The Challenge

Hitchhike as fast as possible from the heart of Europe to Barcelona and win a trip around the world!

Hitchhiker Lifter
School Mexico

Hitchhike for Charity

We partner up with probably one of the most famous backpackers of the world, with his heart in the right place: Mom I'm Fine! All profits of the Barcelona Express will be donated to his charity at this moment, which is building a school in Mexico made out of recycled plastic from the ocean.

School Mexico

How to participate?

Gather a team of 2 or 3 adventurers.
Pick your starting location (Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris), and think of a strategy to get to Barcelona as fast as possible with only your thumb :)

Participation
Participation
Plane

The Big Prize

300 teams will compete for the ultimate prize:
A trip around the World. With this round-the-world ticket you'll get enough airmiles to visit all continents

Cup

Five Stages

The Race to Barcelona will be split up into 5 different stages. At the end of every stage every team’s time will be recorded and even people at home will be able to see the daily ranking on our website.

The end of every stage is always a unique location such as castles, river banks, beautiful beaches and medieval cities. Participants will be able to camp on site and parties will be hosted for all hitchhikers. Every morning, teams will receive the daily instructions on how to get to the next stage.

Stages
Etappes
Spectators
Bridge
Jumper

Checkpoints

There will be checkpoints on every stage and along the route. On some of these world famous landmarks you will be able to win time bonifications!

Checkpoint Photo
Checkpoint Photo

The Jerseys

Just like in the most famous races of the world, jerseys will be awarded to the daily champions. The yellow jersey will be attributed to the team with the best overall time. The green jersey goes to the best performing team during the challenges on the checkpoints, and the polka dot jersey goes to the craziest team of the day

Marcellekes
Groen Geel Bollekes

How to register?

A Ticket for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure costs 210 GBP / 250 EUR per person. You will be able to gather sponsors for your team so it could actually cost you nothing at all

Sign up
Sign up

Sponsors?

The Barcelona Express ticket is 250€. You can opt to pay the total sum all by yourself or you can ask sponsorship money to friends, family, surrounding businesses, acquaintances. A sponsorship ticket will only cost them minimum 25€ (every participant receives 10 sponsorship tickets, which you will find in your personal login zone). It's also possible to have only one sponsor that gives 250€

Those sponsors get their name or logo on your personal shirt, and on online teampage where your fans can follow you LIVE during the Barcelona Express. You can upload the logo's in your myzone

Of course you can do much more for your sponsors: you can name your team after one, take some branding with you, or mention your sponsors on social media!

The Wall of Fame

The winners of previous editions...

General Info

Well, that depends on your start point! You can start in Amsterdam, Paris or Brussels:

  • Saturday morning July 13th from Amsterdam
  • Sunday morning July 14th from Brussels
  • Monday morning July 15th from Paris

After five stages we arrive in Barcelona (People who leave from Amsterdam and Brussels will meet in camp 1 on day 2 and together they will arrive on Thursday afternoon in Barcelona and Paris Series on Friday afternoon). Everybody can stay 1 night on the campsite in Barcelona. You can optionally book extra nights on that campsite via our booking system (15€ per person per night)

On Saturday the 20th of july 2019 a final Hitchhiking stage will be organized in Barcelona for the top 3 teams from both series. The winning team of this final stage wins a trip around the world!

We foresee a camping spot on unique places at the end of every stage. It is required that every participant has his or her own camping material (tent + sleeping bag). The locations will always be on a splendid place. We’ll stop at huge castle domains, river banks, beautiful beaches and also historical cities.

Food is not standard included in the price of the race. We do have an excellent staff of mobile kitchen heroes who join us along the route. They will serve you breakfast and dinner for 70 EUR / 60 GBP at every 5 stages of the race (5x breakfast 5x dinners).

All teams receive a GPS tracker. This way the organization knows where the teams are located at any time and your family, friends and sponsors will be able to follow you during the race.

Because hitchhiking is not without risk, we would like to give you the following advice:

>> Choose a safe hitchhiking spot, do not recklessly jump in front of car along busy roads! Never let somebody drop you off at the side of the motorway: it's illegal, and you'll never be able to catch a ride from such a spot! It's better to drive a few kilometers in the wrong direction, it might be your lucky shot!

>> We have an emergency number. This is featured on every stage briefing in the morning, but please save the number in your mobile phone and make sure you always have some battery left.

>> Always write down the license plate of your ride on your hitchhike control app before getting on board, or take a picture of it, take also the name and phone number of the driver! This immediately creates a sense of control.

>> For slightly less talented hitchhikers, a list of train and bus hours is provided every day, to get you to the arrival place. Those who are forced to use this public transport will of course get the last time of the day (= arrival will be set at 8 pm).

>> You will receive more tips and tricks the day of departure.

Returning home from Barcelona is not included. We encourage everyone to hitchhike back :) If you're not up to that, you can always catch a plane back.

A Ticket for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure costs 210 GBP / 250 EUR per person.

  • The entire logistic support of this trip
  • Your race t-shirt
  • A detailled roadbook made for your adventure
  • A tracking system that will allow your fellows to follow you live
  • Parties every single night with our in-house DJs
  • The game itself & activities along the way
  • 5 nights in camping
  • Probably the trip of a lifetime!

On the day of departure, you will receive a GPS tracker for your team. This is for safety reasons but, it will also allow your family, friends and sponsors to follow you during the race. For this, we ask a warrant of €50 per person. If the tracker and the cooking gear you've received (if you took the foodpack), are given back at the end of the trip in good conditions, you will receive your warrant back, within 2 weeks after the trip.

When is the deadline to subscribe to the race?

There is no deadline to subscribe but a limit of teams per series, so hush hush, don’t miss your ticket for the adventure of a lifetime ;)

How old do I need to be to participate?

You have to be 18 or turn 18 the same year as the race. Due to legal and safety reasons, we can’t allow minors to join.

How do I get sponsors?

To find sponsors don’t look too far! The easiest way is to go to local shops around you, instead of reaching for big companies. Go talk directly to its owner to explain what the project is about. It works better than sending a long email ;) Show that you’re motivated and the purpose of your journey. Once you have a sponsor you can register it onto your reservation page. Quick reminder: The sponsor has to pay you directly you stay responsible to pay the fee onto the website.

Preregister for the next edition

Preregister for 2020