Table of contents
A short history
The hitchhiking competitions organised by the Academic Tourist Club (AKT) of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn have a long history. Each of them is based on two main rules: “first come, first served” and the rule of “fair play”. The event is open to small teams of two. Each team gets a specific task – a destination or several destinations they have to reach by hitchhiking. In the “History of the competition” section below you can see which place was the destination (or destinations) in each year.
- 1st Kortowo Hitchhiking Competition (2012) – Szklarska Poręba
- 2nd Kortowo Hitchhiking Competition (2013) – Zamość
- 3rd Kortowo Hitchhiking Competition (2014) – Wisła
- 4th Kortowo Hitchhiking Competition (2015) – Sanok
- 5th Kortowo Hitchhiking Competition (2016) – Zakopane
- 6th Kortowo Hitchhiking Competition (2017) – Polanica-Zdrój
- 1st Kortowo Hitchhiking Rally (2018) – Elbląg – Malbork – Starogard Gdański – Tuchola – Bydgoszcz – Toruń – Golub-Dobrzyń – Brodnica
- Kortostop (2019) – Samborowo – Kwidzyn – Korzeniewo – Gniew – Gdańsk – Sopot – Kościerzyna – Owidz – Jastrzębia Góra – Wejherowo – Słupsk – Lębork – Sławutówko – Grudziądz + Hel – Stare Jabłonki
General information
The event takes place every year on a set weekend in April.
In 2018 the competition lasted from 20 to 22 April.
There are strict registration deadlines (in 2018 until 18 April).
In 2018 you could sign up in the following ways:
- via a private message on Facebook – Kortowski Autostop (the current page is Kortostop)
- in person, during set hours, at the office of the Academic Tourist Club,
- at the OSFP Kormorany travel festival
The meeting point is the office of the Academic Tourist Club at ul. Kanafojskiego 3 (Olsztyn), Student Dormitory No. 1 – entrance from the side of the Kortówka river.
The entry fee for the hitchhiking competition has never been more than about €6, and it covered the organisational costs. In 2018 it was about €3 and went towards, among other things, a starter pack and a hot meal at the party.
As soon as they hear the signal, the participants start the race. The teams that reach the destination first win. There are prizes for the winners. On site (on the second day) the organisers hold a party with food for everyone taking part.
The 2018 edition – general rules
The edition we took part in was special and different from the previous ones, in which participants had to get from Olsztyn to a specific town in the south of Poland (see the history of the competition).
This time we had many towns to visit, and specific places in each of them. Every place was worth a certain number of points, and as proof that you had been there, you had to take a photo of yourself on the spot with your ID badge visible. A pity, because I had really been looking forward to a nice evening somewhere in the mountains, but the new format was interesting too. Thanks to these changes we got to know lots of towns on a single trip – brilliant!
The main criterion for winning was no longer just reaching the destination as fast as possible, but also collecting enough points. The participants described it like this: “It is an attempt to combine a hitchhiking competition with an orienteering rally, because time will not be the most important criterion in the fight for the prizes (although a significant one) – what matters most is how many points you manage to collect on the way. BECAUSE IT’S THE JOURNEY THAT COUNTS, NOT THE DESTINATION!”
In this competition you could win as many as five prizes in four categories:
- *Prize for 1st place for the Best Sightseers (the pair with the most points in the shortest time, time limit 8:30 pm on Saturday),
- *Prize for 2nd place for the Best Sightseers (the second pair with the most points in the shortest time; NOTE! The number of points matters more than the time, time limit 7:00 pm on Saturday),
- * Prize for the fastest sightseers (won by the pair that gets back to the AKT in the shortest time with at least 100 points),
- *Prize for the best costume
- *Prize for the best photo
Day One
We set off on Friday 20 April at 10:00 from outside the AKT. From 8:30 the starter packs were handed out, containing:
- a map showing the destinations along with their points
- information about the rules and selected places to stay along the route
- badges (IDs) on which you had to write your details
On the first day (20 April 2018) we ticked off Elbląg, Malbork, Starogard Gdański and Tuchola without any major problems. We spent the night in Bydgoszcz. What was it like? Have a look at the video above and read the account below.
Olsztyn (start) – 0 km
We took buses to the exit road out of Olsztyn in Dajtki, towards Ostróda and Elbląg. First we tried to catch a lift at a petrol station, but with no luck. Walking along the roadside away from the town, we reached the first lay-by, where another pair of hitchhikers from the competition was already waiting. The four of us were picked up together and taken straight to Elbląg.
Elbląg – 124 km
Arrival – 12:18. In Elbląg we visited places such as the Market Gate, St Nicholas’ Cathedral and Granary Island. Then we went looking for a spot to hitch a ride to Malbork. We got the way wrong, though – partly because we had been given the wrong street name, and partly because we hadn’t checked on the map where the landmark was. In the end we got to the right place by a roundabout route. This is also where we split up with the other pair, who got into the first car that stopped. Luckily, a few minutes later we got lucky too.
