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Sheffield is a former steel mining community that has transformed itself into a vibrant student city since the mines closed in the second half of the 20th century. It is nicknamed 'England's largest village', as it has a very local, small-town feel to it. It claims more trees and parkland per person than any other European city, and is built upon seven hills (cycling here is not for the faint-hearted). Despite all this, Sheffield is the fourth biggest city in the UK.
Many tourists ignore Sheffield, because Manchester is so close. Many English people also forget that Sheffield exists for some reason. This is fine with Sheffielders - it means that they get to keep their home as their special secret. Sheffield has a strong character of a typical 'northern' city, and there is much to see and do following the recent renovations to the city centre. There is a small but rapidly growing Hospitalityclub community, fuelled by the annual 'Bummit' hitchhiking competition organised by Sheffield University. Sheffield is 10 minutes' train ride away from the Peak District national park, with many mountains and lakes to explore.
== Getting about ==
You will be charged for using public transport, although it is sometimes possible to hop the trams. Keep a lookout on the trams - if you are very lucky, one of them may break down and as a result, you are allowed to use all local public transport for free until the problem is fixed.
Take care with using older maps. The city has been renovated recently and the locations of some of the main roads (such as the ring road which may be important whilst hitchhiking) have changed (June 2007).
Take care when reading the maps in the city centre. Most are not orientated with North upwards. Instead, they are orientated with the forward direction upwards, which can take some getting used to.
Many drivers are friendly towards hitchhikers, although they often behave defensively at first.
== North, South, East, West (except [[Manchester]]) ==
Waiting time can be long, around 45-90 minutes. The other options are travelling much futher out, to either Atercliffe Common or to the Meadowhall shopping centre. But for some reason Meadowhall seems to be terrible for hitchhiking. The Atercliffe Common/Broughton Lane junction may be worth a shot, although it is unlikely to be much better than the Castlegate/Sheffield Parkway spot described above.
The waiting time is short, usually 15-45 minutes, and many cars drive directly to Manchester or [[Stockport]].
[[Category:England]]
