We are arriving to Paris CDG on a Friday morning early October. We then plan to take the train to Bruges and spend 3 nights there, before we fly out of Brussels for Dublin on Monday morning.
Anyone ever take the train from CDG to Bruges. Should we get our tickets in advance?
Any suggestions on what to do? This is our first 3 days of a 3 week vacation....
Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (I hate abbreviations) to Brugge requires 2 trains:
1) Charles de Gaulle airport to Brussels Midi
2) Brussels Midi to Brugge
Charles de Gaulle to Brussels Midi is a High Speed train (branded as TGV or Thalys), and that must be booked. When you buy the ticket it is for a specific train and you are allocated seats when you buy the tickets. You can buy the tickets at Charles de Gaulle when you arrive, but that is expensive. The earlier you book the tickets the cheaper it is likely to be. But, once you have bought your tickets you cannot then change your mind, no refunds. So you run the risk of missing your train if your flight is late, and having to buy a new full price at Charles de Gaulle.
Brussels to Brugge is a Belgian Intercity train. No booking on these trains. Your ticket is valid on any train.
You do this as one booking, but you will only be allocated a specific train and seats on the train to Brussels.
We took the train from CDG to Lille then the next day from Lille to Bruges. CDG to Lille we bought ahead because we knew our dates and approx time. Lille to Bruges via Kortrijk was 18,90€ each way(our home base was Lille)- we purchased at the station on the day of. It was 1 hour from CDG to Lille then another 90 mins or so Lille to Bruges.
On your return journey there are direct trains from Brugge to Brussels Airport, with no need to change in central Brussels. As before there are no advance discounts or reservations on Belgian domestic trains, so you can buy your ticket at the station when you depart.
Just one piece of information.... Just did the Brussels to Brugge trip last week. The trains leave very frequently, hourly I believe, but you are not guaranteed a seat. We had to stand the hour plus and no AC. This was an early AM train. Did not have to stand on way back.
There are two trains per hour Brussels to Brugge. They don't terminate at Brussels or Brugge, they carry on to other destinations, so the destination on the departure board and on the platform is somewhere else, with Brussels or Brugge listed as in intermediate stop.
The most convenient and quickest from Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid are the direct and frequent trains direction Knokke, Blankenberge, Oostende or Brugge itself, no change and it takes about 1 hour to the stop in Brugge. You can for instance also take the train direction Kortrijk, but with 1 change in Gent Sint-Pieters, needing also about 1 hour.
The direction or final destination with the intermediate stops is shown clearly on train schedule boards/screens in the main concourse and each platform. Some trains do not stop in Brugge so look carefully to the screens if the stop there is shown or not.
There are trains much slower with many intermediate stops, also shown on the boards / screens, but to be sure ask an employee or the info desk.
