Dortmund

Dortmund is a city in the German Ruhr Area with a population of around 600 000. As Dortmund is like the Eastern gate to an area of around 5 Million people with a very complicated network of roads and almost without bigger gas stations on the main roads, this is the most convinient hitch-hiking place in the whole region. It is a good idea to come here first if you want to leave another city nearby. As in the whole region, be prepared that the drivers love to have conversation about football, so you will leave a positive impression if you know the result of the last Borussia Dortmund match.

North, East, South towards Hamburg, Osnabrück, Münster, Cologne, Hannover, Berlin
A really good place is the service area Lichtendorf at the A1, in the south of the town. From city center take subway U47 to Aplerbeck, than take the bus #431 or #438 to Lichtendorf Schule, follow the road until the end and turn right into Römerstraße. For going South turn left from Römerweg into a small service road going to the gas station. For going North continue until you can turn left and pass under the bridge and turn left again. The fare is about EUR 2,20.

Another, even better, option is to take the train to Soest (twice an hour from the main train station) and go to the stop Dortmund-Soelde. Walk out the stop and take the right exit of the tunnel. After two minutes you will see the bus stop where the busses are going to "Lichtendorf Schule". Public transport is horrible overpriced in Germany, but at least you don't need to buy seperate tickets for different transportation within the city, so you can use the same ticket for train, metro, trams and busses and change as often as you need.

West towards Essen, Holland, Belgium, Lille
It is very easy you can have a walk to the location from the city center. In the middle of the Wittekindstraße, there is a separation between cars going to Essen and those going to Kassel. go on the way to Essen, there is a street with shadow along a cimetery. Cars are not going so fast. It is perfect!

East towards Soest, Kassel
From the center you can take the metro U47 to Aplerbeck to the stop "Vahleweg". 50 meters from the bus stop you will see a Shell gas station, from where you can easily catch a ride to the A44 motorway. As there is a lot of traffic to towns nearby, it makes sense to ask for the gas station "Am Haarstrang", a fast 30 km ride. From here you can find a lift for long distances. Try to behave discretly as there have been some hitch-hikers who did not make the biggest friendship with the staff there, but this is more an unfortune than the normal rule.

isin: Ruhr_Area

Dortmund