Halle (Saale)

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Halle (Saale)
Flag of Germany
Coat of arms of Saxony-Anhalt.png
Population: 232,260 (30 Sep 2007)
Licence plate: HAL
Major roads: A9, A14, A38
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Halle (Saale) is a city in the south of Saxony-Anhalt, nearby Leipzig.

Hitchhiking out

All directions

A good place to find a lift towards Berlin (A9) and Leipzig/Dresden (A14) is the Aral gas station near Wasserturm. You get there by taking tram #1 in direction of Frohe Zukunft and getting out at the stop Äußere Hordorfer Straße. The gas station is on your left after the traffic light. You can also take an S-Bahn from the central station and get out at S-Bhf Dessauer Brücke, then you need go up the stairs, cross the street and walk right a few meters. You can also walk here, from the center it is only about 20-25minutes. Just walk in direction of Wasserturm and then follow the big road/signs to the highway.

It is quite easy to find lifts towards Berlin and Leipzig and South onto the A9. It can take a while (even an hour or more) to find a lift to Magdeburg or even onto the A14 in that direction. Also, maybe 80-90% of the cars is just local traffic.

You can also hitchhike at the road passing by the gas station: the right lane will turn after the bridge at the traffic light in direction of the highway (on the Bundestraße B100). There is no good place to stop though (and probably few cars towards Magdeburg).

If you can't find anybody who goes directly in your direction, you can ask anybody who drives on the B100 towards the A14. Directly before the exit to the highway there is another Aral gas station on the right side and also a McDonalds.

The B100 continues to the A9, so if you want to hitchhike to Berlin you can also get out at the next traffic light after, there is place to stop and the red light is long enough to ask people directly.

North towards Magdeburg

The easiest way to get to / direction of Magdeburg is Option 1. Halmd never waits longer than 20 minutes there. On weekdays there is a lot of traffic until 09:00, after that it is hard to get a ride until 14:00. After 14:00 you can again easily get a lift.

Drivers can go via the exits Trotha, Tornau or the Bundestraße B100.

Option 1: Take tram #3, #8 or #12 to the last stop Trotha. Go back to the traffic light where the tram turned and walk 500m along Trothaer Straße (later Magdeburger Chaussee) until you reach an Aral station. Try hitching at the station or stand by the road. It is better to stand by the road. After the Aral station there is a shoulder, which is not tarmaced but still good to stop. Try to get a lift on the Autobahn, as cars further up drive pretty fast. The service station Plötzetal is very close, it is after the next exit Löbejün. If your driver goes to Könnern ask them to go via the highway and drop you at the service station.

Option 2:Take the tram #1 to the last stop Frohe Zukunft and hitch directly at the road with a sign. Especially locals will avoid the longer route via the B100 and drive this way towards the on-ramp Tornau, but also some navigation systems lead you this way. You can accept a lift to the on-ramp, although there is no shoulder to stop.

Option 3: The Aral station near Wasserturm. The best way is probably to stand by the road while keeping an eye on the cars at the station.

n0id once got a direct lift after 10 minutes to Magdeburg at the spot in Frohe Zukunft, but a second time proved to be as bad as the Aral station near Wasserturm where it took usually one hour or more. Although he tried it only once, the first option might be the best.

West or East: A38

Many trams go to the stop Rennbahnkreuz. Here, the B80 begins, which leads to the A143, leading in turn to the A38. It might be possible to catch lifts towards Leipzig and towards Göttingen or Kassel, but there is no real place to stand, just a traffic light (after the bridge) where cars towards Leipzig turn left and all others go straight.

East to Leipzig

It should be possible to catch rides somewhere on Delitzer Straße. Tram #7 goes in that direction from the central station. However, be aware that there are constructions on that road and also the tram might not run to its final stop (May 2011).

Hitchhiking in

From Berlin (A9 North)

The last service station on the A9, Köckern West, is located just 5km before the exit towards Halle. It is not recommended to get off in Köckern because people going to Halle will usually not stop here, their destination being only 20km away. Instead, ask your driver to take the exit towards Halle and drop you off on the B100. This means a small detour, as the first possibility to turn back towards the Autobahn is a 3km drive from the exit.
In Mohit's experience, hitching Berlin-Halle regularly, drivers will gladly do you the favour and no one has ever refused. It is best to ask before it's too late to commence plan B, though. (which should be to find a different driver at Rasthof Fläming or Köckern, or get off at the airport, in Leipzig, or on the B6 and hitch from there)
Once you're on the B100, there will be lots of traffic with almost everybody going to Halle. You can either hitch the old-fashioned way (thumbing), or ask people at the traffic light or at the gas station 1km down the road.

From the North (A14)

You can get off at Tornau. It is still far to the center, but you can easily hitch another ride during daytime.

Public transport

You can basically get everywhere by tram. Occasional ticket inspections. Sometimes in uniform (easily recognizable), sometimes plain clothes. They alway carry devices to check tickets though!