Changes

'''Especially in northern Sweden''' is there are only a member state of the [[European Union]] as well as the [[Schengen Agreement]]. Many say few main roads, which means that hitching in Sweden sucksyou might have a shorter time waiting and longer lifts. But it can work very well! Moreover almost everyone speaks English which will increase your chances Be careful to stand somewhere where there is some sign of learning from the meetings along the waycivilization. As anywhere especially in Western [[Europe]]the north the roads are no real motorways and accessible for pedestrians, you can stop all the traffic, especially if you stand on something like a bus stop. When on large motorways you have to take care a little on which petrol station you end up on, as there are the holy temples too many of car driving religion and someone standing them, with sometimes only little traffic on each of them is committing blasphemy. But you can hitch on , and as most of the petrol stations are one or two kilometers away from the motorway ramps as well as on local roads. Better bring You can find a good mapof some of the bigger service stations (Rasta) online: http://www.rasta.nu/english.htmFurthermore, thoughsome of the service stations are only built on one side of the lane, so that you won't end up in an unexpected placeand drivers tend to remain on "their" side. If you travel along do have the biggest motorwaychoice, E4you should therefore try and avoid crossing over to the other side, you as only around 1/4 of the drivers there will make faster time, but not see that much continue in your direction.Trafikverket distributes a map of service stations (rastplatser) in Sweden's beautiful landscapes. If your primary aim is to explore The map shows where the countryservice stations are and what services are offered (usually toilets but sometimes food, petrol or playgrounds as well. The more services offered, you should stay away the busier the service station is). You can download it [http://www.trafikverket.se/rastplatser here] or get a paper copy from E4tourist information centres.

Especially Please note that due to the current (2015/16) discussions and changes in northern Sweden there are only a few main roads, which means that policies concerning asylum seekers and refugees you might have a shorter time waiting and longer lifts. Be careful to stand somewhere where there is some sign of civilizationexpect ID checks while entering the country. As especially Furthermore you could experiencing problems in the north the roads are no real motorways and accessible for pedestrians, you can stop all the trafficany cross-border hitching, especially if you stand on something like a bus stopwhile travelling north (e.g. When on large motorways you have from Denmark to take care a little on which petrol station you end up on, as there are too many of them, with sometimes only little traffic on each of them, and as most of the petrol stations are one or two kilometers away from the motorwaySweden).

[[User:Perilisk|Anick-Marie]] had no chance at all hitching rides on Öland in May 2005. [[User:EggDestroyer|Aurélien]] hadn't either from Copehnagen to Stockholm in August 2011.On the other hand, [[User:Somewhatofftheway|Ben]] had good experiences in 2010, going most of the way across the country up to Finland. In the summer of 2011 Harry Tattersall Smith and Viljami Laurmaa had an incredible time hitchhiking through the north of Sweden. Any memories of the delays have all but been eclipsed by the fantastic charcaters and experiences we had along the way. Their adventures have been documented [http://glasgowguardian.co.uk/culture/lifestyle/hitchhiking-through-scandanavia/ here] In October 2013 six students at Uppsala University had a hitch-hiking race to Oslo from Uppsala. Splitting into three teams of two, two of the teams had a really straight forward journey arriving into Oslo after seven hours and three lifts along the E18. The final team took two days, staying overnight half-way thanks to the kindness of a local, but nonetheless they made it!

== Landscapes Landscape ==

 * [[Dalarna]]* [[Härjedalen]]* [[Lappland]] == Crossing the border ==Sweden is in the [[Schengen treaty]]. This treaty is rather well respected at the Finnish and Norwegian borders but has stricter regulations at the terminals where ferries from [[Denmark]] port, or at the bridge uniting [[Copenhagen]] with [[Malmö]]. Stricter control and special attention is usually applied to those who look like "being of another race". If you are unlucky, you might be made to strip during their search. Keep in mind, though, that the personality check is not applied to everyone but only to some at random order so you have more chances to quickly cross the border than get stuck explaining to the officials that you are neither a paperless immigrant nor a smuggler.

When people talk about the amount of miles they are doing with their car, it's acutally actually Swedish Miles, which equals 10 kilometres.

== Camping == In Sweden, the wonderful Allemansrätt has existed for many centuries only as a customary law, but since 1994 it is part of the Swedish constitution. As in other Nordic countries, the Swedish right to roam comes with an equal emphasis being placed upon the responsibility to look after the countryside; the maxim is "'''Do not disturb, do not destroy'''".  The Allemansrätt gives a person the right to access, walk, cycle, ride, ski, and camp on any land - with the exception of private gardens, the immediate vicinity of a dwelling house and land under cultivation, and with restrictions for nature reserves and other protected areas. This means that you could put up a tent for free almost anywhere as long as it doesn't disturb anybody. Make sure to '''not leave any garbage''' in the nature – we should really take the responsibility for those future generations will have the same democratic right to the nature as we have, and of course have any nature at all.. Very welcome to enjoy the Swedish nature! == Useful things info == You have good chances of finding quite nice '''food''' in the dumpsters of petrol stations along the smaller roads (the E4 is ''not'' a good bet for this). Supermarkets are hard to dumpsterdive in Sweden. '''Internet''' you can normally get at the public or university libraries for free. Sometimes you have to ask for a guest account.

There's a quite useful '''[[maps|map]]''' ("vägkarta") which you can get at ''OKQ8'' petrol stationsfor 15 swedish crowns. It's for whole Sweden and has all ''OKQ8'' petrol stations on it, which can be quite handy when hitchhiking and looking for a good place to be dropped off. [http://publikationswebbutik.vv.se/shopping/ShowItem____4483.aspx Here's another map] that you can apparently order for free.{Link is dead - can someone who knows what this was renew/correct it?} At ''Statoil'' gas stations you get a free map with statoil gas stations. The OKQ8 one might actually also be free now?

* [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5889849780facebookgroup] - facebookgroup for for Swedish hitchhikers* [http://www.okq8.se/Pa-stationen/Bensinstationer map with the petrol stations of Q8/OK]* [https://www.trafikverket.se/trafikinformation/vag/ trafikverket.se] - online map with up to date information on accidents, closed roads and road works == Personal Experiences == Pls add info == Nomadwiki & Trashwiki == {{nomadwiki}}