Hitchhike info in CouchSurfing groups

This is an overview of a lot of information related to hitchhiking that can be found in the CouchSurfing groups system.

Done till 1/01 (page 62)

= Countries =

Albania

 * HH in Albania
 * Albania is completely safe, you can easily stop cars, and it's a great way to see countryside life.
 * The problem, however, is that hitchhiking is not part of Albanian culture and most drivers will expect money. I'd suggest learning the Albanian phrase for "Can you take me straight for free?" and saying that to drivers immediately when they stop. Be prepared that some drivers will refuse to take you for free. But if the first driver just goes on and leaves you waiting, almost always the second or third car will take you.


 * It can happen that people expect money, because standing at the streetside asking for a ride in cars, taxis, little busses is a part of the albanian public transport system.

ALL INFO ABOVE THIS LINE ADDED TO HW
 * i propose to hitch-hike with signs (because money-paing locals don't use this, so the drivers can expect, that you're something different).
 * when a car stop, say him something like "por.... jo para.... jo problem?" (but.... no money... no problem?) (the r sayed like an english r) and make it clear with gesticulation. Then they will take you or not and you will have no problem. An other useful word: mirë (=mir) is like dobro in slavic: good/fine/ok.

Argentina
ALL INFO ABOVE THIS LINE ADDED TO HW
 * Hitchhiking In Argentina/autostop, dedo en Argentina
 * I was hitchhiking Argentina for 4 months and had no problems what so ever (best trip of my life). It's probably easier hitchhikng in the south especially in patagonia.

Australia

 * HH Australia, now
 * Hitching in Australia was fairly easy, I found, however, once a police car stopped and told me "Hitchhiking is illegal HERE". I was somewhere in NSW I think, maybe... in the middle of a town, on some random street with suburban houses, that led to the highway. Maybe it was even "the highway"? Whatever. Luckily, there was a petrol station nearby, so I walked there, found a truck stopped, spoke with him, and got a lift. Easy.
 * Trains don't seem so frequent enough to hop, but maybe it's possible. If you do hop a train in Australia, please leave a story on casarobino website about the experience :)
 * Hitching in Australia is pretty easy, you just have to use a lot of common sense. I find you end up hitching from the roadside more than petrol stations, so this needs to be taken into account.
 * Australia is huge, so for longer trips i find time of the day and day of the week is super important. If you're on the coast (where towns average about 1hr apart) and its during the week, mornings and afternoons are best (people driving to and from work between towns). If its a weekend sundays are awesome for hitching, because people are doing long trips home at their leisure, so it tends to be easier to find long rides.
 * Truck routes are always the most direct route between major towns, so if you stick to the highways you should be sweet. There are always some kind of 24hr truck stop servo/restaurant things along the highway, so its easy to come across truckies. I've heard mixed experiences with the truckies, most people say they're pretty nice but i suppose generally its best to approach them when they're on their own as they're not supposed to give hitchers a lift.

Balkans

 * Hi,Every body...going to Kosovo...Need any advise,travell body,job or volunteer job suggestion for
 * Most importantly, if you plan to travel after you're there, you should be aware that, from the official standpoint of the Serbian government, by flying into Pristina, you will have entered 'Serbia' illegally and will not be allowed to cross into what is now internationally-recognized as Serbia. The only exceptions to this, I hear, is if you get a job (and thus ID) with NATO or K4.
 * Regarding entering Serbia after first going to Kosovo, what happens varies on a case to case basis. They can refuse you entry, or they will grant you entry and put new stamp in your passport, over stamp which Kosovo officials gave you, or in the third case, as it happened to one Spanish guy recently (check http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1004&post=4013196#post4105667) they will just tell you to cross the border, without checking you, or giving you new stamp. I heard of all cases, so you never know...


 * HH balkans!
 * Nothing useful


 * Bosnia?
 * stay on the road and you'll be fine. offtrack, there might be landmines. as for hitchhiking, its as safe as western europe - the police is very well controlled through eufor and shouldn't give you issues either.
 * People are very helpful and hospitable.
 * i did this few month's ago, it was very slowly, but people was very nice and nature is amazing ;) enjoy!
 * Getting a lift was easy, but I think communicating with the drivers might be difficult if you don't know any South Slavic languages.
 * it's quite slow (because of the roads) but the landscape is beautiful, especially the part south of Sarajevo


 * Montenegro, Croatia and BiH by the coast... any advices?
 * I came in the opposite direction a few weeks ago, from Sarajevo through Mostar and Dubrovnik to Kotor (and further into Montenegro). There are a few border crossings in the area, but they do not affect hitchhiking and generally your car will be waved through without the officials even looking at the passports of the people inside.
 * Pretty much all the traffic from Bosnia's small stretch of shore is going up to Mostar, and pretty much all traffic from Mostar is going to Sarajevo, so you shouldn't have problems getting a direct lift.


