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'''Kaunas''' is a the second largest city in [[Lithuania]].

== Hitching in and around ==when When coming from Poland (or actually everywhere), ask your driver to let you out at the "Mega" supermarket next to the motorway in the north of town. There seems are buses from the bus stop: 1) 38 which goes to be a free the bus /railway station and 2) 21 which goes to the city center :old town (to Kaunas castle (Kauno pilis)). If you are coming from the north and your driver is going into Kaunas or onto Vilnius, and you want to continue onto Marijampole or Poland, asked to be dropped off at the bus-stop (Devintas fortas)on the A1 just before the A1/A5 intersection. From here, you can walk 1.3kms along the A1 onto the A5 until the Statoil petrol station where you can continue hitching.

http://www.marsrutai.lt/ - the best tool to go from one place (A) to another (B). You can enter an address or a bus stop, also you can choose time when you want to leave or arrive. Above this is 'Tvarkaraščiai' - schedules of trolleybuses, buses and minibuses, and disstrict's buses and minibuses.  Alternatively, http://www.stops.lt/kaunas is also a great journey planner, and includes timetables for all public transport. Also has translation in 11 languages. http://www.maps.lt/ - this is useful when you look for a bus stop. Enter an adress and you can see all bus stops around. Also, this is very useful to look where exactly is the right house with it's number.  === East towards [[Vilnius ]] {{European Route Number|85}} ===When going to [[File:Kns_to_vln.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Along the road towards [[Vilnius]] you ]]When going to Vilnius the best way is to take buses 10, 16 or 28 and get out at the bus stop 'Parduotuvė'. Cross the street, there's a bus path to the motorway. There where is a bus stop (look below) on . Another way is to take bus 37 or trolleybuses 7, 10, 15 or 16, get out at the motorway where itbus stop 'Kauno saulėtekis's possible to get rides.Then cross the park, but it might also be a good idea to not deal with the hitchhiking competition street and you'll reach Partizanų street and place yourself at see the entrance of the motorwaysame bus stop called 'Parduotuvė'.            

Quite far away from === South towards [[VilniusMarijampolė]] there is a huge ''hypermarket'' ('''Maxima Baze''') next to the motorway with a free bus to the center.& [[Poland]] {{E|67}} ===

=== South towards The best way to get to [[Poland]] {{E|67}} ===is to get to the petrol station on the A5 (E67) after Garliava (8km south of Kaunas). There are two ways to get to this hitching spot with public transport:

* The best way to get to [[Poland]] is to take mini 1. Mini-bus 105 goes from the train station and to get off right after Garliava when you will see a this petrol station. The hitchhiking conditions are fantastic: there is plenty of space for cars to stop in front of that petrol station and cars are not driving that fast. You might want to have a PL sign in hand. You can ask your driver so you don't need to let you off right at border. If you walk back towards Lithuania from the border and make a left, you will get to a very large parking where loads of trucks are parked there. You may be able to get a ride to close to any country in Western Europe.[[File:Kns_to_vln.JPG|thumb|left|250px|Along the road towards [[Vilnius]]]]

* Alternatively get a 2. Take bus from the center to IX Fortas 6 (I think its bus 23 on weekdays) or 35 buses6A (on weekends), this is and get out at the main road where stop 'Garliavos vidurinė mokykla'. Start walking in the motorway to Vilnius joins up with direction the E67 bus came from (Via Baltica north and southwest) - with a PL sign for 1.5km until you should easily get a lift from a truck to the [[Budzisko-Kalvarija border checkpoint]] or further. Be aware that reach the border is now virtually non-existent, except for an occasional random check, so try to get a ride to at least [[Suwałki|Suwalki]] or [[Augustów|Augustow]]petrol station.

