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Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and is located in the north.

Hamburg
<map lat='53.5533628' lng='9.989319' zoom='9' view='3' />
Information
Country:
Flag of Germany
Germany
State:
Coat of arms of Hamburg.png
Hamburg
Population: 1.773.218 (28 February 2008)
Licence plate: HH
Major roads: A1, A7, A23, A24, A25
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Hitchhiking out

Northeast towards Lübeck, Puttgarden   (& East towards Berlin  )

Option 1: Raststätte Stillhorn

Take S-bahn S3 or S31 to Wilhelmsburg and then bus 13 to the last stop at Kirchdorf-Süd (max. ten minute trip). Walk east along Karl-Arnold-RIng for 200 m. Keep walking straight and cross over the small bridge. Turn right after the bridge on Altenfelder Weg and walk for ≈500 m to the junction with Stillhorner Weg. Turn left and walk for 400 m, crossing under the Autobahn until you reach the path (Jakobsberg) just after the on-ramp. Walk 300 m north along this path and you will reach the Raststätte.

footsore got a lift all the way to Michendorf Süd rest stop at Potsdam, just outside Berlin, within half an hour at 9am on a Sunday morning. It is very easy to hitch into central Berlin from Michendorf Süd.

Option 2: Horner Kreisel

Follow the directions as for Berlin below. Use a sign.

South towards Lüneburg  , Hannover   & Southwest towards Bremen  

Take S-bahn S3 or S31 to Wilhelmsburg and then bus 13 to the last stop at Kirchdorf-Süd (max. ten minute trip). Walk east along Karl-Arnold-RIng for 200 m. Keep walking straight and cross over the small bridge. Turn left and walk 100 m to the parking lot of Raststätte Stillhorn.

If you are going towards the Netherlands, get a ride south to Dammer Berge on the A1 (just before Osnabrück), where the A1 joins the A30 in the direction of Rheine and Amsterdam.

North towards Flensburg, Kiel, Denmark  

Option 1: Autobahn Junction HH-Schnelsen

 
Hitching Spot at ramp Hamburg-Schnelsen

Take U-bahn U2 towards Niendorf-Markt. From there get out and ask people for the bus station (Busbahnhof). Take bus 191 and get off at Sellhopsweg. Walk some 200 m back to the traffic light. You'll see that the road going left follows the way to the motorway. There's no footpath, so you have to walk along the green space next to the road. Might be tricky in winter, easy in summer. Just take care when trucks and cars coming from behind! After some 300m you're at the ramp. There's enough space for you to stand on, and it's easy for cars to recognize you and to stop. Have a look at the picture for this spot. Oh, someone mentioned that this spot might be illegal to stand on, but can you find an Autobahn sign in the picture ? ;-)

Option 2: Raststätte Holmoor

Take S-Bahn S3 or S21 to Eidelstadt, and then A1 to Quickborn. Then take bus 594 in direction of U A Norderstedt Mitte and get off after the bus goes over the motorway (Hasloher Weg stop). After getting off the bus, walk in the direction back towards the bridge (west) and you will immediately see a small road going left (Hasloher Weg). You will feel you are lost in the country side because after 200 m, this way doesn't look like a street anymore. Never mind, keep going straight for another 400 m and on your right you will see the petrol station. We needed less than five minutes to find a driver to Denmark :D

East towards Berlin   & (Northeast towards Lübeck, Puttgarden  )

 
Hitching on Horner Kreisel - illegal version!
 
Hitching on busstop "Caspar-Voght-Straße" - legal version!
 
Hitching spot busstop "BAB Auffahrt Horn"

If you're planing to hitchhike towards Berlin on the A24, there's a bus stop near a big roundabout in the southeast of the city where it's possible to catch a ride directly to Berlin or at least part of the way. This spot is called the Horner Kreisel and is a popular hitchhiking spot for many hitchhikers in Germany. Here you can stand and wait for a ride. This works fine. For hitchhiking to Berlin prepare a cardboard sign with a huge B written on it, which is the number plate sign for cars from Berlin and understood widely. It's a good spot.

The easiest way to get there is from the Station Hasselbrook (S1, S11). You leave the train in the direction of Steindamm, upstairs turn right and the after a few meters left into the Caspar-Voght-Straße. Follow this street 500 meters until the big crossing with Sievekingsallee. On the opposite side of the Sievekingsallee you'll see the bus-stop Caspar-Voght-Straße. Ask for the road to Berlin if you are lost. Go further up the road and look for a bus stop with a large blue metal pole in front with lots of hitch-hiker traces :). It's just in front of the "Horner Kreisel" and is called "BAB Auffahrt Horn". You can also reach there by taking the U2 or U4 to "Rauhes Haus". This spot is actually great, because owners of turkish shop at the station noticed strange amount of hitchhikers in front of their business. I think they are quite enjoying it. Just when I was about to start, they invited me in for a free turkish coffee and cigarette (I usually don't smoke, but this was kind of nice). They got some carton boxes and marker just for assistance to hitchhikers, so they made one for me. Highly recommended (although it was two years ago, so I just hope they are still there).

Please note, some years ago they reconstructed the Horner Kreisel. Earlier it was possible to stand in the middle of it on an bus-stop, but now the bus-stop is located before the roundabout where the cars are driving pretty fast, and on the Kreisel the cars have no opportunity to stop.

Some hitchhikers claim that hitching on the roundabout turn-off direction Berlin is easier, as here you have much more traffic going your way. It's recommended to stand immediately after the roundabout, in the grass before the blue motorway sign. Cars can stop right after the motorway sign. This place is used by many hitchhikers. It's not uncommon to find a direct lift to Berlin in 5 minutes. But it has to be pointed out that doing so is against the law, for the Autobahn starts there − and you must not walk or stop on it. Hitchhikers and drivers, who stop there, can be fined. Apart form the legal aspect, bear in mind that this may be dangerous for you!

If you want to go to Puttgarden for going into Scandinavia, you can hitch to the ferry at Puttgarden, and get a ride straight to Copenhagen. Have a look at the Puttgarden article for more info.

Resources

Drink

Free refills, pick up a cup and get high on fizzy drinks. At:

  • Mundsburg(U3) in McDonalds
  • Billwerder-Moorfleet(S21) in IKEA

Free Internet access

  • At Hauptbahnhof in McDonalds.
  • Inside Mercado near Altona Station (between the Reformhaus Englehart and the escalator)
  • Zentralbibliothek (Central Library) near Hauptbahnhof
  • In front of the Apple store, Jungfernstieg
  • As of April 2016, in "Am Borgweg" and "Mönckebergstraße" U-bahn stations

Callshops

Public transport

Blackriding is possible, albeit risky. Controllers are very frequent and often wear civil clothes, so they cannot be noticed before the doors are closed. And since they do not receive an hourly wage but a salary depending on how many people they catch, playing the "dumb tourist" will have no effect on them; they want you in their record. It is very easy to fool them however, they will first ask you for a national ID or a passport and if you tell them that you cannot produce either they will accept anything that has a (supposedly your) name and an address on it. They can't be bothered to call the police as that takes them a lot of time to arrive. Anything from a fake organ donor card, a bank account statement or a letter addressed to you will do - even if that's hand written. For routes of public transport check hvv.de or http://www.geofox.de/base/welcome.jsp

Links


trash:Hamburg