going south, the buses should leave every 15 minutes (less frequent on the weekend), and you can use the same ticket that you got on the metro). Get to "K Sukovu" – you'll know you're there when you see the petrol station to your right. From "K Sukovu" walk in the direction the bus is going for about 500m. After you cross the motorway bridge, the petrol station is on your right. This is a perfect spot! (MF)<br />
[[File:ujezdupruhonicprague.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Hitchhikers at Újezd u Průhonic petrol station. Regular local hitchers were about, as well as hitchers doing the race.]]<br />
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==== Second option ====<br />
From metro Opatov (line C, red) follow noise to the motorway. Walk along the road about 5 minutes, keep going over the crossroad and the bridge over the motorway (see second map). Now you might see other hitchhikers on the slip-road. Alternatively, you can take bus number 177 from metro Opatov to next station called "U Dálnice". (It's request stop, so press the stop-button after the bus starts moving.) Be careful and stay on the slip road, not on the motorway (sometimes police passes by). Average waiting time is less than one hour. From the bridge you can see the petrol station 'Újezd u Průhonic' – it's about 1.5&nbsp;km by motorway, but it isn't a good place.<br />
[[User:tmoon|Tom]] shared this spot with about 20 other hitchhikers during a race in April 2007 (most started at the slip-road spot described above, but just got dumped at this petrol station). While his teammates fell asleep on the grass for 3 hours (!), he was able to chat with other hitchhikers and drivers, and get ride offers towards [[Brno]], [[Bratislava]], [[Budapest]], [[Vienna]] and [[Kraków]]. The average waiting time was 20–30 minutes, plus there were several truck drivers promising longer lifts after a few hours' rest.<br />
<br />
:'''August 2012''' Hitchhiking to India leg 3: Heading to Brno. Perfect spot just next to the McDonald's. I waited maybe ten minutes before someone could take me to a service station within striking distance of my destination. About half an hour there before I was picked up again and taken the whole way. Great spot, just a bit of a trek to reach it. Lookingforstu<br />
<br />
==== Third option ====<br />
<br />
* Take Metro C till '''Chodov'''<br />
* leaving the metro entry turn right into road '''Roztylska''' until you reach the roundabout<br />
* the 2nd exit of the roundabout is yours, then again turn the first right into road '''Kloknetova'''<br />
* walk straight through the path in the bush (to the left of the bridge), cross the street, step over the small fence, and you are in the gas station<br />
<br />
The gas-station is a smaller one right on the motorway. If you won't find a long-distance ride you can ask drivers to bring you to the next gas-stations as described in other options. At this bigger gas station lots of people stop to refill and are going direction [[Brno]], [[Vienna]] and [[České Budějovice]].<br />
<br />
On the Viva con Agua Hitchhike Race in 2009 one team chose that spot and it worked our pretty good!<br />
:''I got a little lost trying to get there, don't get confused at the round about or go to weird onramp behind the mall. Once I got there I got a ride to Bratislava in 1minute -lex''<br />
<br />
<br />
=== South towards [[Příbram]], [[Písek]], [[České Budějovice]] {{National Road Number Czech Republic|4}} ===<br />
<br />
From Smíchovské nádraží (subway line B) take bus 129, 241, 243, 244, 314 or 318 to the stop Malá Chuchle. It's a request stop so press the button. There you can easily hitchhike. Usually very short waiting on Friday afternoons when many people go out from Prague.<br />
<br />
=== West towards [[Kladno]], [[Karlovy Vary]] {{E|48}} ===<br />
From Dejvická (subway line A) take bus 119 to Dědina. There you can hitchhike. You can also try another bus stop on Evropská road e.g. Divoká Šárka but probably further is better. Good spot but most cars going towards Kladno or Slaný.<br />
<br />
'''Second Option to Karlovy Vary'''<br />
This is better option for Karlovy Vary direction. Take tram 22 to Bílá Hora. Go straight in the street Karlovarská and there is quite good place to hitch-hike behind the red-white banister.<br />
<br />
'''Third Option to Karlovy Vary'''<br />
If you prefer gas stations, try this option. The first one is quite far though (30 km from Prague center) - take a bus from Praha,,Hradčanská to Velká Dobrá,,u školy. Once there follow the direction of the bus and turn first left (Unhošťská street), than second right (Lesní street) and after 200 m you should see the highway and the gas station on your right.<br />
<br />
== Public transport ==<br />
'''Always have a valid ticket when travelling by metro!''', unless you look like a Czech! Tourists are the biggest source of income for DPP (Prague public trans.), so the controllers are first to check those, who do not look like Czech citizens. They don't wear uniforms. The fine is 800 Kč (~32 €) if you will pay it on that place or till 15 days. Ticket for 30 minutes - 24 Kč (1 €), 90 minutes - 32 Kč (~1.30 €). If you plan to stay longer, you can buy a ticket for one day - 110 Kč (~4.50 €) or three days - 310 Kč (~12.60 €).<br />
<br />
The most dangerous stations are "Muzeum", "Florenc", "Můstek" and "I.P. Pavlova". You can usually find where are the controllers at [http://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/%23Revizori twitter], sure not all of them (especially these in buses are hardly locatable).<br />
<br />
I will suggest buy a one day ticket or something like that, look confident and don't validate it. If a controller comes, pretend to not speak Czech or English properly and say, but I bought a ticket. If you look confused at the best, they should or will validate your ticket and nothing else. Before boarding the Metro Compartment observe for Controllers already inside. Once inside at each station carefully observe for who all are getting on the bus. If it looks like they may be controllers, before the door shuts just get out of the metro. <br><br />
But rather then in buses, the controllers are near the stair. So if you see them, I advise to board the metro once again and get out on the next station. Some stations have several exits and sometimes controllers are only at one exit at the top of the stairs maybe. So try different exits. It's annoying and risky but doable.<br />
<br />
<br />
On metro stations you can find maps of Prague with public transport, this can be useful, because the lines are changing (especially bus lines). You can easily find a connection online at [http://jizdnirady.idnes.cz/pid/spojeni/ IDOS] - works for the entire CR or alternatively for Prague only: [http://idos.dpp.cz/idos/ConnForm.aspx?tt=pid&cl=E5 Idos/DPP].<br />
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[[:wikitravel:Prague]]<br />
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{{Cities Czech Republic}}<br />
{{Highways CZ}}<br />
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[[fr:Prague]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Talk:Norway&diff=68143Talk:Norway2013-01-19T21:38:45Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>== '''A counter note to the below statement''' ==<br />
I am a norwegian guy and have hitchhiked a lot in norway. It's allways been cool. When it's light outside, avarage standing time with OK traffic maybe 30 minutes to an hour, and that's not bad! Actually i once outran the train by half an hour, me and two girs was hitchhiking from fredrikstad to nesodden, and we really didn't spend much time standing, maybe thanks in part to the two beautiful girls - but it was women stopping mostly. South of norway is a dream for hitchhikers, i'd say.<br />
<br />
Mostly though i've hitched in north where i come from. It's been enjoyable, i've continued with it for some trips even after i got my car. After dark falls, people are much less likely to stop for you, for obeous reasons. People ARE friendly. Maybe part of the problem for many will be that many older norwegians are afraid of their bad english and do not wish to talk it, not because they're unfriendly but because it's a struggle.<br />
<br />
I advice hitchhiking here! :) (but maybe scrap that stupid sign people seem to be holding up all the time, in my eyes makes you seem silly. You're standing on the road in the direction you want to go, that sign is just pointless. Unless you're in a city center or something.) [[User:ThorRune|ThorRune]] 10:09, 21 September 2010 (CEST)<br />
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<br />
'''Counter note #2'''<br />
Good thing that I hadn't read all this before I went hitchhiking in Norway - I might not have tried. I went from Tromsø northwards to Kåfjord (E6) with a friend, then we returned separately (I had to be back earlier). Everything went very smoothly, we never waited for longer than half an hour, and people were astonishingly friendly - not only the ones who picked us up, but even many people who didn't stop (smiling, waving, making apologising gestures..). Was it the sunny weather? Our sunny disposition? Plain luck? I don't know, I just thought I'd share this. <br />
[[User:marbledmurrelet|marbledmurrelet]] 18:49, 22 September 2010 (CEST)<br />
<br />
<br />
'''...and counter note #3''' (from Paulgato - August 2010...) I just hitched a short distance near Oslo - from Rygge airport to the Swedish border on the E18 - and I got four lifts - all from Norwegians - and I found them all friendly and helpful. I'm a guy, I was hitching with a girl, and we both had huge rucksacks, which would have put off some drivers I'm sure. We had one long wait of an hour and a half when we were dropped off at a place where drivers couldn't easily stop, but we still beat the bus by a couple of hours.<br />
<br />
<br />
'''Counter note #4'' (from teeshirt - June 2012). I have been hitchhiking around Norway for the past few weeks and I have to say I am impressed about how easy it is. I have hitched with around 25 people so far in Norway. Around 20 of them were Norwegians. Oslo - Bergen in ten hours. In the countryside there are fewer cars but people are friendlier and not as much in a hurry. I hitched for five days around Sognefjord with another guy and a dog (!) and we got picked up within 20-30 minutes. Never by trucks and never by vans. Many tourists in vans - they do not stop. Try to get a ride before a ferry rather than after it when everyone is impatient to get out of it.<br />
<br />
== '''No, it is not easy to hitchhike in Norway''' ==<br />
Ok, as said on the main page, "Norway is a '''good''' country to hitch in", but '''not easy''' to hitch in. My experience there was not as easy as what I read in other feedbacks.<br />
<br />
''I hitchhiked From Oslo to Langoya (Narvik), in March 2010. I gave up to make it further, because it hasn't been that much fun to hitch in this country ...''<br />
<br />
'''First, I would point the fact that Norwegian people are not that much tourist-friendly''', as some other "rich" countries. I know what I'm talking about, I'm from France.<br />
Even if the whole population do understand/speak English, a lot of drivers were distant, even sometimes rude with me. I had the same experience hitchhiking in Florida. Having your best smile and starting to ask a question to somebody who avoid your presence/voice/eye contact, is definitely not the funniest experience. A lot of Norwegians people didn't want me to talk to them and rushed to their car before I even finished to said what I was looking for. <br />
<br />
'''I heard a lot about this famous highway E6''', going all the away up North, like a dream road for hitchhikers.<br />
It's mostly a bad 2 lanes mountain road, dotted of wealthy villages that you absolutely need to avoid if you don't want to spend your day counting the huge amount of BMW and Mercedes driving toward you and frowning at your sign. Worst of all: Grong, 1day 1/2 to get a ride ... for 7km.<br />
Even if people living there (note that I do not say 'Norwegians'. See below) are used to drive on those icy roads, it takes some time to cross some portions of the road. If be any luck your stuck in a light snow storm, I hope you enjoy the company of you driver, which is actually most likely because of the point that I absolutely want to talk about now:<br />
<br />
'''95% of people who offered me a ride were FOREIGNERS'''<br />
I type it big enough because this fact just made me feel like this beautiful country of Norway is absolutely not hitchhikers-friendly.<br />
Germany, Polona, Sudan, Colombia, Latvia, Belgium, Afghanistan, and I'm sure I forgot some others. Hitchhike Norway and you will travel the world. First, I've been really surprised to see that most (all) of the people offering me a ride where actually not from Norway. But it finally make sens when you figure out that you're not truly welcome in this country, as most of the foreigners-workers I met there, as native Samis as well.<br />
<br />
'''Anyway''', I don't want to talk about that at all, but I want to point the fact that hitchhiking in Norway is not as easy as it's said. Or maybe I am the only one how had such a bad experience there?<br />
I open the discussion, so please let's share your own experience!<br />
<br />
''I did hitchhike in Asia, Caribbean, North America and Europe. So far I would say that Norway is the worst place I hitchhiked, just after Florida. My advice: go there with a Norwegian flag tattooed on your forehead, that might do the job.''<br />
<br />
[[User:Grata|Grata]] 23:27, 6 April 2010 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Hello, i can complete this experience with my point of view. I was hitchhiking end of march 2010 from oslo to Tromsö and in April from trömso to Stockholm and further to leipzig.<br />
<br />
On my way to the north on the E6 i stucked 250km before Trondheim and finally after some other happenings (a truck driver drove over my backpack) i took the plane from trondheim to tromsö (i had to get another plane to svalbard and this was the best option). Hitchhiking in Norway is fucking annoying. <br />
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'''E06''' Yeah this is the nice street which goes up to far north. I thought this would be really easy for hitchhiking, only one street, all the traffic will pass by me. But my experiences where different. <br />
<br />
''First of all:'' If you want to get a long distance lift with a trailer, it is quite impossible on the E06. Truck drivers usually take other roads! From oslo to trondheim the 3 and from trondheim to Tromsö they go through sweden. Only very few companys go straight up north on E06. I stucked in Dovre for the night at a big truck stop, but all of the truckers went to the coastline. Also, but that is just my personal impression, many truck drivers have been really unfriendly.<br />
