Hitchhiking in the Baltic States

Hitchhiking in Lithuania; Foto: T. Goldbecher

Hitchhiking is the perfect way of discovering the landscape of a country and its people at the same time. You don’t even need to plan your trip in detail because you often end up somewhere you didn’t expect to. Local people know the surroundings the best and will be able to take you to wonderful places apart from touristic hotspots. Many people like to help others and that’s true for all around world. This time we wanted to see how hitchhiking works in the Baltic States. 

Our starting point was south of Berlin in Germany and we wanted to reach Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, via hitchhiking within three weeks. On total that are at least 1,500 km to hitch if you stay on the highways. But we wanted to spend some time along the Baltic Sea coast. So our way got longer but we also discovered abandoned beaches and beautiful forests. We crossed Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Equipped with a backpack and camping gear we got ready for that journey.

Thumb up: We start our tour to Baltic States! 

1. Poland

To get out of big cities is in general quite difficult. Many cars are staying in the urban area and you have to walk for a long time to get to highways. So you are really better off taking a bus or train to the suburbs and to position yourself next to the main road of your destination. Even then, it might take some time until someone gives you a lift but with some patience you will make it. 

Petrol station in Poland; Foto: T. Goldbecher

It wasn’t hard to get our first lift to Berlin but we went a little bit too far on the wrong highway. Therefore we decided to take a train to Frankfurt Oder and to continue hitchhiking there. In Frankfurt Oder we crossed the city bridge over to Poland on foot. In Sublice, the polish city just next to Frankfurt, we had to walk for some kilometers until we found a bigger road out of the city that would lead us to highway number two. Our aim was to reach Poznan on that day. Just standing beside the road and holding up our thumb didn’t work really well. No one stopped for us to ask where we are going to. After one hour we decided to go to the next petrol station and to ask people where they were heading to. Finally, an employee of the petrol station helped getting a lift. He asked a truck driver to take us with him. That man didn’t speak English but somehow we still managed to communicate with each other. He was very friendly and he even called his colleagues to find someone else to take us to Warsaw. Still 200 km before Warsaw we were dropped off at another petrol station and again we asked people directly to give us a lift. Either they had no space for us or they didn’t speak English. When it was getting dark we decided to stay one night at a cheap hotel next to the petrol station. 

The next day we tried out a different strategy: We asked someone to tell us how to ask people if they are going to Warsaw in Polish. Polish people are going to laugh when they are reading that. The pronunciation of the sentence was something like: Tsche jedsche pan do Warsaweui? And that worked.

A lift from Poland to Lithuania; Foto: T. Goldbecher

We stayed in Warsaw for two days and then took a bus a little bit out of the city. There a young Polish man who spoke English very well gave us the longest lift of the whole trip. After 400 km and long conversations about immigration and the political structure in Poland we were in Lithuania and pitched our tent in a field next to Kaunas.

Tips for Poland:

Try to know a few words in Polish and don’t be afraid to ask people at petrol stations to give you a lift. Well, most importantly stay patient if it doesn’t work out right away.

2. Lithuania

From Kaunas we went to Plunge and visited the Zemaitijos National Park. It was easier to get a lift in Lithuania and we had a good map to find the exact road we wanted to take. Smaller roads often work better than big ones because people are not stressed to stop for you. Still, we waited about 20 minutes each time. After two days in the national park we hitched to the beach in Palanga. Sventoji is a smaller place just next to Palanga and a little bit less touristic. You will find very nice beaches over there and in August the water was warm enough to go swimming. A funny driver of a small bus helped us afterwards to cross the border to Latvia.

Tips for Lithuania:

Beach in Sventoji; Foto: T. Goldbecher

Be relaxed, someone is going to stop for you even though it takes some time. It is also good to change your place where you are hitchhiking once you have waited over 30 minutes and try it a little bit further on the way. Many people in Lithuania speak very good Russian and younger people speak English. Just be aware of that there might be a language barrier once you are in the car. Nevertheless, you will find a way of telling the person where you want to go to and you will be surprised how much you can say without speaking the same language.

