Late next month I'll be taking trains from Trois-Ponts to Amsterdam on a Saturday morning.

Is there a major benefit to booking ahead on this route?

Not really. Thalys will cost you €35 and only save you 40 minutes or so. 1 less change with the regular trains too - Tois-Pont to Liege to Maastricht to Amsterdam.

If you have time and are interested you could get out at Maastricht for a look at the city or head to the US War cemetery at Margraten.

Thalys will cost €35more is what i meant to say!

I knew what you meant

Thanks

I'll be in A'dam the last weekend of April - maybe a GTG???

Be sure to check out King's Day - a huge huge citywide festival sometime the last of April - used to be April 30th - really about the most amazing citywide festival I've seen.

It's hard to say what a Thalys train would cost - I booked Amsterdam to Paris tickets with a few weeks notice for my son recently for 39 euros total and Brussels to Amsterdam for 29 euros - plus for a few euro you can get the ABS fare - All-Belgian Stations fare where you can take any train within 48 hours of your Thalys train from Brussels or wherever to Amsterdam at just a few euros cost. I suspect if you went to www.thalys.com and checked you may find significant savings via Thalys IF you get the deepest discounted tickets. Thalys does not have a flat-fare structure as domestic Dutch and Belgian trains do I think - no reservations possible either on those I think so with a valid ticket just hop any train anytime - Thalys tickets are of course for a specific train and Thalys trains are much more comfy than the IC regular trains IME and the regular trains in 2nd class can always be quite full or full - you can still board.

I take IC trains Brussels to Amsterdam a lot and often leaving Brussels 2nd class is SRO and first class sparsely filled - always foreign travelers with standard class tickets sit in the empty first-class cars thinking what the heck but are shoed out by the conductor - I've seen Dutch conductors get quite militant if they do not move pronto as he/she told them.

I'd check yourself both sources - Belgian rail site for trains to Maastrich and Dutch site for Amsterdam from there but really if you are going to buy tickets on the non-Thalys route there is absolutely no reason TMK why you should do that before just ready to hop on the train - again I believe no reservations are possible.

Some stations in Amsterdam may be closer to your hotel than Centraal station - you can change at Schiphol airport if coming via Thalys or at Duivendrecht (I think) if coming from Maastricht to Amsterdam-RAI and Amsterdam-Zuid-WTC stations that are closer to some hotels, including those in the Vondel Park/Museumplein area - or just as close to the latter and easier if going by taxi or tram.

You may want to look at www.sedat61.com for his take on Thalys trains, the ABS fare and the cheaper tickets. Full fare on Thalys is much more expensive usually than IC trains.

>>used to be April 30th<<

It is April 27 and I'm arriving after that on purpose.

Are you coming to the Battle of the bulge area by Eruostar + train - if so the ABS fare is also available in conjunction with a Eurostar train - letting you go on to any Belgian station by any train (not sure about Thalys).

<Thalys will cost €35 more> Not sure how this was dervied as Thalys have a Byzantine fare structure much like British trains - there is no flat fee unless full-fare is what she used. I would think with the ABS fare _based on my experience of booking Brussels-amsterdam Thalys for 29 euros with Thalys = ABS fare you could do the whole trip for about 35 euros - if you got the deepest dicsounted ticket and if that is the case then if the Thalys costs 35 euros more than the other train link would be free?

When are you arriving? Kings Day is indeed the 27th, and that is a Monday this year.

You can email me using my user name at outlook.com, hopefully we can meet up.

PalenQ I did a search on nsinternational.nl and put in a date near the end of April. In fact several dates near the end of April. It was always cheaper, and easier to use the normal trains over Thalys. To use Thalys Janis would need a train to Liege, then one to Leuven then one to Antwerp where she could get the Thalys to Amsterdam.

did you figure using the ABS fare which for a few euros would take her to Antwrp on any train within 24 hours (48?) of her Thalys train. Well I did not know how you came up with a flat 35 euros more expensive when Thalys fares are all over the ballpark.

