Oradea

Oradea
Information
Country:	Romania
County:	Bihor
Population:	206,614 (2002)
Major roads:	A3
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Oradea is a city in Romania. It is the seat of the Bihor county, which borders Hungary.

Hitching Out

East towards Cluj-Napoca

Several ways of doing this.

• Get on a tram to Nufarul. From there you can see the Selgros hypermarket, and a big roundabout near it. Coming from the last tram stop, make a left at the roundabout. That should be a nice hitchhiking spot, as all the traffic that goes around the city to Cluj-Napoca goes through there.
• Ask around for Calea Clujului. That's the street that starts in the city and goes all the way to the outskirts, heading to Cluj-Napoca. If you are in the city center, it should be close. Walk all the way to the edge of town (1/2h walk), until you are near the Metro hypermarket. Just there, there is an intersection with traffic lights. You can hitchhike there.

Hint: If you try the first option, and don't get a ride fast, you can walk along the road, and that will get you to the 2nd spot.

• Get on a tram to December 1 park station. Here ask for routier police station (politia rutiera), near the castle. This is the best way to Cluj-Napoca

West towards Hungary

Get to Calea Borsului, at the end of the tram line, pass under the bridge, and walk some meters from the little road to the right. There you wait. You may get a lift to Bors, the last village in Romaniawhich is close to the border, but many times people will take you to Hungary. If they can't take you to Budapest, get out at the border, don't go further. That is the best place to catch a ride to Budapest on those whole 250Kms (even taking in account places close to Budapest). If you go further, waiting times will increase significantly.

At the border you can stay right behind the passport check, where the cars don't start to accelerate yet. Right where the lanes merge. The presence of the officers makes drivers feel secure. The restaurants and the insurance kiosks have a much "darker" look. It is not worth to walk there.

Many will tell you they go to Wien or Italy, and leave you on M0. M0 is still far from Budapest center, and you will probably need to take local buses and trains (up to three depending on the exit you take on M0, and the time you get there).

The hardest part is to get to the border. Sometimes it can be more than an hour to hitch those 15 Kms. It is worth to skip this waiting by getting on a bus. They have big red ORADEA BORS inscription above the windshield, and they usually stop for hitchhikers. They also stop at the end of the tram line. The fare is 1 Eur (4 lei).

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Romanian cities with more than 100.000 inhabitants

> 1.000.000: Bucureşti

300.000–500.000: Cluj-Napoca • Constanţa • Iaşi • Timişoara

100.000–300.000: Arad • Bacău • Baia Mare • Botoşani • Brăila • Braşov • Buzău • Craiova • Drobeta-Turnu Severin • Galaţi • Oradea • Piatra-Neamţ • Piteşti • Ploieşti • Râmnicu Vâlcea • Satu Mare • Sibiu • Suceava • Târgu Mureş