Germany

From Hitchwiki
Revision as of 19:47, 23 October 2006 by 194.97.211.54 (talk)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Germany is a great country for hitchhiking. Just make sure you get on the Autobahn (motorway)! There it is best to get to a Raststätte (service area) where drivers can legally stop and get from one to another. You will often find maps with the motorways and the service areas along them.

In Germany there are no speed limits on many highways. So you might first want to try to get a ride with fast cars before asking truck drivers! Trucks are great during nighttime, but like in France, there are restrictions to when they might drive. In Germany, trucks aren't allowed to drive on weekends from Friday 12 PM to Sunday 10 PM or on public holidays.

License plates

In Germany license plates start with an abbreviation of the region where the car is registered. So look out for number plates starting with B if you're hitching to Berlin!

See German car number plates and List of abbreviations used (in German) on Wikipedia for more information.

Border crossings

Germany implemented the Schengen Agreement. So, in theory the borders are open. But in practice the German custom officers or sometimes police will control your luggage nonetheless. This might happen if you come from eastern european countries like Poland (searching for forged branded goods, smuggled tobacco, etc.), if you come from the Netherlands (liberal soft drug laws), or if you come from or cross over into Switzerland (black money is often smuggled over that border). If coming in with a commuter train, they easily take you out of your train to search your belongings, while your train continues without you.

Biggest cities

Cities

Baden-Württemberg

Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Konstanz, Ravensburg, Reutlingen, Stuttgart, Ulm, Weingarten,

(Bavaria)

Augsburg, Munich, Nürnberg, Wurzburg

Hessen

Darmstadt, Gießen

Nordrhein-Westfalen

Aachen, Bielefeld, Bonn, Dusseldorf, Köln, Wuppertal

Sachsen

Dresden

Sachsen-Anhalt

Magdeburg

Schleswig-Holstein

Puttgarden

Practical links