courtneyclv

My husband and I want to stop in Brussels, Belgium on the way to Amsterdam. And if we like it, stay the night. Is this easy to do with the train and do we need to buy tickets in advance? (I know getting our Eurostar tickets from London to Paris should be reserved early)

Thanks!
Courtney

jamikins

I think its likely very easy to do. I believe you want the Thalys.

We just got back from a weekend in Brussels. Their Grand Place is just lovely. We didnt find there was much to see there outside of that and a few streets off that, but we arent into museums etc. Had some great Belgian beer.

Enjoy!

hetismij

You will need to book tickets on the Thalys. Which means deciding before hand if you want to spend the night in Brussels, if you don't want to pay a lot for the tickets. You will get a better deal on a hotel by booking it in advance any way.
You could get the Thalys to Brussels and then continue on an Inter City to Amsterdam, but that takes longer and will probably cost more than booking two Thalys trips.

Travelnut

The city museum of Brussels is on the Grand Place and is quite nice. It features a room full of 'mannequin pis' models displaying all the national costumes that the statue has worn in past years. Also, keep an eye open as you walk around for the comic murals on the buildings...

http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussels-museums-city.htm
http://www.brussels.be/artdet.cfm?id=4202
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis
http://www.brusselscomics.com/en/route_bd.cfm

TimS

You will need to buy a Thalys train ticket for Paris-Brussels. You have two train choices for Brussels-Amsterdam: Thalys or InterCity.

For Paris-Brussels the walk-up 2nd class fare for a Thalys ticket is 88 EUR; but if you book well in advance (up to 90 days allowed) at www.thalys.com, you can get a Smoove fare as low as 25 EUR.

For Brussels-Amsterdam the walk-up 2nd class fare for a Thalys train is 64 EUR. Booking in advance can get you a Smoove fare as low as 25 EUR, but this won't work for you since you don't know how long you'll be staying in Brussels. Smoove fare tickets are for a specific departure date and time and are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.

The 2nd class fare for Brussels-Amsterdam on InterCity trains is 37.80 EUR. Trains run once/hour, no reservations are possible, and your ticket is good on any train.

Since you need flexibility on when you will leave Brussels, your choices are to either buy tickets for an IC train or to spend more for a walk-up fare on a Thalys train in order to cut one hour off your travel time.

LSky

We enjoyed the Magritte Museum and should have scheduled more time for the Horta and Comic Book. I could have stayed longer in Brussels. Ah well, we'll have to return.