 * Hitchhiking in Bosnia, Montenegro, and Albania
 * First, I would advise against hitchhiking across the border to Albania. Remember it was until recently the poorest country in Europe, and is still quite unsafe in the mountain areas
 * Hitchhiking is possible, but most people expect you to give them some money.
 * hitching along the montengro coast is pretty easy...just a slightly poorer version of croatia.
 * When people see you, backpacker there they will be staring at you, they will be asking dozens questions and stuff like that. You will find it kind, but keep your eyes around yourself and be carefull with this. Hitching in Albania is perfect, I would say it's one of the best countries in Europe for hitchhiking, at least from my experiences. About charging, you might be asked for it, allthough I haven't been.
 * Bosnia is an amazing country to hitchhike in. especially away from sarejevo and mostar there are almost no tourists so drivers are keen to stop, ask you lots of questions and even buy you delicious meals. aside from turkey these were my most generous drivers. i never waited more than 5 minutes for a ride, of course i'm a single girl but still it should be easy for you. locals hitch too, i think foreigners get rides faster (as i said the locals are interested in us) so if you look like a backpacker it's a good thing.


 * Information and advice of HH on the Balkan needed
 * The people of the Balkans are amazing and hitching is rather easy everywhere though in Montenegro and Albania it can be rather slow. Albanians, except for those that have traveled extensively, dont really understand the concept of hitchhiking.
 * All Balkan countries are great for hitchhiking. It's too bad you are skipping Bosnia, it was one of my easiest ever countries to hitch in and it is such a lovely country. you never wait for rides and outside Sarajevo/Mostar there are barely any tourists so my drivers were really interested to talk with me. croatia is also great for hitching, the only problem is if you want to visit any of the islands (and you should see one or 2, i recommend mljet especially if you want to camp out wild,) you'll have to pay for the ferry, you have to pay for each passenger in addition to each car so you won't save anything by managing to get in someone's car.
 * bulgaria is great for hitching especially in the mountain areas like the rila and the rhodope.
 * Turkey is also awesome, so easy to hitch and my drivers were so kind, constantly buying me food and tea. they are not used to hhers but they are getting used to it because more and more europeans are doing it in turkey. the buses will probably try to pick you up and people might try to take you to the bus station but just decline politely, it's not too bad.
 * Info : Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Montenegro and Greece


 * HHing between Montenegro and Albania

Baltic countries

 * Riga-Kaunas on 31 of October: looking for advices or company
 * HH'ing from Riga to Tallinn, tomorrow
 * HH from Hamburg around the Baltic Sea
 * riga to tallinn
 * Hitchhiking to Moldova
 * Hitchhiking around the Baltic Sea

Canada

 * Hitchhiking Transcanadian Hwy Mid-Oct thru late Novemeber-Am I completely Crazed?
 * Is hitchhiking in Canada legal ?

China

 * BEIJING-HONG KONG
 * hh tibet

Cyprus

 * HH in Cyprus
 * You'll love Cyprus. It's because Cyprus is an island and on island people feel much more safer and trust each other that's why hh is really easy.

Ecuador

 * Ecuador, Crossing the country from South to North. Advice Needed.

France

 * Paris- Toulouse
 * Getting out of Marseille (FR)
 * questions for hitchicking in france and italy
 * Hitchhiking advice needed: Getting out of Paris

Georgia

 * T'bilisi -> Yerevan

Germany

 * How to hitchhiker from Frankfurt to Dortmund??
 * Good spots prague, dresden and berlin
 * Gedser (DK) -> Rostock (GER)
 * Bremen->Luzern on 1st Oct
 * the best way to hh from berlin ?
 * HH Germany
 * Berlin - Zurich over Hamburg?
 * Frankfurt Oder towards Berlin? (bad idea?)

