Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia. The city has one airport.

Hitching around
If you are just passing by the city (e.g. going from Prague to Budapest) avoid at all costs being dropped at a petrol station in the city by a driver going into Bratislava. The road splits inside the city, the motorway is in the middle and the local traffic goes on a side road. Because of a wall there is no direct access from the city streets and the petrol stations are not on the motorway. If you end up being dropped inside the city somewhere, you must follow the Hitchwiki advice to reach another spot or spend the night in Bratislava.



Hitching out


North towards Brno, Prague (D2)



 * In the north of the city there is a small service station at the motorway going north to Brno. Take a bus (check times at www.imhd.zoznam.sk) from Hodžovo námestie next to the Presidential Palace, to the bus stop Húščavova (7 stops). The bus stop is directly after the bus turns left and crosses the highway over a bridge. You need to indicate that you want to get off the bus at this station. In the worst case though, you can get off at the next stop Lipského and walk a bit more. When you leave the bus just walk back over the bridge and turn left and walk to the next traffic light to the station.

Another option of arriving at this service station is bus #30 which goes from Most SNP to the stop Pridánky (8 stops). You need to indicate that you want to get off the bus. Once you leave the bus, the service station is very close but not visible. Follow the direction in which the bus continues for 100 meters and you will see the exit of the highway and the service station on your left. Cyclebear tried this spot in june 2014 and recommends to show the hitchhiking-sign towards cars on the highway as well, in case there is not many guests at the service station.

Go to a bus stop called Mokrohájska‎ - buses 21,22,30,34,38,83 - the bus stop is on the road to Brno but it's not yet a highway. You can try hitch hiking directly 'behind' the bus stop, there's enough place for a hitch hiker to stand and for a car to stop. OR continue walking to the same direction the bus was going, about 300 meters forward there's a large popular gas station.
 * Second Option

East towards Žilina, Banská Bystrica,
First option : There is a gas station directly on the D1 highway in Bratislava, near the AVION shopping centre. Take bus 61 in the direction of the airport and get off at the stop Fortuny. You can try either hitchhiking on the on-ramp or asking drivers at the petrol station 750 m from the bus stop. There are a lot of trucks going by this on-ramp, because this is one of the industrial parts of Bratislava.Click here to see the map

Second option : Take tram 4 or 2 east until the end of the line, a stop called Zlaté Piesky. Cross over the big road to your right and walk down past the Porsche dealership. Hitchhike on the highway just beyond the bus stop. Its not the greatest spot, but there isn't any other. The road splits into the E75 and the E58/E571 approximately 30 km east from here.

South towards Budapest, Vienna

 * 1) Probably the easily reachable way to go Vienna: Take the bus number 50 and get off the last station which is named Aupark. There is OMV petrol station, McDonalds and big shopping mall as well. Since this location is not that far from the center of Bratislava there are some local people who go to further into Slovakia or city center. But there is a good possibility to find a ride for Vienna. In my case ıt took 5 min from OMW to find a lift and ıt was at around 18h, December 2013. For local people you can ask like that " Idete do Viedna?"
 * 2) Probably the best way : From the city centre take a tram number  4 in direction of Zlate Piesky, get off at the last stop. Then walk along the road around 15 minutes. When you see the beginning of the motorway with a sign Győr, Wien, on your righthand side you will notice a petrol station. Go a few metres through bushes, and once you get to the fence, there is a hole in fence. Jump over it (its just one metre or something) and you are at the petrol station directly on the motorway. From there its very easy to get a lift to Wien, a bit harder to Hungary. Some people also go to Italy using this way to avoid paying for vignets for Austria, which are expensive. You can get here also by buses 53, 56, 65, 514. This is how you can get here Here is the map

