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}}__NOTOC__ '''Cologne''', or '''Köln''' in German, is a big city in [[NordrheinNorth Rhine-Westfalen]]Westphalia.

The whole '''[[Ruhr Area]]''' is a well-known pain in the ass for anyone crossing that region. If you observe the highway motorway system, you'll find out that they zig zag and cross each other in the Ruhr, specially right North of Cologne. There is no "belt" highway motorway around the city, just those zig zags.The flow of cars is highly difficult to predict because cars go from one highway motorway to another. There are generally 3-4 possible highways motorways one can take to travel North/South or East/West. It's the most densely populated zone in Germany, so a lot of transport is local or regional, making it even more difficult. Think about it - if you're passing by, avoid getting dropped there! == Hitching In == When you arrive Cologne via the [[A1 (Germany)|A1]], it's difficult to get into the town centre, because the motorway is very far outside. One option is to get off at the exit Köln-Niehl. There is a tram station, close to the motorway, in east direction, 15 minutes walking. At daytime, you can get to the town centre in like 15 minutes. From the same motorway ([[A1 (Germany)|A1]]), you may as well get out at Köln-Lövenich and catch Tram #1 on Aachener Straße direction down town at either Bahnstraße or ''Mohnweg'' stops. You could as well try to catch a ride from the A1 onto the A3. And then get off for example at Köln-Dellbrück. There you walk 5min in direction west, catch the bus 159 to Wiener Platz, where can get a tram. Coming from the South on the A555 or through the A4, you may as well as the driver to leave you at the Am Verteilerkreis roundabout situated just at the complete end of the A555, at the Kreuz Köln-Süd (Junction A555-A4). The driver can really leave you at a petrol station and gain the motorway back with complete ease. From there, you can walk along the Bonner Straße to catch a bus to the heart of Köln. == Hitchhiking out ==

To get out of '''CologneOption 1''' towards [[Bonn]] or [[Koblenz]], the best possibility is to go to the ''Verteilerkreis Süd'', a big [[roundabout]] where all vehicles that are heading for the motorway to the South or West are passing by. There is also a petrol station beside it and a traffic light where one can ask people for a lift.

If you're headed to [[Frankfurt am Main]], take the train Go to the last stop ''Königsforst'Verteilerkreis Sü' (tram U9), walk straight for about 15 min. Then after a right turn you big roundabout where all vehicles that are on a decent on ramp of heading for the [[A3 (Germany)|A3]], most of motorway to the cars will go to [[Frankfurt am Main]] South or West are passing by. There is also a petrol station beside it and a traffic light where one can drop you at least on the ''Rasthof Siegburg'' (about 20 km South)ask people for a lift.

Another possibility If you're headed to Frankfurt am Main, take the train to the last stop Königsforst (tram U9), walk straight for about 15 min. Then after a right turn you are on a decent on ramp of the [[A3 (Germany)|A3]] direction [[Frankfurt]] is to take the train “RB 25” from the main station in the direction “Marienheide” or “Overath” for 3,20 €. Leave at “Stümpen” and turn right and go up to the “Kiefernweg” and turn right. Follow the street that is later called “Dammelsfurther Weg” up to the “Pestalozziweg” for maybe 500 meters and turn right. Now you pass most of the Autobahn and turn right again in the “Plantage”. Follow this way a few hundred meters through the forest and you cars will see a service station on the right side. Maybe you have go to climb a fence. Now Frankfurt am Main or can drop you are at least on the a station without oil station but much traffic and it's easy to get a ride there. It takes approximately 40 minutes to reach it from Cologne Hbf Rasthof Siegburg (main train stationabout 20 km South), which is it worth for long-distance rides.

=== North or East towards [[Berlin]], File:Dariocraigmalaysia.jpg|thumb|250px|left|[[Dortmund]]User:Halt, [[HannoverStop! Reudnitz kommt.|Craig]] and [[Münster& Dario hit the road for Thumbing Asia West to East (Königsforst always a good option!)]]===

Close to the city, you may want to try one of the on ramps in the North East of Cologne, such as Köln Delbrück, exit 23 on the [[A3 (Germany)|A3]](take the U18 to "Holweide Vischeringstr") or Köln-Mülheim. And once you've tried, come back to update this page :).''Option 2'''

It's also possible Take the train RB 25 from the main station in the direction Marienheide or Overath for EUR 3.20. Leave at Stümpen and turn right and go up to hitch from the South East of Kiefernweg and turn right. Follow the city because there street that is later called Dammelsfurther Weg up to the Pestalozziweg for maybe 500 meters and turn right. Now you pass the Autobahn and turn right again in the Plantage. Follow this way a petrol few hundred meters through the forest and you will see a Shell service station on the A59right side. The closest bus stop is "Eil Heumarer", bus 152Maybe you have to climb a fence. You can take Now you are on the a station without oil station but much traffic and it from Steinstr's easy to get a ride there. S-Bahn, which is relatively close It takes approximately 40 minutes to reach it from the Cologne Hbf (main train station).

