Bratislava

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Bratislava
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Information
Country:
Flag of Slovakia
Slovakia
Population: 419,678 (31 December 2014)
Major roads: E 65 E 75 E 58 E 571
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Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. The city has one airport.

Hitching in

From Žilina

If you are coming on the motorway from the northeast but your driver is continuing to Hungary or Austria, ask him to leave you at the Slovnaft petrol station in Zlaté Piesky before the airport and the city centre. Jump over the fence in the southwest part of the petrol station area (there is a hole), walk across the field to the other road, follow the sign "Center" and after one or two kilometers you will reach the last stop of tram 2 and 4.

Alternatively, you can ask your driver to drop you near Aupark shopping center, but they need to exit highway right after crossing Prístavný most. Getting back on highway is very easy for them. This place is much more closer to center than previous one, you can get to Hodžovo námestie in 5 minutes with public transport.

Hitching around

If you are just passing by the city (e.g. going from Prague to Budapest) avoid at all costs being dropped at a petrol station in the city by a driver going into Bratislava. 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 access from the city streets and the petrol stations are not on the motorway. If you end up being dropped inside the city somewhere, you must follow the Hitchwiki advice to reach another spot or spend the night in Bratislava.

Hitching out

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North towards Brno, Prague (D2) E 65

Hitchhiking in direction to Brno.

Lamač gas station

In the north of the city there is a small service station at the motorway going north to Brno.

There are two options how to get there:

  • Get off at bus stop called 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.
  • Get off at bus stop called Pridánky. You need to indicate that you want to get off the bus. Once you leave the bus, the service station is very close but not visible. Follow the direction in which the bus continues for 100 meters and you will see the exit of the highway and the service station on your left.

Mokrohájska‎

Go to a bus stop called Mokrohájska‎, the bus stop is on city road in Brno direction but it's not yet a highway. You can try hitch hiking directly 'behind' the bus stop, there's enough for car to stop or continue walking in the same direction the bus was going, about 300 meters further there's a large OMV gas station, McDonald's and non-stop Tesco shopping mall. You also can try to hitchhike on traffic lights nearby.

East towards Žilina E 75, Banská Bystrica, E 58 E 571

Zlaté Piesky gas station

There is a gas station directly on the D1 highway in Bratislava, near the AVION shopping centre. Take bus 61 in the direction of the airport and get off at the stop Fatruny. You can try either hitchhiking on the on-ramp or asking drivers at the petrol station 750 m from the bus stop. It's bit harder to get in to petrol station, you have to walk past highway for a while. There are a lot of trucks going by this on-ramp, because this is one of the industrial parts of Bratislava.

Zlaté Piesky bus stop

Take a tram 2 or 4 east to the last stop 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.

South towards Budapest E 75, Vienna E 58

  1. Probably the easily reachable way to go Vienna: Take the bus number 50 and get off the last station which is named Aupark. There is OMV petrol station, McDonalds and big shopping mall as well. Since this location is not that far from the center of Bratislava there are some local people who go to further into Slovakia or city center. But there is a good possibility to find a ride for Vienna. In my case ıt took 5 min from OMW to find a lift and ıt was at around 18h, December 2013. For local people you can ask like that " Idete do Viedna?"
  2. 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. This is how you can get here Here is the map

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 [[1]]--Looking for Stu (talk) 17:38, 4 December 2012 (CET)

  1. 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. Here is the map
  2. 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.Here is a map

Having arrived in Budapest from the above location last night, it's worth knowing that most (see: virtually all) cars are either heading into Vienna or back to Bratislava from this location. If you're looking at heading into Budapest from here, then you might do better with a sign simply reading 'HU' rather than your end destination. There is a petrol station further along on the M1, a little after the first exit for Gyor, from which you'll be able to catch a lift to Budapest in no time.

  1. 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)
  2. Walk south over the UFO bridge and follow the pedestrian/cyclepath 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, Zenit got a ride there within 15-20 minutes.
  3. OMV petrol station near shopping centre AUPARK. Try to get a lift to the first petrol station on the motorway named Jarovce.

(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))

Public Transport

Bratislava has pretty cheap and fast (except rush hours) network of trams, buses and trolleybuses. In Slovakia public transport is referred as abbreviation MHD. The cost of 15 minute one trip ticket is 0.70€ and 60 minute ticket (90 minutes on weekend) is 0.90€. When using night lines you have to buy night ticket which costs 1.70€. It's not possible to buy ticket from driver, you have to mark your ticket instantly after entering vehicle. To plan your journey you can use maps of lines, online route planner or offline Android route planner (1 month trial). Blackriding is not advised, ticket inspectors don't wear any uniforms and penalty is very high compared to ticket price (50€ until 5 business days, 70€ afterwards). They always come in three, two of them are ticket inspectors and one is from security.

Sleeping

It's not possible to sleep at the railway station, you will be asked to leave, valid ticket won't help you. Better option is to sleep in sleeping bag or set up a tent in one of many forest areas, it's absolutely normal to wild camp in Slovakia, you won't have any problems. One of the best options are Koliba, just use trolleybus 203, get out at final stop and walk on the top of hill. You should find nice place to sleep. You can also try Pečniansky les on the right side of Danube river. It's also possible to sleep around Draždiak lakes in Petržalka or in forests near Železná studienka. If you are willing to spend more time in public transport, you can take a ride to Čuňovo and sleep close to local lake.

Other useful info

There is no problem in finding free or unsecured Wi-Fi. City offers free hotspots at Main Square, along Danube and in many other places. There's also possibility to connect in many of McDonald's, railway station, or KC Dunaj also has very good connection.


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