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{{Hitchhiking Zine nomination}}{{Infobox German Location|map = <map lat='50.93982519613568' lng='6.961555480957031' zoom='12' view='3' height='500' width='350'/>|country = Germany|pop = 1,024,346 (31 December 2008)|state = North Rhine-Westphalia|plate = K|motorways = [[A1 (Germany)|A1]], [[A3 (Germany)|A3]], [[A4 (Germany)|A4]], [[A57 (Germany)|A57]], [[A59 (Germany)|A59]]}} __NOTOC__'''Cologne''', or '''Köln''' in German, is a big city in [[NordrheinNorth Rhine-Westfalen]]Westphalia.

==Hitching Out==<map lat=Cars number plates starting with the letter '50.93982519613568' lng='6.961555480957031K' zoom='12' view='0' float='right'/>===South towards [[Bonn]], [[Koblenz]], [[Frankfurt am Main]]===To get out are registered in this locality. While the following are localities in the neighbourhood of '''Cologne: ''' to the South the best possibility is to go to (LEV - GL - SU - BM) clockwise from the North''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.

Not the best option unless you go to [[Bonn]] or [[Koblenz]]. For heading to The whole '''[[Frankfurt am MainRuhr Area]], take the train to the last stop ''Königsforst'is a well-known pain in the ass for anyone crossing that region. If you observe the motorway system, you' (nr 9ll find out that they zig zag and cross each other in the Ruhr, may have changed though), walk straight for about 15 min. Then after a specially right turn you are on a decent on ramp North of Cologne. There is no "belt" motorway around the [[A3 (Germany)|A3]]city, most just those zig zags.The flow of the cars will is highly difficult to predict because cars go from one motorway to another. There are generally 3-4 possible motorways one can take to [[Frankfurt am Main]] travel North/South or East/West. It's the most densely populated zone in Germany, so a lot of transport is local or can drop regional, making it even more difficult. Think about it - if you at least on the ''Rasthof Siegburg'' (about 20 km south)re passing by, avoid getting dropped there!

Another possibility to achieve the A 3 in the direction == Hitchhiking out ===== South towards [[Bonn]], [[Koblenz]], [[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 the Autobahn and turn right again in the “Plantage”. Follow this way a few hundred meters through the forest and you will see a service station on the right side. Maybe you have to climb a fence. Now you are on the a station without oil station but much traffic. Easy to get a ride here. Totally it takes approximately 40 minutes from the cologne main station. In my experience this is the best possibility to leave cologne.am Main]] ===

===East To get out of '''Cologne''' towards [[BerlinBonn]]===The first service area on or [[Koblenz]], the best possibility is Rasthof Remscheid. You can get there by public transport (quite inconvenient though) or try one of to go to the ''Verteilerkreis Süd'', a big [[roundabout]] where all vehicles that are heading for the on ramps in motorway to the North East of cologneSouth or West are passing by. I think the best one There is close to KVB-also a petrol station "Rixdorfer Strasse"beside it and a traffic light where one can ask people for a lift.

===West towards If you're headed to [[AachenFrankfurt am Main]], [[Netherlands]] and [[Belgium]]===On take the motorway ring around Cologne, train to the west of the city, therelast stop 's the motorway service area ''Köln-FrechenKönigsforst''(tram U9), Germany's busiest service stationwalk straight for about 15 min. You can reach this services by catching Then after a train to Königsdorf Station and then walk down Augustinus Strasse and right turn right to Marienhöfer Weg which leads you direct to are on a decent on ramp of the services. Alternatively[[A3 (Germany)|A3]], most of the cars will go to [[Frankfurt am Main]] or can drop you can take Tram #1 to at least on the terminus ''Rasthof Siegburg''(Schulstrasseabout 20 km South), which is it worth for long-distance rides.:''[[User:Frixge|Frixge]]: I hitched at Königsforst in Weiden August 2011 by chance. And found it hard to imagine that people would stop, because it is outside of town and walk ~4km along Aachener Strasse until Augustinus Strasse a lot of people ignore hanging out hitchhikers. But the next times I went there I got a ride in Königsdorf5 to 30min. Especially it is easier to get southwards, because there is no other option than the A3.''

There you can get lifts to the [[NetherlandsFile:Dariocraigmalaysia.jpg|thumb|250px|left|[[User:Halt, Stop! Reudnitz kommt.|Craig]], [[Belgium& Dario hit the road for '''Thumbing Asia West to East''' (Königsforst always a good option!)]] and Another possibility for the [[United KingdomA3 (Germany)|Great BritainA3]] from one of around 200 Trucks that are there in average by going in direction of [[AachenFrankfurt]] is to take the train “RB 25” from the main station in the direction “Marienheide” or [[Maastricht]]“Overath” for EUR 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 the Autobahn and turn right again in the “Plantage”. Follow this way a few hundred meters through the forest and you will see a service station on the right side. Maybe you have to climb a fence. Now you are 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 (main train station).

