Leipzig

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Revision as of 23:03, 7 November 2010 by Jeensg (talk | contribs)

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Leipzig
<map lat='51.34905637539417' lng='12.192935943603516' zoom='13' view='3' />
Information
Country:
Flag of Germany
Germany
State:
Coat of arms of Saxony.png
Saxony
Population: 512.000
Licence plate: L
Major roads: A9, A14
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots

Leipzig is a city in the German Bundesland Saxony, and is famous for its alternative scene. Check out Plagwitz, Südvorstadt and Connewitz if you're there.

Hitching Out

North towards Berlin, Magdeburg, South towards München

First option

Take the bus #131 from the city center towards Dölzig and get out at Holländische Mühle, one stop before the Nova Eventis center. This spot is some meters before the direct ramp onto the A9. Try to find your ride here towards Berlin or Munich!

Second option

It's also possible to get to the spot described above with tram #7 in direction Böhlitz-Ehrenberg. Get out at the tram stop Georg-Schwartz-Strasse/Merseburger Strasse. From there, walk back some 10m towards the main road and walk right towards the Aral petrol station. Follow the road for 200m until you passed a Lidl supermarket, and after that some meters further you'll find a bus stop (Lindenau Friedhof). From there you can easily hitchhike a ride towards Dölzig and/or the motorway. Make sure to get out at the last traffic lights before the motorway. Just behind the traffic lights, there's a small bay where cars can stop easily. A sign might be useful. Hitchhiking ~800m further directly at the on-ramp is pretty dangerous, there's no place for cars to stop and traffic passes by pretty fast.

Third option

There is also a nice petrol station on the B2, it's the last petrol station for people coming from the city center(?). Take tram 14 to Messegelände. Go back in direction of the previous tram stop (street Alte Dübener Landstraße), cross the Street (Messe-Allee) and follow the bike path. It underpasses the railway and you finally get to Zschortauer Straße. Turn left, there the back entrance to the petrol station is almost immediately on the right. Google Maps doesn't know about the bike path but you can see it in satellite view.

East towards Dresden

Spot in Leipzig described in Option 2 for hitchhiking North or South
First option

Take the Tram #15 or #2 from the city center towards Meusdorf and get out at the last station. Go 250 Meters further to the next bus stop. This is the best spot to Dresden over A38 and A14/A4.

Please check whether the road works still go on as posted on hitchbase, section Meusdorf!

Update 05/11/2010 by jeensg 23:03, 7 November 2010 (CET): Roadworks still go on (like one year to go), but eventually still people passing by and good spot with big Bus stop and gas station afterwrds, where you can ask and also stand with sign!!! Driver told, that most traffic now is going via B2!


Second option

On Permoser Straße there are three gas stations, first Aral, then HEM and lateron bft, which is the closest to the motorway. Since there are not necessarily a lot of people to ask getting gas, it's recommendable to have a sign saying "A14 [Dresden]". Dizzy's waiting time: 15 minutes.

Update 05/11/2010 by jeensg 23:03, 7 November 2010 (CET): Entry to motorway is closed! Please check before!!!

In the direction of Dresden you then have a service area called "Muldental" since a lot of people turn of before Dresden so that you can use also the rather local traffic.

Hitching In

Hitchhiking into the city can be difficult, especially if traveling along the A14. If your driver doesn't mind driving a 10 km detour, you can get off at Leipzig-North. Don't get off at the on-ramp, there is no way to turn around for the driver. Otherwise, options are the airport where a train is going regularly into the city. If traveling the A9, you can best get off at Leipzig-West. After 2 minutes of driving there's a bridge and a traffic light where your driver can turn around. Info is not 100% verified, so take care.

Overnight

There are several youth hostels in Leipzig. There is one about a mile out of the city. It's easily walkable, just head out left from the train station's main entrance, and follow the road round to the right. Keep walking past a head shop, and take a left, then a right on a street that runs parallel. Keep walking to the end of the road, then turn left over the bridge over the train tracks. After you've walked over the train tracks, there's an interesting little village made up of wendy houses. Walk through this, heading to the far corner. Turn right, and walk parallel with the train tracks. You should she an old pub in the middle of an HLM type housing estate. Make a note of it, because it does fantastic food. Carry on for about another 200 yards, then hang a left. The youth hostel is on the left, just on a small service road.


Public transport - Riding with and without a ticket

the information below does not apply to the S-Bahn city train. See Deutsche Bahn instead

Using public transportation without a ticket is fairly easy in Leipzig.

Getting caught without a ticket:

  • fine is 40 EUR, payable by bank transfer in about 10 days
  • I don't know if there are special rules if you possess a non-German ID

Anyway...

  • Ticket machines outside trams give you unstamped tickets
  • You can validate tickets in both trams and buses, the machines beep when you do so (check if there is a ticket stamping machine in the rear of the bus)
  • Inside most trams, there's a ticket machine that gives you a stamped ticket (just hanging around there won't serve as excuse if you get busted)
  • Bus drivers also sell stamped tickets
  • You could buy a (short range, if you're on low money) ticket and keep it unstamped
  • Most transportation rules for German public transport are along the lines that you have to present a valid ticket if you're asked to do so
  • You need to get the ticket stamped before the traffic control reaches you
  • If you've got an unstamped ticket, you can argue that you didn't know about validating it - the tourist act usually works
  • After 8pm, you usually need to get in buses at the front and show your ticket to the bus driver