Greece

 * Hitchhiking north out of Athens

Iceland

 * ICELAND! Anyone wanna hitchhike Iceland this summer? Come and join me :D

India

 * HH in India(mid april and may)

Iran

 * HH in Iran
 * Amylin, do you travel on a US passport? If so, you have zero chance of getting a visa to travel independently in Iran, unfortunately.
 * One Hitchhiker said "Thumbs are rude in Iran.Just wave at cars."
 * using the 'thumbs up sign' in iran means 'fuck you up the ass', its definitely not recommended!
 * One of the easiest countries to HH. It might be a bit difficult to get out of big cities, but once you are out, the first truck you see will pick you up.
 * It's a country of amazing hospitality and HH is often "all-inclusive", you get invited into people's house etc.
 * Of course learning some farsi is very helpful. There are quite a few azeri people as well, so you can try turkish with them.
 * hitch-hiking here is one of the easiest things to do, but there are some tips. first consider the your thumb, if you are in big cities they know what you mean, but in villages and small cities NEVER use it.
 * many drivers would ask for money, so before you get into the car ask them for free ride "majani" (=free)

Italy

 * hitchhiking Toscana
 * any good hitch spot to get out of Rome?
 * Hitchhiking Italy, INfo and company
 * Hitch hiking in Italy

Moldavia

 * TRANSNISTRIA (789 Odessa)

Morocco

 * Spain- Morocco in march

Poland

 * (?) gates from Warsaw, Wroclaw and Prague
 * Hitching out of Kraków towards Budapest
 * Hitchhiking to Gdansk

Portugal

 * Out of Lisbon

Russia

 * russia?
 * hh Russia
 * hitch to North-Artic Russia
 * HH to IRKYTSK (Lake Baikal)

Scandinavia
ALL INFO ABOVE THIS LINE ADDED TO HW
 * Norway Hitchhike - from Oslo Torp to Trondheim !!!!!
 * Denmark, Sweden, Norway
 * Hitching to northen scandinavia
 * Kopenhagen, yeya!
 * Gedser (DK) -> Rostock (GER)

Spain

 * Hitchhiking in Spain?!
 * Basically if you go along the coast in Spain, from France through Barcelona and Valencia, you can get to Algeciras without too many problems. There's plenty of Englishmen and Moroccans along the coast who know what hitchhiking is and will happily give you a lift.
 * But from Santander, you'd have to cross the center of Spain, where hitchhiking is not common.
 * If you see that people don't stop at night, and you are in a gas station close to a city, go to sleep and get up at 5. Usually that time small trucks start on quite long routes.
 * Try to explain as fast as you can who are you and what do you do there, why and so on... this is important. It approximately doubles the number of lifts.
 * it really helps if you speak a bit of spanish, you can talk to the people and they're more willing to pick you up
 * when you enter spain there are some gas stations on the motorway with information centres. they provided me with very good maps of spain for free
 * i wouldn't recommend to hitch in the center of spain: in summer it is very hot, there is fewer traffic and most people are not willing to pick up hitchhikers.


 * Any advice how to hitch hike in Spain?
 * the most important thing: talk to people. they somehow seem to build up confidence even if you just said one sentence.


 * hotchhiking in Spain?
 * We have been waiting about 1h and a half before a car stops for us. Spanish people doesnt really like to take people by HH.
 * I heard it is forbidden in this country.
 * Hitchhiking in Spain is not forbidden.
 * spain.
 * Hitchhiking in Spain
 * Who HAS hitched in Spain???

Switzerland

 * Hitching out of Switzerland // advice or partners??
 * Hitching in Switzerland is (thats my experience) not that fast as in morrocco - but you will also have less complications. Hitching alone as a woman is no problem, i say, at least during daytime, just be aware as usual when hitch-hiking. If you want to make big distances i propose to hitch by the entry of the highway with a sign of the next direction and then try to stay on the highway, eg. at gaz-stations. But if you start early in the morning, i guess you could do geneve-basel in one day, probably even more.

Turkey

 * Do u have any HH experiences in Turkey?
 * Hitchhiking in Turkey!
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=12&post=3867184
 * Best spot to hitch Hike from Istanbul to Ankara
 * HH from Antalya to Istanbul?!
 * From Istanbul to Ankara

Ukraine
http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=12&post=4095247
 * I have passed many other Ukraine borders hitchhiking. There's no reason you can't hitch across. Even if you get to the border and are told that you cannot walk across (as is common in EU-Ukraine borders), then you just ask the drivers waiting in the queue. You'll probably find a lift straight to Lviv that way.
 * its not allowed to walk across the border, but it doesnt matter, you can easely find someone who take you.

