Category:Route Amsterdam - Berlin

Route Amsterdam - Berlin
Hitchhiking the route Berlin - Amsterdam (or vice versa) seems to be very popular among hitchhikers. In theory, the route of 656 km (according to Google Maps) can be done in 6 hours and 12 minutes by car. It's possible to hitchhike this route within 7-9 hours, so it's an easy day trip. This if you're lucky, not hitchhiking on a holiday or being in one of the many traffic jams between Braunschweig and Hannover. Anyway, then you could try traffic jam hitchhiking. It is smart to avoid a weekend-hitchhiking from Berlin to Amsterdam or vice versa. A lot of German and Dutch people use the weekends to move stuff or do a roadtrip with family. Both activities cause the cars to be full. Also, truck drivers are not allowed to drive their truck on Sundays in Germany. Most German truck drivers stay off the road on Sundays, even outside Germany.

From Amsterdam
From Amsterdam you will follow the A1 towards Amersfoort, Hengelo and Germany. Your best chance is to start at the official Liftplaats near the Amstel Station, or at the Petrol-station 300 meters further down that road. 15 kilometers further the A1 you will find a large petrol-station near Muiden (between exit 2 Muiden and 3 Muiderslot). You can ask your drivers if they will pass that spot or even go further. The second petrol-station, called De Slaag, is just before the first exit to Amersfoort (exit 12). You will find also good spots at the entries along the highway as there is often a rather large on-ramp that you can use to thumb drivers.

 The last last petrol-station, 't Lonnekermeer, before the border is just after Hengelo, right after exit 31. It is a good spot to find rides into Germany, sometimes even all the way to Berlin, Bremen or Hamburg. When you crossed the border after Hengelo it changes into the A30, you will follow that road until you hit Berlin. You follow the road through Osnabruck and Hannover. The first petrol station in Germany named Brockbachtal is located just before Osnabrück. If your driver goes into the direction of Bremen or Hamburg, you can get off there.

Additionally, the on-ramp 18 OS-Nahne some kilometers further can be useful if your driver only goes to Osnabrück, lots of traffic from there goes from OS to Hannover. Still, with the newly opened petrol station the on-ramp shouldn't be needed.

From Berlin
The best starting point might be the service station Grunewald West, easy to reach with S-Banh #S1, towards Potsdam HBF stop Nikolassee. Just go out of the station to the right, walk on the walking bridge over the highway and right into the path, and you're there. This one is located on highway A115.

Your first choice might be asking people going in direction A2 (Magdeburg, Hannover) or even into the Ruhr Area. Check out car number plates, yellow ones might be Dutch people (jackpot!), or cars with H, MD or other cities along your route might be the first choice. Anyway, it's also possible to get rides with people who are going towards the south, because there's another great service station, called Michendorf Nord. From here, a large amount of traffic is going either onto the A2, or the A9. The second one leads you towards München. At the Berlin article you find more information on how to get to Michendorf directly with a tram.

If you are hitching from the A30 towards the A1, be careful when dropped off right at the border. This area is a truckers restaurant and has no petrol station. There is not very much traffic to get picked up.

-> A2 -> A30 (Germany) -> A1 (Netherlands)