travelmads

When I google trying to get to Bruges from Paris it says it's about a 3 hour train ride (or less) but as I am searching train options on RailEurope I can't find one that is under 6 hours. We are looking to just spend 1 night in Bruges on a week long trip to Paris at the end of August. What am I missing? I don't think I can justify going for 1 days if it will take 12+ hours roundtrip. Please help!

phillyboy

Hi travelmads,

We did this trip in reverse about 10 years ago - took train from Bruges to Lille, about 1 hour. Then another train from Lille to Paris, about 1 hour 40 minutes. So depending on the wait in between, about 3 hours or a little more should be close.

phillyboy

Obviously, I am referring to Lille, France, not Lille, Belgium.

phillyboy

Well, I went back and checked - I was mistaken, the train from Bruges to Lille is more like 2 - 2 1/2 hours, sorry about that. You can drive it in less than an hour, but that could be an issue, depending on where you plan to ultimately return the car. There is a high-speed rail option from Paris to Lille that takes just an hour, but I don't know how frequently that runs.

In the future, I will stick more to stuff that I know ... or that I can remember better.

janisj

Do not use RailEurope's site for anything - access the train systems in Europe. RailEurope is a seller of (often overpriced) rail passes.

Check scnf https://en.oui.sncf/en/ or sncb https://www.belgiantrain.be/en

Or the trainline and seat61 can be really useful.

lavandula

Hi travelmads, use the Belgian railways' international site, www.b-europe.com . This deals with trains which run between different countries. You may be routed through Brussels with some of those trains (Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel Zuid) as that counter-intuitively may be slightly faster, but be sure to plug in your origin (either Bruges or Brugge is OK) rather than trying to work out Bruges to Brussels or Lille separately.

Lavandula

lavandula

Oh, oops, just saw you are travelling from Paris to Bruges and not the other way around. No matter, you can still use that website but the principle of not splitting up the journeys remains. Most journeys are about 2.5 hrs.

Lavandula

aliced

Interesting, we will be doing Bruges-Paris in September, but presumed it would go through Brussels; havent gotten to that stage of planning yet, but Lille would be interesting as an alternative. Our sources have estimated "4 hrs"

TDudette

It has been a few years but DH and I got a bus day tour from Paris to Bruges.

StCirq

Don't use RailEurope for anything. Follow lavandula's advice.

neckervd

Paris - Brugge takes 2 1/2 hrs if you change trains at Bruxelles Midi or 3 hrs if you change trains at Lille Flandres and Kortrijk

kerouac

And a stop in Lille is a fantastic plus to any trip between Bruges and Paris. (Just for the record, Lille-Paris is 62 minutes by TGV.)

Southam

Forget RailEurope. Begin your own research here:

www.seat61.com

ahbonvraiment

exactly.
A stop in Bruxelles is not bad either.
Ps . I didn't know there was a Lille in Belgium.

Tulips

Lille Belgium (not pronounced like the French Lille) is not high on any tourist must-see list. Westmalle brewery is not far, though.
The Flemish name for Lille France is Rijsel. Just to further confuse you

If you have time, Lille France is worth a stopover. As is Brussels, obviously..