===North towards :''[[DüsseldorfUser:Hash|Hash]] or [[Dortmund]]===Take the tram no. 5 or 13 : Hitched at this spot successfully in July 2017, took about 25 mins but got a good long distance ride to ''Nußbaumer StrNürnberg.''. There Climbing the fence is probably necessary - there is an onramp. A lot a good place on the western end of traffic goes in your direction, but it is very dangerous the station where the fence has larger gaps for drivers a foot to stop therefit in. "

==Hitching Furthermore going in==When direction of FFM you arrive Cologne via can use the traffic lights at the [[A1 ramp Köln-Dellbrück (GermanyMülheim/Buchheim)|A1]], it's difficult to get into or at the town center, because ramp onto the motorway is very far outside55a (Frankfurterstraße). One option is Ask the driver to get off bring you at least on the exit ''Rasthof Siegburg''. To Köln-NiehlDellbrück you can catch the bus 159 in direction ''Buchheim'' to ''Gronauerstraße'' for example at ''Wiener Platz'' (3 stops). There is a tram stationTo the ramp at Frankfurterstraße take bus 151, close 152 or 153 to the motorway, in east direction, ''Beuthenerstraße''.:''[[User:Frixge|Frixge]] mostly waited between 5 and 15 minutes walking. At But I once waited two hours at Köln-Dellbrück. It was early in the morning. Maybe most of the traffic at that daytime, you can get to the town center in like 15 minutesis local.''

From the same motorway (=== North or East towards [[Berlin]], [[A1 (Germany)|A1Dortmund]]), you may as well get out at '''Köln-Lövenich''' [[Hannover]] and catch Tram #1 on Aachener Strasse direction downtown at either ''Bahnstrasse'' or ''Mohnweg'' stops.[[Münster]] ===

Coming from * '''Option 1:''' Close to the city, you may want to try one of the South on -ramps in the A555 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 through further along the A1. Also traffic North the A4, you may as well as A3 passes here. There's no hard shoulder but some green space to stop cars ~60m behind the driver Autobahn sign. Another possibility is to leave you 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 ''Am VerteilKreisHolweide-Vischeringstrasse'' roundabout situated just at , cross the railways towards the main road and to the complete end of left you'll find the A555, at on-ramp. Or Follow the description for ''Kreus Köln-SüdDellbrück'' (Junction A555-A4see south towards). The driver can really leave you at You just have to walk a petrol station and gain the motorway back with complete easebit more.From there, you can walk along the Bonner Strasse Make sure to catch have a bus to "Remscheid" or "RS" sign in case of going towards A1 because there is only one tiny resting area ahead of the heart A3/A1 crossing and as of Köln06/2011, it is mainly used as a meeting spot for male homosexuals.

* '''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. I never waited long at that place.:''[[User:Frixge|Frixge]] Taking the bus is a good alternative. By the way the first car in Kaltenherberg took me to the service station. I was surprised because there is not a lot of space on the ramp.'' * '''Option 5:''' A very good spot seems to be on the 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.  === East towards [[Siegen]] or [[Gießen]] ([[A4 (Germany)|A4]]) === Trying to get onto A4 seems to be as difficult as getting anywhere north-east. [[User:Caro|Caro]] tried Mid-July 2010 to hitchhike at the on-ramp in Merheim, giving up after 3 hours using the following spot. One but long (and maybe worthwhile) possibility is to go to petrol station ''Aggertal''. Take "Regionalbahn (RB) 25" direction Marienheide Bf. Get off at Overath Bf and 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! From there you can go anywhere eastwards, including long distance rides too. :''[[User:janpa|janpa]] suggests to not take the bus, but hitch to the petrol station from Overath Bf. It's probably faster to take a lift to the on-ramp, and then directly to the petrol station, since it is only two kilometres. From Köln it takes about one hour to get to the spot.'' === North towards [[Düsseldorf]] or [[Nijmegen]] === Take the tram no. 5 or 13 to ''Nußbaumer Str.''. There is an on-ramp. A lot of traffic goes in your direction, but it is very dangerous for drivers to stop there.[[User:Perilisk|Perilisk]] tried this spot in 2008 but was unsuccessful and uncomfortable stopping cars there. [[User:Clint.hotvedt|Clint.hotvedt]] tried this spot a few times in the fall of 2009 and was not able to get out for some hours as well, in the end accepting a ride to Ausfahrt 26 ''K-Worringen'', where it was much easier. At least for direction [[Krefeld]]/[[Nijmegen]] this user recommends riding the S-bahn to ''Worringen'' and try it from there, average waiting time around 30-60 minutes. === West towards [[Aachen]], [[Maastricht]], [[Eindhoven]] and [[Belgium]] === On the motorway ring around Cologne, to the west of the city, there's the motorway service area ''Frechen''. You can reach it by catching a train to Königsdorf S-Bahn (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 with the service station on the left. There you can get lifts to the [[Netherlands]], [[Belgium]] and [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]] from one of around 200. Trucks are going in the direction of [[Aachen]] or [[Maastricht]], at least. Another way to get out of Cologne in that direction is to go near the [[A4 (Germany)|A4]], Exit 11a Klettenberg and 11b Köln-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 ask people. To reach these exits from the centre, 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 area. == 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. {{IsIn|North Rhine-Westphalia}} [[Category:NordrheinNorth Rhine-WestfalenWestphalia]]