<br />
''Second:'' At 9 o´clock in the evening the traffic was shut down. I didn´t expect that it was so hard, but there where about 5-6 cars per hour passing my gas station. Passing without stopping. There was no traffic. No way to get a night lift.<br />
<br />
''Third:'' I had not one ride over 100km. All lifts i got where just for a few "miles" and i can share the experience of grata, that there where not many norwegians (maybe one out of 7, who was original norwegian) who picked me up.<br />
<br />
Also norwegians i met later told me, that it is hard for foreigners to come in contact, even if they speak the local language. The norwegians are very reserved towards aliens and foreigners.<br />
<br />
I can say that was the '''worst hitchhiking trip''' i ever did. i did the whole way back from tromsö to leipzig in two parts (tromsö - stockholm 38h and stockholm - leipzig 25h) and sweden was a bit better, but also not so easy. Long waiting times, much longer than in every southern european country (except spain). latest in denmark my karma came back and hitchhiking was again a nice experience with interesting lifts and helpfull people.<br />
<br />
I developed a little personal theory with some of my lifts. ;) I explained me all what happened with two thing. First, the way of travelling for young people in scandinavia is usually by plane (long distances, by plane fast and compared to car not soo expensive). So most6 of the drivers wouldn´t understand why there is someone beside the street, looking for a ride and not taking the plane. Second has to do with the very good welfare system in scandinavia. People are not used to help each other, because the goverment takes care and there is no need for solidarity (even the homeless in stockholm have a mobile haha) to each other. This is just a wacky theory! But maybe there is some truth in it. <br />
<br />
'''If you hitchhike in norway take alot of time with you, much food (it´s so fucking expensive there) and a good tent. Then it will be a nice trip. The nature is still awesome. But anyway i wouldn´t recommend this country!!!'''<br />
<br />
== Another contribution ==<br />
<br />
In my experience Norway is not so easy but drivers can be very nice.<br />
To explain more in depth: it worked less easily than in other countries (and definitely less easier than I expected), but once somebody stop they will hardly disappoint you, often taking you some kms further their destination. <br />
<br />
In order to give the right picture I think it is necessary to talk separately about different areas/conditions. <br />
<br />
'''Roads''': some roads are most difficult than others just because of their nature. Hitchhiking down from Oslo (actually from Horten) to Kristiansand on the E18 was terrible and took too may hours (something like 8) because you could not hitch directly on the road (illegal and anyway crazy), so we got a lot of local traffic picking as up at some roundabout (not an easy place for cars to stop) up on the shoulders of the E18 and leaving us at another one often less than 10kms far, while most of the long-distance traffic was passing just below us. Only once we got a long lift that really saved us from being stuck in many (and not frequent anyway) micro-lifts. <br />
Once past Kristiansand (we were lucky in getting a lift past the city), things got much better on the E39 as there was plenty of bus stops very often from which you could easily hitchhike almost directly on the main road. Unfortunately we got just a couple of short lifts and then we got the last bus to Stavanger since we had wasted most of the day on the E18. As a side note, I tried to tell the bus driver we were hitchhiking (hoping in a free ride) but I was not very convinced and asked after a few seconds for price of regular ticket.. he said "I suppose you're student" (we were not anymore, but we did look young and this was enough, no papers) and gave us a student price... at this point I wanted to try and insist a bit making something like a sad/scared-by-the-price face (price was very high for that distance anyway) and he went down to children ticket. Being late and tired we found it reasonable and got it. So, if you're stuck you can still try your luck even if most of the Norwegians were very surprised by this kindness and they do not consider it normal. <br />
<br />
'''Areas''': Main roads around big cities are just more difficult to hitch than countryside roads. This is true everywhere, but especially in Norway as far as I could see. Hitchhiking also work very smooth on the way to/back from naturalistic attractions as you're very likely to get tourists (including local tourists) or locals who live in rural areas.. in any case more relaxed people. When getting down from some hike, even easier to make friends with people on the path and ask a lift after having broke the ice. <br />
<br />
'''People''': as I said, after they stop people are very nice. The difficult thing is to stop them. We got a long and important lift from a remorseful guy who had just ignored us and then got back after 2 mins feeling guilty for having ignored us in a remote place with not many cars at almost dusk. He turned ut to be one of the most kind drivers I've ever had... but if he had seen us maybe 2 hours earlier or in a less remote place, he would have just ignored us. So I think what somebody said is quite true: try to find a way to talk to them. I think asking in petrol stations, on ferries, and so on, might be more effective then just standing on the road. this is probably true for every country, but it seems to be especially true in Norway. <br />
<br />
'''Conclusions''': For long distances on main roads in the south, expect to find it difficult and time-consuming, quite frustrating sometimes when plenty of empty cars go in your directions ignoring you. For rural areas, especially nearby naturalistic attractions and/or place where you can get to talk with people it looks almost as any other country... so plan carefully, have b-plans (tent, or timetables of last buses, or places to sleep), and with some luck you'll really enjoy this beautiful country. <br />
<br />
PS: just for a complete information, my experience is referred to my only trip to Norway, in august, only in the south (never been northern than Bergen), we were a couple (m/f) from south Europe, white, clean, nothing particularly weird or scary in our look.<br />
<br />
<br />
--- In my humble opinion, there are some great information on this Talk side, some of them despite generalization about the character of people from Norway maybe even better than what you can find written on the normal site. Why not adding it there? I think a lot of user looking for information do not use the Talk page. [[User:dorfdisco|dorfdisco]], 19.01.2013. 22.38 (CET)<br />
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== About going South / North Norway in winter ==<br />
<br />
I read this article and discussion many times before I decided to hitchhike from Karlsoy (60km from Tromso) all the way down to Oslo in January (plain winter). I must say that most of the comments scared me a bit, but since I had no other choice I did it anyways.<br />
<br />
In my opinion Norway is not Hitchhiking paradise, specially during winter, but it isn't hell either. You get rides, just not as often as you would elsewhere, so be prepared to spend a bit longer than usual... Anyways the scenery compensates the waiting times, specially if you do it in the summer, where long waiting times can end up in camping in the woods or next to fjords (very allowed!). <br />
<br />
Dont mind those comments about Norwegians and how they are bla bla bla... I have a bit of a look and only got rides from very friendly and nice Norwegians who where very happy to pick me up. In my opinion, there is no general rule for this kind of things, some people experience a few drivers and then decide that the whole country is like that, and that doesn't sounds right to me... there are good and bad experiences only.<br />
<br />
I say that if you are just wanting to get either north or south, or any place in particular in Norway, and you want to do it fast or just get there: go trough Sweden, you can always take an exit from Norway to Sweden and then back, and its easy because Norwegians that live close to the border go shopping there as its much cheaper, also most of the long distance traffic from Norway goes trough Sweden as roads are easier, straighter and cheaper (tolls, petrol, etc)<br />
<br />
I tried from Karlsoy till Narvik, and after experiencing the long waiting times, and considering the risk of waiting in the middle of the cold mountains, I decided to take the road trough Sweden... After crossing the border, everything went very fast, I made it to the E4 down at the coast in a few hours and then all the way down to Stockholm and later to Oslo. <br />
<br />
Conclusion: Sweden is very friendly, specially compared to Norway, people are very responsive and they know what you are doing out there with your thumb (In Norway it seems that they really dont know, sometimes), there are many ways of getting in and out of Norway to use Sweden as a fast passage, so use it when you feel that Norway doesn't deserve longer waiting times, otherwise stick around and enjoy the beautiful nature if you get stuck.</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Talk:Witten&diff=68114Talk:Witten2013-01-14T18:27:23Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
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<div>== Warning ==<br />
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Before creating the page of Witten I read some kind of warning, that the page existed before but was deleted. Despite the reason "mass delation" I could not find the reason for that. Hope everything is alright with creating a new version. [[User:Dorfdisco|Dorfdisco]] 14:20, 14 January 2013 (CET)<br />
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:Hmm, I can't find information about the deletion... [[User:Guaka|guaka]] ([[User talk:Guaka|talk]]) 18:01, 14 January 2013 (CET)<br />
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I plan to create an article about Recklinghausen in the Ruhr Area as well and there appears the same information<br />
''<br />
Warning: You are recreating a page that was previously deleted.<br />
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You should consider whether it is appropriate to continue editing this page. The deletion and move log for this page are provided here for convenience:<br />
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07:46, 13 April 2010 MrTweek (Talk | contribs) deleted page Recklinghausen (Mass removal of pages added by 24.29.233.163)''<br />
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Maybe some kind of spam?<br />
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By the way: It is very difficult to hitch in or out of the Ruhr Area and sometimes you need to go to another city inside of the area to do so. Is it appreciated when I create articles about all of them and give advice where is the closest place to go or should there only be an article when the content is about the city itself? [[User:Dorfdisco|Dorfdisco]] 19:26, 14 January 2013 (CET)</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Essen&diff=68111Essen2013-01-14T15:18:59Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
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<div>{{stub}}<br />
{{Infobox German Location<br />
|country = Germany<br />
|map = <map lat='51.43299146603759' lng='7.027130126953125' zoom='11' view='3'/><br />
|pop = 582,764 (30 Jun 2007)<br />
|state = North Rhine-Westphalia<br />
|plate = E<br />
|motorways = [[A40 (Germany)|A40]], [[A42 (Germany)|A42]], [[A52 (Germany)|A52]]<br />
}}<br />
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'''Essen''' is a city in [[Germany]], located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city is part of the [[Ruhr Area]].<br />
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== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
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=== South towards ([[Düsseldorf]], [[Cologne]], [[Frankfurt]]) {{Autobahn|3}} ===<br />
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From the main rail station take the subway line U11 (direction: Messe West/Süd/Gruga) or the tram line 101 or 107 (direction: Bredeney). Exit at Martinstraße and change to the bus line 142 (direction: Kettwig). Leave the bus at the station "Abzweig Flughafen" (single ticket for all the way is €2.20).<br />
You will pass a ramp a bit earlier but don't get off there ("Polizeischule") nobody can stop there. At "Abzweig Flughafen" you walk to the ramp direction Düsseldorf and place yourself on the ramp (see on the map). Be carful, a lot of traffic but even a bit difficult to stop. It is a good spot, but there may be better spots in Essen. [[User:Quarim|Quarim]] waited 20 min there.<br />
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=== East towards [[Hamm]],[[Hannover]], [[Berlin]] ===<br />
<br />
As there is no convenient spot inside the city, drive a few minutes to [[Bottrop]]. See that article for detailed informations<br />
<br />
Probably you can also hitch out of the city somewhere along the ''Ruhrschnellweg'', the [[A40 (Germany)|A40]]. If you take the metro to "Breslauer Straße" you arrive at the ramp to the motorway. Traffic is good, but there is almost no place to stop for the drivers, so waiting time might be long and it can not be recommended.<br />
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== Hitchhiking In ==<br />
<br />
Exit "Essen-Zentrum" is a good spot to get dropped off, as it is more or less direct at the train station. At exit "Essen-Holsterhausen" you can find the metro next to the ramp and also get everywhere in the city.<br />
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{{IsIn|North Rhine-Westphalia}}<br />
[[trash:Essen]]<br />
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[[Category:North Rhine-Westphalia]]<br />
[[Category:Germany]]<br />
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[[de:Essen]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Unna&diff=68110Unna2013-01-14T13:28:51Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Unna''' is a city of around 70 000 inhabitants in the [[Ruhr Area]] in [[Germany]]. The city is the eastern gateway to the area.<br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
There is no convenient hitchhiking spot on the motorway in Unna itself. Unna borders [[Dortmund]] and it is only 20 minutes by train to go there. From there you have good hitching possibilities in all directions. Check the article of [[Dortmund]] for detailed information. <br />
