In August, we plan to fly into Brussels, from the US, and then use the Eurail Benelux Pass for day trips to Bruges, Antwerp and other places. Then, we are taking the Eurostar train to London before heading down to Southampton.
1) Should I book the Eurail Benelux Pass while still in the US?
2) Should I book the Eurostar now or wait until I get on board?
3) Is there a transportation pass for travel within Brussels and, if so, should I get it now or wait until I get there?
Thanks in advance,
Marsha
Booking trains for Belgium
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You need to book the Eurostar as far in advance as you can to get the best prices.
If you are only intending to travel by train to the places in Belgium you mention then it is almost certainly cheaper to by tickets on the day for each journey rather than buying a rail pass.
Have a look at the Belgian railways website to work out costs and decide which is the better deal.
If you decide to buy a rail pass you must do that in the US.
that railpass is not sold in Europe to my knolwedge as Europeans are not entitled to use it.
Book the Chunnel train ASAP - lots of different fares - cheapest ones sell out quickly often - just show up and you may pay literally $100 more - with that railpass you are also eligible for a passholder fare so look at that too - www.eurostar.com for fares in British pounds and easy to book online
There probably is some kind of day pass for public transports in Brussels and those passes are always sold locally - if there is one - but tourist Brussels is compact so you may not use trams or buses or metro as much as previsioned IME.
To make that pass pay off I would say you would have to be taking 5 day trips - the pass is 5 day minimum and if you check regular fares at www.b-tourrail.com (I think correct spelling for Belgian Railways site - you may find regular tickets cheaper if just staying in Belgium - if relocating to Amsterdam or Luxembourg, etc the pass may come in better. Great - and in first class the pass stacks up better and IME of Belgian trains first class always offers lots of empty seats whereas 2nd class can always be chock full - IMO pay a bit for more relaxed hassle-free travel. Anyway check out these superb IMO site for info about European and Belgian trains www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com.
There are 10 trip tickets for travel within Belgium that may be cost effective if there are two of you taking at least 5 trips. It really depends on the number and length of the trips. Last fall my husband and I were based in Brussels and went to Tournai, Antwerp, Mechelen and Leuven by train on day trips. We would have saved a little bit if we got the multi-trip ticket. Mechelen and Leuven are very short trips. The day excursion tickets we bought entitled us to some small discounts at tourist sites; I don't know whether the 10 trip tickets also include these discounts.
There are 5 and 10 trip ticket strips for public transit in Brussels. Not sure about day passes but our friends who live in the city recommended the 10 trip tickets. You just buy these at the Metro stations. More than one person can use them which is an advantage. As noted in another post, you may not need to use the metro,trams and buses much if you are staying in a central part of Brussels. We used ours on the days we were getting to the train station and sometimes to get back closer to our apartment when we had walked a long distance.
I have no idea of your age(s) but if either of you is over 65, train travel is very cheap.
Belgian railwqays official site - www.b-rail.be (correction of site I gave above).
For travel within Belgium you might consider the Rail Pass at 76 euro for 10 single trips. It can be used by more than one person.
In case you are seniors, you can make return journeys at 5.30 euro with a Senior Ticket.
More information on http://www.b-rail.be/nat/E/tarifs/passes/rail/index.php and http://www.b-rail.be/nat/E/tarifs/tickets/seniors/index.php
And that Rail Pass Myriam thoughtfully noted for you only costs 117 euros in first class or about 12 euros a ride and IME first class always has lots of empty seats whereas at times 2nd class can be chock full - not nearly always but for the relatively little difference in price per day I'd say first class is a no-brainer - you just hop on the train and find oodles of empty seats in first class -been that way in my decades of travel on Belgian trains.