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If you're coming from the ferries and you don't manage to get a ride to [[Paris]], then get ANY ride from the boat and get off at the first service station to change there. It's very difficult to get a ride from Calais as most people at intersections/on-ramps are not leaving the town. I spent maybe 6 or 7 hours trying to get a ride with no luck (July 2017). I got the train to Étaples and had much better luck the following day.
The first service station after Calais is 60km (!) away. Some cars stop there (not too many) If you're coming from the ferries and it seems more people are going you don't manage to get a ride to the direction of [[Reims]] than towards [[Paris]]. There is another then get ANY ride from the boat and get off at the first service station some 20km further down the same highway (20km before [[Arras]]), but it is much smaller and much more quiet. (Lots of trucks to change there, but the truckers are all sleeping). Be advised that employees at such small places will most likely speak no English.
If your driver is extremely kind, or if you find someone living in Arras who might be willing to make the extra effort, there is another service station at ''Wancourt'', some 10km away from Arras on the A1 highway in the direction of Paris. (There is a bridge so that cars can change direction if your driver is not actually going towards Paris, although your driver will have to drop you off some 300m before the station in order to be able to turn around, otherwise there's no turning point closer to the station.)
Mostly trucks Option 1 A1 highway Train to Audruicq walk 5 km to La Montoire there is SMALL Aire de Zutkerque rest stop here, almost all of them Option 2 A16 highway Hitchike to sleep, but Escalles town and walk 7 km to Hauteville there should be a few cars and it is highly likely that any cars stopping here are Total fuel station on their way to Paris. There A16 highway (walking there from Calais is a place to get some food and a toilet, but other than that it's not a massive service station. 15 km)
[[User:Alexanderanderson|Alexanderanderson]] says: It is now (2016) very difficult to get picked up at this roundabout, due to the refugee situation. I waited an unbelievable 16 hours, and heard somebody else, more recently, got moved on by the police. It's also hard to get any truckers to pick you up in any of the lorry parks around. Would advise to get to a petrol station, or better yet, to not stop in Calais at all and just get through in any direction before finding another ride. If you're coming off the ferry, get your ride out the other side when you're on it or waiting to board.
Edit Extra informations
Note: Dunkerque port is not in Dunkerque but a few miles out. Also there are only a couple of ferries that leave per day from there which makes hitching difficult.
== Hitchhiking out Out ==
<map lat='50.95' lng='1.848' zoom='11' view='3' float='right'/>
Lifts:
You can easily change cars in the harbour terminal, after ticket and passport control and before boarding the ferry (you will usually have 40 minutes). Find a lift before coming to Calais, and you might well have some time before the ferry leaves, especially so if you've come with a lorry. Use this time well, walk around the huge parking areas (which is perfectly fine) and talk to as many people waiting for their ferries as you can. You'll often be able to get a better lift, especially one going past London if you're going north. Changing rides after the first ticket check but before getting on the ferry comes with slight risk ask you'd be getting into a car that doesn't have you listed on their ticket. However, [[User:Zenit|Zenit]] followed said strategy successfully in May 2011 - P&O don't check the tickets again as you enter the ferry (only as you enter the port), Seafrance ''might''. It might be a bad idea to let the vehicle that brought you into the port in the first place cross without you, in case somebody checks the number of passengers on the ticket while boarding the ferry. You can also switch cars while on the ferry and avoid this problem, you just won't have quite as much time to do so.
Tip: the crossing takes about 1.5 hours. Walk around the ferry, go up onto the deck. Chat to people and find out where they are going. This is the best time to find a new lift.
