Magdeburg

Magdeburg is a city in Germany just in the middle between Hannover and Berlin. It is enclosed by the a A2 in the north and the A14 in the South and West which intersect in the North-West of the city. The B71 is running through the middle of the city intersecting with the A2 in the North and the A14 in the South. Due to the B71 there are many different on-ramps and spots all over the city, although their hitchability may vary.

Option 1: Autohof Magdeburg
Take Tram 10 towards "Barleber See" and get out at the last station "Barleber See". Walk right, cross the August-Bebel-Damm and walk further straight into Glindenberger Weg. You will already see Mc Donald's and Aral petrol station signs. It is a two minutes walk. At the petrol station is not so much traffic, but many people going further to Berlin stop at McD's. Place yourself in front of the entrance. This place just opened 2012 and is now the best place for almost no waiting times, but it takes a bit longer to get there by tram.

Option 2: The gas station at B71
Take Tram 9 in Magdeburg towards Neustädter See and get out at Krähenstieg. Walk left, crossing the tracks and the street. Turn right after the tower-like building and walk down the street there. After some meters you will recognize the petrol station behind some trees on the left side. It is directly located along the B71 which intersects with the A2 at Magdeburg-Centrum.

In the afternoon you meet a lot of people who just go to their home villages in the counties Jerichower Land (number plate JL), Ohrekreis (OK) or Salzwedel (SAW) but there are also cars going longer distances.

Since there are often more cars towards the West you could take any ride that goes past the service station Börde on the A2, get off there and cross over to the other side (there is a bridge) and hitch from there.

Option 3: B71 on-ramp at the university
Very easy to get to is the on-ramp of the B71 close to the university. Take a tram to Universität and from the roundabout follow the Walter-Rathenau-Straße for a few hundred meters. There is a bus stop with a huge shoulder before the bridge.

Alternatively continue until the very on-ramp. Traffic lights and cars from the other direction as well. Directly at the on-ramp it is difficult to stop, but still possible to hitch a ride. Especially on Fridays many students are leaving the city this way. Sign very advisable.

You can also take bus number 618 towards Rottmersleben until Groß Santersleben. Form here you need to take the Mammendorfer Weg (direction southwest). You will first see the service station Börde Nord (westbound) and after you passed under the motorway you will find the path going to the left to Börde Süd ((south-)eastbound).

South-East towards Dessau
Take tram #5 or #6 to Jerichower Platz and look for the bus stop next to the gas station. Take bus #51 to the stop ''Biederitzer Str. / Heyrothsberge''. Walk back to the main road, then turn left and hitch from the street turning right at the next traffic light along Königsberger Str..

You could also ask at the gas station next to the bus stop if you don't want to wait for the bus or walk along Jerichower Straße/Berliner Chausse for about 1.5km until you reach a traffic light shortly after which is a good spot to pull over.

Option 1: AGIP gas station at the B1
Take tram #3, #4 or #5 to Albert-Vater-Str.. You will see an AGIP gas station on your right. It is good for westbound traffic on the A2. You can hitch at the gas station or by the road (eg. at the bus station). Cars which are not going onto the highway could drop you in Irxleben, from there it is really close to the Rasthof at the exit #67 Irxleben which is a good place to hitch as well.

Option 2: The gas station at the B71
Same as for Berlin. Local cars going to or further than the exit #67 Irxleben can take you to the the Rasthof at the exit or to the service station Börde respectively. It is usually easier to get a lift towards the West than to Berlin.

Option 3: B71 on-ramp at the university
Same as for Berlin. Take a different sign though: A2 West works quite well for example.

Option 1: B71 on-ramp Südring
Take the tram #1, #5 or #10 to the stop Südring. You will see an on-ramp next to the cross roads. From there you can easily get lifts towards Halle or Leipzig by using a sign. If you go further you can get off at the service station Plötzetal West on the A14 before Halle. This is probably the easiest to reach spot.

Option 2: B71 on-ramp at the university
Like to Berlin or Hannover. Either at the bus stop or at the on-ramp. The on-ramp in this direction offers a little better place to stop. Sign advisable.

Option 3: Shell petrol station
Take tram #9 or #3 until the last stop 'Bördepark Ost''. Now you can take the bus #54 in direction of Porsestraße and get off at the bus stop Schreberstraße (or just walk West towards the B71 and continue straight, it is about 1.5km). Turn left at the big supermarket, walk straight for a few hundred meters and you will see the Shell petrol station. Is directly accessible from the B71 to the South, but also some local traffic might stop here.

Hitching In
As the A2 and the A14 cross in the northwest of Magdeburg how to get off depends of which direction you driver is coming and where he will go on.

Exit Rothensee (#71 on A2)
If you find a driver who is passing Magdeburg on the A2 but not willing to bring you into the city, you can ask hir to drop you off at the exit Magdeburg Rothensee because the tram stop Barleber See is directly next to it.

The last trains (Tram 10 at daytime, Tram 94 at night) run at 23:15 and the first after 5:00. However, if you miss the last one, you can also walk 3 km to the stop Hohenwarther Straße – just follow the big road. There, Tram 94 can pick you up nearly every hour at night. Otherwise, the industrial area is quiet at night and you can try to sleep in the grass or bushes. One tramp stop further is an Aral gas station and a traffic light at the crossroads. During the night, you can easily fetch cars coming from the highway by pressing the traffic light button for pedestrians - for cars, the traffic light almost immediately turns red. Just wait until you see the headlights of an arriving car and press the button to guarantee it has to stop, then ask.

Intersection Magdeburg-Zentrum (#70 on A2)
If your driver does not mind making a small detour (about 2km in total) he can turn at the intersection Magdeburg-Zentrum onto the B71 towards Magdeburg. After about 800m there is another exit, take that one, your driver should turn left at the traffic light. At the next traffic light your driver turns left to get back to the highway and you get off and turn right and walk about 1km to the tram stop Krähenstieg. From here trams run more frequently and you are faster in the city center, especially at night.

Exit Magdeburg-Stadtfeld (#3 on A14)
If your driver is going to continue along the A14 instead of the A2, he can drop you also at the exit #3 MD-Stadtfeld. It is the first exit after the intersection. It is a national road and cars drive fast, but there is a traffic light which leaves you a small time margin to catch a ride when the light turns red. The advantage of this spot is that it is closest to the city center and the next tram stop is only 3km away.

Exit Magdeburg-Reform (#6 on A14)
At the A14 your best bet is to get dropped off at exit #6 MD-Reform and walk until the bus station to get a further ride. Waiting times vary from short to very long and depend a lot of the amount of cars passing by, especially on weekends.

Public transport
Local buses and trams are run by the MVB. Their website mvbnet.de is only available in German.

Anyone with an adult monthly ticket or job ticket can take you for free on weekdays between 19:00 and 4:00 as well as on weekends and public holidays at any times. Ask around at the stations. Unfortunately, students cannot take you.

You can get on buses and trams without paying beforehand. The ticket inspectors wear uniforms (dark vests in summer) and they try to hide themselves before entering a train. They could wear civil clothes as well. During the day you could pretend to be about to buy a ticket standing next to the ticket machines. However, especially on weekends at night time there are many controls by though and evil looking guys in black clothing who probably won't fall for this trick.

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