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{{infobox Country|country = Slovakia|map = <map lat='48.6667' lng='19.5' zoom='6' view='0' float='right'country='Slovakia'/>|language = Slovak|capital = [[Bratislava]]|pop = 5 455 000|currency = Euro (EUR, €)|hitch = <rating country='sk' />}}''' seems not to be so easy. People rarely tend to stopSlovakia''' is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]], when you are standing at the road with a sign. So it is best to ask directly at gas stations. Somebordering [[Austria]], but not many[[Czech Republic]], speak English or German. Russian is more widely understood[[Poland]], but not necessarily liked[[Ukraine]] and [[Hungary]].

Young It is most of the time very easy to find a ride, waiting times are usually less than half an hour. Slovak people can are incredibly friendly and will do their best to make you feel comfortable. Some will even invite you to have lunch with their family and/or have a drink with friends! Some, but not many drivers speak English and it's or German, especially younger ones. Russian is more widely understood among older people, but not so bad with English in bigger necessarily liked. In some southern areas of the country (where townsand villages are marked by blue signs), there is a substantial Hungarian-speaking minority. Of course in villages it can become difficult It is not common for drivers to understand each otherask money for a ride. Hitchhiking in Slovak means autostopis called ''stopovanie, stopovať''.

You Hitchhiking (and indeed all pedestrian access) is not allowed on motorways, but one can find hitchhike from entry ramps or ask drivers for a lot of [http://stopar.sk offers for hitchhikers] lift at [http://wwwpetrol stations.stoparOn the country's national roads, you can simply stand wherever cars are going slowly and put out your thumb.sk/indexUse a card displaying a two-letter code of your destination town (see below in section "Number plates"), if your intended destination cannot be obvious to the drivers.php?newlang=english stoparIt is not advised to hitch on an older national road which runs parallel to a newer motorway, because all longer-distance traffic uses the motorway (unless of course you only want to get to the nearest village).sk] (available Hitchhiking in English)pairs of a man and a woman is the best bet: most successful and also secure.

== Phrasebook ==Slovak is a Slavic language with many divergent dialects. Even Slovak people from the west do not always understand Slovak people from the east, but the standard language described here is understood by all. In the southern areas drivers speak rather Hungarian, so you might try the [[Eastern Europe phrasebook#Hungarian|Hungarian phrasebook]]. * Hello (formal/casual - do not use for older people) '''Dobrý deň'''/'''Ahoj'''* Please '''Prosím'''* Thank you '''Ďakujem'''* Direction '''Smer'''* Highway '''Diaľnica'''* Are you going to ...? '''Idete do ...?'''* Are you please going in direction of ...? '''Idete, prosím, smerom na ...?'''* Goodbye '''Dovidenia'''* Yes '''Áno'''* No '''Nie'''* To the next petrol station '''Na ďalšiu benzínku'''* I will get down here '''Tu vystúpim''' == West-East travelling == Slovakia is a small country. Because the country is mountainous, there are few major roads across the country. The D1 highway, running along the north of the country, is the main east-west road in Slovakia. But as the new motorway R1 was finished the streams seperated. Sometimes they are called the northern way and the southern. They split near [[Trnava]] and join in [[Ružomberok]]. Going both ways there is always a part where there is no highway/motorway (After they will finish the [[Žilina]]-[[Ružomberok]] part this will no longer be valid. But they are not going to finish it at least the next 5 years.) but just a national road. For the north one it is the road 18, for the south it is the road 59.  Still the north route is the more used because it's a habit. But in the summer it is close to be equal.During the winter the northern route becomes more used by people going at least to [[Ružomberok]], becouse on the south route there are a lot of skiing centres so most of the cars go there and they tend to be full and there is always a traffic jam so the long distance drivers avoid this route.  The parts with no highway make the traveling slower but can be an advantage for you. On many parts there are traffic jams and the roads go through many cities so you can hitchhike on bus stops and traffic lights and you can catch a pretty long ride. Another small group of cars that go from west to the farest east ([[Košice]] and more east) go by the so called big south route. It's a route that start in [[Bratislava]], goes by the D1 highway, continues by the R1 motorway and then gets off the motorway in [[Zvolen]] and continues by the national roads and then the big northern way and the big southern way meet in [[Košice]]. But this is the least used route. The meaning of mentioning this option is just to be said that some people go that way and it is still possible to hitch there. == North-South travelling ==There is a road [[E77]] passing through the middle of [[Slovakia]] connecting [[Krakow]] and [[Budapest]]. It is also the main route used by Turkish trucks driving from [[Turkey]] to [[Poland]], [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]], and [[Finland]]. It is very hitchhike-friendly and passes through [[Ružomberok]], [[Banská Bystrica]], [[Zvolen]], and [[Šahy]]. Even though it is relatively easy to hitchhike along the route, it is best to wait at the border crossings [[Parassapuszta-Šahy border crossing]] (south) or [[Trstená-Chyzne border crossing]] (north) when looking for long-distance rides. ==Cities==