 3. Latvia

This minibus driver who helped us cross the border between Lithuania and Latvia dropped us off in Liepāja, right in front of the tourist office. It was nice from him to teach us a few words in Latvian before we got out of his vehicle. The next lift turned out to be an unexpected one as it didn't happen on the road but in the « Boulangerie française » (French bakery) of Liepāja. After having indulged in a nice coffee at that place, we asked a man in his thirties if he had any idea about how we should get out of Liepaja on the road to Riga. A piece of cake! He was actually about to take his car and head to that direction. Then, he and his gilfriend dropped us off in Grobina 15 kilometers away from Liepaja. It seems to be like a short ride - and it actually is- but the most important is not how long the ride is but how it brings you in the direction you intend to follow.

On the way to Saulkrasti in Latvia; Foto: T. Goldbecher

After having been so lucky, we progressively got depressed. Hitchhiking is like that, an exaggeration of life. Bright and nightmarish days can succeed each other in a few hours. And so was Grobina, where we waited nearly two hours at a bus stop. It may have probably been our mistake to wait there. People may have thought: “Have they gone pricks to hitch here while a bus is to come?” So we walked a few hundred meters further, and it was successful. Two 30-year-old women stopped. We think that having left the bus stop area and from then on using a sign on which our destination was written may have helped us. Except thanks to a Christian cross hanging from the rear-view mirror in the car, we didn't learn anything about these two women as we didn't speak their language and vice versa.

And here we were, in Saldius, already planning our next destination by writing « Riga » on our sign. That was a good idea. A man noticed us at the petrol station and saw our sign. No need to ask, no need to beg: “Are you hitchhiking to Riga?” This man was quite astonishing as many other people from the Baltic States. He was above 40 years old and had only learned English in school. Yet, he could talk to us and we could understand each other.

However hard the Soviet occupation has been before 1991 (and particularly before Stalin died in 1953), we didn't feel that this man was resenting the Russians. And it was the same feeling we had with other Estonians and Lithuanians. A young couple who gave us a lift from Sigulda to Saulkrasti send their son to a Russian soccer team so he could learn Russian. Other Lithuanian and Estonian men over 50 years old told us there were as many problems now as there used to be in Soviet times, we didn't encounter any reproaches against the Russians.

Tips for Latvia: (but that could be applied to other countries) 

Hitch with a sign, people seem to be reassured to know accurately where you are heading to. It's good to talk to people, even in the streets; you can always be helped by chance as we were in Liepaja.

 4. Estonia

Kuressaare is the capital of Saaremaa; Foto: T. Goldbecher

We crossed the boarder between Latvia and Estonia thanks to a truck driver. Afterwards two Flemish guys under 30 years old gave us a lift and it was a really nice moment because they drove us along the coast from Pärnu to Virtsu. It was easy to talk to them as they could speak English and we had time to eat lunch together. We ate in a place that the Estonians call a Recreation area. Theses kinds of places are maintained by the State Forest Management Center (RMK) which provides hiking trails, prepares free camping sites and fire places in pristine places in the forest just by the sea. There's no camera over there to check if you are respecting the place, it's based on trust and it works pretty well.

Then, we took the ferry to the Saaremaa Island. It seemed to be easier to be given lifts over there than on the mainland. The spirit of islanders probably! We stayed three days there, were given ten lifts, went through Kuressaare, Leisi (pronunced “lazy” to make you feel better), Orisaare and so on. Among our 10 lifts, we won't forget one given by a French guy who had been living on the island for a few years. He showed us the former kolkhoz where you can behold blocks of soviet flats in the middle of nowhere, described us the post windmills and told us how it was possible to drive by car to the other small island northward. After spending time in such a friendly and relaxing place we headed to Tallinn. It was hard to leave the soothing quietude of Saaremaa. Tallinn was our last station of the trip. To go back to Berlin we spend enjoyable 26 hours in bus, hitchhiking is far better! 

Tips for Estonia:

Last stop: Tallinn; Foto: T. Goldbecher

Estonia has a beautiful and well preserved  nature. Don't just go straight to Tallinn. There are wonderful places along the coast where you can pitch your tent without hearing or seeing anyone else. It is worth it to stop there and to take a break from hitchhiking. Afterwards you will enjoy it even more. 

Maxime Orhon

Tanja Goldbecher