Hengelo

Hengelo
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Information
Country:	Netherlands
Province:	Overijssel
Population:	81,250 (1 Jun 2007)
Major roads:	A1, A35
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Hengelo is a city in the east of the Netherlands in the province Overijssel.

Hengelo is situated 5 km west of Enschede with a population of around 81,000+ inhabitants.

Hitchhiking out

East towards Enschede, Gronau (Germany)

When you're at the train station, just walk east into the Prins Bernhardplantsoen. Then, go left into the Veloursstraat, and at the next crossing you can enter the Enschedesestraat. After some meters (behind the bridge) you'll find enough place to try hitching towards Enschede. It's only some 5 km.

East towards Germany (A30), West towards Apeldoorn,Utrecht, Amsterdam

Option 1 Take the bus #11 and get out at Kleine Driene. It's situated directly near the ramp Hengelo-Noord onto the A1. Just walk the street some 500 meter up. Then you can decide, going towards Germany or direction Amsterdam. Be prepared: Hitchhiking on this spot might be hard, because the traffic lights that lead cars to the ramps on the highway in either direction are as good as allways green. This and the fact that there is no real spot for cars to stop to pick you up, will make it hard to take off.

Option 2 From the train station Hengelo take bus 14 to Bruninkshoek. You now find yourself on the street 'Oostelijke Esweg'. Walk in the direction the bus just came from towards the street Hasselerbaan, then turn left. Walk down until you cross Oldenzaalsestraat. Turn left and you will see a footbridge overlooking the A1. When you have crossed the bridge, don't turn right but walk through the grass and descend down. Turn left before the ditch and walk with the ditch on your right (The same direction the cars go on this side of the highway) Continue until you see a little forest; here you have to jump over a small ditch. Walk through the little forest and you will reach an excellent service station where nearly all cars go to Germany.

Option 3 Another option for travelling to Germany is to take a train to Hengelo-Oost (Hengelo-East). Continue walking along the train rails on their left side, towards the east. After about 30 minutes, you'll pass by a pretty big petrol station. You can hitch from here towards the German border, and on to Osnabrück and Berlin.

Option 4 This is the best option to go west towards Apeldoorn,Utrecht, Amsterdam. Take bus 53 towards 'Haaksbergen' and get out at the stop 'Platinastraat' (1,50 euro). There you can see a big gas station where cars going towards the highway can stop easily. The highway is located just 400 metres from the gas station in the direction of the busstop. From this gas station you can decide whether you ask the drivers who stop there for gas for a ride or whether you'll make a sign and try your luck with oldschool hitchiking; the cars can stop at the gas station very easily.

Overall Rating

This city is quite a bad place to hitchhike, because in the city, even at the roads to the motorway, there is not enough space where cars can stop. The only chance is in the evening when it's no problem for cars to stop in middle of road (only exception to this problem is option 4 towards Apeldoorn, Utrecht).