* [[Košice]]* [[Prešov]]* [[Banská Bystrica]]* [[Žilina]]* [[Nitra]]* [[Trenčín]]* [[Poprad]][[File:Hugo.JPG|thumb|200px|right|Hugo hitchhiking from [[Poprad]] to [[Žilina]]]] == Border crossings =====[[Ukraine]]===* [[Vyšné Nemecké-Uzhhorod border crossing]]* [[Ubľa-Malyi Bereznyi border crossing]]* [[Velké Slemence-Mali Selmenci border crossing]] (pedestrian crossing, EU/EEA & Ukrainian passports only)===[[Poland]]===* [[Barwinek-Vyšný Komárnik border crossing]] * [[Trstená-Chyzne border crossing]]===[[Hungary]]===* [[Milhosť-Tornyosnémeti border crossing]]* [[Parassapuszta-Šahy border crossing]]===[[Austria]]===* [[Devínska Nová Ves-Schlosshof border crossing]] (bicycle and pedestrian bridge) north of [[Bratislava]] == Links == [https://www.facebook.com/groups/stopari.czsk/ FB group for Czech and Slovak hitchhikers] == Personal Experiences == ''Summer 2022: I really liked hitchhiking in Slovakia, it's easy (20min-1h) and people are friendly. Normally, you don't do a lot of kilometres in one ride, because people are moving from one small town to another.''''The country is very beautiful despite the fact that in general it consists only of small towns but that's gives you an opportunity of easy camping. There are a lot of green zones and parks where you can camp. Locals tell that there are a lot of wild bears in the big national parks (as the Tatras), so be careful sleeping in the forest. '' --[[User:HHer-Vert|HHer-Vert]] ''Winter 2022: one of the worst experience in our hitchhikers life. A girl and a man, from Tatras at the Polish Border to Kosice: relatively easy way, 30 minutes wait (by -7 celsius, snowing and windy) for a 1 hour ride. But the next day, we decided to go to Bratislava from Kosice, taking the unfinished highway linking the 2 cities.. Terrible way. The spot to get out of Kosicewere sketchy, on the side of the highway. We were visible from far even though it was foggy and with snow everywhere, there was plenty of space to pull over safely at a bus stop. Not the best spot but definitely doable. We waited 1h15 minutes by -7 celsius, a guy took us to a good gas station in Presov. Thought we were off the hook but there we spent an hour and fifteen minutes asking every car. The girl spoke polish so easily understandable by the slovaks, but every one was harsh, pretending not understanding. We were clean on ourselves, had a shower the day before. Eventually, after 1h15, a couple took us, they were going to Bratislava but they tried to hide it to us, just saying they could drive us somewhere else. After 2 hours ride without talking to us but talking low between them so that my polish friend couldn't understand, they told us to leave the car in Trencin, saying that it is a big city there so it should be easy to reach Bratislava. It never happened to us that drivers are so unfriendly and drop us before the destination ! So rude. But well, Trencin seemed to be a big city, we were on the main road to Bratislava, traffic was slow and we were at a bus stop at the exit of the city so plenty of space to pull over. Once again, we waited 1h30 minutes (after 4000km together with my friend, we generally wait 15min in average, and there in slovakia we waited 3 times 1h15 average by -7Celsius...). After a break in the warmth of the gas station shop, a dude took us, drove 220km/h and dropped us at a petrol station in Trnava where the 1st driver we asked took us to Bratislava ! It was one of our worst hitchhiking experience. Seeing this hitchwiki page I guess it was a load of bad luck.--[[User:jurichezzbmx|jurichezzbmx]] == Nomadwiki & Trashwiki == {{nomadwiki}}