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Dortmund is a city in the German Ruhr Area with a population of around 600 000. As Dortmund is like the Eastern gate to an area of around 5 Million people with a very complicated network of roads and almost without bigger gas stations on the main roads, this is the most convinient hitch-hiking place in the whole region. It is a good idea to come here first if you want to leave another city nearby. As in the whole region, be prepared that the drivers love to have conversation about football, so you will leave a positive impression if you know the result of the last Borussia Dortmund match.

Dortmund
<map lat='51.46684144864417' lng='7.592926025390625' zoom='14' view='3' />
Information
Country:
Flag of Germany
Germany
State:
Coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia.png
North Rhine-Westphalia
Population: 587,137 (30 June 2007)
Licence plate: DO
Major roads: A1, A2, A40, 42, 44, 45
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Contents

Hitchhiking out

North, East, South towards Hamburg, Osnabrück, Münster, Cologne, Hannover, Berlin

A really good place is the service area Lichtendorf at the A1, in the south of the town. From city center take subway U47 to Aplerbeck, than take the bus #431 or #438 to Lichtendorf Schule, follow the road until the end and turn right into Römerstraße. For going South turn left from Römerweg into a small service road going to the gas station. For going North continue until you can turn left and pass under the bridge and turn left again. The fare is about EUR 2,20.

Another, even better, option is to take the train to Soest (once or twice an hour from the main train station) and go to the stop Dortmund-Soelde. Walk out the stop and take the right exit of the tunnel. After two minutes you will see the bus stop where the bus 431 is going to "Lichtendorf Schule" (direction Lichtendorf). Public transport is horrible overpriced in Germany, but at least you don't need to buy seperate tickets for different transportation within the city, so you can use the same ticket for train, metro, trams and busses and change as often as you need. The bus is every 20 minutes, takes 15 minutes to ride and then it takes another 15 minutes walking to get to service station Lichtendorf Sud, from where you can catch a ride North.

West towards Essen, Holland, Belgium, Lille

(51.4992, 7.4499)

Take U-bahn 42 or 46 to Kreuzstraße, or walk 30 minutes from the centre. From the station walk through Große Heimstraße until you reach the onramp for the direction Essen. Cars are not going so fast and you're in the shade from the trees.

East towards Soest, Kassel

(51.5085, 7.5445)

From the center you can take the metro U47 to Aplerbeck to the stop "Vahleweg". 50 meters from the bus stop you will see a Shell gas station, from where you can easily catch a ride to the A44 motorway. As there is a lot of traffic to towns nearby, it makes sense to ask for the gas station "Am Haarstrang", a fast 30 km ride. From here you can find a lift for long distances.

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