Another option is to go to [[Hamm]], what might be a good idea if heading to [[Berlin]].<br />
<br />
== Hitching in ==<br />
<br />
Have a look at the article of the [[Ruhr Area]] to see why it can be very difficult to find a lift exactly to the location you want to go inside this area. You should accept rides to cities next to Unna as [[Dortmund]] or [[Hamm]] and finally go to Unna by public transport.<br />
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{{IsIn|North-Rhine Westphalia}}<br />
[[Category:Germany]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Unna&diff=68109Unna2013-01-14T13:27:38Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Unna''' is a city of around 70 000 inhabitants in the [[Ruhr Area]] in [[Germany]]. The city is the eastern gateway to the area.<br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
There is no convenient hitchhiking spot on the motorway in Unna itself. Unna borders [[Dortmund]] and it is only 20 minutes by train to go there. From there you have good hitching possibilities in all directions. Check the article of [[Dortmund]] for detailed information. <br />
Another option is to go to [[Hamm]], what might a good idea if heading to [[Berlin]].<br />
<br />
== Hitching in ==<br />
<br />
Have a look at the article of the [[Ruhr Area]] to see why it can be very difficult to find a lift exactly to the location you want to go inside this area. You should accept rides to cities next to Unna as [[Dortmund]] or [[Hamm]] and finally go to Unna by public transport.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|North-Rhine Westphalia}}<br />
[[Category:Germany]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Unna&diff=68108Unna2013-01-14T13:27:00Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Unna'' is a city of around 70 000 inhabitants in the [[Ruhr Area]] in [[Germany]]. The city is the eastern gateway to the area.<br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
There is no convenient hitchhiking spot on the motorway in Unna itself. Unna borders [[Dortmund]] and it is only 20 minutes by train to go there. From there you have good hitching possibilities in all directions. Check the article of [[Dortmund]] for detailed information. <br />
Another option is to go to [[Hamm]], what might a good idea if heading to [[Berlin]].<br />
<br />
== Hitching in ==<br />
<br />
Have a look at the article of the [[Ruhr Area]] to see why it can be very difficult to find a lift exactly to the location you want to go inside this area. You should accept rides to cities next to Unna as [[Dortmund]] or [[Hamm]] and finally go to Unna by public transport.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|North-Rhine Westphalia}}<br />
[[Category:Germany]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Talk:Witten&diff=68107Talk:Witten2013-01-14T13:20:43Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>== Warning ==<br />
<br />
Before creating the page of Witten I read some kind of warning, that the page existed before but was deleted. Despite the reason "mass delation" I could not find the reason for that. Hope everything is alright with creating a new version. [[User:Dorfdisco|Dorfdisco]] 14:20, 14 January 2013 (CET)</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Witten&diff=68105Witten2013-01-14T13:15:47Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Witten''' is a city of around 100 000 inhabitants in the [[Ruhr Area]] in [[Germany]]. <br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
There is no convenient hitchhiking spot on the motorway in Witten itself. Witten borders [[Dortmund]] and it is only a few minutes by train to go there. From there you have good hitching possibilities in all directions. Check the article of [[Dortmund]] for detailed information. <br />
<br />
== Hitching in ==<br />
<br />
Have a look at the article of the [[Ruhr Area]] to see why it can be very difficult to find a lift exactly to the location you want to go inside this area. You should accept rides to cities next to Witten as [[Dortmund]], [[Hagen]] or [[Bochum]] and finally go to Witten by public transport.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|North-Rhine Westphalia}}<br />
[[Category:Germany]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=User_talk:Dorfdisco&diff=68099User talk:Dorfdisco2013-01-14T12:39:27Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>I am removing several photos you put on the entry for [[Kazakhstan]] as they are only tenuously related to hitchhiking advice. If you want to present your visual impressions from a hitchhiking trip through the country, I think it would be better if you posted them on some other site (and perhaps linked to that site in the "External links" section of the Kazakhstan entry). [[User:CRCulver|CRCulver]] ([[User talk:CRCulver|talk]]) 09:16, 12 January 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
Great freedom of speech on this "open source" website! All those pictures people uploaded from themselves during hitchhiking are of course much more helpful. From my point of view it is nice to have some pictures in the article because it makes it more comfortable to read and I can not exactly see any disadvantage. [[User:Dorfdisco|Dorfdisco]] <br />
<br />
:Dorfdisco, "open source" doesn't imply anything about how the show is ran. E.g. Linux is almost a dictatorship. It just means that you can go ahead and copy stuff from here and change it wherever you want, and even publish it and sell it. But well, nevertheless, hitchwiki is more of an adhocracy. See also [[how we want to keep Hitchwiki]] ;)<br />
<br />
:I think the text to image ratio was a bit low. I can see why Chris did what he did. On the other hand, I can also see that it's annoying to have stuff removed. I tried to find a middle ground by adding a <nowiki><gallery></nowiki> at the bottom. Hope you're both okay with this! Maybe add some more pics to the bottom. This can also be a good solution for many other pages. I mean, we definitely want more pictures, not less, also/even if they are just somewhat related to hitchhiking. :) [[User:Guaka|guaka]] ([[User talk:Guaka|talk]]) 17:57, 13 January 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
:(btw, you can "sign" messages with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>)<br />
<br />
And erm, thanks for all your contributions on Hitchwiki! Definitely appreciated! :) [[User:Guaka|guaka]] ([[User talk:Guaka|talk]]) 17:59, 13 January 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
I meant "open source" in sense of a freedom for every user. Rule 1 in your link says "We try to avoid setting up rules". So I can not deny that I get disappointed when I feel blamed for breaking rules here. Also I don't know what could be the definition about a picture that is exactly related to Hitchhiking. To be honest a lot of the pictures are more or less self-representation as f.e. here http://hitchwiki.org/en/India For me personal this sucks, but I respect the independence of other contributers and do not delete anything.<br />
I like the idea of having a gallery on the bottom of the page. Also the fact with the ratio between image and text is true. [[User:dorfdisco|dorfdisco]]<br />
<br />
: I’m not too happy about some of the photos of people hitchhiking here, but at least they depict hitchhiking. A picture of a cow on the road, or a roadside toilet, does not have anything to do with hitchhiking as opposed to any other form of overland transportation.<br />
<br />
: And no, they don't make the articles "more comfortable to read". One of the most common complaints I’ve heard about Hitchwiki when talking with other hitchhikers is that articles are overlong, have convoluted formatting, and require too much work to find the specific hitchhiking advice one needs. (The majority of people using the English Hitchwiki are non-native speakers who often read English only with effort.) When I write articles or edit other people's material, I try hard to ensure maximum conciseness. I'd encourage you and other editors to do the same. ''Don't'' "respect what other people have written" when it makes the article a mess. Revert or delete when you feel necessary, explain it on the user's talk page, and if there's an objection then consensus can be reached within the community. [[User:CRCulver|CRCulver]] ([[User talk:CRCulver|talk]]) 13:18, 14 January 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
In the end it is a matter of taste. I also know a lot of people that use hitchwiki and they complain about the uncharitable presentation. In my opinion it does not require too much work to find the information you search for as every page shows the content and if you want you can skip most of the text as the introduction, additional information etc. and f.e. just klick to "Going south" if you only need that. From my point of view a lot of material like long text or pictures show the passion of the people who wrote it. Of course some cities like Berlin have long articles that I also not read word after word, but especially for more "exotic" countries (what countries are in this definition is of course very subjektive) every information is interesting. Pictures for me are in first sense to give the user a feeling of this "traveling romantic" that might be the Nr.1 motivation for hitching and despite exact photos of the spot they can hardly be 100 percent connected to hitchhiking. And even this pictures can be defined as useless because most petrol stations looks pretty equal and if you follow the instructions you would find them anyway (perhaps).[[User:dorfdisco|dorfdisco]] ([[User talk:dorfdisco|talk]]) 13:39, 14 January 2013 (CET)</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Montenegro&diff=68088Montenegro2013-01-14T01:19:18Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{infobox Country<br />
|country = of Montenegro<br />
|map = <map lat='42.7' lng='19.33' zoom='7' view='3' float='right' /><br />
|language = Montenegrin, Serbocroatian, Albanian<br />
|capital = [[Podgorica]]<br />
|pop = 684,736<br />
|currency = Euro (€)<br />
|hitch = <rating country='me' /><br />
}}<br />
'''Montenegro''', officially the '''Republic of Montenegro''', is a country located in the southeast of [[Europe]].<br />
<br />
Roads in '''Montenegro''' are mostly below European standards[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Montenegro#Highways]. The official currency in '''Montenegro''' is the [[Euro]]. That's why it is slightly more expensive than one might expect. Still cheaper than Western Europe though. It is generally a safe country. Unlike many of its Balkan neighbours, it pretty much managed to avoid the conflicts of the 1990s, so there are few landmines or other unpleasant surprises strewn about.<br />
<br />
== Cities ==<br />
* [[Budva]], the expensive, over-crowded, tacky favorite coastal destination of Eastern European tourists<br />
* [[Herceg Novi]], coastal gateway to [[Dubrovnik]], [[Croatia]]<br />
* [[Jaz]], nice hotel/beach area near [[Budva]]<br />
* [[Kotor]], the still-expensive, but more "alternative" destination of Western European tourists<br />
* [[Podgorica]], the inland capital<br />
* [[Bar]], nice old town, a big harbor with international connections and in case you are fed up with thumbing, there is train to [[Podgorica]] and [[Belgrade]]<br />
* [[Ulcinj]], the gateway from the coast to [[Albania]]<br />
<br />
=== Bay of Kotor ===<br />
When crossing the country in north-south-direction, note that the ferry in the Bay of Kotor is free for pedestrians.<br />
<br />
== Border crossings ==<br />
<br />
* [[Ulcinj-Shkoder border crossing|Montenegro-Albanian border crossing]] between [[Ulcinj]] (Montenegro) and [[Shkodër]] ([[Albania]]).<br />
* [[Montenegro-Croatian border crossing]] between [[Herceg Novi|Herceg-Novi]] (Montenegro) and near Gruda ([[Croatia]]).<br />
** A dude reported being asked money by his driver once that border-crossing was done [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=12&post=4366322#post5105604]. This is not general practice though.<br />
<br />
== Hitching ==<br />
People are friendly here but some of the roads are really terrible and/or treacherously mountainous which means it will take a long long time to cross from south to north. Almost all the roads are 2 lanes with speeds limits at 80km/h or below. Unsurprisingly, there are many mountains (mont-e-negro meaning - black mountains) which can result in 20km taking 5 hours in a truck. But they are spectacular and well worth going through slowly.<br />
<br />
=== Hitching the Montenegro coast ===<br />
<br />
==== Towards [[Croatia]] ====<br />
It can be done, but the terrain poses some issues is some areas. Particularly when hitching the coast from [[Kotor]] through [[Herceg Novi|Herceg-Novi]] toward [[Croatia]], you'll mostly be on a 2 lane road bounded by steep mountains and with little or no shoulder - so your ability to easily and safely walk roadside will be compromised, as will the ability for drivers to find a place to pull over. <br />
<br />
The border crossing from Montenegro to [[Croatia]] is on the outskirts of [[Herceg Novi|Herceg-Novi]]. You might find that people are hesitant to drive you over the border. If you find yourself on foot at the crossing, it's approximately 1.2km (moderately uphill) from the border station exiting Montenegro to the border station to enter [[Croatia]]. Once on the [[Croatia]] side of the crossing, it's easy to catch a ride. Keep in mind, though that it's much easier done in the morning/early afternoon since traffic gets sparse in the evenings.<br />
<br />
==== Towards [[Albania]] ====<br />
When heading this direction, particularly from [[Croatia]] through [[Kotor]], instead of a steep mountain right on the side of the road and little or no shoulder, you've got the sea and little or no shoulder. As you approach Albania people may ask for money more often.<br />
<br />
== Hitchhiker experiences ==<br />
<br />
[[User:hawklx|Li]] In May 2012 hitchhiked Ulcinj - Bar. Generally it is quite difficult to hitchhike in Montenegro. I was going from Ulcinj to Budva after crossing the border from Shkoder in Albania, but the bus was quite late in the evening. Was really lucky as I only waited for 10 minutes and he was going to Bar. By the way he was an Albanian descendant which probably explained his generosity. Had no such luck in Bar after trying for about an hour. Saw lots of Montenegrins tried and failed as well.<br />
<br />
[[User:Stewgreen|Stewgreen]] August 2010 Found a different experience whilst hitching inland, from Kosovo to Podgorica and Niksik to Trebinje (Hertzogovina). Only one successful ride. Seemed people were a little scared. Usually more than 100 cars would pass and then the bus would come. Saw 3 times local women quickly get rides. Was told since local people pay, they don't like to stop for people with large backpacks who are seen as freeloaders.<br />
