Germany Travel Forum

http://mitfahrzentrale.tiscali.de

Has anyone used this site? As far as I can see it's a site where you can get a lift from people to destinations in Germany. I can't read German too well though and I don't understand most of it. How much do you have to pay the driver? How realiable is it?

I have used Mitfahrzentrale years ago. It is quite reliable, although not always very comfortable (after all it is supposed to be the cheapest way of transportation). There are Mitfahrzentrale offices in many university towns in Germany, where you can make the arrangements in person. Whether the people behind the counter speak english or not - well... Usually you pay a part of fuel costs, agreed in advance, plus a provision fee for Mitfahrzentrale. The costs are I would say 1/2 to 1/3 of what you would pay on a train.

My last experience wasn't very pleasant - it was an old minibus, with 5 people (3 of them by Mitfahrzentrale), all of them except me smokers. It took almost 6 hours from Freiburg to Koeln, because every one of them wanted a restroom break, or cigarette break, or whatever, every 30 min. The people were pleasant enough, but the combination of breaks, hot summer day and stale smoke drove me nuts.

After that one, I got a BahnCard 50 and paid only slightly more than that ride, but on a comfortable and fast train.

You can try:

http://www.europe.hitchhikers.org/index.cgi?lang=en

too.

PJ

I am a big fan of Mitfahrzentrale and have offered a seat in my car very often . I came into contact with very interesting people and I think driving with a passenger makes a long trip go by pretty fast.

I highly recommend it!

Chris