There is currently no organized lift share agency in the UK. The best option is to consult the notice boards of specialist travellers’ bookshops or put up your own notice; Nomad Books at 781 Fulham Rd, London SW6 (020/7736 4000) has a particularly good notice board downstairs. The travel magazine Wanderlust has a useful “Connections” page worth consulting for possible lift shares or travel companions, or for placing your own ad. Pick up a copy of the magazine, or check out www.wanderlust.co.uk for more.

Hitching is a genuinely viable means of getting to Switzerland. In most of northern and central Europe the locals are much more favourably inclined towards the practice than in Britain or America (as long as you don’t look too outlandish on the roadside). As anywhere, though, hitching alone is inadvisable, and hitching after dark doubly so. Although there are certain notorious blackspots for hitching – Oostende port is one of them – in general it’s relatively easy to get lifts. Fares on Eurotunnel cover the car and whoever’s inside it, meaning that if you’re filling an empty space it costs you (and the driver) nothing. If you opt to shell out for the crossing, be prepared for £25 one-way on Hoverspeed and P&O Stena, regardless of the routing; or a bargain £15 Dover–Calais on Sea France.