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'''Poland''' is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. It is an awesome country for hitchhiking and even one of the most hitchhiker friendly countries in whole Europe. The avarage time of waiting vary from 15 min to 1 hour (rarely 2 hours - if so, you have probably a bad spot) depending on your spot. Many drivers generally believe that others do not stop and that hitchhiking days are over in Poland, which however does not prevent hundreds of them from stopping. Since 1958 till the beginning of 90's hitchhiking in Poland was an official way of traveling organized by National Tourist Board, when hitchhikers had their ID with [[insurance]] included and drivers could win prizes every year. Thousands of people were hitchhiking through all these years – and most of them have cars today, so very often do they repay the debt.
=== General Hitchhiking Info ===
Quite common way to [[hitchhiking|hitchhike]] in Poland is to stand on the side of the road with your hand extended and/or thumb pointing upwards. Some hikers also wave their hands up and down, which is widely understood as ''"I only need a short ride"''. This way of hitchhiking is popular between villagers and high school students who look for a lift for a short distance. They very rarely write their destination on a [[signs|sheet of paper]] or piece of cardboard. Waving is enough to make a driver stop.
Travellers looking for a longer ride usually make a sign with the name of a city they're going to or through. Some drivers prefer to take travellers and than tourists. Because of this it's a good idea to place your backpack in front of you and make a sign which makes you look like a ''professional hitchhiker''.
[[File:Krakow_to_ukraine.JPG|left|thumb|250px|Hitchhiker in [[Kraków]]]]
=== Tips ===
On highways you can hitchike next to '''toll places''' (polish name bramki). One or other side will have parking place.
[[CB radio]] is quite popular in Poland not only among truck drivers, which might help in getting a ride. If you're lucky they can ask other drivers to take you further. You might even ask them gently to do that, especially in bad weather conditions or by night.
Hitching by night is possible in Poland but not easy. On national roads try to find bright spot where drivers can see you. Use bright clothes. The best options are petrol stations where you can speak with the drivers while they fill up the tank.
'''Public transport''' While staying in bigger cities check [http://jakdojade.pl/Welcome.jsp?locale=en jakdojade.pl]. It will find for you every single connection between two points within city limits and show ticket price, route on a map, bus stops names and timetables. Just write the name of a street where you are in a form called "A" and the place you want to go to in a form "B". You can also right click on the map to pick points. It will do the rest. If you're planning to stay longer in Poland you may want to download a mobile app and have it always with you (internet connection is necessary).
'''Hitchhiking as a solo woman''' At least in Northern Poland there are often prostitutes who are standing by the road in the summer. And if on duty, they mark their regular spots with a piece of clothing and come back again after. This might lead into confusion when you're hitchhiking alone as a woman. It's not really dangerous but hitchhiker friendly people might mistake you for a prostitute when they pass you and not stop. So as a solo woman would be good not to wear clothes that are too revealing, put your backpack in front and not stand very close to the prostitute spots.
'''Free showers''' On truck rest stops called MOP (most times petrol station + parking + restaurant) there will most likely be free showers and restrooms. They're in a separate building that's fairly easy to find. The showers are pretty clean and have warm water. As long as you wait for your turn in the queue, no one will have a problem with you using them.
=== Hitchhiking at night ===
See also the Polish dictionary in Hitchwiki's [[Eastern Europe phrasebook]].
== Border crossings ==
== Links ==
* [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UKkPAv5GuGIQlrA-bHGxq6r4kh7Co1y5mnBx5y9Kt0o/edit List of hitchhiking FB groups for different cities in Poland]
* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/autostopowicze/ Polish hitchhikers on FB]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_and_expressways_in_Poland Roads and expressways in Poland]
* [http://jakdojade.pl/ Public transport of many Polish cities]
* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/nonstop.wdrodze Polish people offering free rides across the country and Europe]
== Personal Experiences ==
''Summer 2018 & 2022: It's good hitchhiking experience but sometimes you need to wait a bit (15min to 90min). In 2018 hitchhiking was not hard as it still in 2022. Polish style of driving is somewhere near "respectable citizen" and "crazy driver". So, basically they don't brake the law (stop in the forbidden area) but they can do it if needed. The only problem are autobahns which are not "hitchhiker friendly", it's hard to get there and hard to find a car stopping there. In the autobahn (on the good spot) I was waiting nearly 2h and no one stoped due to a too big traffic. They have good gas stations, where you can almost take an "small improvised shower". Two times I was picked up by one driver who called his friend to get me further, so the "local radio" is working well.''
''Summer 2023: I transited through Poland in 2011, and it was ok, even though roads were not that great back then. I traveled and hitchhiked around country summer 2023, roads are excellent, but hitchhiking was very very bad for my standards (70 countries and 239.000 km so far). Poles do not stop at non-designated area (for examples: bus stops), very rare to see it. Even once I had a problem with cops in a small village for the reason I was on the open village road, haha. There was roundabout, and I was standing right after it, where people ride 30km per hour. I had to move otherwise fine. Waiting times are pretty high, from 30 min to 3 hours. I rarely waited even one hour in last 15 hitching years. Even highway petrol stations are not that great places, which was strange to me. Poland is the country where people know very well what hh-ing is, but for some reason, very few of them do it these days. Could be Ukraine war affected that, who knows. User: Tales''
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