Towards Belgrade



You have three options: bus lines Komren, Soborska,and Donja Vrežina.

1. Just next to the main bus station there's a suburban bus stop, just across the street from the "Branković" bakery. Get on a bus to Komren, and get off at the last stop. Head straight down the same boulevard, and after some 50-100 meters you'll pass under an overpass. That overpass is the highway.

Buses to Somborska and Donja Vrežina start from the city centre. When you're on the main square (Trg Pobede or Kralja Milana, by the monument) just cross the street and some 15 meters down you'll see the bus stop, which you'll notice easily since it's usually very lively.

2. Get on the Somborska bus line and get off at the station right above the St. Panteleimon church. When you feel that the bus is going uphill, look to the left and when you see a big church yard, concrete fence, a bell-tower and a church, get off at that stop. From there just walk straight ahead uphill. You are now in Borska Street. When you reach the railroad, keep walking straight ahead for another 100 meters, and you'll see the highway.

3. Get on the bus to Donja Vrezina, and get off at the last stop. Follow the same road (Knjaževačka Street) for another 150-200 meters and you'll reach some recently built warehouses. The highway is to you left, just walk through a couple of fields and there you are.

Towards Skoplje


From the town square, get on a bus to Novo Selo. The bus stop is just by the square, next to McDonalds and across the street from Maxi supermarket (don't wait in front of the supermarket, because that is the opposite direction and you'll end up in Niška Banja). Stay on the bus until you see a prison to your left, after which you should get off. Novo Selo is also known under the name of "Naselje 1. maj", as it is sometimes written on the maps.

Towards Sofia, Istanbul

You need to get to the right part of the Nis-Sofija highway (although after Nis it's not a real highway anymore). Use the same method described in the "towards Belgrade" paragraph. You can either get on the bus to Komren, Soborska or Donja Vrežina.

If you want to hitch a ride on a local vehicle, it's much better to hitchhike from Donja Vrežina, in Knjaževačka street, because it crosses the road to Zaječar and joins the road to Sofia, so about 40% of the drivers from Niš will use this road to go to Bela Palanka, Pirot or Dimitrovgrad.

If you hitchhike from Niška Banja, there are local as well as foreign vehicles. As you can tell from the map, the road from Niš goes just under Niška Banja. If you want to hitchhike from there, get on the bus to Niška Banja from the city centre, and wait until it turns left and crosses the railway. There should be a bus stop there, and in front of it - a gas station. Get off there. You're now standing on a crossroads, and there are plenty of road signs, so you'll no doubt understand where you need to go.

Towards Knjaževac, Zaječar, Bor


Get on the Donja Vrežina bus, get off at the last station, and hitchhike there. After another 7-8 kilometers there's an interchange where the road branches off into roads to Sofia and Zaječar. If you can get a lift to that interchange, it may be a better place to hitch a ride since it's far clearer who's going there.

Towards Prokuplje, Kuršumlija


Get on the bus to Novo Selo (described above) and get off at the last station (not on the map) and hitchhike to Prokuplje, it's very simple.

Towards Bela Palanka - Pirot - Dimitrovgrad

It's a bit complicated if you're starting from the city center, because the hitchhiking spot is at the very entrance to Sićevačka klisura (Sićevačka gorge), at the Prosek village. There's no bus to that place. You can get on the bus to Niška Banja and get off one station before the last one, just after the bus crosses the railroad.

From there, follow the old road to Pirot, running next to the railroad. There are two roads there, parallel at the beginning, but since it's easy to take the wrong one, better ask someone which road goes to the gorge and the village of Prosek. (the one that goes in front of the Niška Banja railway station - not the one behind it). You'll walk past the old hippodrome.

From that bus stop (where you got off), to the crossing with the Niš by-pass (entrance to the gorge, and Prosek village) there's about 3-3,5 kilometers. The ideal hitchhiking spot is just before you enter the Prosek village, because there's a big turn and the cars have to slow down before they enter the gorge. There's a big parking there, usually with a plenty of trucks going further to Sofia and Turkey. This is where two roads meet - one coming from Belgrade, the other one from Niš, so there's plenty of cars.

When you see the town of Bela Palanka, get off the car immediately. There are 3 major interchanges around Bela Palanka, and you've reached the first one, which is the best place for hitchhiking a ride further. There's a parking for Turkish cargo trucks there, but don't expect to find many.

It should be easy to hitchhike to Pirot - from where you are, you have another 27 kilometers to the tunnel after which the city begins. The roads around Pirot are in rather bad condition.

From Dimitrovgrad you can walk to the border. It's a 30-40 minutes' walk, so it may be a better idea to hitch a ride.

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