Choosing stations when reserving seat from Paris to Brussels

What you usually do is use a planner like the one at Bahn (www.bahn.de) and just enter the city names as origin and destination. The system will then choose the best stations for you.

Note that if you plan to use a Global Pass for travel around and to/from France you are setting yourself up for quite a bit of hassle. I would avoid that. Just don't get a pass. For Paris Brussel just buy a ticket in advance from Eurostar, and for Brussel - Amsterdam buy from www.b-europe.com

And if you are not yet familiar with train travel in Europe head over to www.seat61.com...

You don’t have a choice when it comes to train stations in Paris. Trains to destinations in the north, like Brussels, only leave from Gare du Nord.
In Brussels the situation is a bit different. The highspeed trains from Paris and to Amsterdam only stop and depart from Brussels Midi station.
The non-highspeed train to Amsterdam starts at Brussels Midi, but also stops at Brussels Central, Brussels North and Brussels Airport before continuing on towards the Netherlands.

With regards to how much faster the highspeed train is; you can look up schedules on the official website for international journeys of the Belgian national railway company and do the math yourself
https://www.b-europe.com/EN
At that website you can also see fares and check to see if a pass is actually worth it.

Thank you both, Wengen and Dutch Traveller! My thinking about the pass is that it comes close to costing the same as point to point for all the stretches I want to cover, but will help me to avoid focussing on the cost that comes with each leg of the trip, and having to withdraw and carry as much cash etc, so I am thinking it is worth paying the bit more for it in the end. For the main jumps across larger cities, I appreciate the information!

It's possible that the Eurostar-branded trip does not accept your pass at all. Many trains that do not have compulsory seat reservations do not guarantee a seat. Some local trains do not have large bag racks. There are more than two levels of rapid-ness.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains

and having to withdraw and carry as much cash etc

Use a credit card.

bear in mind that in France, for any but the slowest regional trains (TER), if you have a Eurailpass (what you call a global pass) you will have additional fees to pay to use them. You need a seat reservation - these are included at no charge in the normal tickets that you can buy, often at a reduced price with a small amount of planning - and for pass holders they can be very expensive (in addition to the amount you are paying each day for the pass), and vary in price depending on day of the week and expected loading (in other words, what they can get away with). They are especially onerous if the train crosses a country border. Also, and this is the worst, they are rationed. So the train you want may be still selling tickets but you cannot get on it with your pass because all the pass holder reservations are gone. But if you want that train you can still buy a ticket - probably at full fare - for it.

The three worst countries in western Europe for passes are France (as described above), Italy (for a similar reason and regular tickets are so cheap), and Switzerland (because the pass doesn't cover some travel in the mountains which many people want.

So before considering it a slam dunk please check the math and hassle factor. After all - isn't the reason you are willing to pay extra to have a pass so that you eliminate hassle?

The former Thalys and now rebranded to Eurostar trains between Paris / Brussels / Amsterdam are notorious for inconvenience and very high pass reservations charges.

To give you an idea: Pass Holder fare for Paris - Brussels on Eurostar (ex Thalys) is 27,- in second, and 32,- in first. You have to add the daily cost of pass to that. Cheapest advance fares in second is 29,-
So if you are going to book your trips in advance the pass is not going to save you money.
A pass is good for central Europe, but not for France where use is complicated, or Belgium and the Netherlands were you rarely will spend enough to warrant a pass.

Thanks WengenK, Sam, Nigel, and Tim...I am slowly picking up on details but also feeling more unsure than ever as to what makes the most sense, without being a hassle. Taking out my credit card at the station 3 times a day is not really something I want to do. I have some pretty creepy memories of predatorial station creepers from my trip to Italy and I think whatever can help streamline my use of trains would be a big gain for stress reduction.

