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Trains from Brussels to other Belgian cities/towns

Trains from Brussels to other Belgian cities/towns

Old Mar 31st, 2015, 02:49 PM
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Trains from Brussels to other Belgian cities/towns

Hi, all.

We are spending 10 days in Brussels in April and will use that city as a base for visiting Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp.

I'm a little unclear how to research train schedules and fares. Is there one main station that serves most Belgian towns? I assume that we can get day-return tickets and I think the towns aren't all that far. Maybe an hour? Possibly an hour and a half?

At any rate, any and all advice on train travel in Belgium is welcome.

Ellen
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 02:55 PM
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Google "Man in Seat 61" - he's carved himself a niche on the interweb with so much train info for Europe that he may have more information than the Belgians.
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 03:06 PM
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In most decent-size towns, there is more than one station, often with the city name followed by some specifier -- "centraal" "nord", etc., or a section of town or even a suburb.

Check carefully before booking.

...and as BigRuss says, go to the man in seat 61.

SS
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 03:07 PM
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Hi Ellen,

My name is also Ellen! I was just to Belgium in February. I used Midi train station to travel from Brussels to Brugge and Ghent. They are both very short trips, Ghent being slightly closer. No need to resrve seats, there are several trains per day. I forget exactly how much thetrips were, but it wasn't very expensive. Somewhere around $25 round trip. I believe Antwerp is slightly farther away but easily doable from Brussels. Enjoy!
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 04:05 PM
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You do not need to order tickets ahead of time. Trips to the cities you mention are all on local trains with frequent departures (although one probably could take a high speed train from Brussels to Ghent for a premium).
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 04:14 PM
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I don't think you CAN reserve seats on the Belgian trains, so no need to book them in advance, except for international trains into/out of Belgium.

Check Belgian train schedules here:

http://www.belgianrail.be/en

(Tip: search for "Brussel" .)

The three main stations are "Nord," "Midi" and "Centraal":

http://www.brussels.info/train-stations/

I think all the Belgian trains stop at all three stations, so for travel within Belgium, just choose the station closest to wherever you are staying in Brussels. (Centraal is closest to the center of tourist's Brussels.) For arrival/departure into Brussels by train, international high speed trains may not stop or go to all stations, but you can just hop on another local train to get to one of the other stations; your original train ticket should cover you for completing the journey to the final Brussels station you want.

Train travel in Belgium is easy - the trains are nice and modern. 2nd class cars may be busy on weekends or other busy times, and because they are not reserved, you may have to stand if you don't arrive early enough to get a seat. Mid-week the trains may not be full. 1st class is likely to be less full.

(For more info, you can read my Belgium trip report with pictures from 2013 by clicking on my name...)
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Old Mar 31st, 2015, 04:30 PM
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check out day passes from Belgian railways - no need to buy anything in advance unless you are taking Thalys trains which you do not need to do. Belgium has one of the densest rail systems in the world - twice hourly or more departures most places - just buy as you go and ask at stations about any day passes for the entire network.

and yes no domestic Belgian trains even take reservations let alone require them - except again Thalys trains which you do not have to take. For lots of great info on Belgian trains - yes check www.seat61.com and also www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. IME it is very smart to go first class as Andrew says 2nd class can always be standing room only IME too and first class will be at most half full - cheapest is not always the best.
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Old Apr 1st, 2015, 02:41 PM
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Trains in Belgium are really easy. I took a train from Antwerp to Brussels. Just go to the nearest train station the day before so you can check the times. But they run all day long they are also very cheap. I think I pay like 14 dollars.

Also here is my blog from my trip to Europe. You might be able to get some ideas.http://waybliss.blogspot.com/
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Old Apr 1st, 2015, 02:48 PM
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All extremely helpful. Definitely going to become friends with "The Man in Seat 61." ;-) I personally love trains and all forms of public transportation. Traveling really does sound easy. With such frequent departures, even figuring out which train to catch is not that big a deal. Thank you all so much.
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Old Apr 1st, 2015, 02:53 PM
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Andrew's idea of Leuven is a great one. I studied there some years ago and thought it was beautiful town as well as being the home of Stella Artois!!!
Train travel is so easy in Belgium. Enjoy
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Old Apr 1st, 2015, 02:56 PM
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Leuven is home to two prestigious universities - one a Catholic one and one a Prod one (Walloons and Flems respectively) - originally I believe the Catholic one was the only one but in fractious Belgium after gaining economic ascendancy over the Walloons (French-speaking and Catholic) the protestant Flemish Dutch-speaking folk insisted on their own uni - well that's what I read and have gone to Leuven and found it a wonderful town, especially for young folks.
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Old Apr 1st, 2015, 03:01 PM
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Don't know your age, but if you qualify as a senior tickets are very cheap. Also, Senior does not need to be from the E.U.
I think I paid 6€ and companions paid 28€ for R/T Brussels to Brugge.
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Old Apr 1st, 2015, 05:41 PM
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the protestant Flemish Dutch-speaking folk insisted on their own uni

This was a linguistic socio-cultural issue, the religion of both groups is the same.
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Old Apr 2nd, 2015, 03:05 AM
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Watch out for rail strikes, which happen too often in Belgium.
April 22 is national strike day, but there may be other strikes just for rail. Don't plan on going anywhere by public transport on April 22nd.

The French language university is in Louvain la Neuve, not in Leuven. You do not want to visit Louvain la Neuve.
Leuven is Flemish.
All are Roman Catholic, no matter which language they speak.
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Old Apr 2nd, 2015, 03:07 AM
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The site for Belgian rail in English is:
http://www.belgianrail.be/en/Default.aspx

No need to book in advance, but if you have a printer it's handy to print your ticket in advance.
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