Malbork – 155 km
We were picked up by a soldier who was passing Malbork on his way. We were near the castle at around 2:40 pm. We spent a bit more time in Malbork, walking all the way around its biggest attraction. On top of that, we went on a long walk in search of a spot to hitch a ride to Starogard Gdański, because along the way we kept passing the competition (there was no point standing in one place as a group). In the end we walked out beyond the town limits.
Starogard Gdański – 195 km
It was a bull’s-eye! The two men drove past the others and stopped just for us. They took us right up to the Wichert Palace in Starogard Gdański, where we arrived at exactly 4:40 pm. There we met, among others, the pair we had wandered around Elbląg with. We went to the town park to take a photo by the sundial, passing the Kazimierz Deyna Municipal Stadium on the way.
Tuchola – 266 km
The next town on the list was Tuchola. We got there at around 6:40 pm. A maths teacher drove us there. The points to tick off were the Tuchola Forest Museum and the fountain on Plac Wolności (Freedom Square). Then, once again, a long walk to the exit road awaited us (almost to the town’s administrative boundary).
Bydgoszcz – 328 km
A lady stopped and took us to the area of the Water Tower and Waterworks Museum. We visited it at around 8:20 pm and then headed to where we were staying. On the way from Tuchola to Bydgoszcz I had booked the best place to stay for us – close to the centre and fairly cheap (location). On the way we kept passing other participants.
Day Two
On the second day we visited Bydgoszcz, Toruń, Golub-Dobrzyń and Brodnica. We spent the most time in Toruń, because we met up there with Wiktor and his friends for a beer. In Nowe Miasto Lubawskie we waited a long time for a lift, so we only got back to Kortowo (the university campus in Olsztyn) at around 11 pm. Below is a more detailed account. Have a look at the video as well.
Bydgoszcz – 331 km
After arriving in Bydgoszcz and spending the night there, we decided to tick off the required points on the list as quickly as possible (the Deluge Fountain, the Man Crossing the River sculpture, the Museum of Soap and the History of Dirt, Park Club), so that we could hitch a ride to Toruń.
Toruń – 383 km
Hitchhiking was still going pretty smoothly. We reached Toruń before 1 pm. Edyta and Iza picked us up there and showed us around the town. We had to wait for Wiktor to finish work before we could meet him. That day an alarm at his work went off by itself and specialists had to be called in to switch it off, which delayed our going out for a beer a bit. After brief negotiations we went to the pub on a Vistula barge. And that is how we went from being one of the few pairs in the lead to somewhere near the back.
Still, quite a few pairs were at the same stage (we met some of them on the bus taking us to the exit road, among other places). In Toruń we visited the Leaning Tower, the Toruń Gingerbread Maker (a sculpture), Old Katarzynka on the Philadelphia Boulevard, Dybów Castle and the Baj Pomorski Theatre in Toruń – a puppet theatre (as our own choice).
Golub-Dobrzyń – 433 km
Getting from Toruń to Golub-Dobrzyń wasn’t much of a problem, but we were really pressed for time. Once there, we went up to the castle.
Brodnica – 465 km
The next point was Brodnica, where we took a photo of ourselves by the Museum and the Palace of Anna Vasa.
Nowe Miasto Lubawskie – 494 km
From talking to other pairs we came across, we learned that some of them had given up on visiting all the towns. Despite the late hour, we decided to try to tick off all the remaining points on the map. It cost us a long wait in Nowe Miasto Lubawskie. On the way there we had a surprise: the lady who picked us up also stopped for the pair we had hitchhiked with from Olsztyn to Elbląg. There we split up again.
Lubawa – 508 km
From then on, hitchhiking got much harder. Hitching in the dark in that town, and later in Lubawa, meant that we only got back to the AKT at around 11 pm.
Olsztyn – 579 km (finish)
A bit late, but it was worth holding out to the end! And despite our doubts at the end about catching a lift so late and being really tired, we wouldn’t have cut short the time we spent in Toruń with Wiktor, Edyta and Iza. Tired but happy, we spent a good few hours socialising at the AKT. We spent a lot of time there with Paweł, whom we had passed several times along the route.
Summary
Hitchhiking went very smoothly. We decided that we didn’t care about ticking off all the points as fast as possible, because actually seeing the places we had to visit was more important. Doing such a round took us quite a lot of time. Only once did we have to wait a long time for a lift – and by then it was already dark.
It was a really interesting experience, which let us test our logistical and organisational skills. You could meet lots of people and have a unique adventure ;). Unfortunately, the following year we didn’t take part because we moved abroad (2019), and two years ago the coronavirus upset a lot of plans all over the world (2020).