My travels in France will be limited to metro use and walking, and maybe a short train trip. From there, I'll take a rapid train from Paris to Brussels. In Belgium, I'll be doing quite a bit of zigzagging on the train, before moving on via a rapid train to Amsteram, and doing quite a bit of zigzagging there. When I add up the legs of the trip, I end up with a total cost that approximates the cost of a 10 day pass, and that's when I ignore a few of the shortest trips. I suppose my reasoning for a pass is that it will help with the aforementioned "streamlining"...just put the trip in the app and count it for days that involve more of these, and go, no? From the above discussion, I'm not wondering just how many trains won't the pass work with? Most of the zig zagging is between the main cities.
Aslo, for the rapid and slighly longer legs France-Bruxelles, and Bruxelles-Amsterdam...is it not worth purchasing the faster train ticket? Time is valuable while travelling...
I appreciate the ongoing walk through you are all providing of helping me to iron out these details...

You won't be taking out your credit card 3 times a day. You can buy all your tickets at once.

for Belgium you can buy a 10 trip ticket (that can be shared with different persons) and that will be a lot cheaper than an Eurail Pass.
In the Netherlands you just tap in and out with your CC. You will never spend enough in one day to warrant an Eurail Pass. And the long legs are a lot cheaper booked in advance...

The Belgium 10-trip ticket is a good example to think about, especially price vs. convenience. Station ticket machines can break down or be busy at rush hour, but when you're just going from Antwerp to Gent (made-up but likely example) the five trains per hour are non-reserved and cheaper than 1/10 of the 10-trip ticket. But you will never be delayed at the ticket vending machine and miss the train you wanted if you have the 10-trip ticket.

Part of your daily-retail ticket memory is obsolete, although the lines for human agents are probably much LONGER than those in your memory. Just like the US, paid employees are now too expensive, and tickets are even available on phone apps in many places. The point is that a pass is too expensive for short local trips, and too impotent for premium long-distance trips. Of course there are conventional trains everywhere, but you have expressed a PREFERENCE for "rapid" trains.

Have you looked at the rail company apps for these three countries? You might as well get familiar with them, see the routes and prices, and how they may vary with the approach of the trip, and with the time of day. Since you are apparently not new to European rail travel, it's surprising that you didn't know that all train routes from Paris are radial, from multiple dedicated stations, that are not "connected" (except by Metro, RER, bus, and taxi) with each other. Are you aware that some, say, just northwest Belgium trains require a change, depending on where you get on? For example, Lier and Turnhout are "direct" from Antwerp, but not from Gent.

You would also want to know that all international tickets to Brussels, even Eurostar, permit the use of the local train to the other two local downtown stations. So the Eurostar to Brussels Midi/Zuid will discharge you at only that station, but you can use the Eurostar ticket to go to Brussels Centraal or Brussels Nord on any unreserved commuter train, once. But if you take the "slow" trains, they might even stop at all three stations themselves. (No personal experience with that.)

Hello Tim and WengenK, First, thank you for the ongoing discussion!

Just to get into this in a bit more detail...I'm leaving in about 2 months for my trip, and am wanting to include the following train travel, with each line on a different travel day:
Paris - Brussels - Dinant (near Namur)
Dinant - Dinant Brussels
Brussels - Bruges
Bruges - Ghent
Ghent - Antwerp - Ghent (day)
Ghent - Brussels - Ghent (day)
Ghent - Brussels - Amsterdam - Haarlem
Haarlem - Delft
Delft - Rotterdam
Rotterdam - Arnhem
Arnhem - Amsterdam
*Other trips - unplanned day trips, bus required, or airport

Considering this, I checked the cost maps to generate an estimate, which in CAD is about $520. Would a Global Flex Pass (5 day) not be a good option, at just about $480? Or is there reason to believe that a few of the trips listed above would not be covered by a pass? I recognize that I would need to resreve the two larger tickets here over and abovce that, but there have been comments relating to quotas/limits in how many reservations get allocated to pass holders. If I am reserving a couple months in advance, should I anticipate issues?

Thanks for the suggestion to use the 10 trip ticket option in Belgium. If I did that, and just went with point to point for the Netherlands, it would add up to a cost of about $500. Still in the immediate ballpark...

I recognize that I could just buy the tickets as I go, and that there are apps for each country...but I worry that there is much I am not aware of around which app to use when...and given the above, the two alternatives might just help simplify things.

