We arrive in Ramstein, Germany and would like to visit Bruges. Would it be best to go to Paris first and take a train to Lille and a train or bus to Bruges. There doesn't seem to be a direct train to Bruges from Ramstein, though we'd prefer to go to Bruges before Paris. We would like to use trains. We lived in Europe for 4 years and enjoy traveling that way. Also, our kids will like the freedom of the train vs. cars. We could do either though. It will be a short trip. Probably 6 days total. Thank you for any suggestions.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
You're looking at a 7-8 hour train ride from Ramstein to Brugge with multiple changes, and most options go through Paris anyway. I'm assuming that Ramstein doesn't have a very large train station, which means it has no service counter, which means you'll have to use the ticket machine, which means you may only be able to purchase the first portion of the trip to Saarbrücken, which means you'll then have to purchase an international ticket from the DB Reisezentrum in Saarbrücken.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
388 posts
You are correct. There are no direct trains from Ramstein to Bruges. Most are going to have more than three changes and take a long time. If you can commit to times and dates you can buy the Ramstein to Paris ticket on the Deutsche Bahn. For the other ticket Paris to Bruges, you should be able to get that on either www.raileurope.com or www.thalys.com. I hope this helps some.