Amsterdam to Spain Ideas?

[godfrey]

howdy,

i'm doing my first hobo trip from amsterdam to spain in september after getting a one way flight from ireland. any ideas on how to go about it?

 

[bryanpaul]

hitchhike....try to sneak on passenger trains...pay for passenger trains.....rideshares(is there a european craigslist?).....i have no experience with europe, just throwin these out there.....or by hobo trip do you mean catchin freight trains?

 

[godfrey]

anything really! dunno bout the freight trains cause there ain't too many in europe. i wondering if anyone had made a trip like this? or wanted to join me on it.

 

[bryanpaul]

there's a few folks on here either in europe or familiar with traveling there....i'm sure they'll chime in on this thread....might want to check out www.digihitch.com ..... there's a "europe" section with stories of travelin around there

 

[Matt Derrick]

Dude, you should bike it, its really fucking easy. There are paved bike paths / trails all the way from amsterdam to paris, and its pretty much flat the entire way. I hear its like that pretty much all the way to spain, with the exception of the pirrenese mountains i think theyre called... Those are a bitch, and crop up right after crossing into spain i think. That route is also some kind of old catholic pilgramige trail... Cant remember the name though.

 

[Blacknose]

Its the way of St.James or Camino de Santiago
Should be easy to bike, and you can cross the pyrenees close to the mediteranian sea or atlantic if you want to keep your bike , the mountains are supposedly a load of fun if you're into it though ..

Hitching should be easy aswell, can take you as little as 2 days , think about avoiding Paris thogh as its a real mess roadwise

 

[Cardboard]

also, think about avoiding holland as a whole when it comes to hitch hiking. It is the only place I have seen state mandated official hitching areas, but for a while now, its really hard as the students all get train passes now. The highways there are like a spiderweb, way too many for such a small country making for a hard time due to needing to watch every junction. But yeah, hitching should be the fastest, easiest way. Biking would be fun, and it shouldnt be hard to come up with a bike in Amsterdam. I second Blacknose about avoiding Paris, try to get around it somehow, maybe heading down the east of France through Dijon, Lyon, Montpelier... In the west its nearly impossible to avoid, all roads lead to Paris.
Also, It is quite easy to travel passenger train for free, if you are good with photoshop or gimp, and are interested, pm me for details. Interrail tickets are quite easily printed at home...

 

[Cardboard]

and @ bryan-
There are a ton of rideshare websites, and that kind of sucks. It is difficult when there are so many options. Maybe from Holland you could try www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de, or http://www.mitfahrzentrale.de/,
Both German sites, but should work alright leaving from Holland.
Unfortunately, no one is really using Craigslist here, other than Americans. It would be cool if it would catch on though...

 

[Cardboard]

On second thought, why not just fly? There is so much commuter flights in Europe, I cant understand why there isnt a flying hobo culture here. You can find a one way flight across Europe for less than 10€ usually, and if I didnt have such troubles with my paperwork (like, if I was an EU citizen), I would fly everywhere. Fuck, its so easy to spange 10€ (or recycle, or busk...), and be in a different city every few days. Plus its really funny when bums are in airports.

 

[acrata4ever]

i was black riding a train in holland covered with housepaint. the police came on and started checking passports and tickets. as they approached me my stop came up. had i got caught i would have been arrested for black riding and black working and deported. as well as banished from the netherlands. the easiest way is to hang around hostels, and coffy shops. you may find groups of spanish and italian hippies there. it like a 13 hour drive from italy to holland. and despite what images you see its raining all the time. the sun is rarely out. and its ice cold rain. its very easy to catch out with a van full of dope smokin spanish or italian hippies they may even take you as far as morocco.

 

[Swampy]

http://vimeo.com/19174515

Go thru Portugal!