Amsterdam

Hitching at the Prins Bernhardplein liftplaats

Amsterdam [1] is the capital of the Netherlands.

Amsterdam is often abbreviated A'dam, which can be a nice alternative to put on your signs.

Hitching In

During daylight it's usually not a problem to hitch on on-ramps close to Amsterdam, so if you've been at gas station for 25 minutes you might want to give it a try at an on-ramp closer-by.

Public transport is fairly okay in the Netherlands. There are convenient metros from e.g. the Bijlmer. It could be worth it to get a "15-strippenkaart" (6,90 EUR, valid on local buses, trams and metros in the entire country).

Hitching Out

West towards Haarlem

There is an official liftplaats about 50m south of metro station Sloterdijk on Haarlemweg.

For Liva it was not the best place even though you have had to do it when you're anyway there...

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North towards Alkmaar, Zaandam

There is an A10 on-ramp near Sloterdijk station. Exit the station and go 200m east on Hatostraat, 250m north on La Guardiaweg and 250m east on Basisweg and then cross over to the on-ramp.

Another ramp is a little way up the street from the last. Get there from the last by continuing further down Basisweg (which becomes Transformatorweg until Kabelweg). Follow this north past s101 (Nieuwe Hemweg). The ramp is off of Vlothavenweg.

South and Southeast towards Utrecht, Breda, Nijmegen, Arnhem, Düsseldorf, Antwerpen, Brussels, Paris

There is one straight highway heading to Utrecht and further (A2). There are several spots near the Martin Luther King Park in Amsterdam Zuid. Take tram 25 to its end-stop or tram 4 or 12 and walk from the Vrijheidslaan south through the Rijnstraat to the highway (A10/ A2).

You can stand at the traffic lights before the crossing and pro-actively ask drivers who go straight on to drop you at the next petrol station 200 meters further, or walk over the bridge and try it at the hard shoulder (less good), or even walk further over the hard-shoulder and the grass towards a petrol station 250 meters further, behind the bend. Be careful when walking here though, the space between you and cars is minimal.

Just before Utrecht, after exit 5 (Breukelen) and just some kilometers before the Utrecht Ring you find a big petrol-station called Haarrijn. This is an excellent spot to find drivers for larger distances.

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East towards Amersfoort, Hengelo, Nijmegen, Osnabruck, Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin

There is a liftplaats, a spot specifically for hitchhiking, at the Gooiseweg next to the Prins Bernhardplein situated before NS Station Amsterdam Amstel (pass the bus stop). This road leads to the ramp of the S112 of the A10, the highway around Amsterdam (direction A1 and A2). A little bit further on that road and behind the bend you will find a petrol-station where you can talk to drivers, often a better way for getting a ride.

Most cars here will drive along the A1 towards Amersfoort, Hengelo and Germany but you can also find (though not as easy) rides to Utrecht, Arnhem, Nijmegen and Belgium. Because there are so many different directions (and sometimes even many hitchhikers) it's better to make a sign.

There are trains, trams (12,51) and metros to Amstel station from most other stations in Amsterdam. It is a couple of minutes walk from there.

Sleep

If you are caught in the rain with nowhere to go, the best place to stay dry that Zac found was outside the train station.

After walking all night in the pouring rain, trying to stay dry and warm wherever I could, I finally crashed outside the train station until the wee hours of the morning. At that time I moved inside of the station. This had mixed results. It was warmer and drier, but the security guards walked by and gave me a kick every time I dozed off.

There is another solution if you're caught in the rain : you can sleep on one of the tour boats parked along the river in front of central station, some of them have a roof outside the cabin and it can be a quite confortable place. Policemen or guards sometimes come and kick you out, but far less than in the station.

Buy

"Philip's compact atlas Europe" shows service stations in some countries, is pretty compact and was available for 7 euros at the New English Book Store in Amsterdam, in June 2008.

It's not recommended to carry any type of illegal drugs with you while hitchhiking. A bit of weed inside the borders of the Netherlands is not going to get you into trouble. But taking any amount of weed (or anything else) across the border could be a problem for you and possibly your driver. And it's not worth it.