You can also get across via the [[Channel Tunnel]]. Cars and lorries get loaded onto a train which takes them across. The price is the same for each vehicle as well, no matter how many persons there are in the car. However, it is very difficult to get a ride at the tunnel entrance itself, because the road has about 15 lanes coming directly from the motorway, the cars are going quite fast and the drivers will concentrate on finding their correct lane, so most of them won't see you. The staff is quite unfriendly and you will be sent away (remember though that this also applies if you try to hitch too far inside the ferry port). Most people are being told that hitching by the tunnel entrance is illegal (which is probably doubtful). Also, as of 2011 there have been reports of the Eurotunnel company refusing people who are identified as hitchhikers by the drivers. Davide and Oti September 2016 were identified as hitchhikers and had no problems, though, so this is not always the case. '''Just in case, ask your driver not to mention that you're hitchhiking.'''
All in all, the ferry is definitely the much better option, but however you plan on handling things, it's best to find somebody to take you across (or at least into the ferry terminal) before you get to Calais.
=== South towards Paris ===
=== South, East towards everywhere ===
To get out of the ferry terminal, the best trick is to follow the signs for the motorway to Lille and eventually you'll get to a big roundabout with the road leading uphill with a bay where vehicles can stop next to the "no pedestrians" signs that all the other hitchers have written all about :) stand by the signs and you'll get a brave trucker to stop for you. Almost all car traffic heads south Paris way, and it's a nightmare getting back onto the motorway if you come off there, so try to flag down someone with a sign saying D or PL. Standing at the roundabout itself is quite tragic as you will be watching migrants trying to get into England constantly running up and down trying to sneak into a truck.
If you're going far and/or don't care about speed so much, there's a huge ''lorry park'' on the motorway a few kilometres from Calais from where you can easily get direct lifts to many places all over Europe ([[Belgium]], [[Netherlands]], [[England]], [[Germany]], [[Poland]], [[Spain]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Austria]] and [[Turkey]] should easily be possible). Be aware that a truck is legally only allowed to have one driver and one passenger (except if there's more seats), so it's a lot harder to find a ride for two people hitching together. If you are just hitching into [[Belgium]] you're probably better off finding a ride while on the ferry, to a petrol station in [[Belgium]].
Turkish lorry drivers are often very kind and help you searching for a lift. You often ask one of them and he talks to all his fellow countrymen – you often ask all of them by asking one and end up having dinner with them :-). Their German is often better than their English but they really try to do their best to communicate.
There is also a service station with free showers.
You can also get out of the city centre towards the highway N°16 next to the McDonalds at Rue Gutenberg (bus stop Galerie Saint Pierre, bus #02). Don't stay directly at the McD, but go through the tunnel under the highway and stand right in the bend that leads the cars directly onto the highway. Cars are not too fast here and can stop easily - most of them will go to Dunkerque (Dunkirk), if you want to cross the border to Belgium, it could be better to wait for a car that goes straight until De Panne or Ostende. At Dunkirk the situation with migrants is similar to Calais and you might have to wait for a very long at the highway for the next lift (updated 2019).
== Extra information ==
* Whilst waiting in the queue for your time to board the ferry, after the passport check, you can try to change rides in order to get onto an earlier boat or to a better destination. Just walk around asking people that have an earlier leaving time than yours. Since you've passed the passport check, they should not be afraid to take you. You can see the departure time on the paper that is usually on their car or truck windows. This can save you a lot of time.
-> I did this a few times and it was fine. But once I had two overly ambitious workers who asked me what I'm doing when I walked around. Told them I'm just heading to my car, but when we borded they checked our paperthing in the window to see if it had the right number of passengers on it (which it luckely had). Never happened to me before, but then again, I walked around with a big backpack. So maybe leave your stuff in the car to ask around. Just make sure to be back in time. The bording sometimes beginns way earlier than the actuall leaving time of the ferry.
* You can also change rides inside the ferry, especially when it has arrived in the port and people are getting to their cars and waiting to exit. Just go around looking at number plates and asking around. Hurry, though, you don't want to be left on foot when all the cars are leaving.
-> Wouldn't recommend. There is very little time between going down to the cars and the cars leaving. Rather ask around during the crossing while on deck.
== Ferrys Timetable ==
