Mitfahrgelegenheit

Mitfahrgelegenheit (Mfg., lit. opportunity to ride with s.o.), is a very convenient and cost-effective way of travelling between European cities. I would describe it as registered hitch-hiking. Just log into mitfahrgelegenheit.de and enter your start and destination, and you're likely to find someone who will be able to take you along. It's mostly very safe, because people are required to register before offering rides, but users should make sure only to ride with people who have confirmed their phone number, email address, and/or Facebook account and have a reasonable picture to their profile. Also make sure that the meeting location is safe, central and easy to find.

I had no reasonably priced means of getting from Geneva back to Freiburg. So I decided to ride with a woman who works at CERN in Geneva. She was on her way back home to Germany and was offering rides for only 20 Euros. Since she wasn't headed to Freiburg, I decided to get off in Zürich, where I could get a Fernbus back to Freiburg. I was even able to spend a couple hours in Zürich! And I had the pleasure of speaking with an engineer from CERN.