<br />
[[User:MrTweek|MrTweek]] hitchhiked Dubrovnik - Herceg Novi - Kotor - Budva - Podgorica - Shkoder in June 2010. He always got lifts quite quickly and was never asked for money. Definitely a good hitchhiking country. Even a lot of locals do it. The only downside: roads are bad and lifts are rather short, so not a place for fast traveling.<br />
<br />
[[User:tevolving|T]] Hitched around Budva area June 2009 - and even with a tall scary looking male companion with me, it took only minutes before being picked up. We also hitched up coast from Budva to Croatia in September 2009. Had some difficulties around Herceg-Novi. Hitched a taxi returning to the taxi lot at the end of the day, then paid him 5euro to pass the lot and take us all the way to the border crossing. Walked the crossing and was immediately picked up once on the Croatia side. <br />
<br />
[[User:Whisperingofthestars|Jason]] and Kelsey hitched here in May 2008 without problem and waiting very little time between rides. It helps to be out of big towns when thumbing as people realize that public transport in the middle of nowhere is almost non-existent.<br />
<br />
[[User:Stan|Stan]] hitched there in December 2008. Came in from Dubrovnik, [[Croatia]]. There are very little cars at the border and I had to hike for 3 hours through Herzeg Novi to find a decent spot to hitchhike. It seemed to be a very uncommon thing to do, but the rides I got were such extremely friendly people! One ride bought me a good lunch, another ride invited me to his family's house, treated me on dinner and I could sleep at his place!<br />
<br />
Experience learns that it is best to ASK people directly! Also, if you are headed to the capital Podgorica, take the ferry near Kotor, it's faster and you can ask people in their cars.<br />
Since I was in a hurry I took the bus from Podgorica to Pristina, Kosovo (with connection to Skopje), it was 16,50 euro for a 7 hour ride through an epic mountain area.<br />
<br />
[[User:Quarim|Quarim]] hitched there in may 2008, coming from Croatia. It seems to be difficult to find someone who is willing to take you over the border. I guess that driving habits are also sometimes horrible. Two drivers stopped for me and wanted to have money, then i decided to take the Bus to [[Shkodër]], [[Albania]]. Since the bus was not departing like it was shown in the schedule, I was on the way with two Albanian workers who stopped cars with Albanian number plates and than haggled for a price with the driver (10 Euros for 3 persons).<br />
<br />
[[User:Banzai|Banzai]] faced mayor problems when trying to hitchhike in Montenegro in January 2007. He tried to hitch from Podgorica to Budva (passing to Cetinhe) together with a friend. There weren't too many cars to begin with, the very few that stopped asked money (more then it would take to go with the bus) and - most striking - had three cases of cars driving on all of a sudden after they stopped and opened the doors. When we were getting our backpacks, they drove on - even with open doors!. We spend an entire day trying to get a ride, no luck. In the end we decided to take the bus to the border town, called Herceg-Novi. We pitched the tent near the outskirts of town, and tried to hitchhike to Croatia next day. Again no luck, and since it was close to the border, we got numerous passport controls by different patrols (about 6 controls in 4 hours). After 5 hours, the police wanted to get rid of us so desperately, that they drove us up to the border, and kicked us out of Montenegro. <br />
<br />
[[User:Kutikuti|Kutikuti]] hitch-hiked from Shkoder (Albania) to Ulqin as well as all the way back in September 2011. There were not many cars passing by, and he was offered a ride by only 2 drivers total. On the way from Ulqin to Shkoder, he eventually ended up walking across the Montenegro - Albania border after catching one ride and walking for about 2 hours. It is a good idea to take every ride that you can catch even for short distances.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Balkans}}<br />
{{Template:Europe/countries}}<br />
__NOTOC__<br />
[[trash:Montenegro]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Montenegro| ]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Montenegro]]<br />
[[fr:Monténegro]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Bar&diff=68087Bar2013-01-14T01:16:50Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
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<div>'''Bar''' is a city in [[Montenegro]]. The road M 2.4 is passing through the city and it is rather a small place, it is no hard work to find a convenient place to hold out your thumb.<br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
=== North towards [[Budva]], [[Podgorica]], [[Croatia]] ===<br />
<br />
Walk the M 2.4 in northern direction and just try to find a spot where cars can stop easily. Bar is not a big place, so it really not a big issue to get out towards Budva or Podgorica.<br />
<br />
=== South towards [[Ulcinj]], [[Albania]] ===<br />
<br />
On the main road just walk south until you pass the harbor and the train station. Just stand on the side of the road and thumb from a spot where cars are able to stop. If you prefer a petrol station, there is one after some minutes of walking. If you head to Albania try to catch a direct lift at least to the border, as Ulcinj is more south and this will mean an unnecessary longer and more complicated way.<br />
<br />
== Accommodation and Sleep ==<br />
<br />
The harbor makes the shore quite industrial, so if you intend to camp wild on the beach, better leave Bar for that.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Montenegro}}</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Shkod%C3%ABr&diff=68086Shkodër2013-01-14T01:04:09Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Shkodër''' is the major city of northern [[Albania]]. You will likely pass through the city when passing to or from [[Montenegro]]. Throughout Albania the people are amazingly friendly, but in Shkodër they sometimes seem more so and you may elicit all kinds of positive reactions when thumbing.<br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
=== North towards [[Montenegro]] ===<br />
<br />
There are two border crossings not far away from Shkodër. The first (Hani i Hotit) goes directly to [[Podgorica]] but sees little few traffic because the other road is in much better condition. To go towards [[Ulcinj]] and [[Bar]], just walk south along the main road SH1 until you reach an old wooden bridge. While it doesn’t look like it, this is indeed the road to Montenegro. After crossing the bridge, turn left and walk a short distance until you reach a petrol station. Start thumbing from here.<br />
<br />
If you decide to go to Podgorica, walk the SH1 in Northern direction and start thumbing as soon as you see a convenient spot where cars can stop. An alternative would be to take a minibus to the villages nearby in that direction like Shtoj or Boric.<br />
<br />
This information dates 2011 and at that time it was recommended to go via the southern road. However, later internet sources say that the construction of the Hani i Hotit road is more or less finished and so traffic might be better there now. It is advisable to just ask local people about this issue.<br />
<br />
=== South towards [[Tirana]] ===<br />
<br />
Follow the SH1 road south. As soon as you see the old wooden bridge (as described above) start hitching right after it. ''Do not'' cross it, as this would lead you to the road towards Montenegro. Keep in mind that there are a lot of minibuses and shared taxis going that way. This of course does not make normal drivers less helpful.<br />
<br />
== Accommodation and Sleep ==<br />
<br />
Hospitality networks are not well represented in Albania. Still, you might have some luck with foreigners working in Shkoder for a period of time.<br />
<br />
The train station seems to be closed at night.<br />
<br />
If there is no other chance, the prices in the Stalinist hotel bunker in the center seem to be quite fair.<br />
<br />
== Alternatives ==<br />
<br />
If you need a break from hitching or would enjoy a nice ride in a half-destroyed old fashioned train with local people, there is a train once daily for around 1€ to Tirana. Smashed windows, old Italian or German wagons and a locomotive from Czecheslovakia make this an unusual and cheap ride in Europe.<br />
<br />
<gallery><br />
File:bridgeshkoder.JPG|The brige towards Montenegro...<br />
File:Benz.JPG|Old Mercedes Benz is still loved in Albania<br />
</gallery<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Albania}}</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=File:Benz.JPG&diff=68085File:Benz.JPG2013-01-14T01:00:20Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=File:Bridgeshkoder.JPG&diff=68083File:Bridgeshkoder.JPG2013-01-14T00:57:25Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Lippstadt&diff=68081Lippstadt2013-01-14T00:54:04Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Lippstadt''' is a city in [[Germany]] <br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
With the A2 (Ruhr Area - Berlin) and the A44 (Dortmund - Kassel), there are two motorways nearby, but none of them goes close to the city. You can either hitch on the end of the city or, more convinient, take public transport to the next cities.<br />
<br />
For the A44 head by train to [[Soest]]<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|North-Rhine Westphalia}}<br />
[[Category:Germany]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Hamm&diff=68080Hamm2013-01-14T00:53:34Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>__TOC__<br />
{{Infobox German Location<br />
|country = Germany<br />
|map = <map lat="51.680330000000254" lng="7.82088999999996" zoom="10" view="0" float="right" /><br />
|pop = 182.112 '''(31-12-2012)'''<br />
|state = North Rhine-Westphalia<br />
|plate = HAM<br />
|motorways = [[A1 (Germany)|A1]], [[A2 (Germany)|A2]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Hamm''' is a city in [[Germany]]. <br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
For a more or less big city in Germany with almost 200 000 residents, hitching out is a piece of cake, especially in the direction of Berlin. Hamm might be a good place for you to head for if you want to hitch out of the Ruhr Area as this is the last city in Eastern direction and you will find a long distance lift more easy.<br />
<br />
=== East towards [[Berlin]] ===<br />
<br />
From the main train station as well as from the city center you can take bus '''R41''', '''21''' or '''22''' to the stop "Rhynern Mitte". The busses go along Werler Strasse, over a bridge on the end of Hamm-Mitte and turn left into a suburb of Hamm, and the ride will cost you outrageous 2,30 Euro (bus R41 turns left a little bit further, not directly after the bridge). With 21, 22 you can go one stop further, the next one after "Rhynern-Mitte" is "Dohmwirthhof". From the stop walk along the "Reginenstrasse", you'll see Aldi on the right side of the road, just follow the street further for 5 - 10 minutes, depends how much you hurry and you will arrive on a bridge over the motorway. After the bridge turn left ("Im Zengerott") and you walk to the petrol station "Rhynern Süd". There is a fast food restaurant, a big parking spot and a huge traffic. Finding a lift to the direction of Hannover/Berlin/Poland is no problem at all. <br />
It might be possible to wait for a direct lift to Berlin, especially if you speak Polish, as there are a lot of Polish drivers on the road, but as there are also different medium sized cities on the way, it is more convenient to make stops on other petrol stations, f.e. nearby Hannover.<br />
<br />
=== West towards [[Netherlands]] ===<br />
<br />
Follow the advice from above and head for the petrol station in Rhynern. To go to the other side in West direction, you should not cross the bridge, but follow the "Reginenstrasse", until you can go to "Ostendorfstrasse". Follow the road and a small path will bring you to the patrol station.<br />
But be aware! This is the entrance gate to the Ruhr Area with an endless number of different cities. You can can lost there very fast, so if you want to go further than this area, only take lifts that drop you off AFTER the Ruhr Area.<br />
<br />
=== North towards [[Bremen]], [[Hamburg]] ===<br />
<br />
Might be possible to get a lift on the petrol station Rhynern (west direction), as the next crossing is with A1, and some cars must change motorways there.<br />
Another option is to go to the west of the city, motorway exit 81-Hamm/Bergkamen. Out of the city there leads Dortmunder Strasse. It is not that simple to get there with a public transport. You should get somehow to the bus stop "Quellenstrasse", from there every hour goes fast bus S30 (direction Dormund), you should get out on "Eckernkamp", the trip goes on for 6 minutes, but the distance is pretty long, wouldn't recommend to walk. Checking the bus schedule is possible here http://www.stadtwerke-hamm.de/metanavigation/fahrplanauskunft/.<br />
There you can stand with or even without a sign, lots of slow traffic, enough space to stand on the hard shoulder, easy for cars to stop. The easiest lift is to the next gus station in Münster. Be careful that driver exits the motorway in Münster-Nord, not in Münster-Süd, as the petrol station is in between. But many cars drive further north as well.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|North-Rhine Westphalia}}<br />
[[Category:Germany]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Soest&diff=68078Soest2013-01-14T00:53:11Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox German Location<br />
|country = Germany<br />
|map = <map lat="51.575579999999974" lng="8.10618999999996" zoom="11" view="0" float="right" /><br />
|pop = 48,500<br />
|state = North Rhine-Westphalia<br />
|plate = SO<br />
|motorways = {{Ade|44}}<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Soest''' is a city in [[Germany]], it is the seat of the eponymous district. Located on the A44 45 km east of Dortmund, you are likely to pass here on your way to or from Benelux.<br />
<br />
== Hitching in ==<br />
<br />
If you come from the motorway, ask the driver to drop you off at the Soest-Ost exit. Here there is a Burger King restaurant that is quite popular among young people of the town. From the parking area it will be easy to find a lift to the city centre. The town itself is small and everything can be discovered by walking, but the motorway is some kilometres outside the town.<br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
