Paris/Amsterdam roundtrip help, please
Jul 30th, 2004, 11:51 AM
#1
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Paris/Amsterdam roundtrip help, please
Hi all,
I'm trying to reserve a very busy September weekend, back & forth to A'dam from Paris.
Thalys has frequent trains, but they're not as cheap as I'd hoped for; and, outbound I would have to change in Brussels to a local train. (Guess the Belgians go to NL for the weekend) Ridiculous!
Before I change my travel dates, any tips for cheap flights/other ways to book Thalys besides the Thalys/sncf-voyages site??
Thanks so much!
I'm trying to reserve a very busy September weekend, back & forth to A'dam from Paris.
Thalys has frequent trains, but they're not as cheap as I'd hoped for; and, outbound I would have to change in Brussels to a local train. (Guess the Belgians go to NL for the weekend) Ridiculous!
Before I change my travel dates, any tips for cheap flights/other ways to book Thalys besides the Thalys/sncf-voyages site??
Thanks so much!
Jul 30th, 2004, 02:48 PM
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Thalys is the primary rail service from Paris to Amsterdam. The stop in Brussels is at station Zuid/Midi so if you want to see the city you will probably want to catch a local to Central Station which is near the Grand Place / Grote Markt.
Thalys is a high speed TGV class premium train and reservations are required.
Jul 30th, 2004, 03:49 PM
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I suppose if you would rather fly you could check out the possibilities at www.whichbudget.com
Jul 30th, 2004, 03:57 PM
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Hi ealing,
>...Thalys has frequent trains, but they're not as cheap as I'd hoped for;..<
For future reference, if you book your tickets 60 days in advance from http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/
you can get a SMILYS fare for 24.5E each way.
>...Thalys has frequent trains, but they're not as cheap as I'd hoped for;..<
For future reference, if you book your tickets 60 days in advance from http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/
you can get a SMILYS fare for 24.5E each way.
Jul 30th, 2004, 05:49 PM
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Thanks, will follow up those tips.
Don't want to stop off in la belle Belgique, I need to get to A'dam for a Sept. conference . . . and, flights and trains are already slammed.
Will probably have to change my ideal times/dates, bite the bullet and do Thalys (which is still working out cheaper than flights [AirFrance, Varig, KLM]).
Any other ideas, besides a tardis?
Thanks again/have a great weekend : )
Don't want to stop off in la belle Belgique, I need to get to A'dam for a Sept. conference . . . and, flights and trains are already slammed.
Will probably have to change my ideal times/dates, bite the bullet and do Thalys (which is still working out cheaper than flights [AirFrance, Varig, KLM]).
Any other ideas, besides a tardis?
Thanks again/have a great weekend : )
Jul 31st, 2004, 08:07 AM
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Aha, being flexible looks like it'll work.
Strangely, the smoking carriages are all totally booked solid, too . . . if the trains are full, they can't sell you a ticket! Just think it's funny there are no seats to be had, a month & a half ahead of time.
Strangely, the smoking carriages are all totally booked solid, too . . . if the trains are full, they can't sell you a ticket! Just think it's funny there are no seats to be had, a month & a half ahead of time.
Aug 1st, 2004, 09:19 AM
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Bought my tix -- being flexible was needed. On my outbound journey, the upgrade to 1st was only 13euros additional . . . so I took it.
The clincher for Thalys over flying was the convenience of Gare du Nord. I'm not a fan of the Roissybus, and the RER/navette to terminal thing at CDG is ridiculous. I'll be staying on a metro line that goes straight to GduN, so taking short metro trip/jumping on fast train just made more sense.
The sncf-voyages site is wonderful to use BTW.
hth!
The clincher for Thalys over flying was the convenience of Gare du Nord. I'm not a fan of the Roissybus, and the RER/navette to terminal thing at CDG is ridiculous. I'll be staying on a metro line that goes straight to GduN, so taking short metro trip/jumping on fast train just made more sense.
The sncf-voyages site is wonderful to use BTW.
hth!
Aug 1st, 2004, 11:44 AM
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Cheers Ira.
BTW the IBC annual conference
http://www.ibc.org/
is *huge* and every single hotel room in A'dam is always booked for this weekend in Sept. (it's the 10th-14th this year). Be prepared for the 'what's happening in A'dam I can't find a hotel anywhere!' posts.
Interestingly, Thalys has amazing 50euro fares r/t Brussels<->A'dam, & that's why I couldn't get a direct outbound train on the Sat. All the Bruxellois head to A'dam for their weekends! No way was I getting off a fast train onto a rickety , ) Belgian local train for the 3 hour trip to A'dam.
All's well that ends well.
Hope this is of some use to peeps!
x
BTW the IBC annual conference
http://www.ibc.org/
is *huge* and every single hotel room in A'dam is always booked for this weekend in Sept. (it's the 10th-14th this year). Be prepared for the 'what's happening in A'dam I can't find a hotel anywhere!' posts.
Interestingly, Thalys has amazing 50euro fares r/t Brussels<->A'dam, & that's why I couldn't get a direct outbound train on the Sat. All the Bruxellois head to A'dam for their weekends! No way was I getting off a fast train onto a rickety , ) Belgian local train for the 3 hour trip to A'dam.
All's well that ends well.
Hope this is of some use to peeps!
x
