We will be taking the train from Bruges to Delft and have found that we need to go from Bruges to Antwerp, Antwerp to Rotterdam and then Rotterdam to Delft. Does anyone know of a quicker, easier route than this? Also, would it worth stopping in Antwerp for a few hours to look around? Has anyone taken this route and what was your experience? Thanks

I am afraid this route is the easiest; but there are hourly trains for each section, more frequently from Rotterdam to Delft(takes only less than 15 minutes), it isn't really bad at all. Please make sure you are off at Antwerp Berchem, not Central Station. I have traveled from Antwerp (once from Brugge to Schiphol)to AMS/Den Hagg/Schiphol several times, It has always been really straightforward.

Antwerp is certainly worth for more than few hours looking around: besides magnificent cathedral, medieval squares and townhouses, several fine museums (including Rubens' house), it is one of the newest fastion centres in Europe.

I think that this is the easiest route.

There's a tram between The Hague and Delft, which was what I used, if I recall (in addition to the regular train). (The Hague is also worth a visit -- for the Mauritshuis museum, for example.)

Gent, in between Antwerp and Brugge, is also worth a visit.

Antwerp is of course worth a visit also.

I'm not sure if I understand the advice to use Berchem station rather than Central. First, to get into town in Antwerp, Central is the most convenient. There're frequent train connections between the two -- and I think that the IC trains will stop at Central (I recently just took trains between Amsterdam and Antwerp and I used Central Station).

The Thalys trains will use Berchem station and these require a special reservation.

This part of my recent trip report (blogged) may be of interest to you:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?S266625AA

(On Gent and Antwerp -- I went from Brugge to Gent then to Antwerp, but I did this all in a day.)

Unfortunately my trip to Delft was last June, pre blog, so I don't have more specifics for you. But I got off the train in The Hague and then took the train to Delft. I finished that night in Amsterdam.

Thalys trains don't stop in Delft anyway:

http://www.thalys.com/fr/en/

So I think that you can take the hourly IC trains from Antwerp Central. If you want to take the Thalys trains, you'll have to go to Antwerp Berchem and then get off in the Hague unless I'm missing something.

Sorry -- got off in The Hague, looked around and then took the *tram* to Delft.

BabsB, if you want to spend some time in Antwerp en route to R'dam/Delft, make sure to get off the train in Antwerpen Centraal. If you go straight from Brugge to R'dam/Delft, then you will have to change trains in Antwerpen-Berchem in order not to miss your connection.
Furthermore, when you travel with a regular train ticket you are not allowed to interrupt your journey. All you have to do is tell the employee at the ticket booth where you want to interrupt your journey and he will give you a "via" ticket.

Interesting. Checked bahn.de -- I guess Antwerpen-Centraal to Holland require a switch at Berchem.

I don't remember doing this at all. Oh well. So I stand corrected.

If you're going to Holland with no more stops in Belgium, as MyriamC and JudyC, change in Berchem.

If you're going to break your journey along the way in Antwerp, get off in Central. To go on to Holland, you can hop on the train in Central, but you'll need to change in Berchem.

Sorry, not to confuse you further -- I wasn't senile.

On my most recent trip I traveled on a Saturday. If I look on bahn.de for this Saturday's train schedules, no switches are necessary if I go from Antwerpen-Centraal to Holland (i.e. just stop in Berchem, but I don't need to switch trains). (Take a look at IC 613 for example.)

If I look at today's schedules, I need to physically change trains in Berchem.

Hope I didn't confuse you, but you can check on bahn.de for more information if you know your day of travel as to what the most convenient connections for you will be.

111op: international connections to the Netherlands, Germany or France (both Thalys and IC trains) are always in Antwerpen-Berchem. At least, until the new section of the station in Antwerpen-Centraal will be operational, which is (hopefully!!) in 2006.

Sorry -- IC 613 doesn't stop in Berchem.... (Stops in the border Roosendaal.)

It looks like on Saturdays switches are necessary in Berchem only if you want to take the Thalys trains in Berchem.

MyriamC, take a look at this:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que...mp;OK#cis_C1-0

Unless bahn.de is wrong, of course. I don't actually remember switching when I went to Holland from Antwerp a few weeks ago -- I think that the Saturday schedules are different.

