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Public transport is fairly okay in the Netherlands, albeit a bit expensive since the introduction of the "chipkaart", see below. There are convenient metros from e.g. the Bijlmer.Coming from South there is a petrol station just a couple of kilometres before Amsterdam. There are enough people stopping before going into the city, [[User:Alex|alex]] never waited longer than 10 minutes to get a ride, with most of the times putting my bag directly from one car into another. So get off there when your driver doesn't go where you need to be in Amsterdam and catch easily a ride that goes to the district you want to go - this will save you some bugs and 30-60 minutes getting to the other side of town.

There is an official [[liftershalte|liftplaats]] about 100 meters south of metro station Sloterdijk on Haarlemmerweg. Here you will find a lot of traffic going straight to [[Haarlem]], and possibly even cars going to [[Leiden]], and further to [[Delft]] and [[Den Haag]]. Though, most cars going there will use the Ring A10 and then the A4 to Den Haag.

There is an A10 on-ramp near Sloterdijk station. Exit the station and go 200m east on ''Hatostraat'', 250m north on ''La Guardiaweg'' and 250m east on ''Basisweg'' and then cross over to the on-ramp.

''If you are hitching in the direction of Berlin or Hamburg, you might find the route-page from [[:Category:Route_Amsterdam_-_Berlin|Amsterdam to Berlin]] useful. If you are hitching in the direction of Bremen, Hamburg or [[Hamburg]]Copenhagen, you might find the this route-page from [[:Category:Route_Amsterdam_-_Berlin_Copenhagen|Amsterdam to BerlinCopenhagen]] useful.''

'''Option 1''' Liftplaatsand BP petrol station (mostly local traffic)

There is a [[liftershalte|liftplaats]], a spot specifically for hitchhiking, at the Gooiseweg next to the Prins Bernhardplein situated before NS Station Amsterdam Amstel (pass the bus stop). This road leads to the ramp of the S112 of the A10, the motorway around Amsterdam (direction [[A1 (Netherlands)|A1]] and [[A2 (Netherlands)|A2]]). This is currently being turned into a third lane and is completely unusually for hitching a ride. A little further on that road, which is called Gooiseweg, and behind the bend you will find a BP petrol-station where you can talk to drivers, often a better way for getting a ride. The petrol station is easily accessible from the backstreets, and it is very easy to hail a ride from the side of the road immediately after the petrol station.

Most cars here will drive along the [[A1 (Netherlands)|A1]] towards [[Amersfoort]], [[Hengelo]] and [[Germany]]. The first petrol-station is just 8 kilometres further, just after [[Muiden]]. A second petrol station and parkingspot, called De Slaag, is located 37 kilometres from [[Amsterdam]], right before [[Amersfoort]].

Highway BP Honswijck petrol First you go by train, tram, metro or bus to the station Amsterdam Amstel. From there three bus lines, 320, 322 and 327, are going to busstop P+R Terrein in Muiden. A presale ticket costs EUR 2,90 for all buses (GVB 1 uur ticket). In the bus you pay EUR 5 for bus lines 322 and 327 or EUR 4.20 for bus line 320 (numbers/ticket price may be outdated).

First you go by train, tram, metro or bus to the station Amsterdam Amstel. From there three bus lines, 320, 322 and 327, are going to busstop "Step out at P+R Terrein" in Muiden. A presale ticket costs EUR 2,90 walk south Weesperweg for 200m, then turn left crossing the canal with the bridge Spieringburg/Mariahoeveweg for all buses ("GVB 1 uur" ticket)200m, then 400m south along the Vecht canal eastbank on Lange Muiderweg. In Now comes the unverified part: walk 800 meter east behind the noise breaker along the bus motorway and you pay EUR 5 for bus lines 322 and 327 or EUR 4will be at A1 BP-service station Honswijck.20 (* Comment: I tried this in 2017) for bus line 320 (numbers/ticket price may be outdated)2018. Walking behind the noise breaker is a bit of an adventure - part of the terrain there is marshy, so you need to climb up to the concrete ridge on the back of the noise breaker and walk along it - but totally doable and once you're on the other side, you've got a good place to get a hitch. [[User:MatsumotoJoe|MatsumotoJoe]]

Step out [[File:IMGP0763.jpg|right|thumb|266px|Hitchhikers at "P+R Terrein" in Muiden, walk south Weesperweg for 200m, then turn left crossing the canal with the bridge Spieringburg/Mariahoeveweg for 200m, then 400m south along the Vecht canal (eastbank) on Lange Muiderweg. Now comes the unverified part: walk 800 meter east behind the noise breaker along the motorway and you will be at A1 BP-service station Honswijck. Prins Bernhardplein liftplaats]]

Since there are so many different directions '''Option 3''' Hush AVIA highway petrol station / rest stop (and sometimes even many hitchhikersout of city by train) it's better to make a sign.

