Our family of four will be doing an overnight trip to Belgium from Amsterdam. Taking the train to Brugge, staying overnight and then taking the train to Ghent the next day before taking the train back to Amsterdam. The Ghent train station is about 1.5 miles south of the city center. The Brugge train station is about 1 mile from the city center. If we wanted to use public transport instead of walking all over the towns, would it make more sense to buy the Delijn day pass for 6E/pp, Linjcard card for 15E to share the 10-ride or pay as we go for 3E/pp/ride?
We are all pretty mobile & active so we're ok with walking for many miles in a day while touring. Are the Delijn pass and Linjcard valid in both Brugge and Ghent - can we activate it in one city and continue to use it in the other city on the same day? Can we use the Lijncard to go from Brugge to Ghent (couldn't find the answer to that one on their website)?
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IJzendijke, The Netherlands
1966 posts
You can use a Lijncard (Lijnkaart in Flemish) for public transport like buses and trams in the Flemish part of Belgium. So the card is valid in both Brugge and Gent. Train services are provided by another company (NMBS), you need to buy seperate tickets at the train stations for that, no way to combine them.
The train station in Brugge is about a 15min. walk from the town square (Markt), however you enter the scenic historic centre as soon as you cross the main road just in front of the train station there. In most cases and being in good shape you don’t need the bus in Brugge.
In Gent it makes sense to buy tickets for the tram, with a stop just in front of Sint-Pieters railway station, otherwise you have to walk about indeed 1.5 mile. In case the only time you use the tram for two rides each for four persons best buy will the €15 10-ride Lijncard. Otherwise you have to pay €24 in total for seperate tickets.
You need to validate (the Lijn says unvalidate, it’s how you look at it) the tickets by using the yellow boxes at the entrance of the bus or tram. If buying at the bus or tram the driver will do it for you. As soon the ticket is validated you can travel around as much as you like, including changes for the duration of 60min. Passing time you can finish the ride you are making at that moment. This means you can if you want take the bus in Brugge to the railway station, make the 1/2h ride with the train to Gent and step up the tram to the centre with a single ride as long as you can stay within that 60min. time limit. However there is so little room for an error, I wouldn’t do that.
If you want to travel at random for a whole day a €6 Day pass will make sense. You can buy Lijncards only at the ticket booth – Lijnwinkel – or pre sale points like supermarkets and newsagents. Buying other types of tickets from the driver is more expensive.