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 [[File:Dariocraigmalaysia.jpg|thumb|250px|left|[[User:Halt, Stop! Reudnitz kommt.|Craig]] & Dario hit the road for '''Thumbing Asia West to East''' (Königsforst always a good option!)]]  Another possibility for the [[A3 (Germany)|A3]] direction [[Frankfurt]] is to 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 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 Shell 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). 

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. So far we there are four options: '''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 three optionsto 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 [[User:PlatschiA1 (Germany)|A1]] hitched at Dellbrück in May 2010 and got a ride easily within ten minutes towards is "Rasthof Remscheid service station", with even two cars stopping in just before the meantime but driving northboundexit 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 [Userhttp:artti]] hitchhiked there in May 2011 and two police cars didn't do anything//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, but third one nicely asked him to leave0.023174&ie=UTF8&ll=51.169872, because it might not be safe7.215099&spn=0.034228, because cars don'0.092697&t have actually proper place to stop=h&z=13 here]). He took a U-bahn number If you're lucky, catch the bus 672 or 673 (valid with your zone 4 ticket) to last stop Schlebusch Talsperre/Mebusmühle or Talsperre/Raststätte (it is possible without ticketcloser but only 673) and about twenty meters away you can catch a bus number 260, if lucky driver doesn't ask you to show ticket, but if you must buyavoid the walk. These buses do not pass very often, then ticket to Kaltenherberg Ort is eur 2though.50.''

* '''Option 24:''' It's There is also possible the possibility to hitch take the bus nr 260 from the South East of the city because there is a petrol central station on towards Remscheid. Get off at the A59. The closest bus stop Kaltenherberg Ort, From there you just have to walk for about 2 minutes, the motorway is "Eil Heumarer", bus #152already visible. You All drivers that pass can at least take it from Steinstr. S-Bahn, you to the petrol station in Remscheid which is relatively close just about a few kilometres from there. Like that you avoid the main stationring and are straight on the A1. I never waited long at that place.

* '''Option 45:''' There is also A very good spot seems to be on the possibility to take crossing of the bus nr 260 from A57 and the central station towards Remscheid'Parkgurtel' ring road. Get there using the S-Bahn (get off at the bus stop Kaltenherberg Ort, From there station Nussbaumstrasse) and walk direction east until you just have get to walk for about 2 Minutes, the motorway is already visibletraffic lights. All drivers that pass can at least take you to the gas 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 in Remscheid which . The spot is just about a few kilometers protected from there. Like that you avoid the ring and are straight on rain by the A1. I never waited long train bridge! The cars only stop at that placethe red lights, so you will have to do some jumping around.

Trying to get onto A4 seems to be as difficult as getting anywhere northeastnorth-east. [[User:Caro|Caro]] tried Mid-July 2010 to hitchhike at the onramp on-ramp in Merheim, giving up after 3 hours using the following spot.

One but long (and maybe worthwhile) possibility is to go to gas petrol station ''Aggertal''. Take ''S-Bahn'' "Regionalbahn (RB) 25 " direction Marienheide Bf. Get off at Overath Bf and take bus 310 direction GumemrsbachGummersbach. Get off (2nd halt) at Klef/Hotel Lüdenbach and walk 20 minutes to the gas 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.

:''=== North towards [[Düsseldorf]] or [[User:janpaNijmegen]] suggests to not take === Take the bus, but hitch tram no. 5 or 13 to the gas-station from Overath Bf''Nußbaumer Str.''. Its probably faster to take a lift to the There is an on-ramp. A lot of traffic goes in your direction, and then directly to the gas-station, since but it is only two kilometers. From Koeln it takes about one hour to get very dangerous for drivers to the spotstop there.''

Take the tram no. 5 or 13 to ''Nußbaumer Str.''. There is an onramp. 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 and uncomfortable stopping cars there. [[User: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 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.

On the motorway ring around Cologne, to the west of the city, there's the motorway service area ''Köln-Frechen'', Germany's busiest service station. 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.

When you arrive Cologne via the [[A1 (Germany)|A1]], it's difficult to get into the town centercentre, 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 center 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.

From You could as well try to catch a ride from the same motorway ([[A1 (Germany)|A1]]), you may as well onto the A3. And then get out off for example at '''Köln-LövenichDellbrück''' and . There you walk 5min in direction west, catch Tram #1 on Aachener Straße direction downtown at either the bus 159 to ''BahnstraßeWiener Platz'' or ''Mohnweg'' stops, where can get a tram.

* [http://www.kvb-koeln.de/german/home/ KVB], the local/regional public transportation network has a good route planner. Very useful!== Nomadwiki & Trashwiki == {{nomadwiki}}