Hamburg

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

North: Lübeck, Puttgarden, South: Hannover Netherlands, Lüneburg
If you want to go south or towards Lüneburg you should start at Raststätte Stillhorn. It is easy to get there. Just take S3 or S31 to Wilhelmsburg and then a bus (line #13) to Kirchdorf-Süd. You get off at the last stop (ten minute trip max.). Just follow the road from where you got off the bus in the driving direction straight ahead. You'll walk along a path and get out directly at Stillhorn. After crossing the furthest little bridge on the left, you're already on the parking lot of the service station. This is for all traffic going in the direction of Bremen and Hanover.

If you need to go to the other side of the motorway for traffic going in the direction of Lubeck and Berlin, cross the furthest little bridge on the right and walk right for ~500 meter. There, cross the motorway by walking under the tunnel, and behind it you already see the service station to your left. Just behind the on-ramp there's a little path towards the service station.

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

Option 1
If you want to go south or towards Lüneburg you should start at Raststätte Stillhorn. It is easy to get there. Just take S3 or S31 to Wilhelmsburg and then a bus (line #13) to Kirchdorf-Süd. You get off at the last stop (ten minute trip max.). Walk towards the big white apartment block by the grassy area and you will hear the motorway A1. After crossing the furthest little bridge on the left (at the NE corner of the apartment complex), you're already on the parking lot of the service station. This is for all traffic going in the direction of Bremen and Hanover.

If you need to go to the other side of the motorway for traffic going in the direction of Lübeck and Berlin, cross the furthest little bridge on the right and walk right for ~500 meter. There, cross the motorway by walking under the tunnel, and behind it you already see the service station to your left. Just behind the on-ramp there's a little path towards the service station.

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
For going north to mainland Denmark (direction Flensburg, Kiel, Kolding) take the metro U2 towards Niendorf-Markt. From there get out and ask people for the bus station (Busbahnhof). There take bus #191 until stop Sellhopsweg. Get out there, walk some 200m 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 3
Also you can get to a gas station on the A1 heading to Denmark by catching the S-Bahn to the stop called Wilhelmsburg. From there catch bus number 13 to the stop Kirchdorf süd, which is the last stop on the route. Walk up past where the buses turn around, follow the motorway to the right, go under the motorway by way of the tunnel, and there is the petrol station! Every car I met there was heading towards Hamburg or Luneborg - if you want to go to Denmark, try option 4!

Option 4
Take a ride or take the S-Bahn A1 to Quickborn station. There take the bus 594 in direction to "U A Norderstedt Mitte" and stop at Heidefriedhof station. There you can maybe buy some flowers (a very nice old women offered us some information -okay it was wrong- and a rose). You should see a bridge across the motorway, cross it, and take the first the small street on right. You will feel you are lost in the country side because after 200 meters, this way doesn't look like a street anymore. Nevermind, go ahead, go ahead go ahead and on your right you will see a petrol station. We needed less than five minutes to find a driver to Denmark :D

East towards Berlin and North East towards Copenhagen, Scandinavia


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 busstop Caspar-Voght-Straße. Ask for the road to Berlin if you are lost. Look for a bus stop with a large blue metal pole in front with lots of hitch-hiker traces :). 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.

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

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

 * Hamburg in the Hitchbase - Nine entries, all in German
 * Petition for the roundabout Horner Kreisel

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