United Kingdom

 * How to hitchhiker in England?
 * Hitchhiking England - Dorchester to London or Luton Airport

= Routes =

Europe

 * BIG HH trip - Romania to Finland and back... NEED TIPS!
 * Departing from Frankfurt to Bologna - Some specific questions : ) !!!
 * Frankfurt am Main to Bologna, Is it possible in one day ??
 * Albania to Istanbul
 * Germany - Nordkapp
 * Vilnius - Berlin - Amsterdam - Bremen (August 21-29)
 * 24.08: HH Belgium - Finland - Sweden
 * HH Bucharest - Thessaloniki
 * vienna to istanbul, 10th of august, company wanted
 * hitchhiking for first time PARIS- PRAGUE
 * Sziget festival in Budapest
 * Hitching from Amsterdam to Istanbul by the croatian coast Mnegro and Albania, tips anyone?
 * Tips for the trip from Barcelona to Paris
 * Sweden to Germany?
 * suggestions for hitching from Spain to Georgia
 * Rotterdam-Hull. Possible to hitch?
 * POLAND KRAKOW GERMANY RUGEN Tomasz has got a question!!
 * hitchhiking in europe
 * from Finland to Sweden
 * Belarus to ukraine
 * Rome to Florence
 * Hitching from Hamburg toKopenhagen
 * towards praha
 * Best Route from Amsterdam to Kopenhagen?
 * belgium/luxembourg
 * hitchhiking berlin - sweden
 * Hitchhiking spain and portugal
 * Duration: From Marseille to Barcelona?
 * WHERE to go to hitch from Barcelone to Montpellier???
 * From Thessaloniki to Istanbul!
 * Bari (Italy) to Dubrovanik (Greece)
 * Hitchhiking from Hungary across Slovakia into Poland
 * hh tips from Venice to Lubjana, Yagreb, Budapest, Vienna, Katowice
 * Hitching times in Europe - Germany to Italy?
 * need an advice right now. HH Fr->Cz
 * köln - dordrecht/ rotterdam
 * Milan-Geneva by hitch-hiking
 * Best way from Berlin to Sweden for a hitchhiker!
 * italy-austria-budapest

Africa

 * Dedo por Africa. Hitchiking around Africa.
 * HH Morocco-Mauritania-Senegal-Mali-Burkina Fasso during the rainy season???

USA
NYC - Atlanta - Key West - Fort Lauderdale Interstates (freeways) vs. highways in the USA US alone & female :D [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=12&post=2842609 America West to East, am I mental? anyone want to come along?] H.h. IN southern U.S. Hitching Eastern US Advice about hitching from LA to NOLA?
 * Hitchhiking fron SF to NY
 * Hitching through America
 * Seattle to Kansas. What ya think?

Americas

 * Hitching North America
 * Hitching from Belize to Guatemala
 * Trip from the US to South America
 * Chile and Argentina... any takers.
 * Pan American and its startingpoint
 * Costa Rica to Honduras
 * Hitchhiking between Montréal and NYc
 * Tips for HitchHiking in Central America
 * what about hitchhiking in Cuba and Jamaïca?
 * Central America anybody?

Middle East

 * hitch-hiking middle east
 * Hitchhiking in the Middle East

Central Asia

 * HH partner - Georgia, Armenia, Turkey
 * Salom to All Hitchhikersfrom UZBEKISTAN!!!

Asia
in Afghanistan there's definetly an anti western feeling.So I would advice you not to HH in Afghanistan.When your standing on the side the road everyone can see you (including the the Taliban) so It's not worth the hassle.(from my experiance,most of my lifts where from NGOs). Traveling by public transport is very expensive there compered to the rest of central Asia and the people who do give you a lift expect you to give them money anyway,so from my experiance it wasen't one of the best places to visit. Pakistan is amazing,the people are so friendly,amazing landscape.The only problem was the bombs going off all over the place.
 * A Roadtrip to China
 * Hitchhike the World
 * HH Pakistan, Afghanistan
 * hitchhiking through Asia - crossing borders
 * HH in South East Asia and China
 * Hh in Singapore and Malaysia - any info?