=== West towards [[KlaipėdaFile:kaunas-hitchingpointsouth.jpg|400px|thumb|left|Klaipeda]], North towards [[Latvia]] ===* Heading Hitching point for [[Latvia]] you want to get on the [[Klaipėda|KlaipedaMarijampolė]] road (the A1) and then turn onto the via Baltica (the A8). You can accept rides going to the split (20km) and then hitch past the split. From the split it should not take you more than 10 min to get a ride. Whatever you do, try not to get dropped off on the [[PanevėžysPoland]] ring. [[Garthelgard]] got stuck there for more than 4 hours.

There You can either hitch from the entrance or exit roads of the petrol station (there are advantages and disadvantages to both).Hitching from the entrance road: place for vehicles to stop by the bus-stop in front of the station, or on the entrance road itself (or turning into the station). Hitching on the exit road (as shown in the photo): there is room for a truck to stop, but usually by the time they see you, they are going quite fast.This is not a great busy petrol station but you can also catch the slow moving station traffic, most of which is only going to Marijampole - be brave and turn these lifts down and hold out for one going directly to Poland if that is your destination. If you've ever tried to hitch from Marijampole or its bypass, you will understand perfectly. You might want to have a few hundred meters north PL sign handy. You can ask your driver to let you off right at the border. If you walk back towards Lithuania from the northern junction of the [[Panevėžys]] ring border and make a lot left, you will get to a very large parking area where loads of space on the side of the roadtrucks are parked up. You may be able to get a ride to nearly any country in Western Europe.

 Alternatively, you can get to the Statoil petrol station on the A5 (E67) north of Kaunas, where the highway from Vilnius joins up with the E67 (Baltic Way). Take minibus 57 from the centre and get off at the terminus: '9-ojo Forto gatve'. From here, walk northwest in the direction of the A5 (E67) highway for 350m. Cross under the highway and then immediately turn left and climb up the grass embankment to the highway itself. There you will see the Statoil petrol station 100m ahead. You can hitch here or walk 1km or so further along the highway to find good spots to hitch. With a PL or Warsaw sign, you should easily get a lift from a truck to the [[Budzisko-Kalvarija border checkpoint]] or further. Be aware that the border is now virtually non-existent, except for an occasional random check, so try to get a ride to at least [[Suwałki|Suwalki]] or [[Augustów|Augustow]]. === West towards [[Klaipėda|Klaipeda]], north towards [[Latvia]] === The best option to reach [[Klaipėda|Klaipeda]] is to take buses 38 or 21 and get out at the last bus stop next to the MEGA mall in the north part of the city. When you get out of the bus, go straight along the highway A1 (in the direction Klaipeda/Riga). After you pass the mall parking and cross some side roads, climb up the hill a bit and you will find a bus stop right on the highway. It's relatively easy to get a ride from there. (Alternatively, to get to the same place as above, you can take bus 23 or 35 and get out at the stop '9-ojo forto muziejus'. Walk a little bit back to the motorway and the bus-stop). Also, when you arrive at MEGA, you can go directly on motorway and start hitchhiking, going towards Klaipėda, and you'll pass under the bridge, where you can hide from rain or intensive sun. * Heading for [[Latvia]] you want to get on the [[Klaipėda|Klaipeda]] road (the A1) and then turn onto the Via Baltica (the A8). You can accept rides going to where the roads split (20 km) and then hitch past that point. From there it should not take you more than 10 minutes to get a ride. Whatever you do, try not to get dropped off on the [[Panevėžys]] ring. [[Garthelgard]] got stuck there for more than 4 hours. (There is a great petrol station a few hundred meters north from the northern junction of the [[Panevėžys]] ring and a lot of space on the side of the road). === North-east towards [[Jonava]], [[Ukmergė|Ukmerge]], [[Utena]], [[Zarasai]], [[trash:KaunasDaugavpils]]===Take the bus 29 and get out at the bus stop 'Biruliškės'. It's a great spot to hitchhike! Also, sometimes there's lots of cars on the road next to nursey garden so it's hard to catch a car. Then is better option to get out at the further stop 'Narėpai' and walk a little towards petrolum station. ==Resources==__NOTOC__{{nomadwiki}}