Jane22

Can someone advise me to the time it takes to travel to Bruges from Paris? How early in the morning does the Thalys depart Paris ? How late can you return to Paris from Bruges. Any information will be appreciated.

risab

I am also interested in information on this topic so I am hoping someeone can join in and offer some advice.

From the search that I've done so far I am finding that you must take a train to Brussels and change trains for Bruges. I would like to know if there is a direct train to Bruges and what is the most economical way to get there.

stardust

There are no direct trains, all require a change in Brussels. The schedule is the same every hour, it takes 2h34 to get from Paris to Brugge.

This is the first train that takes the hourly schedule (there's actually one half an hour before)

Paris Nord 6:55 - Bruxelles Midi 8:20
Bruxelles Midi 8:37 - Brugge 9:29

On the way back this is the last train according to the hourly schedule:

Brugge 20:31 - Bruxelles Midi 21:23
Bruxelles Midi 21:40 - Paris Nord 23:05

grsing

www.bahn.de, timetables for pretty much every train in Europe. Click on English on the left hand side, and PersonalTimetable on the right once you're on the next page, if you want a listing of all the trains between two cities.

kraines

This has to be my sister, Jane, posting this! Hope you find out what you need to know...I love this board and these people have helped me so much. You need to go to the site for train travel and pull up the train schedules....do a search on Yahoo for the exact web site. Love you! Sis

TransitBuddie

There is actually a direct train to Bruges (Brugge) from Paris Nord on the Thalys, but not at preferable times for day trips. The Thalys departs Paris at 1825 and arrives around 2100. The return is really early in the morning if I can remember correctly. So you have to transfer either in Bruxelles or in Lille to make it a day trip. If you have a SNCF rail card (Carte Enfant +, Carte 12-25, Escapades, or Carte Senior), then it is cheaper to transfer in Lille as you can get a discounted price on the Paris-Lille leg.

BTilke

Actually there is one day trip direct possibility on the Thalys but it's for Saturdays only. The trains leaves around 8 am from Paris and departs Bruges shortly after 5 pm. You would be in Bruges during its "prime time"--week-end between 10 am and 5 pm--but it would be the simplest way to go.

However, I would support the early morning Thalys to Brussels, transfer to local train to Bruges (they leave from Brussels Midi train station about 10 and 37 minutes after the hour and the ride takes 50 minutes) and then reverse order on the way back. It's very simple to do...the Thalys arrives on tracks 3 to 7 at Brussels Midi, it's a 3 minute walk to the "main" part of the train station where the trains to Bruges depart (look for trains going to Ostende or Knokke/Blankenberge...their second stop is Bruges [first is Ghent]).

We stopped in Bruges for dinner last night and took a walk around town afterwards. It's so beautiful after the day trippers are gone, so if you could swing an overnight there, it really would be worth it.

Jane22

Thanks everyone for your help. I searched train schedules and could not find a direct train. BTike, thanks for your help. I will follow your suggestions.