Cologne

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Cologne
<map lat='50.93982519613568' lng='6.961555480957031' zoom='12' view='3' height='500' width='350'/>
Information
Country:
Flag of Germany
Germany
State:
Coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia.png
North Rhine-Westphalia
Population: 1,024,346 (31 December 2008)
Licence plate: K
Major roads: A1, A3, A4, A57, A59
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Cologne, or Köln in German, is a big city in Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Cars number plates starting with the letter K are registered in this locality. While the following are localities in the neighbourhood of Cologne: (LEV - GL - SU - BM) clockwise from the North

Hitching Out

South towards Bonn, Koblenz, Frankfurt am Main

To get out of Cologne to the South the best possibility is to go to the 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 Frankfurt am Main, take the train to the last stop Königsforst (tram nr 9), walk straight for about 15 min. Then after a right turn you are on a decent on ramp of the A3, most of the cars will go to Frankfurt am Main or can drop you at least on the Rasthof Siegburg (about 20 km south)

Another possibility to achieve the A 3 in the direction 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.

East towards Berlin

The first service area on is Rasthof Remscheid. You can get there by public transport (quite inconvenient though) or try one of the on ramps in the North East of Cologne. I think the best one is close to KVB-station "Rixdorfer Straße". In case you use a ramp from Cologne, a good take-off sign is "Remscheide". There's a petrol station just before it and it's really close. Lots of commuters.

West towards Aachen, Netherlands and Belgium

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 this services by catching a train to Königsdorf Station and then walk down Augustinus Straße and turn right to Marienhöfer Weg which leads you direct to the services. Alternatively, you can take Tram #1 to the terminus (Schulstraße) in Weiden and walk ~4 km along Aachener Straße until Augustinus Straße in Königsdorf.

There you can get lifts to the Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain from one of around 200 Trucks that are there in average by going in direction of Aachen or Maastricht.

North towards Düsseldorf or Dortmund

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.

Hitching In

When you arrive Cologne via the A1, it's difficult to get into the town center, 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 in like 15 minutes.

From the same motorway (A1), you may as well get out at Köln-Lövenich and catch Tram #1 on Aachener Straße direction downtown at either Bahnstraße or Mohnweg stops.

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.