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[[File:Malteliftarisverige.jpg|thumb|left|250px| Öresund hitchhiker Malte and a helpful driver enjoying the moment during a ride in the region of Dalarna.]]
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'''Sweden''' is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. Many say that hitching in Sweden sucks. But it can work very well! Moreover almost everyone speaks English which will increase your chances of learning from the meetings along the way. As anywhere in Western [[Europe]], the motorways are the holy temples of car driving religion and someone standing on them is committing blasphemy. ( I disagree, see [http://hitchwiki.org/en/Talk:Sweden Talk Sweden] )But you can hitch on the motorway ramps as well as on local roads. Better bring a good map, though, so that you won't end up in an unexpected place. If you travel along the biggest motorway, E4, you will make faster time, but not see that much of Sweden's beautiful landscapes. If your primary aim is to explore the country, you should stay away from E4.
Especially in northern Sweden there are only a few main roads, which means that you might have a shorter time waiting and longer lifts. Be careful to stand somewhere where there is some sign of civilization. As especially in the north the roads are no real motorways and accessible for pedestrians, you can stop all the traffic, especially if you stand on something like a bus stop. When on large motorways you have to take care a little on which petrol station you end up on, as there are too many of them, with sometimes only little traffic on each of them, and as most of the petrol stations are one or two kilometers away from the motorway. You can find a map of some of the bigger service stations (Rasta) online: http://www.rasta.nu/english.htm
Furthermore, some of the service stations are only built on one side of the lane, and drivers tend to remain on "their" side. If you do have the choice, you should therefore try and avoid crossing over to the other side, as only around 1/4 of the drivers there will continue in your direction.
Trafikverket distributes a map of service stations (rastplatser) in Sweden. The map shows where the service stations are and what services are offered (usually toilets but sometimes food, petrol or playgrounds as well. The more services offered, the busier the service station is). You can download it [http://www.trafikverket.se/rastplatser here] or get a paper copy from tourist information centres.
Please note that due to the current (2015/16) discussions and changes in policies concerning asylum seekers and refugees you have to expect ID checks while entering the country. Furthermore you could experiencing problems in any cross-border hitching, especially while travelling north (e.g. from Denmark to Sweden).
[[User:Perilisk|Anick-Marie]] had no chance at all hitching rides on Öland in May 2005. [[User:EggDestroyer|Aurélien]] hadn't either from Copehnagen to Stockholm in August 2011. On the other hand, [[User:Somewhatofftheway|Ben]] had good experiences in 2010, going most of the way across the country up to Finland. In the summer of 2011 Harry Tattersall Smith and Viljami Laurmaa had an incredible time hitchhiking through the north of Sweden. Any memories of the delays have all but been eclipsed by the fantastic charcaters and experiences we had along the way. Their adventures have been documented [http://glasgowguardian.co.uk/culture/lifestyle/hitchhiking-through-scandanavia/ here] In October 2013 six students at Uppsala Unive
rsity had a hitch-hiking race to Oslo from Uppsala. Splitting into three teams of two, two of the teams had a really straight forward journey arriving into Oslo after seven hours and three lifts along the E18. The final team took two days, staying overnight half-way thanks to the kindness of a local, but nonetheless they made it!
== Counties ==
== Cities ==
* [[Åmål]]
* [[Dals-Ed]]
*[[Gävle]]
* [[Malmö]]
* [[Mellerud]]
* [[Mora]]
* [[Norrköping]]
* [[Nyköping]]
* [[Trollhättan]]
* [[Umeå]]
== Landscapes Landscape ==
Sweden is a rather large country, with very desolate areas in the northern part. Instead of knowing every little city, especially when hitch hiking in northern Sweden, it is more meaningful to have a sense of the different regions or landscapes:
* [[Dalarna]]* [[Härjedalen]]* [[Lappland]] == Crossing the border ==Sweden is in the [[Schengen Agreement|Schengen treaty]]. This treaty is rather well respected at the Finnish and Norwegian borders but has stricter regulations at the terminals where ferries from [[Denmark]] port, or at the bridge uniting [[Copenhagen]] with [[Malmö]]. Stricter control and special attention is usually applied to those who look like "being of another race". If you are unlucky, you might be made to strip during their search. Keep in mind, though, that the personality check is not applied to everyone but only to some at random order so you have more chances to quickly cross the border than get stuck explaining to the officials that you are neither a paperless immigrant nor a smuggler.
== Language & Communication ==
[[File:2002 Lodging for the night.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Ready to sleep – a pitched tent outside the road in northern Sweden.]]
== Camping Useful info =={{nomadwiki}}
It is quite usual to send a '''thanksaying-message''' the day after a party or after a meeting − saying something like "Thanks for yesterday". When one '''enters a flat''' or an apartment (or go further into a truck cab than the passenger seat), it is a must to take off ones shoes!
* [http://www.skjutsgruppen.nu Skjutsgruppen.nu] - [[rideshare]] network within the social networks. Also on Twitter: twitter.com/skjutsgruppen
* [http://www.samakning.se Samåkning.se] - [[rideshare]] network (for Sweden and [[Northern Europe]] in general)
* [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5889849780facebookgroup] - facebookgroup for for Swedish hitchhikers* [http://www.okq8.se/Pa-stationen/Bensinstationer map with the gas petrol stations of Q8/OK]* [https://www.trafikverket.se/trafikinformation/vag/ trafikverket.se] - online map with up to date information on accidents, closed roads and road works
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