=== West towards [[Dortmund]], east or south towards [[Kassel]], [[Munich]], [[Dresden]] {{Autobahn|44}} === <br />
<br />
From the train station or the center you should take bus R51 to Warstein. Get off in the village "Muellingsen" and turn right from the road to the village itself. Turn right again to "Kirchweg" and walk through this path till the gas station Soester Boerde on the A44. To go East this is the first turn, to go West you have to pass through the bridge and turn then. Traffic here is huge and finding a lift very easy. If you want to go further West make sure the driver is not going to the center of the big cities on the way (f.e. Dortmund, Bochum or Essen) as there are no bigger gas stations and you can get stuck easy. Waiting for a lift direct to the Netherlands can be convenient.<br />
<br />
Ticket for the bus R51 (once every hour, from around 6AM til 10PM) will be 1,60 Euro (as of August 2012) and as the drivers are checking mostly very carefull when you enter the bus, blackriding will be a hard challange. You can also walk from the city along Grandweg, Niederbergheimer Straße, right into Waldstraße, left into Detmolder Straße, around 4 km.<br />
<br />
=== North towards [[Hamm]] ===<br />
<br />
From the train station walk left (you can ask people for the police office, it is this direction) until you see a tunnel on the left side. Turn here and walk straight until you see a petrol station. From there you hitch and find lifts to the center of Hamm or to the A2 in direction of Amsterdam or Berlin.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|North-Rhine Westphalia}}<br />
[[Category:Germany]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Soest]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=User_talk:Dorfdisco&diff=68074User talk:Dorfdisco2013-01-13T18:00:00Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>I am removing several photos you put on the entry for [[Kazakhstan]] as they are only tenuously related to hitchhiking advice. If you want to present your visual impressions from a hitchhiking trip through the country, I think it would be better if you posted them on some other site (and perhaps linked to that site in the "External links" section of the Kazakhstan entry). [[User:CRCulver|CRCulver]] ([[User talk:CRCulver|talk]]) 09:16, 12 January 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
Great freedom of speech on this "open source" website! All those pictures people uploaded from themselves during hitchhiking are of course much more helpful. From my point of view it is nice to have some pictures in the article because it makes it more comfortable to read and I can not exactly see any disadvantage. [[User:Dorfdisco|Dorfdisco]] <br />
<br />
:Dorfdisco, "open source" doesn't imply anything about how the show is ran. E.g. Linux is almost a dictatorship. It just means that you can go ahead and copy stuff from here and change it wherever you want, and even publish it and sell it. But well, nevertheless, hitchwiki is more of an adhocracy. See also [[how we want to keep Hitchwiki]] ;)<br />
<br />
:I think the text to image ratio was a bit low. I can see why Chris did what he did. On the other hand, I can also see that it's annoying to have stuff removed. I tried to find a middle ground by adding a <nowiki><gallery></nowiki> at the bottom. Hope you're both okay with this! Maybe add some more pics to the bottom. This can also be a good solution for many other pages. I mean, we definitely want more pictures, not less, also/even if they are just somewhat related to hitchhiking. :) [[User:Guaka|guaka]] ([[User talk:Guaka|talk]]) 17:57, 13 January 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
:(btw, you can "sign" messages with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>)<br />
<br />
And erm, thanks for all your contributions on Hitchwiki! Definitely appreciated! :) [[User:Guaka|guaka]] ([[User talk:Guaka|talk]]) 17:59, 13 January 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
I meant "open source" in sense of a freedom for every user. Rule 1 in your link says "We try to avoid setting up rules". So I can not deny that I get disappointed when I feel blamed for breaking rules here. Also I don't know what could be the definition about a picture that is exactly related to Hitchhiking. To be honest a lot of the pictures are more or less self-representation as f.e. here http://hitchwiki.org/en/India For me personal this sucks, but I respect the independence of other contributers and do not delete anything.<br />
I like the idea of having a gallery on the bottom of the page. Also the fact with the ratio between image and text is true. [[User:dorfdisco|dorfdisco]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=User_talk:Dorfdisco&diff=68064User talk:Dorfdisco2013-01-13T13:34:48Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>I am removing several photos you put on the entry for [[Kazakhstan]] as they are only tenuously related to hitchhiking advice. If you want to present your visual impressions from a hitchhiking trip through the country, I think it would be better if you posted them on some other site (and perhaps linked to that site in the "External links" section of the Kazakhstan entry). [[User:CRCulver|CRCulver]] ([[User talk:CRCulver|talk]]) 09:16, 12 January 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
<br />
Great freedom of speech on this "open source" website! All those pictures people uploaded from themselves during hitchhiking are of course much more helpful. From my point of view it is nice to have some pictures in the article because it makes it more comfortable to read and I can not exactly see any disadvantage.</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=User_talk:Dorfdisco&diff=68063User talk:Dorfdisco2013-01-13T13:32:27Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>I am removing several photos you put on the entry for [[Kazakhstan]] as they are only tenuously related to hitchhiking advice. If you want to present your visual impressions from a hitchhiking trip through the country, I think it would be better if you posted them on some other site (and perhaps linked to that site in the "External links" section of the Kazakhstan entry). [[User:CRCulver|CRCulver]] ([[User talk:CRCulver|talk]]) 09:16, 12 January 2013 (CET)<br />
<br />
<br />
Great freedom of speech on this "open source" website!</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Geseke&diff=68038Geseke2013-01-11T01:12:31Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Geseke''' is a town in [[Germany]]. It is a quite small place on the A44 motorway and the hitching spot is far away to reach. Find a friend in the city and try to get there by car. Public transport is a desaster and useless to go to the motorway.<br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
=== West towards [[Netherlands]], [[Soest]], [[Dortmund]], east towards [[Kassel]], [[Dresden]] {{Autobahn|44}} ===<br />
<br />
From the center or train station it is a five kilometers walk and very exhausting mostly just straight head. On the other hand you will for sure not get lost. After getting out of the train station turn right and just follow the ring road for a while. After 10 minutes you will arrive at "Erwitter Strasse", also called B1. Turn left to the direction of Salzkotten/Paderborn and on the first big crossing you turn right. There are signs to the motorway 44, just follow them. When you finally arrive at the motorway, there is an Autohof with a famous American fast food restaurant. Traffic in both directions of the A44 is quite good here.<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Germany}}</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=User:Dorfdisco&diff=68037User:Dorfdisco2013-01-11T00:58:07Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>Hello!<br />
<br />
All stuff posted by me is from my personal experience. I only give advices that I know by myself and write about spots that I personally used. I do not f.e. copy from other internet resources and if so, I would mark it.</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Ruhr_Area&diff=68036Ruhr Area2013-01-11T00:48:08Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Ruhr area-map.png|thumb|right|420px|The Ruhr Area]]<br />
<br />
The '''Ruhr Area''' (German: ''Ruhrgebiet''), also called simply the Ruhr, is an urban area in [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], [[Germany]], consisting of a number of large formerly industrial cities, including [[Duisburg]], [[Oberhausen]], [[Bottrop]], [[Mülheim an der Ruhr]], [[Essen]], [[Gelsenkirchen]], [[Bochum]], [[Herne]], [[Hamm]], [[Hagen]], [[Dortmund]], [[Recklinghausen]], [[Unna]] and [[Witten]]. It has about five million inhabitants and is thus significally bigger than Berlin, Hamburg or Munich. <br />
<br />
Altough, there is a very high density of motorways, hitchhiking there is quite tricky because of the maze of minor motorways. Major motorways in this area are the [[A1 (Germany)|A1]], [[A2 (Germany)|A2]] and [[A3 (Germany)|A3]]. If you hitch here make sure you stay on this major motorways, on the smaller ones it will be really hard to find transit traffic. '''Germany is a nice place for hitching, but the Ruhr Area is by far the most unpleasant part of the country from this point of view.''' Hitching in the Ruhr Area can be compared with hitching inside a big city like Istanbul and the cities are independent, but for the traveller they will all seem like districts of one big city.<br />
<br />
On the one hand, there is a lot of local traffic and even though there will be a lot of cars and usually many traffic jams, the most cars won't go in your direction.<br />
<br />
Even worse is the fact, that there are almost no service areas or gas stations directly at the motorway, which means, no good places to get dropped of, and no good places to start. The service areas that are there can be found on the site of [http://www.tank.rast.de/standorte/servicenetz/index.php Tank & Rast], click anywhere between [[Bielefeld]] and [[Aachen]] for the detail map of the Ruhrgebiet.<br />
<br />
== Hitching around ==<br />
<br />
Long-distance traffic usually tries to drive round this area and this is what you should try when transiting, if possible.<br />
<br />
When coming from the south, heading to north or east, you should take the A1 until ''Kamener Kreuz'', and then follow the A1 for north or transfer to the A2 for east. Close before ''Kamener Kreuz'', there is one of the few service areas (''Lichtendorf''), which is great to get a ride in direction of [[Bremen]], [[Hamburg]], [[Hannover]], [[Berlin]] and [[Cologne]].<br />
<br />
When coming from the East on the A2 and having a ride that goes to somewhere into the Ruhr Area, it's recommended to get dropped at ''Rhynern'', a big service area close before the Ruhr Area. From there you can get a ride to south (direction [[Cologne]]), or maybe to the [[Netherlands]].<br />
<br />
When coming from the West, it is quite difficult to cross the Area. Resonable places are<br />
* the service area ''Ohligser Heide'', close to [[Düsseldorf]], which is difficult to reach by hitching, but easy to reach by public transport.<br />
* the service area ''Aachener Land'', just east of [[Aachen]], which is just after the Dutch and Belgian borders.<br />
* the service area ''Frechen'', close to [[Cologne|Köln]], if your driver, most likely coming out of the [[Netherlands]] or [[Belgium]], goes past Aachen, but not further in your direction than Köln. <br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
Good places to hitch out of the Ruhr Area are few and far between. You'll usually have to find a sympathetic person to drop you off there, or spend a bit of time on the VRR website to figure out what buses/trams to take and where to change.<br />
<br />
=== South towards [[Cologne]], northwest towards the [[Netherlands]] ===<br />
<br />
The A52 runs through Essen and Mühlheim and joins the A3 running between the Dutch border in the North and Cologne/Frankfurt in the South. There's a good on-ramp onto the A52 near the Essen/Mühlheim air strip, reachable by bus (to a stop called "Abzweig Flughafen"); with dense traffic even on Sundays. <br />
<br />
For Cologne, use a sign saying "A3 south". There are service areas before Cologne, so you'll have the chance to change rides there. <br />
<br />
For the Netherlands, use a sign saying "A3 north".<br />
<br />
Heading to Köln is quite easy from the A1 spot in [[Dortmund]].<br />
<br />
=== North towards [[Bremen]], east towards [[Hannover]] ===<br />
<br />
From the Westen part of the Ruhr Area the by far easiest spot to reach is a petrol station on the A2 in [[Bottrop]], See that article for details.<br />
<br />
Even better, especially to Bremen is the spot at A1 in [[Dortmund]] at the Western end of the Ruhr Area. See the page of the city to recieve detailed information.<br />
<br />
The best spot to go East you can find in [[Hamm]]. The disadvantage here is that for a reason nobody knows Hamm is not a part of the Ruhr Area public transport network (VRR), what leads to the consequence that you can not use your VRR ticket and it will be much more expensive to get there.<br />
<br />
== Public transport ==<br />
<br />
The public transport in this area is coordinated in a transport network (called ''VRR''), which means that you can take any bus/tram/subway/supension railway/train (execpt IC and ICE) with one ticket. For about 9€, you can get a ticket to get from anywhere to anywhere. Tickets for only one city are about 2.20€.<br />
<br />
On working days between 7PM and 3AM and Saturday/Sunday the whole day students and owners of several other tickets can take a second person for free inside the VRR area. Just ask young people on the plattform or the bus stop and you should be fine.<br />
<br />
== Sleeping ==<br />
<br />
Despite the area is very big and there is some kind of touristic infrastructure, it is good to know that most tourists are not staying over night. This leads to the problem, that there is almost no hostel network and those existing ones are pretty overpriced (like 20 Euro per bed in a dormitory).<br />
Try your luck with hospitality networks and you should find a host without a big problem. Hint: It will be even easier if you try it in a smaller city where are not tourists at all like Herne or Recklinghausen.<br />
<br />
Sleeping on public places like train stations is not recommended, because they are never quiet.<br />
<br />
If you have a VRR ticket you can sleep at the airport in Düsseldorf, it is no part of the Ruhr Area, but of this ticket network.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|North Rhine-Westphalia}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:North Rhine-Westphalia]]<br />
