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{{infobox Country|country = France|map = <map lat='47' lng='1.5' zoom='5' view='0' height='320' country='France'/>|language = French (regional languages: Alsatian, Occitan, Breton, Corsican, Basque, Catalan, ...)|capital = [[Paris]]|pop = 68,0 million|currency = Euro (€)|hitch = <rating country='fr' />|BW = FR}}European '''France''' is part of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. It is usually a great country for hikinghitchhiking. There are many friendly car and truck drivers. The highways cost moneyDrivers have to pay toll on motorways (except in [[Bretagne|Brittany]] and at some other places), and you can get a ride quite easily at some ''[[Péage|barrières de péage|péages]]'' (toll pointsstations) . When hitchhiking on local roads, you can get a hike easilymight face some difficulties sometimes, though. One of the commonly known barriers for traveling in France (as in many foreign countries) is the language - you might want to learn some basic phrases before you off on the road in France.

At some Péages all Like everywhere in Europe, walking on the traffic has motorways is illegal and thus it's just legal to stop hitchhike on service areas and pay at the beginning of on- these are excellent spots to get a long ride furtherramps before the highway sign. Most cities Hitchhiking at the péage next to the barrier is forbidden, but police and highway staff mostly turn a highway have blind eye if you stand there. Moreover some experience shows that French people will more often stop in a péage place where all trafic has to stopit is not normally allowed than in other countries.

You can get free maps On Sundays, only trucks with frozen goods are allowed to drive. Keep in mind though that trucks are not allowed to go more than 90 km/h and the péage offices - these also indicate where you driver must stop for a 45 min break every 4 1/2 hours, which can find make the "all-stop-péage"trip much longer.

Some Péage are really good, some not so The ''"Michelin 726 National"'' map of France is a goodchoice for a hitchhiker in this country. If youIt shows all the major ''barrières de péage''ve been waiting for a while with an indication of where to go, drop it and try with your thumb only[[rest area|service stations]]. And also, you You can try to get a ride to the next good spot free map in the wrong directionpéage offices.

Most of the French don't speak English. So have a map to show them, where == Asking people ==If you want to go. If ask for rides, you know any French word, use it! French people can say sentences like it: "''Excusez-moi, je vais à [name of the city] en stop. Allez-vous dans cette direction ?''" and if you try your best. Say get a positive answer, just ask "Bonjour Monsieur/Madame''Pourrais-je venir avec vous ?''", to show that you are friendly. If you're heading It may be also good not to [[Germany]], tell a city but the direction you maybe need want to know that Germany is go: "Allemagne''Excusez-moi, je fais du stop vers le sud. Allez-vous dans cette direction ?''" in French.

==Online mapsAutoroutes, péages and barrières de péage ==__TOC__'''Péage''' ([http://mappycs1.imtranslator.net/SL/Free_Projects/169679760/cs_10132017_15_58_47_1.fr mappywav?param1=001024 audio] ) is a good online map French word for France, it shows you (''toll''. It is also commonly used as referring to) where you can take public transport[[toll station]]s.

==License plates==French number plates end with the number In France, most of the motorways are toll roads (''départementautoroute'' ) which are the fastest way to hitch across the car is registered incountry. There are two types of toll stations on péages. For exampleFirst, Parisian cars end with there are big ones where all traffic has to stop to pay a fee (or to get a ticket) - these are ''barrières de péage'' and usually they are excellent spots to get a long-distance ride and make it really easy to hitchhike during the number 75night. See [http://enThey are often located near big cities on the autoroute.wikipediaAnother type is a side barrier situated on all exits in the toll part of the motorway.org/wiki/List_of_arrondissements_of_France List On latter ones traffic is much smaller, therefore one can expect a longer waiting time, although sometimes congested toll stations of arrondissements of France] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_vehicle_registration_plates French vehicle registration plates] at Wikipediathe first type can be difficult to hitch from due to heavy traffic.

==Cities==* [[Paris]]To reach the ''barrière de péage'', you may need to walk along the motorway; with a help of a proper map check if the distance needed to be walked is not too long. It is illegal to walk on a side lane of the capitalmotorway (same is valid for some parts of national roads (''voie express'' or ''voie rapide'') in France); if police sees you, hiking out you may be driven somewhere safe and may be fined for 11 to 40€. Péage toll stations are considered a part of here the motorway, and legally you do not have the right to solicit rides there. You may be asked to wait in the parking area which is really difficultafter each ''barrière de péage''.* [[Bordeaux]]* [[Calais]] - In practice, this is rarely enforced (maybe 5% of the main ferryport time), most toll station employees simply want to the British Islandsmake sure you're not endangering yourself or others.* [[Dunkerque]]* [[Lille]]* [[Lyon]]* [[Marseilles]]* [[Rennes]]* [[Strassbourg]]* [[Toulouse]]* [[Montpellier]]* [[Perpignan]]

