21
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
=== Going north? Take the A22/E17 towards [[Antwerpen|Antwerp]], [[Gent]], [[Netherlands]] ===
* '''Update January 2022'''The gas station is currently closed (due to construction?). If you want to get there, try to find information if it's reopened or not on Maps for instance.
→Going south? Take the A1 towards Paris, or directly to south of France join the A26 towards Reims, Dijon, Lyon (so also direction Spain & Italy)
'''Lille''' (Flemish: '''Rijsel''') is a city in Northern [[France]] on the border with [[Belgium]]. It is the fourth largest urban area in France.
''(Since 2012 this page is being edit mainly by [[User:Roelguldemond|roel guldemond]], Roel has left mainly earlier content. Sure users are more than welcome to add their experiences. Roel made a major update february 2022.)''
== Hitchhiking out ==
;Most optimal place to hitchhike seems to be (according experiences of :
Go to ''metrostation « Porte d'Arras »''. From there walk in the direction of the motorway, cross the bridge. On the left you will see an accelerating lane going onto the motorway (=Motorway A25, which joins the A1 to Paris after about 1 km). You can stand next to the traffic lights just before the ramp with a sign. Or stand on the ramp itself, people have time to stop on the ramp.
(NOTE after about 1 km this motorway joins the A1 to Paris, but the motorway does ALSO turns direction of Gent, so if your heading North, this ''metrostation « Porte d'Arras »''-alternatieve is also a good place.)
Testimonies:
* [[User:Garthelgard|Garthelgard]] has hitchhiked from this spot more than twenty times and has never waited more than 30 minutes.
* In August 2012 somebody added: "The best place to go anywhere is the hard shoulder near ''metrostation « Porte d'Arras »'' follow Highway- just follow the signs to Highway. Within 20 minutes many more cars heading towards every several directions stopped. To Brussels use sign B " * Lastrik tried this alternative, they tried for two and you get there very easy."a half hours before going somewhere else
;Alternative 2
At the end of ''Boulevard des Cités Unies'' (at the side of the railways). 300 meters eastwards from ''metrostation « Lille Grand Palais »'', you find an entrance to the A1 direction Paris.
A ticket for the Ilevia network cost 1.70 EUR, as of January 2022. It is hard to fraud in buses, and the chances to get controlled on regional trains are high. Try at least to find a ticket on the floor in any station, as it is better to have an 'invalid ticket' in case of a control.
=== Going Northeast? Take the A22/E17 towards [[Antwerpen|Antwerp]], [[Gent]], [[Netherlands]] ===
The ''metrostation « Porte d'Arras »''-alternative described above at "Going south?" seems to be good: see for description and testimonials above at "Going south?", but consider to held up a '''"BELGIQUE/BELGIE"-'''- ,'''"B"'''- or '''"GAND/GENT"'''-sign.
;Alternatives
You can avoid getting stuck in Lille by getting out at the last petrol station on the A1 on ''« Aire de Phalempin »'' is quite a big station, good for hitching, and it's 15 km due south from the centre. However, in direction of Brussels it might be a bit difficult there. Most people go towards Ghent and Antwerp there.
Otherwise, take the tram-line T to Chateau Rouge. As you get out, you can see the motorway. The spot is the motorway slip road. There's not a lot of traffic, but there is space for drivers to safely pull over and pick you up.
* '''Update April 2019'''To go to north on the A22-E17 stop at the "cerisaie centre d'affaires" tramway spot one the T blue line. Immediatly after the tramway stop there is a traffic light stopping cars witch can go on the motorway slope. There are few transborder workers so it is quite a good stop, even if there is not a lot of traffic and the red light is not very long. ATTENTION do not be dropped in the "rekkem" rest area immediatly after the belgium border, there are only trucks and you can easely be trapped here. Aim for the "marke" service station after the E17-E403 junction.
Or else, get to the petrol station on the N356 about 800m north of metro station Monts Sarts. (Need to jump a small fence and a 2 meter drop! There is a place for your foot so you can slide and jump, but it is still quite a wall). From here you can find lifts going into Belgium and have the chance to talk to drivers.
* '''Update January 2022'''The gas station is currently closed (due to construction?). If you want to get there, try to find information if it's reopened. The '''French/Belgian border''' is not a good spot anymore. It is now just a big parking lot where trucks stop, all sign of the previous building there have vanished, it is not possible hard to hitch on the highway anymore and as hardly any car stop stops there. To get there you'll have to take the Line 2 of the metro until "C. H. Dron" (last stop, and actually already in Tourcoing, not in Lille). And walk 30 to 45 Min to it there is an access road with to fence or barrier stopping people on foot. You might be able to get a ride to the petrol station 5 km into Belgium at Kortrijk where loads of Netherland folk stop for a refill but it will be hard.
=== Going east? Take the A27 towards [[Tournai ]](= Doornik in Flemish), [[Brussels]] ===
;Option Alternative 1
Getting on the A27 by feet from the centre of Lille is several kilometers. A good option is go to "metro station « 4 Cantons »". From there it is about 500 meters to a roundabout which is situated west of the N227, where the D146 (a part of this D146 is called "''Rue Nicolas Appert''") is crossing the this N227 (which carries the name "''Boulevard du Breucq''", and is part of the E17). Avoid the working hours and days: this entrance to the highway has a lot of traffic sometimes, and not so much room for a car to stop safely. It is better to do it early in the morning.
Have a '''"TOURNAI"-sign'''. Why? Because many cars take the direction of [[Valenciennes]] instead.
''(September 2017 Roel : [[User:Roelguldemond|roel guldemond]] dropped Nati, she is from Argentina, at this roundabout 11h00 in the morning. She claimed to found a hitch in 5 minutes.''January 2022 : Thomi found a hitch there in less than 10 minutes at 07h30, . but an other time, no one stopped in two hours of waiting at 11h00)''
'''
;Option Alternative 2
The first gas station on this highway, ''Aire de Froyennes'', is right before Tournai. To get there, you can also take a regional train from Lille, Pont de Bois, Ascq or Baisieux to Froyennes. The border crossing by train is very expensive, so the best way to get there safe is to have an Ilevia train ticket (1.70 EUR), which is valid in the whole territory of the European Metropolis of Lille (MEL). Once the train crosses the border, just hope that the controller won't show up - worse case, use your best acting skills to pretend that you thought Froyennes was part of the metropolis.
It is a very quiet village in which you'll have to walk around 15 minutes to reach the gas station. From there, most of the cars go to Brussels but you can easily find a hitch to the main Wallonian cities ([[Mons]], [[Charleroi]], [[Namur]], [[Liège]]).
''(January 2022 Thomi put his thumb up, and the second car stopped and proposed a ride to Brussels)''
=== Going westNorthwest? Take the A25 towards [[Dunkerque]], [[Calais]], [[London]](see [[English channel]] crossing) ===
See above, going north:
Go to ''metro station « Porte de Postes »''. Here is a big roundabout. It's possible to get a ride in several directions. Westwards : direction Calais/Dunkerque (via A25).
--[[User:Roelguldemond|Roelguldemond]] ([[User talk:Roelguldemond|talk]]) 12:19, 11 December 2013 (CET)
''Comment by Roel september 2017 : I edited this page intensively. I have been deleting quite some information which seemed to be outdated or redundant. I described several options. Sure there are more options! But I have tried most lots of these possibilities myself.''
== Transportation ==
