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-   -   Train from Paris to Bruges and Amstedam (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/train-from-paris-to-bruges-and-amstedam-1072341/)

ohara23 Sep 20th, 2015 05:13 PM

Train from Paris to Bruges and Amstedam
 
Could anyone suggest the best train route/tips for getting from Patis to Bruges and then on to Amsterdam. We land at 8:45 am in Paris this Tuesday (9/22), and need to get to Bruges. We did not pre-book train tickets per some other suggestions. Hope that was not a mistake! We are in no particular rush after landing. We will be leaving Bruges on Saturday morning to head to Amsterdam.

Thank you.

ohara23 Sep 20th, 2015 05:35 PM

I did read other posts regarding this very question that were very helpful. For the experienced people traveling this area.. Which is the best option ? Thalys and connecting in Brussels? We will be taking a day trip to Ghent from Bruges. Should we purchase the tickets that allow is to travel To more than the one destination in Belgium?

agedude Sep 20th, 2015 09:55 PM

I think you've pretty much got it nailed. Take the Thalys to Brussels, buy tickets on the local train to Brugges (a little less than 2 hours), hit Ghent on the way back (I really loved Ghent) and then back to Brussels to pick up the train to A-Dam. I went from Ghent to Antwerp to pick up the Thalys train, but I wanted to see Antwerp.

You need to make the Thalys reservation as soon as possible, I went in December and the train was full. In fact some passengers were sitting on luggage between cars.

kerouac Sep 20th, 2015 10:15 PM

You will pay between 106 and 151 euros for a ticket in second class tomorrow. By booking ahead, you could have paid 36 euros.

ohara23 Sep 21st, 2015 12:56 AM

Are there other trains besides the Thalys out of Paris? I just looked at the schedule and it's sold out ! A bit panicked since we leave tomorrow night. In the states you can pretty much grab a train anytime. My mistake !

PatrickLondon Sep 21st, 2015 02:04 AM

voyages-sncf.com is showing trains direct from CDG to Bruxelles Midi tomorrow .

kerouac Sep 21st, 2015 02:11 AM

You can also take a train from Paris to Lille and connect to Bruges there. In that case, you would prefer trains to the Lille-Flandres station instead of the Lille-Europe station. They're about 400 meters apart which is an easy walk, but the trains to Bruges leave from Lille-Flandres.

PatrickLondon Sep 21st, 2015 02:13 AM

Odd - go through Thalys and it does indeed not turn anything up - but displays as from voyages-sncf.com, whose front end does list trains as available. If that doesn't work, try booking from Paris Gare du Nord to Brussels.

ohara23 Sep 21st, 2015 09:59 AM

Thank you for the input! We are going to take our chances and grab the first train we can after arriving. I don't think prices will very much between today and tomorrow. And it appears there is availability with a couple options.

Christina Sep 21st, 2015 01:42 PM

no, prices won't vary between today and tomorrow


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