**Use a sign to show the direction of a useful ride.** The trade-off you describe is real: a place name helps drivers recognise your route, but they may read it as a requirement to take you exactly there. The [Neo-Nomad hitchhiking guide, pp. 20–21](https://hitchwiki.org/en/images/en/c/cb/Hitchhiking_-_Neo-nomad.pdf) discusses both effects.

I don’t have personal hitchhiking experience, but based on that guidance and your examples, I’d use these rules:

- **At a junction or a ramp serving several directions:** show the route you need. A motorway number plus direction, such as `A7 SOUTH`, can address your problem with drivers misunderstanding an intermediate city.
- **Where traffic is already going your way:** try the thumb alone. A sign adds less information here, and every named destination introduces a possible reason for a driver to pass.
- **When choosing a city:** use a widely recognised place along the route. Nearby road signs are a useful clue to the names drivers expect. Choose a city beyond an important fork if you specifically need a ride through that fork.
- **Use your final destination when reaching it directly matters.** Expect some drivers offering shorter, useful rides to assume they cannot help. If you welcome those rides, a broader direction may serve you better.
- **At motorway service areas:** ask drivers directly when practical. You can explain, “I’m heading towards X; a lift to another service area along that route would help.” The [guide recommends direct approaches at service stations](https://hitchwiki.org/en/images/en/c/cb/Hitchhiking_-_Neo-nomad.pdf), where there is time to clarify the route and drop-off.

For the sign itself, use thick, dark lettering on a light background, one short message, and the local spelling. Make it large enough to read quickly; the guide suggests rigid cardboard of A4 size or larger and a broad marker. Keep your face visible, and carry spare paper so you can change the message.

For your particular situation, **I’d try a route-and-direction sign, then the thumb alone**, keeping a city sign available for places where it helps distinguish a branch. Treat the results as local feedback: one long wait tells you little, but repeated misunderstandings tell you what to change.

Finally, agree on the drop-off before accepting. For continuing along a motorway, a useful service area can be more valuable than extra kilometres ending at an awkward exit.