[[Category:Germany]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Ruhrgebiet]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Ruhr_Area&diff=68035Ruhr Area2013-01-11T00:45:48Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Ruhr area-map.png|thumb|right|420px|The Ruhr Area]]<br />
<br />
The '''Ruhr Area''' (German: ''Ruhrgebiet''), also called simply the Ruhr, is an urban area in [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], [[Germany]], consisting of a number of large formerly industrial cities, including [[Duisburg]], [[Oberhausen]], [[Bottrop]], [[Mülheim an der Ruhr]], [[Essen]], [[Gelsenkirchen]], [[Bochum]], [[Herne]], [[Hamm]], [[Hagen]], [[Dortmund]], [[Recklinghausen]], [[Unna]] and [[Witten]]. It has about five million inhabitants and is thus significally bigger than Berlin, Hamburg or Munich. <br />
<br />
Altough, there is a very high density of motorways, hitchhiking there is quite tricky because of the maze of minor motorways. Major motorways in this area are the [[A1 (Germany)|A1]], [[A2 (Germany)|A2]] and [[A3 (Germany)|A3]]. If you hitch here make sure you stay on this major motorways, on the smaller ones it will be really hard to find transit traffic. [[Germany is a nice place for hitching, but the Ruhr Area is by far the most unpleasant part of the country from this point of view]]. Hitching in the Ruhr Area can be compared with hitching inside a big city like Istanbul and the cities are independent, but for the traveller they will all seem like districts of one big city.<br />
<br />
On the one hand, there is a lot of local traffic and even though there will be a lot of cars and usually many traffic jams, the most cars won't go in your direction.<br />
<br />
Even worse is the fact, that there are almost no service areas or gas stations directly at the motorway, which means, no good places to get dropped of, and no good places to start. The service areas that are there can be found on the site of [http://www.tank.rast.de/standorte/servicenetz/index.php Tank & Rast], click anywhere between [[Bielefeld]] and [[Aachen]] for the detail map of the Ruhrgebiet.<br />
<br />
== Hitching around ==<br />
<br />
Long-distance traffic usually tries to drive round this area and this is what you should try when transiting, if possible.<br />
<br />
When coming from the south, heading to north or east, you should take the A1 until ''Kamener Kreuz'', and then follow the A1 for north or transfer to the A2 for east. Close before ''Kamener Kreuz'', there is one of the few service areas (''Lichtendorf''), which is great to get a ride in direction of [[Bremen]], [[Hamburg]], [[Hannover]], [[Berlin]] and [[Cologne]].<br />
<br />
When coming from the East on the A2 and having a ride that goes to somewhere into the Ruhr Area, it's recommended to get dropped at ''Rhynern'', a big service area close before the Ruhr Area. From there you can get a ride to south (direction [[Cologne]]), or maybe to the [[Netherlands]].<br />
<br />
When coming from the West, it is quite difficult to cross the Area. Resonable places are<br />
* the service area ''Ohligser Heide'', close to [[Düsseldorf]], which is difficult to reach by hitching, but easy to reach by public transport.<br />
* the service area ''Aachener Land'', just east of [[Aachen]], which is just after the Dutch and Belgian borders.<br />
* the service area ''Frechen'', close to [[Cologne|Köln]], if your driver, most likely coming out of the [[Netherlands]] or [[Belgium]], goes past Aachen, but not further in your direction than Köln. <br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
Good places to hitch out of the Ruhr Area are few and far between. You'll usually have to find a sympathetic person to drop you off there, or spend a bit of time on the VRR website to figure out what buses/trams to take and where to change.<br />
<br />
=== South towards [[Cologne]], northwest towards the [[Netherlands]] ===<br />
<br />
The A52 runs through Essen and Mühlheim and joins the A3 running between the Dutch border in the North and Cologne/Frankfurt in the South. There's a good on-ramp onto the A52 near the Essen/Mühlheim air strip, reachable by bus (to a stop called "Abzweig Flughafen"); with dense traffic even on Sundays. <br />
<br />
For Cologne, use a sign saying "A3 south". There are service areas before Cologne, so you'll have the chance to change rides there. <br />
<br />
For the Netherlands, use a sign saying "A3 north".<br />
<br />
Heading to Köln is quite easy from the A1 spot in [[Dortmund]].<br />
<br />
=== North towards [[Bremen]], east towards [[Hannover]] ===<br />
<br />
From the Westen part of the Ruhr Area the by far easiest spot to reach is a petrol station on the A2 in [[Bottrop]], See that article for details.<br />
<br />
Even better, especially to Bremen is the spot at A1 in [[Dortmund]] at the Western end of the Ruhr Area. See the page of the city to recieve detailed information.<br />
<br />
The best spot to go East you can find in [[Hamm]]. The disadvantage here is that for a reason nobody knows Hamm is not a part of the Ruhr Area public transport network (VRR), what leads to the consequence that you can not use your VRR ticket and it will be much more expensive to get there.<br />
<br />
== Public transport ==<br />
<br />
The public transport in this area is coordinated in a transport network (called ''VRR''), which means that you can take any bus/tram/subway/supension railway/train (execpt IC and ICE) with one ticket. For about 9€, you can get a ticket to get from anywhere to anywhere. Tickets for only one city are about 2.20€.<br />
<br />
On working days between 7PM and 3AM and Saturday/Sunday the whole day students and owners of several other tickets can take a second person for free inside the VRR area. Just ask young people on the plattform or the bus stop and you should be fine.<br />
<br />
== Sleeping ==<br />
<br />
Despite the area is very big and there is some kind of touristic infrastructure, it is good to know that most tourists are not staying over night. This leads to the problem, that there is almost no hostel network and those existing ones are pretty overpriced (like 20 Euro per bed in a dormitory).<br />
Try your luck with hospitality networks and you should find a host without a big problem. Hint: It will be even easier if you try it in a smaller city where are not tourists at all like Herne or Recklinghausen.<br />
<br />
Sleeping on public places like train stations is not recommended, because they are never quiet.<br />
<br />
If you have a VRR ticket you can sleep at the airport in Düsseldorf, it is no part of the Ruhr Area, but of this ticket network.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|North Rhine-Westphalia}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:North Rhine-Westphalia]]<br />
[[Category:Germany]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Ruhrgebiet]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Albania&diff=68033Albania2013-01-10T22:22:25Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Infobox Country<br />
|country = of Albania<br />
|in = Europe<br />
|map= <map lat='41.02623044860001' lng='19.3853759765625' zoom='6' view='0' float='right' /><br />
|language = Albanian<br />
|capital = [[Tirana]]<br />
|pop = 3,170,048<br />
|currency = Lek (ALL)<br />
|hitch = <rating country='al' /><br />
}}<br />
'''Albania''' is a country in the [[Balkans]] in [[Southern Europe]]. The capital is [[Tirana]]. It has borders to [[Montenegro]], [[Kosovo]], [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia]] and [[Greece]].<br />
<br />
The road network is not very complicated, and getting out from and past towns is usually just a matter of walking in the right direction. Roads do tend to go through the towns, but keep an eye out for signs for shortcuts to avoid tedious walking when transiting.<br />
<br />
== Hitchhiking culture ==<br />
<br />
[[Hitchhiking]] in Albania can go surprisingly well. Even though Albania is still one of the poorest countries in [[Europe]], the country's living conditions have improved greatly in the past years. <br />
<br />
People are usually friendly and ready to help. Be aware some drivers expect money, since private taxi is a major form of public transport. Make sure that before you board a vehicle the driver is not an informal cab-driver. A simple 'no taxi' phrase should be enough to avoid misunderstandings. Some found it useful to learn "por.... jo para.... jo problem?" (but.... no money... no problem?) and ask it as they stop (yes/no = po/jo, and mirë (pronounced mir) = fine/good). The phrase "ska lek" is an easy way of saying you do not want to pay (it translates as "no money"). Some drivers will refuse to take you for free, but still every other driver should pick you up. Hitchhiking with a sign can be useful to differentiate yourself from the other people using public transportation. However, putting "no taxi" on your sign makes you just another roadside attraction, and is probably best avoided.<br />
<br />
Many private minibuses join the main cities via the main roads. There are no bus stops, so they may stop when they see you hitchhiking. They are quite cheap, for example a ride from [[Tirana]] - [[Shkodër]] (120 km) costs 400 Lek (about EUR 3). Thus, it may happen that they pick you for free if you say that you don't have money. <br />
<br />
Also, make sure to keep an eye on the road -- if the driver makes sudden turns and other similar actions while driving it is likely that he is either a taxi driver or that he thinks he is doing good by bringing you to the local bus station, and would expect some money from you. You therefore will have to be reiterative on stating that you travel by '''autostop'''. This kind of driver behaviour usually is not valid for the company car or truck drivers': they are already salaried and won't be offering a taxi service to you.<br />
<br />
Women hitchhiking alone do not encounter more issues than the average European country.<br />
<br />
[[File:100_1393.JPG|200px|thumb|left|Border Crossing from Macedonia at Ohrid Lake]]<br />
[[File:tirana.jpg|right|thumb|typical road scene in Tirana]]<br />
[[File:Skadar-mosque.jpg|right|thumb|Mosque in [[Shkodër]]]]<br />
<br />
=== Safety ===<br />
<br />
Albania has a good hitchhiking reputation. The government financial trust in [[police]] force has lifted up the safety level in most areas of the country; however, it is paramount to remain cautious, and hitching by night as well as in some areas might not be too wise. Beware of the poorest area and hitching next to slums since you will be quickly dragging the attention of dozens of children lurking at your bags, and would make almost impossible for you to get out of there, so if you find yourself around such place just walk away and ignore the people until you are in a better area.<br />
<br />
== Cities ==<br />
<br />
* [[Tirana]]<br />
* [[Durrës]]<br />
* [[Elbasan]] <br />
* [[Vlorë]] <br />
* [[Shkoder]]<br />
<br />
== Border Crossing ==<br />
<br />
Be careful at the borders, because officers can be corrupted and there are many problems with smuggling of cigarettes, drugs and guns. Border controls are more "exact" than in the rest of the [[Balkans]].<br />
<br />
* [[Morine border crossing|Kosovo-Albanian border crossing]]<br />
** ''[[User:rozwal|rozwal]] had not issues whatsoever, guards were very friendly and inquired about our purpose of stay (November 2011).''<br />
* [[Ulcinj-Shkoder border crossing|Montenegro-Albanian border crossing]]<br />
** ''[[User:Harveypekar|Harveypekar]] 2010. I tried at Podgorice, but ended up stuck for 2 hours. I made the sign for "a little bit" and made it to Tuzi, where it's better. Even though the touts will discourage you, and shout at cars that you won't pay, I got a ride after 30 mins in an Albanian car. Backsheesh for leaving Montenegro was 5 beers, and entering Albania 200 leks. My drivers paid that. Beware that the road to Skoder is really slow and could take well over an hour. I heard the crossing on the coast is barely visited, and only by tourists, with way less hassle by border guards.<br />
* [[Qafë-Thanës-Struga border crossing]]<br />
** ''[[User:Quarim|Quarim]] had problems at the border check to [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia]] (direction [[Struga]], [[Ohrid]]) in 2008, he gave a bribe that the officers let him pass.'' <br />
** ''[[User:Klaudyna|Klaudyna]] reports a very different experience: ''We crossed the Macedonian - Albanian border on foot and started hitchhiking straight after crossing, about 100 meters away from the officers. We thought it's was going to bring us in trouble and we were trying to be as discreet with it as possible. They noticed us of course, but their reaction was quite different from what we expected - they stopped a car for us and told the driver to bring us to Tirana coz there is not much traffic and otherwise we would have waited forever.''<br />
** ''[[User:rozwal|rozwal]] had not issues whatsoever (November 2011).''<br />
** ''[[User:Kutikuti|Kutikuti]] : I crossed the Kosovo - Albanian border in September 2011 without any control whatsoever. There were guards and offices, but noone actually bothered to check if I had a passport. When I arrived in Shkoder, I told the receptionist about the situation, hoping that she would direct me to some police station or anywhere official, but the only thing she said was "never mind...".<br />
* [[Kakavia Greece-Albania border crossing]]<br />
Arriving from Greece, [[Igoumenitsa]], [[Ioannina]] and Kalpaki, is not a high traffic road but anyway very easy to reach. As crossed the border, you will have a big square, with cafes, shops and so on, you can change money there, but you will be assaulted by anyone try to rip you off. Better move to the petrol stations, you have one, 200m down, closer but a bit less traffic and another one, better, 1 km later, after the junction with kakavia village, already on the way to [[Gjirokaster]], the first albanian city you will meet. <br />
** ''[[User:Fedecicco|Fedecicco]] I passed it (july 2012) without any problem, no corruption nor serious problem met. Only an enormous mass of albanian taxi drivers assault you as you cross the border by foot. Just said them no, almost nobody spoke english, and continued my way.''<br />
<br />
== Eating & Drinking ==<br />
<br />
In Tirana (and probably in other cities, too) you can find very cheap local food markets with really good and fresh vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, olives, etc. Local olive oil and freshly baked bread is something everyone has to taste! <br />
<br />
Do not drink tap water in Albania.<br />
<br />
== Accomodation & Sleeping ==<br />
<br />
