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|hitch = {{good}}<rating country='pl' />|BW = PL

'''Poland''' is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. It is sometimes being regarded as a bad an awesome country for hitchhiking, but it can also be a great pleasure to hitchhike thereand even one of the most hitchhiker friendly countries in whole Europe. Most Many drivers generally believe that others do not stop and that hitchhiking days are over in '''Poland''', which however does not prevent hundreds of them from stopping. A positive factor Since 1958 till the beginning of 90's hitchhiking in '''Poland''' is that some 20 to 40 years ago it was the most common an official way of travel for the majority traveling organized by National Tourist Board, when hitchhikers had their ID with [[insurance]] included and drivers could win prizes every year. Thousands of young people were hitchhiking through all these years – and most of them have cars today, so very often do they repay the debt.

The Quite common way to [[hitchhiking|hitchhike]] in Poland is to stand on the side of the road with your hand extended and/or thumb pointing upwards. Most Some hikers also wave their hands up and down, which is widely understood as ''"I only need a short ride"''. Unlike in [[Western Europe]], hitchhikers in Poland This way of hitchhiking is popular between villagers and high school students who look for a lift for a short distance. They very rarely do write their destination on a [[signsigns|sheet of paper]] or some piece of cardboard. Waving is usually enough to make a driver stop. Travellers looking for a longer ride usually make a sign with the name of a city they're going to or through. Some drivers prefer to take travellers and tourists. Because of this it's a good idea to place your backpack in front of you and make a sign which makes you look like a ''professional hitchhiker''.

There are two main groups of hitchhikers in Poland[[File:Krakow_to_ukraine. One is typical tourists (usually youngsters), and the other is the villagers, usually elderly people, who commute from their village to the nearest town or back. It is customary that the villagers leave some small tip to the driver (usually some 10% of the bus ticket price). However, tourists are not expected to pay anything for the ride, unlike JPG|left|thumb|250px|Hitchhiker in other countries like e.g. [[RomaniaKraków]]]]. There is also a category of drivers who never stop by the ''villagers'', but very often do accept tourists. Because of that it is a good idea to place your backpack in front of you and make a sign which makes you look like a professional hitchhiker.

When entering [[CB radio]] is quite popular in Poland not only among truck drivers, which might help in getting a ride. If you're lucky they can ask other drivers to take you further. You might even ask them gently to do that, especially in bad weather conditions or by night.Hitching by night is possible in Poland but not easy. On national roads try to find bright spot where drivers can see you. Use bright clothes. The best options are petrol stations where you can speak with the drivers while they fill up the tank. '''PolandPublic transport''' at the border from While staying in bigger cities check [[Lithuaniahttp://jakdojade.pl/Welcome.jsp?locale=en jakdojade.pl]] (. It will find for you every single connection between two points within city limits and possibly from other countries too) it is show ticket price, route on a good idea to get map, bus stops names and timetables. Just write the name of a long long ride if it's getting dark. Often there street where you are miles in a form called "A" and miles of trucks and it's better the place you want to try go to get in a ride straight form "B". You can also right click on the map to where pick points. It will do the rest. If you're heading then planning to get stuck somewhere stay longer in the middle of the night.If Poland you are stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere may want to download a mobile app and have it always with you (internet connection is already necessary). '''Hitchhiking as a solo woman''' At least in Northern Poland there are often prostitutes who are standing by the middle of road in the nightsummer. And if on duty, prepare yourself for they mark their regular spots with a long waitingtimepiece of clothing and come back again after. But after This might lead into confusion when you're hitchhiking alone as a couple of hours somebody will eventually stopwoman. Generally itIt's better not really dangerous but hitchhiker friendly people might mistake you for a prostitute when they pass you and not stop. So as a solo woman would be good not to wear clothes that are too revealing, put your backpack in front and not stand very close to hitchhike on the prostitute spots. === Hitchhiking at night ===On small roads rather it is to be avoided for sure as the traffic is low at night and the light even worse. On a spot with good light you can still try your luck. On the motorways it works perfectly good, maybe better than everywhere else in Europe. On the filling petrol stations, but after dark the latter option light is more plausible.During hitchhiking it might good and people are very helpful and will not be possible that drivers use [[CB radio]]s comfortable with the idea to ask other drivers to take leave youthere over night, especially when it rains or it is cold, what is quite often the case in this country.  === Borders ===As mentioned above Poland joined [[CB radioSchengen Agreement]] which means there is quite popular in '''Poland''' not only among truck driversno more passport control on the borders with Lithuania, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany. In most places there are still speed limits on the borders, there are also parking lots, toilets and currency exchange offices, which might help in getting a ridemakes these places pretty good spots for hitchhiking.Roads On newly built roads however there are often no speed limits anymore. To Ukraine you can go by foot in a bad conditionMedyka, though on some parts of the motorway from [[Kraków]] to [[Berlin]] it's possible but not in Korczowa!!! (although illegalthere you can wait for 3 hours because there are too many cars.) to drive at 200 km/h.

