Germany
Germany is a great country for hitchhiking. Just make sure you get on the Autobahn (motorway)! There it is best to get to a Raststätte (service area) where drivers can legally stop and get from one to another. You will often find maps with the motorways and the service areas along them.
In Germany there are no speed limits on many highways. So you might first want to try to get a ride with fast cars before asking truck drivers! Trucks are great during nighttime, but like in France, they aren't allowed to drive on Sundays.
Contents
License plates
In Germany license plates start with an abbreviation of the region where the car is registered. So look out for number plates starting with B if you're hitching to Berlin!
- See German car number plates and List of abbreviations used (in German) on Wikipedia for more information.
Border crossings
Germany implemented the Schengen Agreement. So, in theory the borders are open. But in practice the German custom officers or sometimes police will start demonstrating the sad traditions of their country to you if you are walking or riding a train with a suitcase or backpack somewhere near the border areas. Specially if you don't like very mainstream when crossing the border from Switzerland. If coming in with a commuter train, they easily take you out of your train to search your belongings, while your train continues without you.
Federal states
Biggest cities
Cities
=Nordrhein-Westfalen
Osten
Bavaria
Baden-Württemberg
Practical links
- Hitchhiking spots in Germany, in German, on a GFDL wiki
- Overview of highways in Germany
- Highway restaurants in German
- Service stations on highways in Germany
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This article is a stub. This means that the information available to us is obviously insufficient. In these places little information is available or the description is severely outdated. If you have been there, whether hitchhiking, for travel or as part of an organized tour − be sure to extend this article! |
