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[[File:DSCN0478.JPG|thumb|250px|left|[[User:Titush|Titush]] hitchhiking towards Slovakia]]
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'''Slovakia''' is a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]] with borders to , bordering [[Austria]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Poland]], [[Ukraine]] and [[Hungary]]. It is most of the time very easy to find a ride, waiting times are usually less than half an hour. Slovak people 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 or German, especially younger ones. Russian is more widely understood among older people, but not necessarily liked. In some southern areas of the country (where towns and villages are marked by blue signs), there is a substantial Hungarian-speaking minority. It is not common from the for drivers to ask money for a ride. Hitchhiking in Slovak is called ''stopovanie, stopovať''.
Hitchhiking (and indeed all pedestrian access) is not allowed on motorways, but one can hitchhike from entry ramps or ask drivers for a lift at petrol stations. On the country's national roads, you can simply stand wherever cars are going slowly and put out your thumb. Use 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. It 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). Hitchhiking in 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'''
* Yes '''Áno'''
* No '''Nie'''
* To the next gas petrol station '''Na ďalšiu benzínku'''
* I will get down here '''Tu vystúpim'''
== West-East travelling ==
Slovakia is a small country. Because the country has many hills is mountainous, there are few major roads across the aren't many routes to go nor are they good/many highwayscountry. So The D1 highway, running along the main traffic stream is West-East and reverse. Therefore most north of the people use the D1 highway what country, is called the big northern waymain 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 becouse 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 allways always a trafiic 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 ==
== 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]] with * [[PolandTrstená-Chyzne border crossing]]===[[Hungary]]===* [[Milhosť-Tornyosnémeti border crossing]] with * [[Parassapuszta-Šahy border crossing]]===[[HungaryAustria]]===* [[ParassapusztaDevínska Nová Ves-Šahy Schlosshof border crossing]] with (bicycle and pedestrian bridge) north of [[HungaryBratislava]]
== Number Plates ==
