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By thumb in Germany


By thumb in Germany

It is possible to hitchhike in Germany and most Germans speak basic English, so you will be understood if you speak slowly. Drivers rarely expect you to give them any money for the ride. The first letters of the German number plate (before the hyphen) indicate the city in which the car is registered. If you know the code for your destination , it will increase your chances of stopping the right vehicle. It is illegal to stop on the Autobahn itself, but hitchhiking from service areas or petrol stations is a good way of getting long rides (100-200 km). The hard part is getting onto the Autobahn, so it pays off to sleep near the gas stations if you are going far. At the gas stations, you can get a free booklet called Tanken und Rasten with a map of the Autobahn and its gas stations. When getting a lift, agree with the driver where to get off, and make sure there is a gas station. Try to avoid the Autohofs. It is also quite common to arrange a ride in a private vehicle in advance through on offline agency or the Internet. Offline agencies like Citynetz or ADM do have offices in major cities, mostly near the city center or the main railway station. These offline agencies do charge a commission to the cost for fuel you need to pay for the driver. In the recent, years online services to arrange rides in private vehicles became very popular, as both parties do not have to pay the commission to traditional agencies. You need to contribute only towards fuel costs. (example: Frankfurt to Berlin 25 euro). You can contact the driver directly by e-mail, phone or sms. As the drivers need to be registered, it is safer than hitchhiking. Hitchhikers is a comparable service, multilingual and free. Mitfahrgelegenheit and Mitfahrzentrale are other well known players with plenty of rides in their databases. Mitfahrzentrale even operates all over Europe. Raumobil is a new player in the market but a more private-run affair. Mitflugzentrale arranges rides in private planes. Another form of hitchhiking available in Germany is on the trains. People purchase a Wochenende-ticket (weekend ticket) which allows them to take up to four other people with them on the regional transports for the entire weekend. To hitch a ride with these travelers, first figure out which regional transportation you will need to take in order to reach your destination. You may figure that out online at the German train website , making sure to check "regional transportation only" or train stations in major cities have computer terminals in which you can do the same. Then, just hop on the train that is going your way. Always, within one car you will find someone willing to let you tag along. "Haben Sie ein Wochenendeticket?" Do you have a weekend ticket? "Darf ich bei Ihnen mitfahren?" May I travel with you?. Just make sure it is the right train and the weekend.

The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Germany


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Germany Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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