Prague

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Prague
<map lat='50.08' lng='14.46' zoom='11' view='3' height='350' width='420'/>
Information
Country:
Flag of Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Population: 1.218.644
Licence plate: old: A?? ???? new: ?A? ????
Major roads: D1, D5, D8, D11
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Prague (Praha) is the capital of the Czech Republic.

Hitchhiking out

A lot of Czech people don't speak English. The Czech word for petrol station is "Benzinka". This might come in handy. (MF)

An abbreviation PHA written on your sign clearly informs a driver that you go to Prague.

North-East, towards Mlada Boleslav, Liberec, Goerlic, Hradec Králové, Náchod, Poland

File:Stop hk.jpg
Dj-bobr at the beginning of D11 Highway.

You can hitch from a gas station on the E65. Take the metro line B (yellow) to the last station, Cerny Most. From there catch bus number 220 to the stop called Do Certous. When you get off the bus the gas station is behind the big orange building with "H1" on it.

Maybe better is to use K+R place near Cerny Most metro station, lots of hitchhikers use this place. Disadvantage is that there are only cars travelling out of Prague - not those going from Prague ring road. But there is no non-freeway solution how to pick up those cars. My personal experience (dj-bobr) for east way (Hradec Kralove, Poland) is that you can try to hitchhike at the beginning of D11 Highway (50.098664 N, 14.597708 E). It's a motorway, but police don't care, if you stand safe at the shoulder.

North, North-West, towards Dresden, Berlin

You can also get to an easily reachable petrol station on the motorway getting north walking. You must go to Letňanská (e.g. bus 195, 140, 158 from metro Prosek). Then going down from the bus, you can see the entrance of the motorway straight ahead. Put yourself so you have the motorway on your right, then cross the street (going north then), and then the parking, and go behind the buildings, looking for a small bridge (“most” in Czech), going above the motorway. From there you will see the petrol station. There are not so many people stopping there, but they all are (almost) going in the good direction. Just ask if they are going north (“sever”) or if they can just let you on the next petrol station (“příští pumpa”/“prschieschtee pumpa”), where there will be normally more cars.

Second option

You need to get to the first big petrol station OMV with McDonalds on D8(E55). From metro station ”Letňany” take bus (195, 140, 158, 110, 269) to the stop “Obchodní centrum Čakovice”. Then on the other side of the road take bus (202) and ride one stop to “Na Lukách”. Bus goes once in an hour, so it's better to walk there for 10 minutes. The bus stop “Na Lukách” is very close to D8(E55) motorway. If you took bus or walked, then go towards the bridge and from there you can see the petrol station at left. From that petrol station you can either hitch-hike to Dresden directly or to the last petrol station OMV before Lovosice or to the Agip petrol station after Usti. The hitch-hiking position there is also good.

Warning: If you are passing through Dresden, take a look on Dresden hitchwiki page.

Third option

Use the third option, if you don't want to go with so many buses. Just take the red metro line (C) to the terminal station Letňany and then walk from there to the spot marked by Fatidik. It is 300m walking from there. Walk to the street Tupolevova and at the first crossing left into the Beranovych until the end, then right and straight until you see a small walking path leading you to the service station. There are not so many cars and you may wait a little long if you are two male hitchers.

Fourth - BEST Option

From the petrol station point described above simply walk 2km in the direction of the highway (Dresden/Berlin) and you will reach another OMV petrol station which has a McDonalds. This is way more populated spot, I only waited less than an hour to be picked up to be driven to Berlin.

West, towards Plzen, Nürnberg

From metro Zlicin (line B, yellow), take bus nr 380 or 308 to Rudna. The village main road goes straight through it. Stop around the center of the village, busstop Rudna Horelice. Ticket costs approximately 14 Koruna. You'll see the motorway passing on the bridge on your right. Go under the bridge and walk on the Horelicka. Take the third road on your right (Ke Hristi). Take the small path at the end of the street, you'll arrive at the gas station. It's a 5-10 min walk. Avoid going into Plzen or getting dropped off on the bypass. It's better to try to find a direct ride to Germany from the last petrol station before Plzen.