Even though the Polish road network has improved gigantically enormously over the last two decades, by Western European standards, '''Poland''' has still quite a poorly developed road infrastructure . The road network consists of roads motorways (''drogaautostrada'') i.e. A2, plural expressways (''drogidroga ekspresowa'') and expressways with lower speed limits than motorways i.e. S6, national roads (''autostradadroga krajowa''), which are mostly single lane i.e. 92 and other regional roads. At the moment there is a lot of investment in the road network, plural ''autostrady''especially since Poland hosted the European Football Championship final tournament in 2012.[[File:Autostop.JPG|260px|thumb|right|Restaurant on a Polish service station (A4) :-)]]Except for the motorways and expressways, it is generally acceptable to hitchhike on the side of the road in almost any suitable place. The vast majority Unlike many European states, the police are generally friendly towards hitchhikers as long as they behave properly. Some of the newly-refurbished national roads have "no pedestrians" signs near major towns, but it's still uncommon. This means that form an extensive net covering all if you plan to go through any major town in your journey, it is usually better to exit the car before arriving in the city - otherwise, you might have to walk till the end of the country are single laneno-pedestrians area. There are very few main On motorways and expresswaysthe best place to hitchhike is either a sliproad or, preferably, and some express roads with lower speed limits than motorways but with many one of their featuresthe petrol stations or toll booths.

Except for the few See also: <br />[[Changes in Polish motorways and expressways, it is generally accepted network|Up-to hitchhike on the side of the road -date info about investments in almost any suitable place. Unlike many European states, the police are generally friendly towards hitchhikers as long as they behave properly. Some of the newly-refurbished national roads have "no pedestrians" signs near major towns, but it's still uncommon. On Polish motorways and expressways the best place to hike is either an exit or, preferably, one of the filling stations.network on Google Maps]]<br /> See also: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_and_expressways_in_Poland Roads and expressways in '''Poland''']{{Voivodeships Poland}}<br />

[[ImageFile:Guaka-hitching-in-poland-2008.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[User:Guaka|guaka]] hitching in Poland]]According to a 2001 2009 survey by CBOS [http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2006/K_177_06.PDF] (Polish survey office), roughly 4246% of Poles speak declare they can communicate in at least one foreign language fluently. Generally, 2324% of Poles speak English, 20% speak Russian, 1612% speak English and a similar percentage speaks [[Germany|German]]. Other languages often spoken are [[France|French]](2%), [[Czech Republic|Czech]], [[Slovakia|Slovak]] and other Slavic languages. According to the same similar surveyin 2006 [http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2009/K_111_09.PDF], among the youngsters (students and pupils) the percentage to speak at least one foreign language fluently reached 6677, as compared to 5059% of those under 35 and 40% of those between 35 and 54 years of age [http://jezyki.nauka.pl/index.php/id=index/dept=38/cath=59/news=134/view=1]. According to a similar another survey prepared in late 2005 by TNS Opinion & Social for the European Commission, the percentage of people who speak one foreign language decently is 57%. At the same time roughly 32% are bi-lingual and 4% tri-lingual [http://www.egospodarka.pl/13770,Znajomosc-jezykow-obcych-w-Europie,1,39,1.html]. Except for younger people, foreign languages (mostly [[England|English]]) are commonly spoken by businessmen and educated people (87%), urban populations (50%) and small business (48%). However, it is hard to predict the knowledge of languages of a driver by his car as educated people in '''Poland''' are generally poorly-paid.

[[Image:Warsaw - poznan.JPG|thumb|left|225px]]The Polish language is generally hard to learn for most native English speakers. Even the most basic constructions you might need while on the road require the usage of quite complicated grammar and the use of grammatical gender, proper declension and a number of other categories non-existent in modern English. However, contrary to French or German people, Poles are generally friendly towards foreigners who try to speak their language. Because of that do not be afraid to commit mistakes. They might at times sound funny, but most Polish people would be astonished by the fact that you tried. That said some Polish drivers may find local hitchhikers suspicious as they are scared of crime. Foreign hitchhikers are excluded from this fear because nobody might expect a foreigner to have nothing better to do than pretending to be a hitchhiker and steal from their drivers. So when your Polish skills are good enough that people will not recognize you as a foreigner, mention it as well.

* [[Overview https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UKkPAv5GuGIQlrA-bHGxq6r4kh7Co1y5mnBx5y9Kt0o/edit List of good hitchhiking spots from former website Digimer AutostopFB groups for different cities in Poland]* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/autostopowicze/ Polish hitchhikers on FB]

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