In Tirana one can easily get accommodated in so called private sector: these are people who have their apartments arranged to accepts occasional tourists. It is safe, quite cheap (you can talk about how much you can pay), you get friendly company (if needed) and tips how and where. To find these kind of places just ask some more tidily looking folks on the street, or in Internet cafes and other similar places.<br />
<br />
There is a nice and individual hostel in the center of Tirana. Tirana Backpacker Hostel, Rruga Elbasanit 85, Tirana.<br />
<br />
== Other Useful Info ==<br />
<br />
* [http://wikitravel.org/en/Albanian_phrasebook Albanian Phrasebook] on Wikitravel<br />
* [http://wikitravel.org/en/Albania Albania] on Wikitravel <br />
<br />
{{Template:Europe/countries}} <br />
{{IsIn|Balkans}}<br />
__NOTOC__<br />
[[trash:Albania]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Albania]]<br />
[[Category:Southern Europe]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Albanien]]<br />
[[fr:Albanie]]<br />
[[pl:Albania]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Shkod%C3%ABr&diff=68032Shkodër2013-01-10T22:21:44Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>Shkoder is the major city of Northern [[Albania]]. It will most likely be your first/last stop in Albania if you cross from/to [[Montenegro]]. In whole Albania the people are amazingly friendly, but in Shkoder sometimes it seems even more extreme. If you thumb on the road you will get all kind of (positive) reactions, probably even a driver stops to apologize he can not take you because there is a cow on the backseat of his car.<br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
=== North towards [[Montenegro]] ===<br />
<br />
There are two border crossings not far away from Shkoder. The first (Hani i Hotit) goes directly to [[Podgorica]] but sees only a few traffic due to the fact that the other road is in much better condition. To go to the direction of [[Ulcinj]] and [[Bar]] just walk the main road SH1 in Southern direction until you reach a very old wooden bridge. You might be surprised that this is possible, but yes, this is the road to Montenegro. After you pass the bridge turn left and walk a little but until you reach a petrol station. Start thumbing from here.<br />
<br />
If you decide to go to Podgorica, walk the SH1 in Northern direction and start thumbing as soon as you see a convenient spot where cars can stop. An alternative would be to take a minibus to the villages nearby in that direction like Shtoj or Boric.<br />
<br />
Those information are from 2011 and this time it was much more recommended to go via the Southern road. Internet sources say that the constructions of the Hani i Hotit road are more or less finished and so traffic might be better there now. It is adviceable to just ask local people about this issue.<br />
<br />
=== South towards [[Tirana]] ===<br />
<br />
Follow the SH1 road in Southern direction. As soon as you see the old wooden bridge (as described above) start hitchin' right after it. DO NOT cross it, as this would lead you to Montenegro. Keep in mind that there are a lot of Minibuses and shared taxis going that way. This of course does not make normal drivers less helpful.<br />
<br />
== Accommodation and Sleep ==<br />
<br />
Hospitality networks are not very common used in Albania. Still you might have some luck with foreigners working in Shkoder for a period of time.<br />
<br />
The train station seems to be closed at night.<br />
<br />
If there is no other chance, the prices in that stalinist hotel bunker in the center seem to be quite fair.<br />
<br />
== Alternatives ==<br />
<br />
If you need a break from hitchin' or also enjoy a nice ride in a half destroyed old fashioned train with local people, once a day there is a train for around 1 Euro to Tirana. Smashed windows, old Italian or German waggons and a locomotive from Czecheslovakia make this a particular and cheap ride in Europe.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Albania}}</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Shkod%C3%ABr&diff=68031Shkodër2013-01-10T22:21:06Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''{{Shkoder}}''' is the major city of Northern [[Albania]]. It will most likely be your first/last stop in Albania if you cross from/to [[Montenegro]]. In whole Albania the people are amazingly friendly, but in Shkoder sometimes it seems even more extreme. If you thumb on the road you will get all kind of (positive) reactions, probably even a driver stops to apologize he can not take you because there is a cow on the backseat of his car.<br />
<br />
== Hitching out ==<br />
<br />
=== North towards [[Montenegro]] ===<br />
<br />
There are two border crossings not far away from Shkoder. The first (Hani i Hotit) goes directly to [[Podgorica]] but sees only a few traffic due to the fact that the other road is in much better condition. To go to the direction of [[Ulcinj]] and [[Bar]] just walk the main road SH1 in Southern direction until you reach a very old wooden bridge. You might be surprised that this is possible, but yes, this is the road to Montenegro. After you pass the bridge turn left and walk a little but until you reach a petrol station. Start thumbing from here.<br />
<br />
If you decide to go to Podgorica, walk the SH1 in Northern direction and start thumbing as soon as you see a convenient spot where cars can stop. An alternative would be to take a minibus to the villages nearby in that direction like Shtoj or Boric.<br />
<br />
Those information are from 2011 and this time it was much more recommended to go via the Southern road. Internet sources say that the constructions of the Hani i Hotit road are more or less finished and so traffic might be better there now. It is adviceable to just ask local people about this issue.<br />
<br />
=== South towards [[Tirana]] ===<br />
<br />
Follow the SH1 road in Southern direction. As soon as you see the old wooden bridge (as described above) start hitchin' right after it. DO NOT cross it, as this would lead you to Montenegro. Keep in mind that there are a lot of Minibuses and shared taxis going that way. This of course does not make normal drivers less helpful.<br />
<br />
== Accommodation and Sleep ==<br />
<br />
Hospitality networks are not very common used in Albania. Still you might have some luck with foreigners working in Shkoder for a period of time.<br />
<br />
The train station seems to be closed at night.<br />
<br />
If there is no other chance, the prices in that stalinist hotel bunker in the center seem to be quite fair.<br />
<br />
== Alternatives ==<br />
<br />
If you need a break from hitchin' or also enjoy a nice ride in a half destroyed old fashioned train with local people, once a day there is a train for around 1 Euro to Tirana. Smashed windows, old Italian or German waggons and a locomotive from Czecheslovakia make this a particular and cheap ride in Europe.<br />
<br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Albania}}</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=%C5%9Awiecko_border_crossing&diff=68029Świecko border crossing2013-01-10T21:11:54Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Świecko''' is the name of the [[Poland|Polish]]-[[Germany|German]] border crossing at the [[E30]] ([[A12 (Germany)|A12]] in Germany and [[A2 (Poland)|A2]] in Poland) close to [[Frankfurt an der Oder| Frankfurt (Oder)]] and [[Słubice]].<br />
<br />
It is also the name of a village close by.<br />
<br />
Directly at the border there is a suitable place where cars drive relatively slowly and where it's quite easy to get a ride. There are some shops, currency exchange offices and Polish Customs. In summer there might be quite a lot of dust in this place - be careful if you have an allergy.<br />
<br />
Supposing you didn't hitchhike to Świecko, you can get there easily from the [[Słubice]] railway station. When you get out of the station, go left (southward) instead of right (as to the city of Słubice). You will soon see a lot of trucks, simply follow them and you will get to the checkpoint at the Polish-German border. <br />
<br />
Important to know is the fact, that there is a petrol station in Western direction, so it is more than easy to find lift to Germany, but there is no petrol station on the other side, so it is not the best spot to stand or start from in Eastern direction (f.e. if you have been in Frankfurt before). Still it is possible to stand at the old check point.<br />
<br />
It is also possible to get out here if you want to go to Frankfurt. Still it is a tough walk of around one hour and it will be difficult to catch a ride because traffic is fast and prostitutes are working here that might cause misunderstandings about your motives to stop a car.<br />
<br />
=== Going East: [[Poznań|Poznan]], [[Warsaw]], [[Łódź|Lodz]] ===<br />
You can find a driver to Świecko quite easily along the [[A2 (Germany)|A2]] for example in [[Berlin#Rasthof Michendorf|Michendorf]]. From the border crossing you can easily catch rides to the bigger cities in Poland, but with some luck you could even catch a ride to [[Lithuania]], [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]]. Sign advisable.<br />
<br />
Since the construction of the highway was finished in late 2011, also the border crossing looks a bit different. Cars and trucks pass now faster, but behind the border crossing is a turn after which you can hitch from the emergency line which is big enough to stop. However, [[User:N0id|n0id]] was sent away after 10min by the police and told to ask drivers who stop at the parking, because hitching there was to dangerous. Still, before he could even go back a truck did stop. <br />
<br />
Many trucks that are going to [[Poznan]] only don't take the highway, but instead the old national road. If you want to go further, make sure that your driver sticks to the highway.<br />
<br />
=== Going West: [[Berlin]], [[Hannover]], [[Hamburg]] ===<br />
If your driver is going to Berlin and you want to hitchhike further here is good place to get dropped. Sometimes, most cars seem to go only to Berlin (in the evening/at nightime?).<br />
It might be even better to get out at the last petrol station in Poland a few kilometers before, because most drivers stop there to refill cheap fuel and buy cigarettes. Don't accept a lift to the next ("Biegener Hellen") service station in Germany (15-20km), very few people stop there.<br />
Don't forget that cigarettes, food and drinks are much cheaper than they will be on the next stop in Germany, so buy the stuff you need. Even the toilet is for free and you save 0,70 Euro that you pay in Germany. If you need to sit down, this 0.70 are actually not so bad investation.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Poland]]<br />
[[Category:Germany]]<br />
[[Category:Border crossings]]<br />
[[Category:E30]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Poland&diff=68028Poland2013-01-10T21:04:15Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{infobox Country<br />
|country = Poland<br />
|language = Polish<br />
|capital = [[Warsaw]]<br />
|map = <map lat='52' lng='19' zoom='5' view='0' country='Poland' /><br />
|pop = 38,135,876<br />
|currency = Złoty (PLN)<br />
|hitch = <rating country='pl' /><br />
|BW = PL<br />
}}<br />
'''Poland''' is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. It is pretty good country for hitchhiking. Many drivers generally believe that others do not stop and that hitchhiking days are over in Poland, which however does not prevent hundreds of them from stopping. Since 1958 till the beginning of 90's hitchhiking in Poland was an official way of traveling organized by National Tourist Board, when hitchhikers had their ID with [[insurance]] included and drivers could win prizes every year. Thousands of people were hitchhiking through all these years – and most of them have cars today, so very often do they repay the debt. <br />
<br />
=== General Hitchhiking Info ===<br />
Quite common way to [[hitchhiking|hitchhike]] in Poland is to stand on the side of the road with your hand extended and/or thumb pointing upwards. Some hikers also wave their hands up and down, which is widely understood as ''"I only need a short ride"''. This way of hitchhiking is popular between villagers and high school students who look for a lift for a short distance. They very rarely write their destination on a [[signs|sheet of paper]] or piece of cardboard. Waving is enough to make a driver stop. <br />
<br />
Travellers looking for a longer ride usually make a sign with the name of a city they're going to or through. Some drivers prefer to take travellers and tourists. Because of this it's a good idea to place your backpack in front of you and make a sign which makes you look like a ''professional hitchhiker''.<br />
<br />
[[File:Krakow_to_ukraine.JPG|left|thumb|250px|Hitchhiker in [[Kraków]]]]<br />
<br />
=== Tips ===<br />
[[CB radio]] is quite popular in Poland not only among truck drivers, which might help in getting a ride. If you're lucky they can ask other drivers to take you further. You might even ask them gently to do that, especially in bad weather conditions or by night.<br />
Hitching by night is possible in Poland but not easy. On national roads try to find bright spot where drivers can see you. Use bright clothes. The best options are petrol stations where you can speak with the drivers while they fill up the tank.<br />
<br />
'''Public transport''' While staying in bigger cities check [http://jakdojade.pl/Welcome.jsp?locale=en jakdojade.pl]. It will find for you every single connection between point A and B within city limits and show ticket price, route on google, bus stops names and timetables. Just write the name of a street where you are in a form called "Z" (or pick a point on google map) and the place you want to go in form "DO". It will do the rest.<br />
<br />
=== Borders ===<br />
As mentioned above Poland joined [[Schengen Agreement]] which means there is no more passport control on the borders with Lithuania, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany. In most places there are still speed limits on the borders, there are also parking lots, toilets and currency exchange offices, which makes these places pretty good spots for hitchhiking. On newly built roads however there are no speed limits anymore. To Ukraine you can go by foot in Medyka, but not in Korczowa!!! (there you can wait for 3 hours because there are too many cars.)<br />
<br />
=== Roads ===<br />
Even though the Polish road network has improved enormously over the last two decades, by Western European standards, Poland has still quite a poorly developed road infrastructure. The road network consists of motorways (''autostrada'') i.e. A2, expressways (''droga ekspresowa'') with lower speed limits than motorways i.e. S6, national roads (''droga krajowa''), which are mostly single lane i.e. 92 and other regional roads. At the moment there is a lot of investment in the road network, especially since Poland hosted the European Football Championship final tournament in 2012.<br />