= Specialty =

Winter HH

 * hitchin across america in winter?
 * Quebec in Winter??
 * Winter hitching

Equipment
Advice on a first aid kit clothes (what to take, how to dry) Traveling with reflective clothing Could I hitchhike with a netbook? Camera gear Gear Question (Sleeping Bag) [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=12&post=2361570 Neat and Tidy ... HH and keeping appearances] funky feet! Covert camping experiences
 * Tent Advice Needed
 * so what's in your backpack?
 * Safety: GPS/TRACKER device
 * How to recharge my phone?
 * cellphones on the go?
 * Should we get a phone while hitchhiking in Europe?
 * Question about camping on the road from a newbie...
 * Do You Hitch With Much extra Clothes?
 * Weight - To cook or not to cook?
 * how to wash sleeping bag ?

Night HH

 * at night???

HH bases

 * Come to Tilburg (Netherlands)! Super cool CS house waiting for surfers..

General Advice
10 Essential Tips to Improve Your Hitchhiking Game
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=12&post=3904446
 * help...hitchhikin for 1st time
 * Advice Please: Tips preventing getting robbed?

Motivations
Why do you hitchhike??

Boats & Trains

 * Working on a boat
 * Hitchhiking cargo ship
 * Hitchhiking a Train

Signs
Something funny to write on the board?

Languages
hitch hiking without speaking the native tongue?

Cross Continents
hitching to australia from europe.. any idea to cross an ocean in a cheapest way? [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=12&post=3718819 from London to Beijing... any tips?] Europe - Iceland - Greenland - Canada, Hitch hiking info ???? hh from Spain (or Portugal) to Marocco

From Europe to Canada

First time

 * Hitch hiking for the first time!
 * your first HH experience
 * First time hitching experiences...

Legalities

 * Cops, holy authority and these ol' thumbs..
 * Hitchhiking illegal?

Budget

 * How long have you survived on no money?
 * New Hitchhiker. Need some advice and help! (money)
 * Health Expenses?

= HH Groups: = Groups with more than 10 members

General groups

 * Hitchhiker / AutoStopper1266 1451
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=7307
 * hitch hikers208 103
 * hitchhiking69 26
 * digihitch143 47
 * Hitchwiki26 11

Speciality hitch

 * Boat Hitch-hiking1205 644
 * Classified Ads: For Sailors and Crew / Deckhands
 * Hitchiking women210 132
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=1054 Train Hopping
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=16558 Container ship

Festivals/Races
The Hitchhiker Racing Group28 13 http://race.abgefahren-ev.de

Race To Riga19 41

http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=9367 7-8-9 Just to let you know. There is International Hitchhiking Championship organized every year during May-day and starting usually from Gdansk (or any city in 3-city: Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot). The bank holidays in Poland are 1st May and 3rd May, so it makes a nice long-weekend sometimes.If you want to learn more visit the website, however it's unfortunately only in Polish... http://www.klubprzygody.pl/index.php?strona=poddzial&dzial=autostop

Europe

 * Advice: Europe60 46
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=24020 UK
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=24516 Norway
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=18683 Turkey
 * Hitchhikers in Romania16 17
 * Hitchhikers of Czech Republic
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=7065

Asia

 * Central Asia trip15 20
 * Hitch hiking on the silk route58 26
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=13423

Africa

 * Hitch hiking in Morocco18 11

Americas

 * Hitchhike Canada130 190
 * Hitchhikers in Latin America155 159
 * Hitchin' the ol' states23 29
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=18220 columbia
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=15163
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=8778
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=3050

Oceania

 * Hitchhike Australia53 46
 * Sziget Festival & Hitch-Hicking13 5

Less than 10 members

 * Hitchhikers in bolivia2 1
 * Hitchhikers in Bulgaria1
 * Hitchhikers in Georgia5 12
 * Trampen, mehr als nur mitfahren...4 1
 * Trip through Europe 2009
 * Partners & Groups5 1
 * Hitching Alaska1-
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=17787 Bolivia
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=17389SA
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=13892
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=12866
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=20054
 * http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22937

Websites

 * Hitchwiki.org (free hitchhiking guide)
 * Hitchbase (spots database)
 * Academy of Free Travels
 * Digihitch
 * Autostop ArgentinaA
 * utostop Chile
 * 
 * http://hitching.free.fr/
 * bpclub.ru
 * http://autostop.waw.pl
 * http://www.autostopemwswiat.pl/
 * http://www.deboleia.com/