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Riga

2,003 bytes removed, 15:35, 5 October 2020
Hitchhiking out
== Hitchhiking out ==
<map lat='56.95' lng='24.1' zoom='10' view='0' country='Latvia' float='right'/>
=== South towards [[Bauska]], [[Kaunas]] (LT), [[Vilnius]] (LT), [[Poland]] (PL) {{E|67}} ===
=== North towards [[Pärnu]] or [[Tallinn]] ([[Estonia]]) {{E|67}}, North East towards [[Cēsis]], [[Valmiera]] {{E|77}} ===
 
Take tram #6 or #3 from the city centre (for example, from a stop called ''Merķeļa iela'') to the final stop called ''Jugla'' - there you will find a road to the north, you will see a petrol station, traffic lights, a bus stop (and McD's in case you want to go to the toilet). To get to the hitchhiking spot you will have to walk around 1km North East. You will see a spot with a lot of space for a car to stop. And most probably some other hitchhikers, so you won't miss it!
Beware that most of the traffic is going North East so it might happen that you wait some hours (might happen... road there has 3 lanes) to get a 3km ride to the right road if you are going north. So it's up to you to decide. Maybe a better option is to walk those few km already after you arrive at the spot. You can also take bus #1 one stop further than mentioned above (Till stop "Berģi") and you won't have to walk that much. After you're on the road to Estonia walk up to a bus stop (there is one about half a kilometer after the bridge - ''Baltezera sanatorija''). There is also a small restaurant next to the bus stop.
''I highly recommend on walking. I arrived at this spot and saw two girls hitchhiking to Pärnu. They had been waiting for close to two hours. So I decided to walk so that I got on E67 towards Pärnu and Tallinn. Once I got on that road, I waited for less than 5 minutes and I got a ride all the way to Tallinn.''
Other options:
You can check this bus operator's website [http://www.ekspressadazi.lv here].
Another viable option is to take the regional train to Saulkrasti from the Main Railway Station. It takes an hour to get there and the ticket costs about 1,9 euros. When you reach the railway station at Saulkrasti, walk right across the tracks. Find a gravel path leading past some fenced off building which looks like a generator. The path leads onto a road that overpasses E67 Via Baltica. You can hitchhike on the access ramp, but do so behind the safety rail as cars pass by quite fast. It takes about 15 minutes to get there from the station. (taken from hitchbase, tried, and improved the description)
=== Southeast towards [[Daugavpils]], [[Rēzekne]], [[Russia]], [[Belarus]] {{E|22}} ===
 
You can take the tram #3, #7 or #9 to the end stop ''Dole''. Cross the street and find a bus stop near a parking place. Hitchhike from the parking place or, if it's full, stand before the bus stop. The problem with this spot might be that it is still in the city so a lot of traffic is local.
You should aim to get to Koknese because that's the place where two highways meet ant become one, in Koknese there is a wide roundabout with great visibility.
If you're going to Russia and have been dropped near the border, you can cross it on foot without any problems. After the border the road is not busy and most of traffic is local, but if you spend some time you can catch cars going far away (nikkou caught a car going to Voronezh via Moscow after 1 hour). Consider using a big sign.
=== Southwest towards [[Liepāja]] ===
From city centre (for example "13. janvāra iela" which is the big bus stop opposite Stockman centre and the train station) take bus #4 ([http://saraksti.rigassatiksme.lv/index.html#bus/4/a-b/7749b/map/en see route]) or bus #32 ([http://saraksti.rigassatiksme.lv/index.html#bus/32/a-b/7749b/map/en see route]) towards "Pinķi" and get out at stop "Pagrieziens uz Pinķiem". You can start hitchhiking already there, because all the traffic that goes to [[Liepāja]] will pass here, but the road is big and fast so it might be better to walk 3km south to get on the exact road to Liepāja. Away from Riga ring road. Cars there really slow down and you can get a ride pretty quick.
As of August 2017, no need to walk those 3 km further down From city centre (for example "13. janvāra iela" which is the big bus stop opposite Stockman centre and the roadtrain station) take bus #4 ([http://saraksti.rigassatiksme.lv/index.html#bus/4/a-b/7749b/map/en see route]) or bus #32 ([http://saraksti.rigassatiksme.lv/index. When you html#bus/32/a-b/7749b/map/en see route]) towards "Pinķi" and get out at stop "Pagrieziens uz Pinķiem". You can start hitchhiking already there, because all the traffic that goes to [[Liepāja]] will pass here, but the road is big and fast so you may just walk back to the main road, there are traffic lights so cars have to slow down, and just after the traffic lights there is plenty of space for cars to pull over. 
Or if you don't feel like walking you can take bus Bus #43 ([http://saraksti.rigassatiksme.lv/index.html#bus/43/a-b/7749b/map/en see route]) towards Skulte from the same "13. janvāra iela" stop and get out at stop "Beberbeķi" (Don't get confused with stop "Beberbeķu iela", there are still 3 stops to go). There you just walk few hundred meters down the road and here you are!
Nina Unexia tried both options in July/August 2017 and they both worked quite well, waiting time under 5 minutes.
=== Northwest towards [[Ventspils]], [[Talsi]], [[Tukums]] ===
 
You can try to get to the same bus stop (Pagrieziens uz Pinķiem) as mentioned above. Only from there walk back North, get on the big road and try to hitch. Make sure you have a good sign there, because most of the traffic is going only to [[Jūrmala]].
Better, but more expensive (about 2 euros) option might be to take minibus from city centre towards [[Jūrmala]]. Stop is near central station, just ask for the big minibus station if you can't find it. Beware that probably the minibus won't say Jūrmala, but Jaunķemeri, Dubulti or Sloka. These are districts of Jūrmala. Go till bridge, which is just before Jūrmala. You have to go left there, but go right and go under bridge to get on the road. There you will find a place to lift your thumb.
In the same point as mentioned above, you can get little cheaper by using train. Go to train station, buy ticket (~1 euro) till Priedaine (and take train going towards Sloka, Tukums or Dubulti). Get out in Priedaine station which looks kinda deserted and walk ~150m as railroad stays on your left and then turn left - cross the railroad and walk through forest (there is good asphalted bicycle path and road going)for about 1km. On crosroads turn right and there you'll see road going under bridge, go through and there is ideal spot for you. (this This way you can get from Riga centre to hitchhiking point in 20-30 minutes)
== Hitching by ferry ==
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