I see why IC 613 on this Saturday goes from Antwerpen-Centraal to Amsterdam with no change in Berchem (it's a train form Brussels and the Berchem stop is the stop prior to Centraal):

http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/trai...110892664&

Interestingly, if you look at the same IC 613 for today:

http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/quer...mp;OK#cis_C1-2

It still comes from Brussels. But this time it only stops in Berchem. So to connect to Holland on this train from Centraal, you must take a regional train and switch in Berchem.

BabsB, I hope I didn't confuse you too much -- but if you know the date of travel, you should probably do a (tiny) bit of checking on bahn.de and http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/ to get a sense for what your connections will look like.

Happy travels.

BabsB -

If you decide to get off the TRAIN in den Hague and take the TRAM to Delft, you would need to take Tram #1.

Where will you be staying in Delft? I can look on my map and tell you which tram stop would be the closest. Peace.

Robyn >-

111op: you're right! It's a different schedule on weekends. If you look at the schedule for Sunday, it's still very different and the journey takes over 4 hours! How confusing is that! :-?
BTW, I prefer the Dutch Railways' website (www.ns.nl) which I find easier to use than the German one.

Thanks Myriam. I was thinking that I had gone mad as I don't remember switching at all when I was there three weeks ago and the schedule kept saying I had to switch. I finally figured out that there's the weekend effect.

Anyway, I guess all (international) trains do indeed stop in Berchem. But trains need not stop in Central, just that on Saturdays they appear to stop at both (so no change needed).

I hope that I didn't confuse the original poster much.

I guess I've learned a lot about Belgian/Dutch rail.

Out of curiosity, I looked up a sample schedule on Sunday. It looks like the direct trains go to Amsterdam but via Utrecht.

So it will actually take you less time to go to Amsterdam than to the Hague (the later requires a switch in Utrecht if you're coming from Belgium).

So do take the time to check some sample schedules, BabsB.

WOW! Lets see if I have this straight. If we decide to visit Antwerp we need to get off at Central (since it is closer to the sites) and should use a "via" ticket.

If we decide not to stop, we can go through Berchem.

I took a quick look at the websites mentioned, but I'll have to sit down and study it to figure out what I want to do.

Robyn, we are staying at Hotel de Emauspoort. We will be taking a day trip to Den Hagg.

Thanks to everyone for all your input. You confirmed that this was the route we need to take, no non-stop available unfortunately.

MyriamC lives in Antwerp, so she's the expert.

I'm not sure if there's a "via" ticket for Benelux (she told me about one for Belgium). Worse comes to worst, you buy two separate tickets, but you can always specify that you're going to break your journey in Antwerp and see what the railroad folks will sell you.

Other things to consider: As Myriam mentioned before, there's a weekend discount if you're doing a round-trip over the weekend. You can take any of the IC trains. You cannot take the Thalys trains which require a special reservation.

My understanding now is the following based on my reading of the train schedules (but you should check re the specific trains you'll be using and ask):

Brugge -> Den Haag (no breaks) On weekdays, switch in Antwerpen-Berchem. On weekends, switch in Berchem or Centraal.

Brugge -> Antwerpen (break) -> Den Haag . Get off in Centraal Station. For the ongoing journey, take a train from Centraal Station. On a weekday, you need to get off and switch in Berchem. On the weekend, there's no switch. The same train will take you to Holland. (On Sunday, if you're going to Den Haag, it looks like you need to switch in Utrecht -- otherwise, no switches.)

Actually it looks to me now again from reading the train schedule that on a Sunday, if you do not break the journey in Antwerp, you should actually switch in Antwerpen-Centraal.

See this link for an example:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que...mp;OK#cis_C0-0

Unfortunately I didn't invent the train schedules.

As I said, to reiterate, the best way is to do a quick check of the schedules on your day of travel and ask railroad staff in the event of potential confusion.

Oh dear. Sorry -- the link I gave is an example from Saturday. You switch in Centraal.

Here's one from Sunday:

You switch in Centraal and then Utrecht. As MyriamC said, total journey time from Brugge to Den Haag is a little over 4 hours:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que..._C0-0#cis_C0-0

On weekdays, switch in Berchem. See this for an example:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que...7&OK#focus