I need to travel by train from Paris to Bruges (Belgium) on Oct 12 2012, one way. I found on www.voyages-sncf.com that I can travel on TGV Paris to Lille and one option at 12.40pm is 10 euros cheaper and is called a PREMS. What is a PREMS? It said on the website that the trip is 30 euros PREMS. I presume this is for one person, even though i put on the site that there are 2 of us.

Should I book this online now or will it be the same price if I leave it until I'm in Paris the day before? Does the TGV have booked seats?

I have found out that from Lille to Bruges I can catch a regional train and there are no booked seats and no discounts for booking early.

THANKS, for your help anyone.

You can take the Thalys to Brussels; then connect to Bruges.

You can use an "Any Belgium Station" fare - as little as 36 Euro on October 12 (there are 3 morning departures at that fare).

It's about 1:30 from Paris Nord to Brussels; then another 1:30 or so to Bruges. (Not sure of connection times)

Here is the link: http://www.thalys.com/fr/en/

For your destination, select All Other Belgium Stations - via Bruxelles.

SS

...as I said, connection times might make it worth the extra 6 Euros)...you'd have to check on the Brussels-Bruges times.

SS

...there also appears to be an all-Thalys trip (no connection?) the evening before (Oct 11) that departs 18:22 and arrives in Bruges 20:53 for 29 Euro. Great price.

SS

If you are changing trains at Brussels and travelling on to Bruges on the same day, there is no charge for travelling the extra leg. Di

di2315

When we traveled from Bruges to Amsterdam [Bruges to Antwerp, then on via Thalys to Amsterdam], they called that the "Any Belgian Station" ticket. This was 2 years ago, and it was a little tricky to find on the Belgian rail site.

The non-Thalys portion could be used on any train to Antwerp -- we actually grabbed an earlier than planned train, and had lunch at the Antwerp station - no seat reservations, either.

SS

PREMs tickets are very good deals. You can print them at home. However, only so many PREMs tickets are available on a given train. They go quickly so, yes, you should buy them now -- as long as you're sure about your itinerary. There can be complications dealing with the French train site; make sure your bank knows you will be making purchases from abroad. And search this forum for help if you have problems.

Thanks SS but I did go to Any Belgium Station at the bottom of the screen and put in leaving from Paris Nord , Destination Brugge and when I asked it to check timetable the only time offered was leaving Paris at 6.22pm, Wheras i need a train leaving Paris before about midday.
I went to different links on the Thalys site and was offered prices like 56euros, I think pp.

could you possibly give any more specific instructions?
Thanks.

Hi jmbkf45...I'll give this a shot.

1. Go to: http://www.thalys.com/fr/en/ (this is the French site, but it is in English)

2. On the left My Journey drop-downs, Departure Station: Paris Nord and Arrival Station: via Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid

3. My Dates: enter Oct 12 (and any other date for return)...you'll have a chance to change to one-way later. Enter a morning time.

4. My Comfort: Enter Comfort 2

5. Click Book Now

6. Now, under My Dates, you can click the check box for one-way ticket.

7. Click Continue.

8. You'll see several choices, including some at 36 Euro, with the ability to click forward or backward to earlier or later trains.

9. Click on your choice. A gray box will appear Choose My Place (seat). A dropdown box will appear for you to do that.

10. Then click Choose this Outward Journey. [If you get a message that no more seats are available, try a different seat choice...if still no luck, try a different train.]

11. Now it gets complicated. You may not have the correct type of credit card to print the ticket at home, so you may want to opt to collect it at the station ticket office. Even so, have your credit card company on the line when you do this, so they can approve it.

Good luck. If you are unsuccessful, try the Belgian Thalys site.

SS

Ooops...the "Belgian" site appears to be essentially the same site. (I thought the credit card restrictions might be fewer there...but nooo.)

Stick with the French site.

SS

<< "Thanks SS but I did go to Any Belgium Station at the bottom of the screen and put in leaving from Paris Nord , Destination Brugge and when I asked it to check timetable the only time offered was leaving Paris at 6.22pm, Wheras i need a train leaving Paris before about midday. "

Yes...that's why I mentioned it for October 11 -- the only all-Thalys train to Brugge appears to be at 6:22 -- you'd have to go the day before to do it that way. Otherwise, a connecting train at Brussels is what you use.

SS

I read on a comment posted in 2008 that the regional train from Lille, France to Brugge doesn't require bookings. In other words, I can just turn up on the day and buy a ticket at the station for this regional train, that there are no reserved seats??

jf