Duisburg

From Hitchwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Duisburg
<map lat='51.431752' lng='6.769638' zoom='11' view='3' />
Information
Country:
Flag of Germany
Germany
State:
Coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia.png
North Rhine-Westphalia
Population: 496,767 (30 Jun 2007)
Licence plate: DU
Major roads: A3, A40, A42, A57, A59, A524
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots

Duisburg is a city in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

It is one of the biggest cities in Germany, located directly in the Ruhr Area. Hitchhiking out will be quite difficult because of the colossal network of motorways in the Ruhr Area. Nevertheless, don't panic, we'll give it a try!

As you can see on your map Dusseldorf is just south of this city so you can easily follow instruction for Dusseldorf. You "have to" pay ticket for the tram because in a tram (every tram) they have two officers who are standing there and with that ticket (2,20 Euros) yiz can travel one part of journey towards Dusseldorf (or whole journey) and if control came try to play dummy tourist ( I didn't try because in Berlin is very tricky when you are without ticket and both of them are owned by DB). On the other hand if you are without money wait rush hour around 5-6 o'clock and get into tram, train. The city is very long, so walking with bag is not very good idea.

Hitchhiking out

North towards Münster, East towards Hannover

Currently the best option seems to be this:

  • Take a train somehow towards Oberhausen-Sterkrade. From there take the bus #979 to the Heinrich-Heine-Straße in Bottrop. From there you'll see the motorway, just walk towards it. It's a good spot to hitch away fast towards Münster or Hannover.


West towards Venlo, Rotterdam and Amsterdam

There are two options:

1. Relatively central, between the Ruhrport harbour and the city center, there is a big roundabout in Duisburg Kaßlerfeld, which leads right onto the highway. Traffic is high, especially during rushhour and cars go slow through the roundabout with possibilities to stop. Use a sign with Venlo or A40.

2. More towards the West of the city, there is a good onramp in Duisburg-Esseberg . To get there, take the bus 928 towards WInkelhausen Bruchstraße and drop off at Duisburg Esseberg Brücke. The bus quickly goes onto the highway and to cross the Rhine and leaves it exactly at the on/offramp you want to get on. After getting off the bus, walk back under the bridge to the onramp and position yourself just before the blue highway sign.

On a general note: Hitchhiking is difficult, as many people do not go very far. Therefore, anything that gets you onto the highway and to a service/rest stop is usually a good shot.

South towards Cologne, Frankfurt and Nuremberg

The best way to get out of Duisburg and onto the A3 which leads you to the south, right down to Bavaria and even to Austria, is to take the train at the main station towards Duisburg-Entenfang and drop out at Duisburg-Wedau

  • From there it is a 5 minutes walk to the motorway access, just get out of the train station and walk down to the left, then keep to the right at the crossing.
  • It is adviceable to prepare a sign saying in which direction you want to go although there is actually just one possibilty for you (southwards). People are willing to take you onto the motorway, to the next service station or even further. Approx. waiting time: 15-30 minutes.
  • Passing Cologne could possibly get quite difficult but once you've done it, you are able to cross Germany in just 1 day and also easily switch motorways at some points on the road.

Nomadwiki & Trashwiki

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)