There are trainsis often a lot of competition at the ''liftplaats'' and drivers usually only go short distances, trams so by the time you have finally left Holland you will have had approx. 3–6 rides. You can easily avoid this by taking a train to Hengelo (12,51buy a discount ticket) and metros . From the train station ''Hengelo'' take bus 14 to Amstel station ''Bruninkshoek''. You now find yourself on the street ''Oostelijke Esweg''. Walk in the direction the bus just came from most other stations in Amsterdamtowards the street ''Hasselerbaan'', then turn left. Walk down until you cross ''Oldenzaalsestraat''. It is Turn left and you will see a 1 minute footbridge overlooking the A1. When you have crossed the bridge, don't turn right but walk through the grass and descend down. Turn left before the ditch and walk from there, just behind with the FORTIS Bankditch on your right.[[File:IMGP0763Continue until you see a little forest; here you have to jump over a small ditch.jpg|right|thumb|266px|Hitchhikers at Walk through the Prins Bernhardplein liftplaats]]little forest and you will reach an Hush AVIA petrol station where nearly all cars go to Germany.

Hush AVIA highway petrol station / rest stop There is often a lot of competition You can either go and hitch from the same spot as for going West at the ''liftplaats'' and drivers usually only go short distancesAmstel Station, or hitch from where the motorway to Utrecht starts, so by which is called the time Utrechtsebrug. This second option definitely gives you have finally left Holland you will have had approx. 3–6 rides. You can easily avoid this by taking more cars going into the right direction and generally a train to Hengelo (buy a discount ticket, see below)lot less waiting time.

At the Utrechtsebrug you have several options. First, head Head to the Martin Luther King Park in Amsterdam Zuid where the motorway to [[A2 (Netherlands)|A2]]-motorway starts, which leads to [[Utrecht]] and further to [[Den Bosch]], [[Eindhoven]] and [[Maastricht]]. Take tram 4 or 12 and walk from the Vrijheidslaan south through the Rijnstraat to the motorway ([[A10 (Netherlands)|A10]]/ [[A2 (Netherlands)|A2]]). At the end of this road before the crossing, you'll find traffic lights where you can pro-actively ask drivers to drop you at the massive Haarrijn service station (See see below). The best traffic lights to pick, as there are three sets here, is the one on your left side when you are standing facing the bridge.

NOTE:''Just recently I hitchhiked out on Utrechtsbrug - first on Though the onramp after the bridgespot is generally awesome, after being pushed away by cops on the petrol station - and was harassed by the police that I can not stand on a petrol station (!) you are likely to hitchhike but have to go into the city to the liftplaats near Amstel Stationspend hours waiting for cars going as far as [http://nl. They were close at arresting me because I wanted their identy and the law by which they want to ban me from the petrol station and they couldn't give me any of itwikipedia. In the end I convinced them that if I bought a coffee at the store org/wiki/Verzorgingsplaats_Haarrijn Haarrijn] on Sundays (and asked if I could hitchhike that there was no law against me standing there then and they acceptedprobably Saturdays too). But they were really pushy and blamed me for "coming as a guest It might be reasonable to this country and not accepting rules" and how bad I should feel. If you hitchhike from Utrechtsbrug try further spots to get to avoid local traffic during the petrol station without being seen, also ignore the signs that you are not allowed to walk, its just 50 meters than there is enough spaceend of week.'' [[User:Farben.rausch|Farben.rausch]] ([[User talk:Farben.rausch|talk]])

Just before '''Option 2''' Utrecht, after exit 5 ([[Breukelen]]) and just some kilometres before the Utrecht Ring you find a big petrol-station called [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verzorgingsplaats_Haarrijn Haarrijn]. This is an excellent spot to find drivers for larger distances.on ramp

: ''After walking all night in the pouring rain, trying to stay dry and warm wherever I could, I finally crashed outside the train station until the wee hours of the morning. At that time I moved inside of the station. This had mixed results. It was warmer and drier, but the security guards walked by and gave me a kick every time I dozed off.'Option 3''' Haarrijn rest stop

There is another solution if you're caught in the rain : you can sleep on one of the tour boats parked along the river in front of central stationJust before Utrecht, after exit 5 (Breukelen) and just some of them have a roof outside kilometres before the cabin and it can be Utrecht Ring you find a quite comfortable placebig petrol-station called Haarrijn. Policemen or guards sometimes come and kick you out, but far less than in the stationThis is an excellent spot to find drivers for larger distances. Place is 2.5 km from Maarssen train stop

== Buy Boats =="Philip's compact atlas Europe" shows service stations in some countries, is pretty compact and was available for 7 euros at the New English Book Store in [[Amsterdam]], in June 2008. It's not recommended to carry any type of illegal drugs with you while hitchhiking. A bit of weed inside the borders of the Netherlands is not going to get you into trouble. But taking any amount of weed (or anything else) across the border could be a problem for you and possibly your driver. And it's not worth it. == Public Transport ==As of 2010 if you take a tram or bus inside the city, for any distance, and you will spend at least 2.60 euro, you need a "chipkaart", "nationale strippenkaarten" aren't valid anymore in all of the Netherlands (since November 2011). Check this for a good overview: http://www.gvb.nl/english/travellers/tickets-and-fares/ov-chipkaart-travel-products/Pages/ov-chipkaart-travel-products.aspx For example, a one way ticket by train from Amsterdam Centraal to Zaandam is 2.40 EUR, a return ticket costs 4.50 EUR (to be used on 1 day, until 4:00am next day). (See http://ns.nl/)

So staying in It is very possible to hitchhiking a location that's easily reachable by train might actually turn out cheaper!boat around the Amsterdam canals. Just sit next to the water and thumb and eventually someone will stop. This is more aimed at sight seeing than getting somewhere specific, but more worth it than paying for the touristy ones.