Hello and sorry this is such a specific question but I thought there might be somebody out there who might have an opinion! I’m trying to help my daughter easily get from the Brussels international airport to Lille, France. There is a train that seems legit but there is a transfer. It’s not horrible, but there is a bus with zero transfers and cheaper which would be preferable. Has anyone ever taken this bus? I think it’s called Flibio. Not sure how to easily know the name of the company versus the website (Omio for example which is a 3rd party operator as far as I can tell.) I’ve seen some bad reviews about this bus company. But I also know that taking buses throughout Europe can be a safe and a cheaper option. Thank you so much if anyone has an opinion!
Peggy
Posted by
Lake District, England
8131 posts
The bus company is called Flibco. They have a big intercity network in Belgium, and into Northern France and the Netherlands.
If you can find it a British you tube creator had a very positive video out about them at the weekend.
Most people who leave reviews about a bus company are the disgruntled for whatever reason. Few people will write a review that says"all went well on my bus journey today".
Posted by
OP
18 posts
I appreciate your response:-)
Posted by
Lake District, England
8131 posts
I'm back home now (I was mobile earlier)- this is the video (see from 11 minutes to just after 18 minutes)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nnpDQC6r8w
Posted by
977 posts
I don't know anything about a bus, but we took the train from Lille to Ghent in April. We had one change; none of this was complicated or difficult.
We booked through the SNCF website for train schedule/tickets, and was not expensive. The SNCF app is very user friendly, but we were going France to Belgium; so not sure exactly which website you could purchase tickets for the reverse. You could look on trainline as well. There is also Eurostar which I would think would be nonstop Brussels to Lille.
Posted by
Lake District, England
8131 posts
www.b-europe.com is the correct website to buy train tickets FROM Belgium to another country.
That is the site of SNCB- Belgian National Railways.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7936 posts
Does she have a vast amount of luggage? Are you afraid for her personal safety? What do you mean by "legit?" Train travel is extremely safe, and well organized. Europe has much less street crime than the US. I would observe that unreserved local trains in Belgium may only have small, overhead racks that won't take a full size suitcase.
If she will be in Europe for weeks or months, she is going to be making many train transfers, which are no harder than a two-segment air trip. I have never taken an intercity bus in Europe, but in the US, they keep costs down by not using bus terminals, instead stopping at remote public curbs.
15 years ago I took three trains from Antwerp to Lille, for a daytrip. So two sounds nice to me!
Posted by
Lake District, England
8131 posts
In the case of Flibco the Lille stop is at the front of the CIC building, opposite Place des Buisses, right next to the train station and the "Lille Flandres" metro/tram station- 31 Avenue le Corbusier
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
7051 posts
I don't know what an illegit train would be, and changing trains isn't that hard.