In June 2024, between finishing my bachelor and leaving for South America, I hitchhiked from Cologne to Nordkapp — the northernmost point of mainland Europe — and back. It took 6 days to get there and 10 days to get back, crossed 5 countries, and turned into one of the best trips of my life.
Day 1 — Cologne to Fynshav
I started on 5 June with a friend of my brother. First I needed to get my last vaccine for the South America trip in Cologne, but then we were off. First stop: a big petrol station near Remscheid on the A1 — a great starting point to head north. We pieced together rides until Hamburg, where something unexpected happened: we were dropped off by a football fan near the stadium and were standing at a crossing when the team buses of France and Portugal drove past. The teams were in Hamburg for a Euro 2024 match. We were within 20 metres of Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo — not that we could see them through the tinted windows. Soon after we got picked up and continued north. We ended the day in Fynshav, just past Flensburg, with my brother and his other friend — they were on their way to southern Norway for a hiking holiday — and my parents who were returning from their own trip through Denmark and welcomed us with a nice dinner. About 620 km.
Day 2 — Into Scandinavia, alone
My brother joined for the second day. We separated in Fredericia — he headed north toward a ferry with friends, I headed east into Sweden. The day turned difficult very fast. I got stuck at a bad spot just before Copenhagen. After relocating back to a good petrol station on the highway things turned around, and I covered 250 km by 9 PM. That evening, alone in my tent somewhere in Sweden, a massive thunderstorm rolled in. Lightning, freezing cold, completely alone. The tent held. Everything was fine — but it was one of those moments that makes you wonder why you do this. About 590 km.
Days 3–4 — Up the Swedish coast
First things first — after the cold night my mission was to get a better sleeping bag. The last two nights had made clear I wasn't prepared well enough, so I sorted that in Jönköping. Getting back on the road turned into one of the longest waits of my hitchhiking experience so far: more than four hours. After moving to the next highway entrance 1.5 km north, it took 15 minutes to get a ride. I continued north along the Swedish coast. A taxi driver near Stockholm helped me for free; another driver gave me food and drove me to a better spot without asking for anything. By day four I was past Stockholm, rides coming steadily. The further north you go, the emptier the roads get. Each ride takes you further from anything familiar. About 800 km.
Days 5–6 — The man who came back
Day 5 took me on from Sundsvall, further north along the coast. Somewhere along the way I spotted my first ever moose from the road — standing in a field just next to the highway. One of those moments where you instinctively hit the person next to you to make sure they saw it too.
Near Luleå I exchanged contacts with a driver and continued to Töre. The next morning I texted him to say where I had made it. An hour later — completely out of nowhere — he pulled back into the petrol station. He said: I can take you. He drove me all the way to Alta in Norway, crossing through Finnish Lapland and a beautiful landscape. Hours of driving through the far north. He told me about the history of the region — about Nazi-era railway plans that were never finished, about what life is like at the top of the continent. The kind of conversation that only happens hitchhiking. From Alta I continued north — two more stops at Circle K Skaidi and the E69 junction — and on day 6 I arrived at the cape. About 1,310 km.
Days 6–7 — Two nights at Nordkapp
Near Nordkapp, a man originally from the Faroe Islands — now living in Skarsvåg, the northernmost village on the European mainland — picked me up and invited me to stay at his home for two nights. We went fishing together. He showed me the cape, the cliffs, the light that never fully disappears in June. That kind of hospitality from a complete stranger is exactly why I hitchhike. It took roughly six days to get there.
Days 8–9 — The coast south, Tromsø and Lofoten
From Nordkapp, a truck driver picked me up near the cape and offered to take me all the way to Tromsø in a single day — a massive stretch of the Norwegian coast. I didn't hesitate. The road south from Nordkapp hugs cliffs, fjords, and water the whole way. On the second day heading south, somewhere near Narvik, I got an offer I didn't expect: a man running Northern Lights tours on the island of Senja offered me a job as a guide. Sadly the work visa situation made it impossible, but I still think about it. I continued south to Lofoten — one of the most dramatic landscapes I have ever seen. About 930 km.
Day 9 — Midnight fishing at Moskenes
On day two of the return journey I made it to Moskenes, the southern tip of Lofoten near the ferry terminal. I set up my tent at the camping spot. That evening I noticed small fish jumping near the shore and grabbed my rod. Two Finnish guys arrived and joined me. At midnight one of them pulled up a mackerel. An hour and a half later we were grilling it together on the beach under the midnight sun. We had never met before. That is one of my favourite memories from any trip. About 310 km.
Days 10–13 — The ferry and the way south
The following morning I took the only transport of the entire trip — the ferry from Moskenes to Bodø. From Bodø I continued south by thumb: that day I only made it an hour south of Bodø, the next day to Trondheim. On the way an Italian family picked me up for the last 450 km. They invited me to join them for lunch — homemade pasta eaten with a view over a fjord. The day after I made it to Gjøvik, where I met my brother and his two friends. From there we hitchhiked in pairs. The next day we made it past Oslo to just short of the Swedish border, camping by a river near Fredrikstad. We had meat from Too Good To Go — and nearly smoked a French cyclist sleeping in the hut with our fire. About 1,310 km by thumb, plus the ferry.
Days 14–15 — Through Sweden to Copenhagen
The next day we made it to Malmö, caught eight herrings, grilled them on a hilltop overlooking the water. I planned to reach Hamburg the following day but ended up staying a night in Copenhagen after accidentally reuniting with my brother at the airport. We cycled through the city and had dinner at Reffen. A perfect end to a day that hadn't gone to plan. The next morning we said goodbye and I continued to Hamburg — the last day of the trip. About 510 km.
Day 16 — The Porsche
The last ride of the trip. In Rendsburg, an hour north of Hamburg, I was standing with a sign for Hamburg or Lübeck when a Porsche 911 Turbo S pulled over. The driver was the owner of one of Germany's biggest marketing companies — grew up with nothing, built something extraordinary. He lives in a villa in Hamburg next to Michael Ballack. For the first 40 minutes I talked and he listened, genuinely interested. Then he told me about his life. When we reached the city we stopped at his home, took some photos, and then he handed me the keys and let me drive the last five to ten minutes to Hamburg central station. I dropped myself off, took the train to Lüneburg to see friends. The trip was over. About 470 km.
The whole route
16 days, five countries, about 7,100 km — from Cologne to the top of Europe and back to Hamburg, by thumb. The only transport that wasn't a ride: the ferry from Moskenes to Bodø.
The kindest moments: the driver from Luleå who came back the next morning and drove me all the way to Alta, the man in Skarsvåg who took me in for two nights, an Italian family's homemade pasta above a fjord — and, on the very last ride, a stranger handing me the keys to his Porsche 911 Turbo S for the last few minutes into Hamburg. The hardest one: alone in my tent in a thunderstorm in Sweden on day two.
What I learned on this route: if a spot doesn't work, move — after more than four hours at one motorway entrance, the next one 1.5 km further took 15 minutes. Bring a sleeping bag that is warm enough for the north, even in June. And exchange contacts with your drivers — sometimes they come back.