I'd invite further comments here!

In the Netherlands, you don’t have to buy tickets before you travel by public transport. You simply use your credit card to tap in and out.
All public transport in the Netherlands has free seating. It’s mass transit. I’ve used the website of NS to look up the price for you. Be aware that I will post the prices in Euros, because that’s the currency we use here and I have no idea about the exchange rate of the CAD.
The price of a return is always 2 times the price of a single.
Haarlem - Delft €11,60 for a single.
Delft - Rotterdam €3,90 single
Rotterdam - Arnhem €22 for a single
Arnhem - Amsterdam € 19,60 for a single

If you travel during the off peak hours, you can save considerably on the above mentioned fares, by buying a special Time-Price deal several days before you travel. You can buy these special deals online at the website of NS or in their app.
https://www.ns.nl/en/featured/prijstijd-deal

Hello Dutch Traveler,

Thank you! This is revolutionary, just tapping a CC for transit and trains. I have some pretty set travel times, so I'm not how much I could save with the time related savings, but does this mean you pre-purchase a set time during which to travel, and could then draw up the ticket in the app? Do you know if the tapping system is in place in all the cities mentioned? If I can stick to pre purchasing 2 major tickets for the longer trip legs, and then get a 10 trip ticket pack for Belgium, and just tap around NL, this sounds very manageable...

Hi Exploratina, you seem to be concerned about getting out your credit card or cash at stations - you can also buy all your tickets in advance before you get to the stations. You can do this on a laptop and print it up if you don't want to use a ticket machine (someone here mentioned the app, so you can do it on your phone and keep it in a virtual wallet, but I don't use my phone that way).

In Brussels there is also the tap on system with credit cards or Apple Pay/ Google Pay (if that's what it is called) on metro, trams and buses (the need to tap off is only for metro, to get out, although not at all stations - some just let you out automatically). Each fare is €2,10 up to a capped daily amount of €7,50 so it's quite generous if you are doing a lot of, say, tram travel.

Lavandula

“ I have some pretty set travel times, so I'm not how much I could save with the time related savings, but does this mean you pre-purchase a set time during which to travel, and could then draw up the ticket in the app? “
Yes, that’s how it works.
The time related savings were introduced to encourage people to travel in the less busy off-peak hours. The discount can be up to 60%. The discount depends on the train route in question. You can easily look up for yourself how high the discount is. Just go to the website of NS www.ns.nl/en and select your route and date and the system will automatically show you if this special discount is available on that route.

“Do you know if the tapping system is in place in all the cities mentioned?”
As I wrote in my post, the tapping system works for every form of public transport in the entire country. This system is called OV Pay, see their website for details https://www.ovpay.nl/en

The 5 day pass you say costs Can$480 which is 325 Euro.

But you have 11 travel days.

Of those, assuming you pay full fare, the total of your fares in the Netherlands total 104 Euro

You have 9 single journeys in Belgium- use the 10 journey pass (cost 102 Euro) so all are covered by that.

That is a total of 206 Euro to cover 10 of the 11 travel days, if you buy normal, non pass, tickets- maybe less if you get the cheaper fares in the Netherlands.

So all you then need to pay is the Paris to Brussels fare. Looking on 14 July the highest standard fare on Eurostar/Thalys is 109 Euro, the lowest 59 Euro. On some of the 59 Euro train first class is only 1 Euro more.
On 15 July choose carefully and there are some 49 Euro Paris to Brussels trains. On other days trains Paris to Brussels are as low as 29 Euro.

So I do not see how the pass comes anywhere close to being of the same value.

Wow, thank you insc & Dutch Traveller! This is shaping up! I'm beginning to feel like default to the "ease" of a pass in this case might not be worth it. Thank you! So it seems a 10 pk of trip tickets for Belgium, and tapping around NL or prepurchasing discounted tickets via the app if I know I'm travelling at off times is the best way to go. But for the longer legs...Paris - Brussels, and Brussels - Amsterdam, I can prepurchase the tickets now if I know my travel dates/times? I see insc that you provided an estimated cost fo the first of these, and that it can end up being significantly discounted. This is very encouraging! But what about Brussels-Amsterdam? Is that the same? If paying full price, then, does that not bring me, overall to 102 (10 tickets belgium) + 104 (tapping in NL) + 109 (Paris-Brussels) + approx similar 100 lets say for Brussels-Amsterdam? Or am I out to lunch? Does this not approximate the cost of a pass???