 '''Option 3''' Traffic lights at the ramp Köln-Dellbrück (Mülheim/Buchheim) or at the ramp onto the 55a (Frankfurterstraße). Ask the driver to bring you at least on the Rasthof Siegburg. To Köln-Dellbrück you can catch the bus 159 in direction Buchheim to'Gronauerstraße for example at Wiener Platz (3 stops). To the ramp at Frankfurterstraße take bus 151, 152 or 153 to Beuthenerstraße  '''Option 4''' Petrol station in Koeln Muelheim. Take the tram 4 to "Muelheim Berlinerstr" (or any of the Busses to the same stop). Turn left, then the first right into "Rixdorfer Strasse". Follow to the end till you come to an Aral petrol station to your left. Not so much traffic on the petrol station, so better to stand next to the road with a sign. It`s a good spot for people who start in the north of Koeln. Most of the traffic will at least pass "Koenigsforst West", and probably the service station "Siegburg West" as well. Make sure to ask though, because people going to Siegburg often get off the junktion before "Siegburg West".Had an average waiting time of 10 to 15 min (2022).  === North or East towards [[Berlin]], [[Dortmund]], [[Hannover]] and [[Münster]] === Hitching in that direction seems to be legendarily difficult unless you take a regional train and walk an hour. Several experienced hitchhikers got trapped countless hours and decided to take a train instead. Nevertheless it's of course possible to hitch out of Cologne, experiences about this vary extremely.  '''Option 1'''  Close to the city, you may want to try one of the on-ramps in the North East of Cologne. On-ramp Köln-Dellbrück (exit 26 on the [[A3 (Germany)|A3]]) seems to be good for hitchhiking in direction Remscheid or further along the A1. Also traffic North the A3 passes here. There's no hard shoulder but some green space to stop cars ~60m behind the Autobahn sign. Another possibility is to ask the drivers directly at the traffic light with an extra lane for the motorway. You can get there by taking the metro U18 to Holweide-Vischeringstrasse, cross the railways towards the main road and to the left you'll find the on-ramp. Or Follow the description for Köln-Dellbrück (see south towards). You just have to walk a bit more. Make sure to have a Remscheid or RS sign in case of going towards A1 because there is only one tiny resting area ahead of the A3/A1 crossing  '''Option 2'''  It's also possible to hitch from the South East of the city because there is a petrol station on the A59. The closest bus stop is Eil Heumarer, bus #152. You can take it from Steinstr. S-Bahn, which is relatively close from the main station.  '''Option 3'''  In case you try to use a ramp from Cologne, a good take-off sign is "Remscheid", because the first service area on the [[A1 (Germany)|A1]] is "Rasthof Remscheid", just before the exit for Remscheid. There are lots of commuters. You can also get there by train from Cologne Dom/Hbf for 6,50 Euros via Remscheid Hbf and walk 5 km to the area (map [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Remscheid+Hbf&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&geocode=FTLnDAMdiNttAClRpZsmWyq5RzGlIfHuvHkWrQ%3BFayeDAMdfEduAA&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=15&dirflg=w&sll=51.157143,7.226601&sspn=0.008559,0.023174&ie=UTF8&ll=51.169872,7.215099&spn=0.034228,0.092697&t=h&z=13 here]). If you're lucky, catch the bus 672 or 673 (valid with your zone 4 ticket) to Talsperre/Mebusmühle or Talsperre/Raststätte (closer but only 673) and avoid the walk. These buses do not pass very often, though.  '''Option 4'''  There is also the possibility to take the bus nr 260 from the central station towards Remscheid. Get off at the bus stop Kaltenherberg Ort, From there you just have to walk for about 2 minutes, the motorway is already visible. All drivers that pass can at least take you to the petrol station in Remscheid which is just about a few kilometres from there. Like that you avoid the ring and are straight on the A1.  '''Option 5'''  Crossing of the A57 and the Parkgurtel ring road. Get there using the S-Bahn get off at station Nussbaumstrasse and walk direction east until you get to the traffic lights. All the people turning left are going on A57 and there's a good chance they're heading on the A1 later. Like mentioned above, ask for Remscheid service station. The spot is protected from the rain by the train bridge! The cars only stop at the red lights, so you will have to do some jumping around.  '''Option 6'''  On the motorway ring before Cologne, to the west of the city, there is the motorway service area Autobahnparkplatz Frechen. You can reach it by catching a train to Frechen-Königsdorf (around 20 minutes). Turn right on the stairs at the station, walk through the car park, turn left on Augustinus Straße, walk straight for 2 minutes and then turn right on to Marienhöfer Weg. Keep walking up this path into the forest for 5 minutes. Eventually you will come to a crossroad, but take the tunnel under the Autobahn. After, take the first exit on the left. You will eventually reach the Frechen Tankstelle in the direction of Cologne.Many cars come from Aachen or Belgium. Regarding the location of this gas station, right before major different routes, you can basically get rides to everywhere in Germany.''(November 2021: Thomi asked to a Belgian car to pick him up, and got a ride to the next main gas station close to Dortmund)'' === East towards [[Siegen]] or [[Gießen]] ([[A4 (Germany)|A4]]) === Raststätte Aggertal Nord rest stop. Take Regionalbahn train 25 direction Marienheide Bf. Get off at Overath Bf and walk 4 km / or take bus 310 direction Gummersbach get off (2nd halt) at Klef/Hotel Lüdenbach and walk 20 minutes to the petrol staion. Check [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Klef&daddr=Unbekannte+Stra%C3%9Fe&hl=de&geocode=FZ5pCQMdtIFvAA%3BFZ52CQMdD6xvAA&mra=ls&dirflg=w&sll=50.948613,7.31123&sspn=0.01287,0.027595&ie=UTF8&ll=50.950154,7.312946&spn=0.012869,0.027595&z=15 map] before

