Frankfurt an der Oder

Frankfurt/Oder is a town in the very east of Germany in the federal state Brandenburg on the Polish border. If you do end up here, then check out the graffiti, and try and make some friends to take you to the squat, which is almost a museum of graffiti.

West towards Berlin
If you want to go to Berlin, or generally direction west, take tram #1 or #5 in the direction Neuberesinnschen ( 1,40 Euro, April 2013) and get off at the last stop. Then walk some 100 metre along the street Mühlenweg. You will see a Shell petrol station on the other side of the street. You can hitchhike at the exit of the station. It usually takes 10-20 minutes until somebody offers a ride. You can also hitchhike where the turn-off to the gas station begins, close to the traffic light. This has the advantage that drivers will see you from further away and often stop or slow down due to red light. A lot of cars will turn there, because it is a short cut for many people (via the gas station), so don't be irritated.

Even if you are not going to Berlin, it might help to have a sign for Berlin when hitchhiking at the exit of the petrol station to get a lift out of the city.

n0id hitchhiked there several times and generally finds it easier to find a lift by asking then by thumbing. One time he was sent away by the staff claiming that he was disturbing customers. Ever since, he's been hitchhiking before the gas station at the traffic light. Mostly, because he very same staff member seems to work there quite regularly. His waiting times vary between 5 minutes and up to one hour. He usually does not carry a sign for Berlin though, which would probably increase his chances.

East towards Poznań, Warsaw
Hitchhiking into Poland is best done from point where the E30 crosses the border. This border station is actually on the Polish side, because the actual border is in the middle of the river Oder. To get there on foot you have two options: one will take you for sure an hour, maybe 90 minutes, if you know the way and the other only 15 minutes but you have to walk along the motorway which is forbidden in Germany.

For the first option take tram #1 in the direction Lebuser Vorstadt and get out at the station Magistrale (it's very close to the McDonalds). Now you have to walk for a very long time. First of all you have to cross into Poland via the city bridge and then head right on the street 1 Maja. After some 30 minutes you'll pass the bazaar and 300 metres later take the road which splits from 1 Maja to the right. This street's name is Powstancow Wielkopolskich. Keep on walking on this street until another fork in the road. Take this fork and keep on walking. After about 50 minutes you'll reach the border station.

Along that route you will pass a bunch of petrol stations, beginning at the bazaar, where you might get in touch with a truck driver (look out for the TIR label) or a passenger car heading towards Poznan (licence number PXX) or Warsaw (WXX). Probably the best station is Ecotank where you find a lot of truck drivers resting.

For the faster option take bus #984 from the central station 'Bahnhof' to the stop 'Leinengasse'. You will notice that you pass the highway just before the bus stop already. Walk back, make your way to the highway and start walking. It is about 2km to the border station. Be aware that the bus runs not very often, so check the schedule before hand.

East & West - Alternative
A very good way to hitch out of the city is going to the petrol station "Biegener Hellen" on the motorway A12 (Berlin - Poland). To get there take a train from Frankfurt to Pillgram. The train goes once per hour, takes less than 10 minutes and costs eur 2.60 (March 2013). From the train station in Pillgram follow the street "Zum Bahnhof" until the end, turn left and the next big street right. Walk for some minutes and you will get out of the village. There will be a small path for workers of the petrol station. This path will take you to the petrol station. Traffic is not huge because most people prefer to fill gas in Poland where it's cheaper, but still it is no bad spot. In total you have to walk for two kilometres, but it is by far the best option to get out of the Frankfurt and Słubice.

Non-hitchhiking alternatives
As mentioned above Frankfurt (Oder) und Słubice are not the best places to start hitchhiking. In case you're heading towards Poznan and Warsaw a cheap alternative might be the train that departs from Frankfurt main station. It costs about 6 EUR for students to Warsaw who get a 50% discount. At the moment the time tables looks as follows:


 * Frankfurt (Oder) to Poznan, departure 3:02pm
 * Poznan to Warsaw, departure 6:28pm

Do not forget to buy the ticket to Warsaw already in the first train to Poznan rather than two separate tickets.


 * User:dorfdisco: Sorry, but this informations are unreliable. In March 2013 the train from Frankfurt only to Poznan costs already 19 Euro and the student discount inside Poland is only for students registered on a Polish university (German train company will not be interested in that anyway).

isin: Germany

Frankfurt an der Oder