Hitchhiking options are: * You can thumb immediately after the ''barrière de péage''* If you prefer a direct approach you can dash across the lanes one at a time until you're at a busy lane, stand next to the toll machine and talk to the drivers when they stop to pay (usually it is not allowed to hitch from the toll machines but it is often tolerated). Just say "''Bonjour, je vais à [name of the city]''".* You can wait before the ''barrière de péage'', just where the drivers choose their lane - there is often enough of space for cars to pull over to stop for you.  Some ''barrière de péage'' are really good, some are not. If you've been waiting for a while using a destination sign, drop it and try thumbing. While on a toll road, you can always try hitchhiking from one [[petrol station hitchhiking|petrol station]] to another, either asking drivers while they refill, or thumbing at the exit of the service area. The staff usually doesn't mind hitchhikers. == Personal Experiences ==''In my experience it's pretty much impossible to go hungry in France. While hitching I almost ALWAYS get 10 or 5 euros thrown my way, and once even 60 euro! The key is to imply you have no money (helps the guilt if you actually don't have any like I did). Ask where you can use the internet or a phone, but WITHOUT PAYING, and 90% of the time they'll tell you "I'll drop you off at the station/road/town with 10 euros, alright?" It's not really possible without having a good standard of communication though, so either hope they know English or learn some French! I also wouldn't recommend doing "it" if you have no money or already had access to the internet or a phone, solely because of guilt. Even though I was genuine in my requests I didn't feel happy taking their money, but food is food!'' - Aaronishappy  ''France is great because it has roundabouts, which makes for slow traffic on the smaller roads. Of course, the big highways are off-limits in many cases, but that's alright. Beautiful countryside, good people. For me I enjoyed eating lots of cheese and lots of baguettes, as cliche as that may sound.'' - [[User:Chael777|Chael]]  ''Don't be afraid to approach people at service stations just because your French is weak (or, like me, non-existent). After a quick 'bonjour', or 'vous allez ou?', people were happy to help. Many people didn't speak English, with some I got by in Spanish, and with 3 or 4 we had no language in common at all. Nevertheless, people were still kind and willing to help.'' - [[User:Justunein|Justunein]]  ''My Hitch in France went marvellously! Check this, I was walking along the street in Nimes, minding my own business, and a woman pulled up in a car and asked me if I wanted to hitch to Marseille! She asked me!! When we got there, she showed me around and I slept on her sofa (whenever I tell French men about this they invariably respond 'Did you ''fork'' her?'). The next day, I got 5 hitches from Marseille to Limans, and for 3 of them all I had to do was hold up a cardboard sign and the first car that came picked me up. I was going to write that it's like taking the bus, ''but you have to wait for busses!'' As a bonus, the people who I hitched with were really nice, so much so that one of them lied and said that my French wasn't so bad! Oh yeah, and the bit about French bakeries is incomplete. They have pastries round the back too!!''  ''I can also said France is very good country for hitchhiking, people are very friendly. Even that they do not speak a lot of English, they will try to help you. One driver also take me in one restaurant near high way even that I did not want that he spend money to by me something to eat. It was nice to cross from Spain to Germany in two days with hitchhiking.''  ''I started my first hitchhike tour in France and found out that most French people are very kind and in most cases they are happy to take you with them. But I think it's really helpful to speak even a little bit French so you can say want you want and where you want to go because most of French people don't like to speak english or maybee they are not able to. Espacally in the south of france it's also possible to travel short distances by train for free, because most of them are not controlled. In case of controlling you can say that you're out of money and in most cases they will not send you a bill because it is to complicated for them to find you in your home country. And even if you are in bad luck and they will find you the price is not even higher than the ticket for the train.'' Hitchhikernick - hitched several times through France over the years with the latest being January 2024 from Chamonix to Andorra whilst the farmers protests were happening. The protests slowed things down a bit, but still managed to get to Andorra in just over 2 days. Very rarely given any money or bought food. Average waiting time 1.5hrs. Mixture of highways and national roads. == Main cities ==- [[Paris]]- [[Marseille]]- [[Lyon]]- [[Lille]]- [[Toulouse]]- [[Bordeaux]]- [[Nice]]- [[Nantes]]- [[Strasbourg]]- [[Rennes]]- [[Grenoble]]  == Links ==  * [http://www.asf.fr/shared/pdf/CarteReseau.pdf Le Réseau ASF], a PDF file that shows all ''barrières de péage'' on major routes in Southern France.* [http://www.vinci-autoroutes.com/system/files/pdf/2012/12/carte_reseau_vinci_autoroutes.pdf Service Stations Network], a pdf file that shows all service station on major routes in southern France. == Nomadwiki & Trashwiki == {{nomadwiki}}   {{Cities France}}{{Regions France}}{{Template:Europe/countries}} {{IsIn|Western Europe}}__NOTOC__  [[Category:France|*]] [[Category:Western Europe]] [[de:Frankreich]][[es:Francia]][[fr:France]][[pl:Francja]]