Here is the agenda:

October 26th: Leave Canada, overnight trip.

October 27th: Arrive in Paris, early morning. Would stay until November 3rd. Possibly rent an apartment. I've been to Paris twice already so I know I can find stuff to do for a week (cooking class, 1 day trip to Futuroscope maybe)

Nov 3rd: Take train to Brussels, stay 1 night.

Nov 4th: Take train to Brugge, stay 2 nights.

Nov 6th: Go to Amsterdam, stay 2 nights, fly out on the 8th back to Canada.

I'm concerned about the luggage situation on the trains... is it really safe? I don't want to buy stuff in Paris and have it lost on the train going back.

I had possibly also wanted to spend 2 days in the Loire Valley... Not sure when to squeeze that in (would stay 6 days in Paris, 2 days in the Loire) but that seems to be a lot of train travel.

Any advice please?

Thanks!

Hi R,

>Nov 3rd: Take train to Brussels, stay 1 night.

Nov 4th: Take train to Brugge, stay 2 nights.

I would stay in Brussels and visit Brugge as a daytrip.

Saves schlepping luggage.

Enjoy your visit.

Thanks Ira, that is a great idea! We may not even get to Amsterdam then since we can fly out of Brussels. It'd leave more time to visit more of France.

I really appreciate the feedback !

You are welcome, R

Or, skip Brussels and go directly from Paris to Brugge. Visit Antwerp on the way to Amsterdam

I would definitely stay in Brugge those 2 nights, regardless of having to schelp luggage. The beauty of Brugge is most enjoyed after all of the day trippers have gone home and you have the city to itself.

Yes can Brussels, a city that many people find rather dismal, and go right from Paris to Bruges via Lille on the TGV

This way you avoid having to take the generally much more expensive Thalys train on which cheap tickets can be problematic

Use Bruges as a base and day trip to Gent or the nearby coast towns - then go to Amsterdam via Antwerp (put bags in lockers and spend a few hours in this ancient history lovely Flemish port town)

If you were really going to travel in France much on train as well then investigate the France-Benelux railpass, good in France, Belgium, holland and luxembourg

I am going to add a question to this post. We are thinking of flying to Amsterdam, then go to Brussels (or Brugge) and then Paris-all in one week. We've been to Paris a number of times previously. Then we'll take the Eurostar to England to spend another week.

I don't see a direct train from Brugge to Paris. It looks like you always have to go back and switch trains through Brussels. I'm leaning toward a daytrip to Brugge from Brussels, spending 3 nights Amsterdam, 2 nights Brussels, 2 nights Paris.

I'd go Bruges-Lille-Paris - at least hourly rail connections and has a simpler fare structure where you need not buy weeks in advance or pay a very high fare

indeed you i think could just make the needed Lille-Paris TGV reservation in Bruges (i think but not sure)

there are lots of direct Bruges-Lille trains and links you must change in Kortrijk - a simple change

3.5 hours by either route - i'd forego the intricacies of the Thalys route via Brussels and simplify things and get there just as quick

Where do you find the schedule for these other trains?

www.bahn.de - German rail web portal that has schedules for all of Europe and is the best schedule site i've seen.