I feel anxiety around wading through all of this new information...but slowly coming around...so forgive the "doing math in public brain" effect you're seeing here....

It's interesting that your itinerary omits Den Haag, especially since you can get there on a tram from Delft. Do you mean to skip The Girl With the Pearl Earring? Among the reasons to prioritize Rotterdam instead might be modern art and Kinderdijk. (But note that Den Haag does have a superb modern art museum, less known but not less visited than the Mauritshuis. I'm glad to see that you are making some (sensible and appropriate) daytrips from Ghent. I'd just mention that I have made more than one daytrip to Delft from Amsterdam. Leiden is quite a nice visit, more than one day of attractions.

I would not change hotels remotely as often as you are, but that's a personal choice. I find it tedious and time-consuming, and a lot of bag carrying. Note that local trains often do not have full-size luggage racks.

One of the reasons I told you to learn to work with the national rail websites is to learn that trains between Brussels and Dinant require a change. I have been on Belgian local trains (not recently) that only had announcements in Dutch and French. You need to know your routes.

I have not bought a Thalys (Eurostar) ticket lately, but they used to have an "Any Belgian Station" (that is for beginning or ending the journey) option for international trains. That is not always cheaper, but it saves getting a second ticket and wasting time in, say, Brussels.

Looking at a sample date, 11 July on sncb international- https://www.b-europe.com/EN

for BRU- Amsterdam

Eurostar/Thalys (taking 2:20) is around 49 to 61 Euro.

Or the direct Inter City (taking 2:40) is 25 to 39 Euro depending on which journey you choose.

Many of us here would trade 20 minutes to pay half the fare, but that is your choice.

But if you are travelling straight through to Haarlem that day, as you seem to be then you can book a through fare from Brussels to Haarlem which is exactly the same fare as Brussels to Amsterdam Centraal (you switch trains at Schiphol and at Amsterdam Sloterdijk on that fare)

Thanks to you both! Tim, I have made notes about these possible destinations as tentative day trips too. I appreciate the note about trying to stick with a few homebases...at least maybe more so than I have. I will consider modifying this a bit, to help save on shuffling around...though it gets more challenging to book accommodations almost by the day it seems! I know I can't see it all, but I'll try! :) Was it Gandalf that said what's important is what we do with the time we have?! Thank you for mentionning that I should try to book the Paris-Brussels-Dinant trip as possibly "Any Belgian Station". It looks like there are two changes from Brussels...on intercity trains...I think...but will I not have to transfer trains either way? As for the bags...I am doing something revolutionary (at least for myself...) by going with one carry-on bag. Seeing Italy, with a large broken (during the first flight) rolling suitcase taught me a good lesson.

Thanks Isn31c for the details around opting for an intercity train too if it only adds a short bit to the stretch. A little time to breathe and fill in the travel journal! I am eager to buy my tickets, but a bit worried about messing someting up.

You can still buy an ABS ticket even if you are changing trains in Brussels for Dinant. The idea is that you take the most direct route but this is pretty much what the timetable gives you automatically. You can if you wish break up your journey in Brussels providing you continue the same day.

If you are concerned about knowing where to get off your train, don't be. There is usually a display in the carriage above the door which gives the train destination and the stops. It doesn't mean you shouldn't know the station before, though, but you can easily pull that up on your phone. (www.belgiantrain.be)

Lavandula

Thanks Lavendula and everyone else. I ended up deciding against a pass, and pre-purchased tickets for my two major routes, for what ends up being half the initially estimated price, and then a ten trip package of tickets for Belgium. For the NL, it sounds like it is a matter of having the credit card ready. For NL, do you not have to pre-book your tickets though? And/or can you purchase them in an app and just show a digital ticket?