London to Belgium - best/fastest way?
 

My friend and I have a return flight home out of Brussels National but decided to stay in London as long as possible before leaving. What's the best way to get to Belgium in time for a midday flight (1ish)? Is the Eurostar the best/easiest option and can I just buy a ticket before leaving or are reservations recommended? Plus I'm only 20, so would a youth rate be easy to come by? I probably should have figured this out already, but I enjoy traveling with little to no planning.

Try British Midland: http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/index.aspx

I guess I should add that the cheapest option would also be of interest.

Try out BMI's web site. Youd'd be surprised how cheap it would be. Notice also that on the Eurostar you'll need to pay an arm and a leg

I came across this - RyanAir from London Stansted to Brussels Charleroi. It's pretty inexpensive - anyone know about these airports and if it's easy to get from Charleroi to Brussels National?

No matter how you get to Brussels you won't have much extra time in London. Say your flight from Belgium leaves at 1PM. That means you have to be checked in by 11AM. Which means you have to leave Stanstead before 9:30AM. Which means you have to Check in at RyanAir before 8:45 AM. Which means you have to leave your hotel in central London by 7AM.

So what do you plan on doing with all that "extra" time in London?

Look into flying to Brussels the last flight the night before, OR, stay near Stanstead the last night and fly out on an early AM flight.

Oops - didn't notice the needed transfer between airports in Brussels. That makes it even more difficult. Fly out of London the night before . . . .

Flying is always fastest between London and Brussels. Don't go to Charleroi; it's quite a long way from Brussels Airport (the airport being north of the city, and Charleroi is quite a way to the south). Also, don't forget there's a time difference; ie you loose an hour if you fly London-Brussels, so to get there in time for your flight, you need to fly from London at 9 am at the latest. And flying is usually cheaper than Eurostar; BA has some good rates as well as BMI.

Virgin-express has cheap flights from Brussel Nationaal to London City airport.

Fly out the night before, have a night in Brussels, then get to the airport in plenty of time - that's what I would do.

Otherwise, you're probably looking at losing that arm and leg to pay for Eurostar!

Flying can never be the fastest way from London to Brussels. The journey by train currently takes 2 hrs 40 mins, but will be about 20 minutes faster in a month's time. If you consider travelling times to an airport, check-in times, etc, the train will be faster. The only problem is Eurostar's fares, but if you book in advance you may get a cheap return fare. Perhaps one day Eurostar will realise that they have so many empty seats because everyone booking a one-way journey has to pay a return fare and book a fictional journey back.

If you have to be at Brussels Airport flying will be faster, otherwise you have to go from the station to the airport. And the flight is just an hour. When I go to London I usually fly Antwerp - London City, and there is nothing that beats that; check in half an hour in advance with hand luggage only. But Doobster, if you haven't been to Brussels try to spend an evening there before flying out the next day.

Tulips, which airline flies LCY-Antwerp?

Its VLM airlines (Vlaamse Luchtvaart Maatschappij); they're quite small, but I have flown with them very often and they are very reliable. Their flights do get booked up, and can then become expensive. I've sometimes flown to London just for the day; 8 am flight gets into London 8 am local time and the last flight back is at 8.30 pm, which gives you a long day in London. And since both airports are really small, it takes just minutes to get through them.