Denmark

Denmark is a country in Northern Europe. It is a member state of the European Union as well as the Schengen Agreement.

According to Wikivoyage hitchhiking is legal in Denmark except on motorways. Most drivers speak English, but especially in the western and southern part people are more eager to speak German. If your German isn't good enough, English will help here too. Most drivers are very friendly and hospitable. There was a hitchhiking project done in 2006 called The Search for Danish Mentality, and in 2007 there was a follow-up called The Search for the Commons.

When hitching on slip roads to the motorway, people rather stop if you are at the bottom of the slip road than at the top of it. Most ramps in Denmark have enough space for cars to stop.

Hitching appears to be better in the West of the country than nearer to Copenhagen.


 * Platschi was hitchhiking in Denmark in January 2008 during a storm and found out that hitchhiking through the country was quite fast.

Cities

 * Århus
 * Copenhagen – the capital
 * Odense
 * Rødby – ferry port towards Germany


 * Gedser
 * Hirtshals – ferries towards north

Hamburg to Copenhagen
From Hamburg to Copenhagen you can hitch to a ferry at Puttgarden and get a ride straight to Copenhagen. If you ask people after they paid the ticket you can cross for free (and save 7 euros). Tickets are per vehicle, not per person.

You can watch a video of a lovely Danish landscape. It was made by amylin in February 2008 when going on a ferry to Denmark.



From Denmark going South
From Jutland

First, hitch a ride to Padborg which is in the South Jutland - it is located just before the border with Germany. There you'll find Denmark's largest truck-stop. Most trucks leaving from Denmark stop there. With some luck you'll find someone going to most destinations in Europe. Ask the drivers while they are getting ready, filling-up or walking from the diner to their vehicles.

From Zealand

First, get a ride to Gedser which has ferry lines to Rostock (Germany), or go to Rødbyhavn which has a ferry connection with Puttgarden (also in Germany, close to Kiel and Lübeck). Most cars heading to the ferry go to Rødby, from where a ferry sails every half an hour. Gedser might be a lot harder to reach than Rødby, also because it's like at the end of the world, and very few locals drive to and from there. So try to locate a good gas station on the way and look for the right German plates. There is also a big truck stop with a toll office on Falster, close to Nørre Aslev (see map). You can ask truck drivers there - German truck drivers will say, as usual, that it's forbidden to take people on board, so concentrate on trucks coming from other places.

A ferry ticket for a car includes up to 9 car passengers (incl. the driver) so it should be quite possible to get a free ride over the sea (and maybe even further).

Border crossing
Even if Denmark is part of Schengen, the previous government planned to implement border controls again. But after the last election, that proposal was voted against.

Links

 * www.trafikken.dk - Map for all rest areas in Denmark
 * Facebook group for Danish hitchhikers

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