jbjayhawk

DH and I are debating on whether or not to use a tour company or go on our own for a day trip from Paris to Bruges this September. I think we would have more fun on our own, but it seems like the cost will be about the same to purchase Thalys tickets as it would to buy a tour. At least with a tour we wouldn't have the hassle of details. The rate I'm getting on the Thalys site for 2 second class, round trip tickets is a little over 300 euro (using April dates). It's not that much more to go with a tour. I thought train tickets would be cheaper. Also I keep seeing "Smileys" tickets on this board, but I don't see that offered on the Thalys website.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Bobbie

My husband and I did this by ourselves and had a great time. It takes about 2 1/2 hr for the train ride but it was pleasant. We were glad we went on our own because we were back earlier than we would have been on the tour. It's a great little town to visit. I think I'd like to stay there for a weekend.

jbjayhawk

Thanks Bobbie. Do you happen to recall how much your train fare was?

alyssamma

Depending on whether or not you know anyone in Europe, you can get what is known as a "mini-fare". This is a greatly reduced fare (like an advance purchase plane ticket in the US).

The only problem is that you can only get it mailed to European addresses

At least this was the case a couple of years ago. You might be able to get an electronic version now from anywhere.

You might also be able to pick it up when you get there...

djkbooks

My husband and I took a Paris Visions day trip to Brugges on our third trip to Paris. He really wanted to see Brugges. It was a very, very long day. We weren't sorry we went, but we weren't thrilled either.

Brugges is totally charming, but (and I loathe offering this description) it THE most "touristy" place we've ever been on the planet. The place was positively mobbed (in May), photo ops were impossible for the crowds and tour buses.

TimS

PREM (discount) tickets can be as low as E33.70 each way at sncf.com or thalys.com. The key is to order them as soon as the "booking window" opens (90 days in advance of your travel date at sncf.com and possibly a bit less at thalys.com). Go to those sites now and enter some arbitrary dates until you see PREMS listed so you'll know what to look for when you book the "real thing" in June.

Neopolitan

With all due respect, djkbooks, you were on a tour bus. All the tour busses do the same route and pretty much the same schedule. We've been to Brugges twice, and when we saw the big tour groups coming we just went the other direction. There were plenty of people there, but those who go in massive tours are of course going to see other massive tours. It's that simple, and true most places you take a tour to.
Your reaction is pretty much like those who join tours to places like Mont St. Michel, Capri, San Gimignano, and other places.

BreukelenMan

don't know much about going from paris to brugges, but saw many huge tour groups last summer in brugges, it was very crowded. my wife and i were delighted that we went on our own to enjoy the town at our own pace, and distance ourselves as best as we could from the crowds. however, if you do it alone, do your research and carry a good map and compas as it is easy to get a bit lost there. de torre restaurant on the Groeneri, Langestraat 8 (green canal) is excellent for food and drink!!

MyriamC

jbjayhawk, you're too late for Smilys tickets for April. They sell out very quickly and the number of these tickets is very limited.
You can easily explore Brugge on your own. It's such a small city, easily walkable and the tourist office sells 4 very pretty mapped out walks with good information.

MyriamC

Oops ... I misread! If you're going in September you're obviously NOT too late for Smilys tickets. They will only come available 60 days before the date of your journey. You can buy tickets online on www.thalys.com - in the box "ticket issued or sent to" you browse to "France". After you filled in the "origin" and "destination" fields the system will ask you "You wish to collect your ticket or have it mailed to you in France?" Just click "OK", you will then have the possibility to collect your tickets at the Paris Nord train station.

I did a simulation for June 1st ... tickets to Brugge all cost 177.40 euro per person roundtrip. If you order a ticket Paris-Brussels you have various possibilies, as low as 49 euro per person roundtrip (Smilys)! A return ticket Brussels-Brugge costs 23.60 euro per person return (this is the full fare, there's a reduction on weekends, for seniors and for students or -26). Since you'll have to change to a commuter train anyway to get to Brugge, you can as well buy separate tickets for the two legs (Paris-Brussels / Brussels-Brugge). All the trains leaving at 25 and 55 mins. after the hour go to Brussels and the journey is two and a half hours.
NOTE: there are trains that go via Lille and Kortrijk (instead of Brussels), involving 2 changes. Don't take those!

francophile03

If you can take the Thalys on your own it would be great. We were thinking of doing that but instead chose to take the Parisvision tour that some people have done here, butwe had a better experience than what one of the previous poster's reported. It could be that we didn't feel mobbed yet it was busy when we went. Summertime I'm sure there are lots more tourists in Brugge which is pretty small. But we went last month and it was allright. It cost alot more by taking the tour bus but we don't regret doing so. The Thalys fares were approximately 60+ euro roundtrip per person whereas the bus tour is double that amount.