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Dover

37 bytes added, 03:09, 8 October 2011
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Hitchhikers can cross the channel for free because drivers only pay for their vehicle and a certain number of passengers, up to seven with a car and two with a lorry, the same holds true for the [[Channel Tunnel]].
'''To get a lift to France, you may prefer to stop at [[Maidstone Services]] on the M20, where you have the possibility to talk to truckdrivers that might be crossing.''' Many more trucks stop at [[Maidstone Services|Ashford Truckstop]] on the M20, but there is security here and if they see you asking for lifts they will tell you to leave.
==== In Dover ====
If you have reached Dover without a ride across the Channel, you have a few options,
*you can try to get a ride on the road leading to the port. Difficult as there is no [[shoulder|hard shoulder]] and very few breaks in the flow of traffic allowing anyone to stop.*you can try hitching after the last round-about. Unfortunately it's illegal to hitch on port property (i.e. after the ''Port of Dover Authority'' sign) and although you might get away with it sometimes, the police is known to enforce this rule and send you away.*you can try your luck inside the Travel Centre or on the car park in front of it. The problem is that both are nowadays very quiet as most people book on-line. If you speak to people here, you might have to convince them that they don't pay anything extra for taking you across and possibly that you are not an illegal immigrant. [[userUser:Grégoire|Grégoire]] was told by a person working at a ticket office that you can also directly ask to the people making the queue if they have room in their car before they buy the ticket, so that they can verify it is legal. He found a car in ten minutes, but thinks it should be done discretly.*you are allowed to stand at the rail of the last roundabout leading into the port, i.e. before the port property. You'll be standing at the height of a truck driver who can see you clearly and can pull aside just in front of the Port Police building after the roundabout.*you might try standing at one of the normal bus stops on the main seaside road with a sign that says France.*if you're really stuck you can also try at the Western Docks, there is a truck park where drivers carrying certain types of goods or from outside the EU have to stop to complete some paperwork.*There is a petrol station very close to the ferry ports where it should be easily possible to find a lift.*If you are feeling rich or you are desperate, a one-way foot ticket to Calais will cost about £40 (September 2010, as said at the ticket office) with P&O, the only company that operates with foot passengers. A two way ticket (return) for the same day costs 13£. But be careful, when you go to buy the ticket go without backpacks because they won't sell you the ticket, because they'll say you won't come back. Act like you are going for the ride with the ferry (i with 2 friends did this : we asked if there are any things to do on the ferry like videogames, or casino, a place where to eat or drink something etc.) Also when you go on the bus, if the person who sold you the ticket is there, try to give your backpacks to someone else until you are on the bus, from there you won't have any problems no more.
Good luck!
=== North and North East towards [[Folkestone]] and [[London]] along the M20 ===
One option is to walk out of the terminal building, through the carpark, and follow the road signs pointing cars towards the M20. Unfortunately there isn't really a safe place to pull over until the first bus stop, about 500m away. By this stage traffic is often going quite quickly, and some of it is now local traffic, but it is mostly port traffic, and you should be able to convince someone to stop. A sign would be useful (such as 'M20').
*I waited over an hour here, and walked further to find a better spot, but only found the next bus stop, another 500m or so further down the road. Conditions were no better, but I got a ride in about 5 minutes -Nomad Kat
=== West towards [[Brighton]] ===
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