Brugge to CDG?
 

I'm helping friends plan their honeymoon. Their plane leaves CDG at 2 pm on 4 August for their return to the US, and they are wondering if they can take the train from Brugge to CDG on the morning of their departure, arriving at the airport before noon? I've searched the archives, but can't find any threads that address this particular situation. I've read the Brugge-Lille-Paris vs. the Brugge-Brussels-Paris posts and have gotten tips on buying the RT Smilys fare, so the archives have been very helpful to a certain extent. The SNCF site shows a Thalys connection from Brussels to CDG, but when I try to get more specifics on this route, the site shows it can't be booked because it requires more than three connections. Alternatively, I think they would be OK with a route that would take them from Brugge into Paris then to CDG. So any help you experienced travelers can provide to make this a smooth segment of their honeymoon will be greatly appreciated by Sharon and Phil.

The www.sncb.be web site shows four departures from Bruges that will get them to CDG before noon. The departures begin at 7:30 and run every half hour. The latest train they could take would be the 8:33. They would have to change once in Brussels and again in Paris. There is a train that is direct from Brussels, leaving Bruges at 9:30 but won't get them to CDG until 12:07. Hope that helps.

The only drawback would be if there was a strike or other interruption. I'd want to have a contingency plan (even if it's just knowing how to change the times of the flight).

your friends wouldn't need to change in paris; there are direct trains from brussels to CDG airport as well - one change in brussels would do.

Thanks so much for your replies. I'm always amazed at the travel knowledge of fellow Fodorites!

I was finally able to figure how to do this itinerary. My mistake was typing in Brugge as the departure station. When I tried to find trains from Brussels to CDG, there wasn't a problem. There are lots of trains daily from Brugge to Brussels and several from Brussels to CDG, but evidently the site doesn't support a Brugge to CDG itinerary.

One last (I hope) question: Is Bruxelles-Midi the same station as Bruxelles Centraal? The Bruge/Brussels train arrives at Centraal and the Brussels/CDG train leaves from Midi.

Midi and Central are not the same, but there's a train that goes between the two. It'll only take a couple of minutes.

Central is the station near Grand'Place.

Most, if not all, trains from Brugge to Brussels stop at Brussels Midi/Zuid 5 minutes before going on to Brussels Centraal.

The Neterlands Spoorwegen site at
www.ns.nl lists a number of possiblities. For example, there is a departure from Brugge at 9:31 connecting at Midi with a TGV arriving at CDG at 11:59. Use links to English and International on the www.ns.nl site.

If I remember correctly "midi" is "zuid".

I have made it to CDG safely for an afternoon plane from Brugge -- it's a bit of an early morning hassle, but very doable.

Just be sure that they get a train from Brugge that leaves enough time for the switch to the Thalys train in Brussels.

To sum up info: take an IC train from Brugge to Brussels-Midi (=Zuid), where all Brugge-Brussels trains pass. Allow enough change time (say half an hour) to check in to the Thalys which goes straight to CDG.

Thanks everyone! Got the process nailed now, thanks to you. Sharon tried to buy the Brussels/CDG tickets on the Belgian rail site today because there were PREMs fares available (Prem's 1 at 30 Euro, Prem's 2 at 45 Euro). As she was in the middle of the transaction, the 30 Euro option disappeared. The site first reported that her request had not been processed, then reported that it had, although she didn't receive a reservation number. There's a phone number on the site that she's going to try during business hours to find out if she has a reservation or what.

After all that, I am now in the mood to go too.

LOL, usb! After all that I feel as if I've <i>been</i>!

Well, consider the money we just saved!
:P

A good point. But think of all that good food we missed,

Don't be so depressed Betsy. Buy a few pounds of mussels and get your deep pan out. Moules a la mariniere is one of the easiest and quickest things to prepare in your own kitchen. It's great for a small dinner party. Wine: Pinot Grigio, or beer: Amstel.

You can tell Ralph and Alice when they get back that you had the same thing they did except that you didn't have to worry about connections and schedules and people who don't even speak a civilized language and who honor a statue of a pissing boy and have two too many train stations etc. ;-) of course, it's Saturday night.

Hopscotsch... how on earth do you dare to recommend a Dutch (?, for sure not Belgian) beer in a thread about Belgium. I agree that mussels are served in both the Netherlands and Belgium, but in a thread about Belgium... how dare you. Anyway, to be honest, even though I'm Belgian, I'm not too fond of beer, so I prefer a nice white wine with my mussels...

Thanks so much, hopscotch. I'm feeling better already!

Brussels wouldn't be Brussels without all those train stations, especially the under appreciated one in Schaerbeek :))

Like Burgundy wine, you must make your mussels with two big bottles of Chimay - one for the pot and one for the table.