Enschede

Enschede is a city in the east of the Netherlands. There was a liftershalte, a spot for hitchhikers, on the Westerval, at the Parkweg (direction A35). It disappeared somehow in 2006.

North towards Hengelo, Oldenzaal, A1 service station
If you want to go towards the service station  't Lonnekermeer for long hitches into Germany, get yourself towards the Deurningerstraat until end of town. Some 50m behind the last traffic light you'll have some space for cars to stop, pretty awesome spot for hitches towards Oldenzaal. For the service station, hitchhike for around 5-6 km and get out just behind the railway crossing. Walk up the bridge and at its left you can walk down towards the motorway and the petrol station.

East towards Germany

 * Option 1: along the motorway towards Osnabrück

There is an A1 on-ramp in Oldenzaal-Zuid. This is around 6 km north of Enschede. You can get there by taking the bus, line #60 or #62 towards Oldenzaal/Denekamp from the central bus station in Enschede. Get out at bus stop Hanzepoort. Price is 5.50 Euro (Nov 2011), another option is to go only until bus stop Kotkampweg (2.20 Euro) (or walk there) and hitch at the bus stop or traffic light towards Oldenzaal-Hanzepoort.

At bus stop Hanzepoort, cross the street and walk 50m to the right. There you can stand along the hard shoulder at the on-ramp up to the Dutch motorway A1 (German A30) towards Bad Bentheim / Osnabrück. Average waiting time is 7 minutes, most people go to Germany, mostly to Nordhorn or Bad Bentheim near the border. This ramp is the 2nd last before the German border, try to get to the parking area at the border, there you can find trucks that might go up to Poland and further beyond. If you like going faster, check out the article for the A30, it's practically better to catch a car towards the on-ramp Nordhorn/Bentheim and from there getting rides eastwards much faster. This is recommended for experienced on-ramp hitchhikers.

For hitchhiking towards Münster take bus #1 (EUR 2,20) towards Wesselerbrink, #2 to Helmerhoek, #73 to Winterswijk, or #74 to  Doetinchem and get out at P+R Zuiderval. There you can already see the motorway in front of you, just walk the 150 meters up to the ramp. At this spot the motorway A35 begins. For hitchhiking towards Gronau use the space in front of the traffic lights or walk a bit down the ramp.
 * Option 2: via Gronau and towards Münster


 * Option 3: see section above, the petrol station north of Enschede works well to go towards Germany.

West towards Hengelo, Apeldoorn, Utrecht, Amsterdam

 * Option 1: To get on the A35 you just have to go to the Zuiderval. Take bus #2 towards Helmerhoek and get out at the P+R Zuiderval and walk to the higway (150 meters). You can also take line #1, for this see the spot for direction Münster. Also lines #73 and #74 take you there as written above. There are traffic lights and enough space for cars to stop. Use a sign with Deventer and try to get a lift to the petrol station before Deventer.


 * Option 2: Take bus #1 towards Universiteit and get out at Jupiterstraat. Walk 200m up towards the roundabout and walk left. 20m behind the roundabout you'll find an information bay which is perfect for hitchhiking rides towards Germany or all into the Netherlands (Haaksbergen, Deventer, Utrecht, etc.). It might be that rides bring you only about 3 km further to the beginning of the bypass that leads to the A35. From there, it's a 5 minute walk along the bypass towards the on-ramp in going into all directions, close to the Grolsch beer brewery.



All other directions
If you are at the University of Twente, try this: Go to the entry of the University, walk the "Auke Vleerstraat" straightforward until the second roundabout (the one with cars on it) and hitchhike just behind it at the information bay. Great spot for rides into the Netherlands, towards Germany, within Enschede or Haaksbergen, though waiting times can differ during the day. This is actually the same spot as #Option 2 above here.

Sleeping
It's possible to camp somewhere on the University campus, if you ask the security guys at the campus entry kindly to put your tent on a hidden spot somewhere between the trees. There's much green on the campus, only thing will be geese that are hanging around there. ;) There's also a campsite between Hengelo and Enschede, not far from the University. Of course there are also lots of students with couches you could sleep on.

isin: Overijssel

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