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Dover

408 bytes added, 13:35, 24 February 2017
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* Probably the best spot is one of the two bus stops on the road leading to the ferry port. You'll see them if you walk west from the ferry port. The first one is pretty close, and would work well if the traffic is not too backed up, but if there is a huge line of trucks waiting to get on the ferry then your best bet is to continue to the bus stop just next to the BP station 3 roundabouts (roughly 1.2 miles) west from the ferry port because the cars will be in the other lane and trucks don't have much space/won't be willing to stop when they've been waiting a while and just want to get on the ferry. Note this is the second BP station from the ferry port--the first one was closed in Nov 2015 and there's nowhere good to stop outside of it. [[User:TBF|TBF]] found this spot in November 2015 after the police didn't allow him to hitchhike from the last roundabout (the one described in next bullet point) and had no luck asking truck drivers in the big line of trucks waiting to get on the ferry. After about 5 minutes of asking drivers at the BP station (many were going to the ferry, few had space or were willing to take a hitchhiker in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks and refugee situation), the manager came out, gave TBF a cardboard sign saying "France" and told him that he can't ask for rides there but should try waiting at the bus stop. Somebody stopped after 20 minutes, in the dark, and he got a ride directly to Paris.
* you can try hitching after the last round-about. There is a lay by where people can pull over. Still most people are very busy figuring out where to go on the Lane. 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 are known to enforce this rule and send you away. As of February 2017 it's confirmed that hitchhikers are requested to move prom the premises of the port and go to the bus stop. There is a small park at the entrance in front of this hitchhiking point. If there are any drivers you might try to ask them.
* 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 will have to convince them that they don't pay anything extra for taking you across and possibly that you are not an illegal immigrant. [[User: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 discretely. [[User:Pete the Temp|Pete the Temp]] found some leads by approaching cars but there was much suspicion and many people coming to buy tickets were crossing as foot passengers.
* 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. This is far from ideal, and some police don't like it.
* much better are the normal bus stops on the main seaside road with a sign that says France. [recommended]
* 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 was a petrol station very close to the ferry ports where , but it should be easily possible to find a lifthas been close for several years now
Disputed information: ''"the trucks park in the ferry so close that it's not possible to open the doors. That means that you'll spend more than 1.5 hour closed in a box with a stranger and the driver can only take one person legally - and they check your IDs etc on the entrance so none of them will take the risk of a fine there. I don't know if it is like this on every ferry and all the time, but it's not recommended to go with any trucks on a ferry!"''
'''-EDIT -'''
Edit 2015: '''Dover is unhitchable''' maybe not totally, but definitely from my experience. I had a really bad experience including Refugees standing next to me and therefore demolishing my chances. (I felt so bad for them and they were in an even worse situation than me, but they are really not helpful)
Edit Nov 2015: [[User:TBF|TBF]] hitchhiked successfully from Dover to Paris, but it took a long time to find a good spot (see above) and I was lucky enough to not have anybody standing next to me. So, it's definitely still possible, but not necessarily easy. [[User:Phidias81|Phidias81]] confirms that the situation didn't change much as of February 2017, quite hard to get a ride and constant control of the police.
== If you are super stuck ==
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