Take the tram no. 5 or 13 to ''Nußbaumer Str.''. There is an onrampon-ramp. A lot of traffic goes in your direction, but it is very dangerous for drivers to stop there.[User:Perilisk] tried this spot in 2008 but was unsuccessful  For direction Krefeld/Nijmegen riding the S-bahn to Worringen and uncomfortable stopping cars try it from there, average waiting time around 30-60 minutes.

=== West towards [[Aachen]], [[NetherlandsMaastricht]], [[Eindhoven]] and [[Belgium]] ===

On the motorway ring around Cologne, to the west of the city, there's the motorway service area ''Köln-FrechenOption 1'', Germany's busiest service station. You can reach it by catching a train to Königsdorf S-Bahn, walk down Augustinus Straße and turn right on Marienhöfer Weg which leads you directly to the service area. Alternatively, you can take Tram U1 to the terminus ''(Schulstraße)'' in Weiden and walk ~4 km along Aachener Straße until Augustinus Straße in Königsdorf.

There you On the motorway ring around Cologne, to the west of the city, there's the motorway service area Autobahnparkplatz Frechen Ri. AK Kerpen. You can get lifts reach it by catching a train to Frechen-Königsdorf (around 20 minutes). Turn right on the stairs at the station, walk through the [[Netherlands]]car park, turn left on Augustinus Straße, [[Belgium]] walk straight for 2 minutes and [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]] from one of around 200 Trucks that are there in average by going in direction of [[Aachen]] or [[Maastricht]]then turn right on to Marienhöfer Weg. Keep walking up this path into the forest for 5 minutes. Eventually you will come to a crossroad with the service station on the left.

Another way to There you can get out of Cologne in that direction is lifts to go near the [[A4 (Germany)|A4]]Netherlands, Exit 11a Klettenberg Belgium and 11b Köln-EifeltorUnited Kingdom from one of around 200. When at Trucks are going in the latest, walking slightly North there is an extra lane that looks like an ideal place for people to stop, and slightly South direction of it is a big truck stop and petrol station where you can try and ask people. To reach these exits from the centreAachen or Maastricht, take the tram U18 to "Efferen" (for 11a) or to "Eifelwall" and then bus 138 to "Güterverkehrszentrum". This option is especially interesting to know if you get trapped in Cologne while trying to cross the Ruhr areaat least.

From '''Option 2''' Go near the same motorway ([[A1 A4 (Germany)|A1A4]]), you may as well get out at '''Exit 11a Klettenberg and 11b Köln-Lövenich''' Eifeltor. When at the latest, walking slightly North there is an extra lane that looks like an ideal place for people to stop, and slightly South of it is a big truck stop and petrol station where you can try and catch Tram #1 on Aachener Straße direction downtown at either ''Bahnstraße'' ask people. To reach these exits from the centre, take the tram U18 to Efferen (for 11a) or ''Mohnweg'' stopsto Eifelwall and then bus 138 to Güterverkehrszentrum. This option is especially interesting to know if you get trapped in Cologne while trying to cross the Ruhr area. == Nomadwiki & Trashwiki == {{nomadwiki}}