I have been procrastinating on this and just realized that today is the last day I can buy 14 day advance tickets for my trip - ack!! We are getting into Brussels around 10:30 a.m. and want to go to Paris via train as soon as we can. So my question is how to do this. Can we book a train right from the airport or do we need to get on the metro or something and go to the central train station? And if that's the case, how much time do I need to leave to (deplane, get bags, clear customes and) get to the central train station? Would a train at 1:15 be cutting it too close?

You need to get the train to Paris from the Gare du Midi (not Centrale) in Brussels.

You must book in advance on www.thalys.com

There are 4 trains an hour from the airport. The train journey takes about 30 minutes.

A train at 1.15 should be ok.

Thalys trains, the only ones on the Brussels-Paris direct run only leave from Brussels-Midi (aka Zuid or South) station - constant shuttle trains to it from Zaventum (sp?) airport.

As for Thalys tickets yes advance purchase will save you bundles over just showing up - though the cheaper tickets are oft nonrefundable non changeable so put in ample fudge time for plane to be late. A full fare flexible ticket can cost literally $100 or more. check www.thalys.com for euro prices and in US RailEurope is having a 50% off full fare sale thru end of Aug - check that source too (I always advise calling BETS 800-441-2387 as they are experts and don't charge some of RE's mailing fees for this type of order. But usually www.thalys.com has the better prices but check both.

Think I already know the answer to this one but just have to confirm - ticket prices have gone way up since I checked a few days ago. So now it is like 200E for DH and I to go roundtrip between BRU and PAR. Do prices ever go down or am I just best to suck it up and buy them now before they get higher? Man, I'm mad I didn't buy them when they were like 120E!!

Mezzo fares is 42.5EUR per person each way. And they can be gone, and you'll be left with full-fare Librys, which is 78EUR per person each way.

You should book now. The cheap Smilys are gone when they're gone.

or take the slower alternative routing - Brussels to Lille then Lille via TGV to paris - uniform pricing i believe meaning full fare is fairly constant and much cheaper perhaps than Thalys. But takes about 2 hours longer.

Thanks for the replies - I just bit the bullet and bought the tickets. Oh well, at least I'm saving some money on hotels And its worth the extra $$ to get there 2 hours quicker!