Waffling in Belgium
 

Hi.<BR><BR>In May we will take the train from Brussels to Brugge and then on to Amsterdam. The online reservation services don't seem to be able to book seats for us for a variety of reasons (too early, intercity trains, etc.). <BR><BR>Are reservations necessary? Desirable? I'd welcome any suggestions.<BR><BR>Thanks.

Pilchard,<BR><BR>We have done this trip several times but always get our tickets here in the US before we leave. It is a great train ride.

Thanks, aj; but exactly HOW did you get your tickets?<BR>

Hopefully one of the Belgian posters will give you a definitive answer. Till then:<BR><BR>Unless your are traveling on holidays, I suspect you will not need reservations. There are lots of trains on these routes.

Hi<BR> I think your reservation problem is that you are too early. Try mid March for mid May.

The reason is that you don't need a reservation on local and on intercity trains.<BR>You can buy your ticket at the ticket office in the station until just before your train leaves.

Pilchard,<BR><BR>We purchased our train tickets in the US from a travel agent.

Hi, I purchased a rail pass from my travel agent in the U.S. On advice from some, I also paid for reserved seats (this was very inexpensive - but a hassle) and found it unnecessary. Sometimes I would be the only one in the car. If you are traveling on Thalys, however, you need a reservation, and the trains can be overbooked on the weekends. Hope this helps. One word of advice - be careful in the train stations in Belgium and Amsterdam - they seem to be full of pickpockets.

No need to take the Thalys train to Amsterdam. The journey is only 12 min. shorter and much more expensive than the regular intercity (for which, by the way, it is not only unnecessary but even IMpossible to book and reserve seats in advance). I am a Belgian poster and I know what I'm talking about.

MyriamC--My husband and I are flying into Brussels, arriving at 8:30 AM. We've considered several options before headinf to Paris 2 days later. The first is to stay in Brussels for 2 days, going directly to Paris or we might spend the 1st day exploring Brussels, then go to Bruge for a day, then on to Paris. We love urban visits, and have never been to Belgium. Any input on highlights, train travel etc., would be appreciated.

I would suggest to train straight to Brugge and stay there for 2 days. It's a very charming town without the stress of a business city like Brussels. <BR><BR>Re trains: <BR>1) from Brussels airport to Brugge: at the airport you take the local train to Brussels North, there you change to the intercity to Brugge. Total journey is 1 hr 25 mins.<BR>2) from Brugge to Paris: in Brugge you take the intercity train to Brussels South, there you change to the Thalys high speed train (reservation is obligatory!). Total journey is abt. 2 hrs 30 mins. Tickets for the Thalys can pre-booked at www.thalys.com or in any train station. <BR><BR><BR><BR>The easiest websites to check train schedules are from the German (http://planundspar.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en) and the Dutch railways (http://www.ns.nl/international/index.cgi) for train travel all over Europe. <BR>

MyriamC--thanks for the input. It helps to hear this from someone local.

A couple years ago we flew into Brussels (didn't stay there though) and took the train to Brugge for a few days. Then from Brugge we took the train to Amsterdam. For both train trips we just booked at the ticket window and caught the next available train with no problem. In fact, in all my train travel in Europe, I have yet to make reservations ahead of time. I think it's the rare occassion that you'd need reservations. And the advantage to no reservations is that you don't have to be tied down to getting to the train station in time for a certain trip -- just play it by ear and get there when you get there.