My last post was wrong. I am taking Thalys from amsterdam to brussels and then onto London, I am a single woman. I wanted a hotel near the station but I heard it is not a safe area. what would be a convient hotel for 2 nights?

Dina,<BR><BR>There is no "Centraal Midi" station. There is the Gare Centrale (central station) and Gare du Midi (the station for the Eurostar, Thalys, etc.). Your best bet is to take a cab (or subway) up to the Ave. Louise area or the Gare Centrale/Grand'Place area. What is your budget? <BR>BTilke (Brussels)

Dina,<BR><BR>You want to stay near Centraal station, NOT Midi (iffy area), so the hotels I mentioned in your other thread are still your best bets.<BR><BR>The Brussels Midi station where you will arrive & leave is linked to the Brussels Centraal station by very frequent trains (& the journey takes all of 3 min.). Schedules at:<BR>www.b-rail.be<BR><BR>Or you can take a cab if you have a lot of luggage.<BR><BR>Hope this helps,<BR>Andre

Yes Dina Centaal and Midi are 2 different stations. The Thalys stops in Brussels Midi. There you can take a connection to Brussels Centraal (2minutes).<BR>But what I said in my previous reply is true: the area around (outside) the station is not the best place to be.

Thank you for your help. About 20 years ago, I spent a month in Brussels and stayed at the Sheraton. I have obviously not done my homework this time and I leave for Amsterdam this week. Since I will be by myself I was hoping to spend under 100 a night. I also hate moving around a lot. On one of my days I will probably take a train to Brugges. Hopefully that will explain what I am planning on doing or in this case what I have really not planned at all. Thanks so much for your help.

Have a good trip Dina!

I just found out about All Saints Day. That is one of the days I was supposed to be in Belgium. Is it worth it if that is one of your 2 days? Will stores be open in Brugges?

We stayed at Atlas Hotel on rue du Vieux March&eacute; aux Grains, one block from the Bourse (115-123Euro/double). The taxi fare from there to Gare Midi was about 6 Euro. Don't feel limited to staying by Gare Midi for your ongoing travel.<BR>I will post a trip report later on (brought home a horrible cold), but Atlas was a nice hotel, sort of business-class, big room, beautiful bath!, easy walk to Grand Place and Gare Central. Would have no problems recommending it.<BR>p.s. quite a lot of road work going on, making the area around Bourse kind of messy, but Grand Place and good mussels will make up for it.

Unfortunately most of the stores will be closed. Restaurants are open.<BR>The museums in Brugge are open the 11/11, but in Brussels they are closed.<BR>I think in the Netherlands it must be the same.

I called the Belgium Consulate in NY 212 758 8130. Theywere a little vague but said in Brugges some of the tourist stores would be open the others would be closed. Public museums are closed, private are open. I am still deciding what to do.

I've posted before, but we enjoyed the budget Hotel Opera near the Grand Place. Good location, tiny rooms, ok breakfast, good price.

Dina,I did some research for you.<BR>If you want info about museums etc.<BR>try www.VisitFlanders.com <BR>It would be a pity to spoil a whole day in a town where everything is closed.<BR>