[[File:Autostop.JPG|260px|thumb|right|Restaurant on a Polish service station (A4) :-)]]<br />
Except for the motorways and expressways, it is generally acceptable to hitchhike on the side of the road in almost any suitable place. Unlike many European states, the police are generally friendly towards hitchhikers as long as they behave properly. Some of the newly-refurbished national roads have "no pedestrians" signs near major towns, but it's still uncommon. This means that if you plan to go through any major town in your journey, it is usually better to exit the car before arriving in the city - otherwise, you might have to walk till the end of the no-pedestrians area.<br />
On motorways and expressways the best place to hitchhike is either a sliproad or, preferably, one of the petrol stations or toll booths.<br />
<br />
See also: <br /><br />
[[Changes in Polish motorways and expressways network|Up-to-date info about investments in Polish motorways and expressways network on Google Maps]]<br /><br />
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_and_expressways_in_Poland Roads and expressways in '''Poland''']<br /><br />
<br />
=== Language ===<br />
[[File:Guaka-hitching-in-poland-2008.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[User:Guaka|guaka]] hitching in Poland]]<br />
According to a 2009 survey by CBOS [http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2006/K_177_06.PDF] (Polish survey office), roughly 46% of Poles declare they can communicate in at least one foreign language. Generally, 24% of Poles speak English, 20% speak Russian, 12% speak [[Germany|German]]. Other languages spoken are [[France|French]] (2%), [[Czech Republic|Czech]], [[Slovakia|Slovak]] and other Slavic languages. According to the similar survey in 2006 [http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2009/K_111_09.PDF], among the youngsters (students and pupils) the percentage to speak at least one foreign language reached 77, as compared to 59% of those under 35 and 40% of those between 35 and 54 years of age. According to a another survey prepared in late 2005 by TNS Opinion & Social for the European Commission, the percentage of people who speak one foreign language decently is 57%. At the same time roughly 32% are bi-lingual and 4% tri-lingual [http://www.egospodarka.pl/13770,Znajomosc-jezykow-obcych-w-Europie,1,39,1.html]. Except for younger people, foreign languages (mostly [[England|English]]) are commonly spoken by businessmen and educated people (87%), urban populations (50%) and small business (48%). However, it is hard to predict the knowledge of languages of a driver by his car as educated people in '''Poland''' are generally poorly-paid.<br />
<br />
Apart from the people who speak foreign languages, a vast majority of Poles do understand some basic constructions of other Slavic languages and of English. Due to World War II history and the number of war films created afterwards, also some basic words of the German language are commonly known.<br />
<br />
=== Communication & Dictionary ===<br />
[[File:Warsaw - poznan.JPG|thumb|left|225px]]<br />
The Polish language is generally hard to learn for most native English speakers. Even the most basic constructions you might need while on the road require the usage of quite complicated grammar and the use of grammatical gender, proper declension and a number of other categories non-existent in modern English. However, contrary to French or German people, Poles are generally friendly towards foreigners who try to speak their language. Because of that do not be afraid to commit mistakes. They might at times sound funny, but most Polish people would be astonished by the fact that you tried.<br />
<br />
Apart from the basic set of words and constructions found in every guidebook, there are some words hitchhikers might find particularly useful. Check also the Wikipedia articles on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_language Polish language] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_phonology Polish phonology] for more info on proper pronunciation. You can buy a decent guidebook or dictionary in any major town in '''Poland'''.<br />
* hitchhiking – autostop / stop (“awto-stop] / [stop“)<br />
* hitchhiker – autostopowicz (“awto-stopovich“)<br />
* we're travelling to... – jedziemy do... (“yeh-dzhye-mee doh“)<br />
* Where is the best place to hitchhike to...? – Skąd najlepiej łapać stopa do...? [skont nay-leh-pyey wapach stopa do...“)<br />
* Which way to...? – Którędy do...? (“ktoo-ren-dee doh“)<br />
* Where is the nearest...? – Gdzie jest najbliższy...? (“g'dzhe yest nay-bleezh-shee“)<br />
* motorway exit for... – zjazd na... (“zyazd nah“)<br />
* phone booth – budka telefoniczna (“boot-ka teh-leh-fonn-eech-nah“)<br />
* bus stop – przystanek (“pshee-stah-nek“)<br />
* train station – dworzec (“dvoh-zhets“)<br />
* filling station – stacja benzynowa (“stats-yah behn-zee-nova“)<br />
* ATM – bankomat (“bankomat“)<br />
* dictionary – słownik (“swoh-v-nick“)<br />
* guidebook/guide – przewodnik (“psheh-vod-nick“)<br />
* map / plan – mapa / plan (“mah-pah] [pla-n“)<br />
* road shoulder – pobocze (“poh-boh-cheh“)<br />
* lane – pas (“pass“)<br />
* Good morning - Dzien dobry ("dzhehn dobri")<br />
* Good bye - Do widzenia ("do veedzehnah")<br />
* See you later - Do zobaczenia ("do zobahchehnah")<br />
* It's nice to meet you - Milo mi ("meewo mee")<br />
* Excuse me - Przepraszam ("pshehprahshahm")<br />
* Yes - Tak ("tahk")<br />
* No - Nie ("neh")<br />
* Please - Prosze ("prosheh")<br />
* Thank you - Dziekuje ("dzhehnkooyeh")<br />
* Hello - Dzien dobry ("dzhehn dobri")<br />
* I'm sick - Jestem chory ("yehstehm hori")<br />
<br />
See also the Polish dictionary in Hitchwiki's [[Eastern Europe phrasebook]].<br />
<br />
=== Number plates ===<br />
Here you find a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plcarplates379v06.png#file map] with the car registration plate codes of '''Poland'''.<br />
It facilitates hitching at spots where you can see a car registration plate (petrol stations, borders, traffic lights)and choose the proper one. In short, the plates consist of two or three letters and four digits. The first letter denotes the voivodeship (region) and is followed by one or two letters denoting a major town. Usually voivodeship capitals and major towns have two letters, while smaller towns have three. For instance cars from Warsaw could have plates ranging from WA XXXX to WZ XXXX, while all cars from [[Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki]] have WND XXXX plates.<br />
<br />
When you see some English, Swiss or German registration plates, they still might be Polish people there, on vacation to their former homeland.<br />
<br />
== Border crossings ==<br />
<br />
=== [[Germany]] ===<br />
<br />
* [[Jędrzychowice border crossing]] <br />
* [[Świecko border crossing]]<br />
<br />
=== [[Russia]] ===<br />
<br />
* [[Bagrationovsk-Bezledy border crossing]] with Russia's [[Kaliningrad Oblast]]<br />
<br />
=== [[Slovakia]] ===<br />
<br />
* [[Barwinek-Vyšný Komárnik border crossing]]<br />
<br />
=== [[Ukraine]] ===<br />
<br />
* [[Dorohusk-Jahodin border crossing]]<br />
* [[Hrebenne-Rava Ruska border crossing]]<br />
<br />
<br />
== Links ==<br />
* [[Overview of good hitchhiking spots from former website Digimer Autostop]]<br />
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_and_expressways_in_Poland Roads and expressways in Poland]<br />
<br />
{{hitchbase_country|155}}<br />
{{IsIn|Eastern Europe}}<br />
{{Cities Poland}}<br />
{{Voivodeships Poland}}<br />
{{Template:Europe/countries}}<br />
__NOTOC__<br />
[[trash:Poland]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Poland| ]]<br />
<br />
[[de:Polen]]<br />
[[es:Polonia]]<br />
[[fi:Puola]]<br />
[[fr:Pologne]]<br />
[[pl:Polska]]<br />
[[ru:Польша]]<br />
[[tr:Polonya]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=File:Autostop.JPG&diff=68027File:Autostop.JPG2013-01-10T21:02:09Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Issyk-kul_lake&diff=68026Issyk-kul lake2013-01-10T20:58:38Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>__NOTOC__<br />
'''Issyk-kul''' is an amazing and huge lake in [[Kyrgyzstan]]. There is 182 km from east to west and 58 km from north to south. Surrounded by paved road. Distance on both sided are equal between Balykchy and Karakol (around 220km). Northern part is more developed than Southern.<br />
[[File:kgzroad.JPG|280px|thumb|right|Road along the Southern shore]]<br />
The places are small and you can just thumb everywhere on the main road. <br />
Hint: Spend there a few days hitchin' from village to village and stay where you find a good place, f.e. very cheap yurt camps on the South shore.<br />
<br />
== Hitchhiking out ==<br />
<br />
The are no really big places, so just walk to the end of the town/village you are and put your thumb in the air. If you are hitching to Bishkek it makes sense to wait for a direct lift, as traffic to the capital is huge. In every other direction you can be happy about every lift going further than 20 km. In summer it is very likely that some tourists from Russia and Kazakhstan in great mood will pick you up. On the other hand there are a lot of families with full cars.<br />
<br />
== Places to Avoid ==<br />
Avoid Balykchy and Karakol at nighttime.<br />
<br />
== Accommodation and Sleep ==<br />
There is a huge number of hostels, guesthouses and hotels mostly North and less on the South.<br />
The North, especially Cholpon-Ata is very popular among tourists from Russia and Kazakhstan. But anyway, with bargaining it should be no problem<br />
to get a place to sleep for a small price. Still, the South is more puristic and recommended. <br />
<br />
== Other Useful Info ==<br />
There is friendly geologist's service cars couple times in a week from Bishkek through Barskoon Valley to their party on more than 3500 meters altitude near Kumtor golg mine. Try hitch them. Great expirience among glaciers is guarantee. <br />
<br />
{{IsIn|Kyrgyzstan}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Kyrgyzstan]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=File:Kgzroad.JPG&diff=68025File:Kgzroad.JPG2013-01-10T20:56:21Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=Kazakhstan&diff=68024Kazakhstan2013-01-10T20:31:05Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{infobox Country<br />
|country = of Kazakhstan<br />
|map = <map lat='48.05' lng='66.9' zoom='3' view='0' float='right'/><br />
|language = Kazakh, Russian<br />
|capital = [[Astana]]<br />
|pop = 16,196,800<br />
|currency = Tenge (KZT)<br />
|hitch = <rating country='kz' /><br />
}}<br />
'''Kazakhstan''' (also spelled '''Kazakstan''') is a country in [[Central Asia]].<br />
<br />
Hitchhiking in Kazakstan isn't predictable. You can get 4-day rides with trucks or just rides of a few kilometres to the next village. People often offer rides out of cities when they see you walking. <br />
[[File:kazdesert.JPG|300px|thumb|right|From time to time cars need to get rescued out of the desert]]<br />
[[File:kaznowehere.JPG|300px|thumb|right|Landscape in KZ can seem endless]]<br />
The road between Aktobe and [[Aralsk]] is terrible, with little asphalt. Vehicles get stuck in the mud all the time and crossing the country this way can take days. <br />
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Some drivers of small cars, typically only going a short distance out of cities, will demand money. However, long-distance lifts are typically free. Inside of cities, especially in Almaty it is very common to stop cars and use them as private taxi. This means that you have to leave the city to start hitching, inside it will cause a lot of headache.<br />
Experiences in Kazakhstan are different, some people had problems with drivers asking for money again and again, while for others it was no issue at all.<br />
For sure whereever you hitch, drivers will stop fast and the ironic fact is that somebody might wants to charge you for a 3 km lift, while the next driver takes you 1200 km from Almaty to Astana and this will be for free.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless a very good country for hitching, especially to cover long distances.<br />
[[File:kazrestaurant.JPG|300px|thumb|left|Restaurant for truck driver]]<br />
== Cities ==<br />
* [[Almaty]] (the former capital, called ''Alma-Ata'' in the Soviet era, and the country's largest city)<br />
* [[Karaganda]] (second largest population)<br />
* [[Shymkent]] (trird larget population)<br />
* [[Astana]] (capital)<br />
* [[Korday]]<br />
* [[Pavlodar]]<br />
* [[Petropavlovsk]]<br />
* [[Semey]]<br />
* [[Taraz]]<br />
* [[Turkestan]]<br />
[[File:myfriendisacow.JPG|300px|thumb|right|Not so crowded country, but friends on the road are easy to find]]<br />
== Border Crossing ==<br />
=== [[Azerbaijan]] ===<br />
* The boat from [[Baku]], [[Azerbaijan]] arrives at the port of [[Aktau]].<br />
=== [[Kyrgyzstan]] ===<br />
* Multi-border points are Aisha-Bibi, Sypatay Batyr, [[Korday]], Kegen, Karasu (2010).<br />
=== [[Russia]] ===<br />
* Multi-border points are Kurmangazy, Taskala, Syrym, Aksai, Alimbet, Zhaysan, Kayrak, Akbalshyk, Zhana Zhol, Karakoga, Urlitobe, Sulu Agash, Kosak, Sharbakty, Auyl, Ube, Zhezkent (2010).<br />
=== [[Uzbekistan]] ===<br />
* Multi-border points are Tazhen, Zhibek Zholy, B.Konysbaeva, Shardara, Kaplanbek, Syrdarya, Celinny (2010).<br />
=== [[Turkmenistan]] ===<br />
* Multi-border point is Temirbaba (2010)<br />
=== [[China]] ===<br />
* Multi-border points are Khorgos, Dostyk, Kolzhart, Bakhty, Maykapchagay (2010).<br />
[[File:mjammjam.JPG|300px|thumb|left|Be aware about toilettes like this on the roads, so spoil yourself with some tissues]]<br />
== SIM-cards ==<br />
Some Beeline SIM-cards a bit expensive but no need any ID(2010). SMS 0,05USD. Most Kazakh people use either Aktiv or Kcell. It's extremely cheap to make phone calls to other Kcell/Activ users (they are the same company). Passport is needed for this sim card.<br />
[[File:Einkamelisteinwunder.JPG|300px|thumb|right|He refused to give a lift]]<br />
{{IsIn|Central Asia}}<br />
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[[Category:Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Central Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Kazakhstan|*]]<br />
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[[de:Kasachstan]]<br />
[[ru:Казахстан]]</div>Dorfdiscohttps://hitchwiki.org/en/index.php?title=File:Kaznowehere.JPG&diff=68023File:Kaznowehere.JPG2013-01-10T20:25:49Z<p>Dorfdisco: </p>
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<div></div>Dorfdisco