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Just using your thumb or a hand gesture will work fine for hitchhiking, but in most cases, the use of a sign will increase your odds. Especially when you're hitchhiking on a road that goes to plenty of destinations. The driver will be more likely to stop if he knows that you're going the same way he does, and it makes you look like a "proper" hitchhiker.
[[File:Carl_Nai_Maroc.jpg|thumb|327px|In the [[UK]], road names work well.]]
You can write your destinationon destination on the sign, but if you're going from Barcelona to Amsterdam, consider writing Paris, or just Perpignan. Few people will be going to Amsterdam or even Paris, directly. There's a dilemma, though, because if the destination you write is too close, you won't make good time, and if it's too far, nobody will be heading all the way there and so won't feel confident in stopping for you. A good solution to this is to simply use your direction of travel, e.g. "East" or maybe "France". You can also add the road name.
It often helps if you write the sign in the same language as the drivers you're trying to attract. If you can show some affinity to the drivers' country, it usually increases your chances of a lift. If you want to make a sign in a language that you don't know, try asking drivers or [[petrol station hitchhiking|petrol station]] staff for help. In countries where hitchhiking is a very common thing to do by locals, e.g. Romania, it could be advisable to make it clear that you're in fact not a local; be it your sign or well-displayed huge backpacks.