Attempted the above directions this morning and they need a little further explanation. Only tram 4 goes to Zlate Piesky, which is the name of the last stop. From here you'll see a footbridge, which you need to cross over and continue up the road in the direction the tram was heading. You'll be walking along a grass verge so be careful along the road. Have some faith, keep moving and you'll pass a lake on your right hand side. Continue on and you'll see a bridge up ahead with a petrol station on the other side of the carriageway. There are some offices to your right here. Push on under the bridge and you'll see in the distance the petrol station you're after. Follow the tracks in the field and you'll find the hole in the fence through to the station forecourt and truck stop. No problem from there. Here is the map []--Looking for Stu (talk) 17:38, 4 December 2012 (CET)

(I tried this option with a girlfriend. Enough cars, a lot of drivers speak English, but nobody is going to the motorway and everybody has a car filled with groceries, kids or a wife (MF))
 * 1) A very good way : Motorway-petrol station in the northeast of the city. Take Bus 63 (crosses the whole town) and get out at Tesco Lamac (next to a shopping centre). Walk 1 km northwards and you get to a bridge that crosses the motorway. Go down the steps at the bridge and another 100m north and you're there. Or you can get there also by bus 83, 34, 22 and 20 or even 30. When taking the buses 83, 34, 22 and 20 you have to get off at the bus stop Húščavova, walk back few meter to the bridge, go under it, and walk 50m to the gas station. When taking the bus 30. Get off at Pridánky, cross the bridge over the highway, go under it, and walk 50m to the gas station. Both bus stops require you to give the driver a signal it's a button in the bus (When there's only one button that is it. When there are two buttons it's not the one that opens the door, it's the one that says STOP.) Most of the cars will be locals but there are also some trucks passing by here. If nobody is going far ask people also if they aren't going along the D2 to Jarovce and passing by the big gas station located there. Here is the map
 * 2) The most traffic but it's hard to get there : There is a big gas station on the D2 highway south of the city. It's a quite walk to get there. Go by bus 93 or 95 to the bus stop Vyšehradská(It is the last stop of the bus 93), Cross the big road called Panonská Cesta and walk to the gas staion. It a bit far.Here is a map
 * 3) walk towards Vienna. Following highway B9 parallel to the Danube walk towards Vienna with your thumb out. The traffic is slow and light enough that people can stop and pick you up easily. (2012.01.24 I took this route and only ended up walking about 6km between two people who gave me rides. Probably better than waiting in town for a ride. -lex)
 * 4) Walk south over the UFO bridge and follow the pedestrian/cyclepath to the right. You will arrive at a bus stop on Einsteinova, standing at the front of the marked off lane will give drivers a place to pull over. The road splits shortly after, but both ways lead towards Vienna, so to catch all possible rides it's best to wait before the fork. It's not ideal as three lanes of traffic are moving quickly by. If you are unsuccessful, two bus companies operating between Bratislava and Vienna pick up right at that bus stop about every 15 minutes during the day. Also, there's an on-ramp from the bridge onto Einsteinova, where cars have space to pull over, Zenit got a ride there within 15-20 minutes.
 * 5) OMV petrol station near shopping centre AUPARK. Try to get a lift to the first petrol station on the motorway named Jarovce.

Public Transport
Bratislava has a network (map) of slow trams, buses and trolleybuses. The trams and trolleybuses serve only the eastern part of the city (East Danube side)

Sleeping
It is possible to sleep in many places around in Bratislava. You can try to sleep at the railway station but there is a chance that the guards will ask you either to leave or to show them a ticket by which you are going to travel so just tell them that you are going to Vienna tommorow but you haven't bought the ticket yet and you will buy it tomorrow. That should work. You can also try sleeping in the Sad Janka Kráľa which is located on the south side of the Danube river. It's a quite big park so that you should be able to sleep there without any problems. Another option is sleeping in the Pečianky les, a large forest a bit to the west of the Sad Janka Kráľa.

Other useful info
There is free wifi at the Julius Meinl café at MyBratislava and at McDonalds. (You can sit outside and use the wifi from there, no need to go inside).

In the summer, there's an artificial beach near the river that has computers you can use as well as wifi.

isin: Slovakia trash:Bratislava

Bratislava