Train ticket booking questions
 

I have some questions regarding buying train tickets in advance. Is it always cheaper to buy in advance and, if for some reason our schedule changes, can the tickets be changed? How far in advance can tickets be purchased? What are the best sites used for booking? I need to book the following tickets for travel in mid to late June and early July:
Paris (Charles de Gaulle) to Versailles
Lille to Bruges
Bruges to Amsterdam
Newcastle to Chathill
Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Yes for Lille to Bruges

Newcastle to Chathill = £16.40. It’s a local service - no advantage in buying tickets ahead of time, no cost savings. Buy on the day.

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/

I hope you have onward transport sorted as Chathill is an unusual destination. Only two trains per day at awkward times.

Suggest you spend some time on https://www.seat61.com/index.html

Thanks so much for your replies. I will check out seat61. As far as Chathill is concerned, we will be about 5 miles from our destination so we can probably just take a taxi.

Good point Sofarsogood! We're staying in Seahouses. Would training to Berwick Upon Tweed be a better option? I see there are numerous trains and it's not far from Seahouses.

Thanks for clarifying.

Chathill isn't practical. Alnmouth would be my choice. There will be taxis at the station but I would pre-book to ensure you have one waiting.

https://www.northumberlandcoastaonb.org/getting-around/

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stati...M/details.html

What are you planning on doing in Seahouses without a car? It is a village with limited bus service.

If you are getting off in Alnmouth definitely prebook a taxi -- the whole place has only about 500 people and its unlikely someone will be parked at the station 'on spec'. I might take the train farther to Berwick upon Tweed since it is a good sized town (close to 15,000 people) with lots more services., though it is about 6 miles farther from Seahouses.

Not sure if this will be an option for any of your destinations. When I took SCNF train from Paris to Brussels, Bruges and back to Paris, booking at least 14 days in advance saved you 50% of fare. Note: when booking, for such a fare, remember that they are hours ahead of us ( 6 hours for EST US).. I booked from US. Have a great trip.

We are meeting 3 couples (friends and family) who will all have cars. Thanks for the suggestions regarding Alnmouth and Berwick upon Tweed. Either of those sound like good options and I appreciate the suggestion of prebooking a taxi.

Oh -- that's great. But with that info, wouldn't it just be easier all around to have one of your friends pick you up at Alnmouth station - or even at Chathill??

Possibly, but I'm not sure what their plans will be for the day. We'll see.

Ticketing has opened up for the Lille to Bruges portion of our trip. It's showing Lille to Kortrijk to Bruges with a 10 minute transfer time in Kortrijk. Is anyone familiar with the station in Kortrijk and can tell me if this is doable? Many thanks.

I confess I have never been to Kortrijk, but if they give 10 mins connection time then this is usually ample ... if you miss your train, just hop on the next train as I counted 6 IC trains between 10am and 11:30 between Kortrijk and Brugge. No man overboard, you will just get there a little later. You may even find it faster or a comparable time to go on a fast train like Eurostar or Thalys straight through to Brussels and change at Bruxelles-Midi for a train to Bruges, although it would cost you a bit more - I assume however since you are looking at the journey via Kortrijk, you are looking at cheaper fares ...?

Lavandula

Thanks Lavandula. I was looking at the cheapest option and unless I'm mistaken there doesn't seem to be much difference in the length of the journey though I'll have another look.

OK, great - also you asked about websites to book train tickets - in Belgium Lille - Bruges counts as an international ticket since Lille is in France, so use either www.b-europe.com or the French www.sncf.com. You should be able to walk up on the day and buy IC tickets because regional trains in Belgium don't need to be booked, there are no seat reservations possible, and I think Lille to Kortrijk is just a short hop. You would leave from Lille Flandres not Lille Europe, which is the station for international high-speed trains, if you take this route.

Lavandula