Another option is to take a tram (9, 10) to Motol, that's where the motorway link starts. Not a perfect place, but cars are not too fast and there are quite a lot of Germans passing.

Another option: From metro "Zlicin" (line B, yellow) go the the crossroad on traffic lights, there's a bridge before (under the bridge are railways), so walk on the traffic light and stand right on the triangle, you can catch cars from both ways, they are going slowly there, and there's also a place to stop. We have been waiting there for 10 minutes. Look at the picture for details: nice spot

East, towards Hradec Králové, Pardubice, Wroclaw

From Cerny most, the last station of B-line metro(yellow) take bus to station Na Kovárně(221, 303, 304, 344, 353, 398), it is about 10 minutes ride and probably you are going to pay few crounds, but not much. Hundred metres behind the stop turn right and go along Tlustého street, after last house keep the right(bigger) road, then left before the cemetery. Go across the bridge to the petrol station. It is about 1,5 km, but I think it is the best hitch spot on this direction. There usuall isn´t too many cars, but I´v never been there more than half an hour. If you get lost ask anyone about "Hummer Garden" (the place only for Hummers) which is just behind the station (road E67).

South-east, towards Brno, Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna, Kraków (D1 highway)

From metro Opatov (line C, red) follow noise to the motorway. Walk along the road about 5 minutes, keep going over the crossroad and the bridge over the motorway (see second map). Now you might see other hitchhikers on the slip-road. Alternatively, you can take bus number 177 from metro Opatov to next station called U Dalnice. (It's request stop, so press the stop-button after the bus starts moving.) Be careful and stay on the slip road, not on the motorway (sometimes police passes by). Average waiting time is less than one hour. From the bridge you can see the petrol station 'Újezd u Průhonic' – it's about 1.5 km by motorway, but it isn't a good place.

Hitchhikers at Újezd u Průhonic petrol station. Regular local hitchers were about, as well as hitchers doing the race.

Second option

Use the petrol station, it is a good place, easier to reach and you'll get rides quickly. From metro Opatov (line C, red) climb the steps to the motorway. Look on the bus stop timetables for the stop “K Sukovu” on route 324, 363 or 385 (you are going south, the buses should leave every 15 minutes, and you can use the same ticket that you got on the metro). Get to K Sukovu – you'll know you're there when you see the petrol station to your right. From K Sukovu walk in the direction the bus is going for about 500m. After you cross the motorway bridge, the petrol station is on your right. This is a perfect spot! (MF)

Tom shared this spot with about 20 other hitchhikers during a race in April 2007 (most started at the slip-road spot described above, but just got dumped at this petrol station). While his teammates fell asleep on the grass for 3 hours (!), he was able to chat with other hitchhikers and drivers, and get ride offers towards Brno, Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna and Kraków. The average waiting time was 20–30 minutes, plus there were several truck drivers promising longer lifts after a few hours' rest.

Third option

If you're lazy walking long ways till you reach the hitch-spot, you should try option three:

  • Take Metro C till Chodov
  • leaving the metro entry turn right into road Roztylska until you reach the roundabout
  • the 2nd exit of the roundabout is yours, then again turn the first right into road Kloknetova
  • walk straight through the path in the bush, cross the street, enter the gas station and hitch a ride =)

The gas-station is a smaller one right on the motorway, but even if you won't find a long-distance ride in the first 10 minutes you can ask drivers to bring you to the next gas-stations which is 10 minutes away by car.at this bigger gas station lots of people stop to refill and are going direction Brno, Vienna and Ceske Budejovice Budweis.

On the Viva con Agua Hitchhike Race in 2009 one team chose that spot and it worked our pretty good!

Public transport

Always have a valid ticket when travelling by metro!, unless you look like a Czech! Tourists are the biggest source of income for DPP (Prague public trans.), so the controllers are first to check those, who do not look like Czech citizens. The fine is 700 Kč (30 euro), so better buy a ticket or travel by tram/bus. If you plan to stay longer, you can buy a ticket for one, three or five days that costs 100, 330 or 500 CZK.

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