If janis is arriving on the 27th be prepared for trains to abort themselves before Centraal Station, which IME can be closed that day due to overcrowding - happens much of the time and trams are shut down and there may be no way yo get to hotels, etc. Central Amsterdam is a mob scene that day which some like and others do not - folks - I aw young teens smoking pot everywhere and many carrying cases of Heineken around - a party for sure and yes something for everyone but again some may find it DREADFUL! Many sources advise staying away on King's Day - others like me find it awesome - folks selling things everywhere -a giant flea market where folks stake out places on any open pavement the night before - bands on boats - jazz bands a lot so it can be something for everyone but I would caution anyone arriving in central Amsterdam that it may hard to reach your hotel, depending on where it is except by foot.

check www.thalys.com - I just did for a 10:30am train from Antwerp to Amsterdam and fares were as low as 29 euros still available - plus 5 euros for the ABS fare and you have a total of 34 euros - these fares are available a day earlier and on other trains. If it's quicker to go to Brussels from 3 Bridges the fare is the same from there to Amsterdam - 29 euros on several trains.

Not sure what the fare on the Dutch Railways site is for the Maastricht route or timing but it cannot be 35 euros cheaper than the Thalys trains I found. I suggest you search www.thalys.com - the official site.

To use Thalys Janis would need a train to Liege, then one to Leuven then one to Antwerp where she could get the Thalys to Amsterdam.>

accoding to www.bahn.de/en the quickest way from Trois-Ponts to Amsterdam is via Brussels - Trois-Ponts to Liege - Liege to Brussels Midi - 4:15 hours - the IC route takes 1/2 to 1 one longer either via Antwerp or Maastricht.

Oops - I thought I read janis is arriving that day - King's Day on purpose to see it - now re-reading she is arriving after it on purpose - sorry for the mistake.

PalenQ I did a search on nsinternational.nl and put in a date near the end of April. In fact several dates near the end of April>

I did too on www.thalys.com and you are right - except for a few early and late Brussels-Amsterdam trains the discounted tickets were sold out and 80 euro full fare was the only fare- though some too early or late trains were still at 29 euros (all plus the 5 euro or so SBS fare - Any Belgian Station.

My original mistake was putting in May 27-28-29, etc where nearly all trains had 29 euro fares available but correcting it to April those were all gone. I apologize and am sorry for the mistakes but the point is when someone says:

"Is there a major benefit to booking ahead on this route?" The answer is a resounding yes - but way in advance as the 29 euro tickets which were freely availble a month later were all gone a month earlier.

So there is a major benefit to booking early on this route - which was my main point for others if not janis who waited too long to get them and now will pay about 45 euros more for a slower and less comfy connection.

Point is - with Thalys and many European trains booking way early saves money - wait too late and you'll pay a lot more.

You only need to book ahead when taking Thalys, not for regular trains. These are slower, but also cheaper. And you can stop for a few hours in Maastricht, as Hetismij suggests, and on to Amsterdam from there. Maastricht is lovely. Good restaurants too.

By the way Janisj, don't know your dates, but April 22nd has been announced as a national strike day. There will probably be no trains or busses running in Belgium on that day.

Maastricht - Amsterdam is 2,5 hours and costs 25 euros. Direct Intercity. Getting from Trois Ponts to Maastricht, however, takes almost as long.
Taking the Thalys via Brussels is 10 minutes faster than the Intercity via Liege and Maastricht. (4h40 as opposed to 4h50)

That's if the train employees are not on strike ;-)

That's if the train employees are not on strike>

so that's why on some dates they said no trains running? (Thalys)

Another vote for Maastricht. Don't miss the basilica (from my rather dated report):

"While St. Servaas Basilica was worth visiting just for its architecture and carvings, some dating back to the 1000s, and for the statues above the south doorway, the surprise was the Treasury. You start with silver, silver gilt, gold, ivory and textiles from the 1300s to the 1900s. Two particularly fine monstrances (for holding communion wafers), dating respectively to 1545 and 1905, positively dripped with intricate ornamentation. Then I found the saint's massive reliquary -- 1160, his silver key -- 890, and a 4th century bowl."

Yes Maastricht has a look and feeling all its own - sedate tree-lined boulevards and just a neat city - put your bags in a train station locker and explore - with a regular ticket I think you can get on and off as much as you like on the Liege to Maastrict to Amsterdam ticket. You do have to cancel those full-fare tickets yourself perhaps before boarding the train - common in Europe with full-fare tickets and trains that do not always have conductors. Honor system but with spot checks to catach miscreants as a full-fare ticket if not cancelled can be refunded or used again.

There are no spot checks on the Maastricht to Amsterdam train: there's a clamp down on fare dodging, so it's not an honor system any longer. There will be a conductor on board and s/he will check the entire train numerous times. Don't risk it: fines are steep.