Paris to Brussels

For all matters train, ask the Man in Seat 61.

Rome2Rio is also a very useful planning tool. Or just use the google search engine for suggestions.

There are a couple of trains from Charles de Gaulle to Brussels, but most will require a change in Paris. You can find the options at www.sncf-connect.com

It would be helpful if you filled out the home city line in your profile, so we understood how difficult your trip before Paris is. Have you bought the air tickets yet? Have you rejected the idea of a connecting flight to BRU? Perhaps from a different city than Paris, if necessary? BRU is quite a large, busy airport. (We use Lufthansa, a United partner a lot, when we need a second flight, from the US east coast.)

Among the issues is whether you buy lower priced, but non-changeable train tickets, when you are not certain if your plane (and immigration) will be on time. There's also a big range of cost vs. time, and comfort level on the journey from Paris to Brussels. Certainly changing stations in Paris is to be avoided, especially if you have a lot of luggage. How many travelers? How much luggage?

Themilkers: Could Amsterdam be another other option? Trains from the AMS airport to Brussels center run every hour, and advance purchase is good for any train that day, not a specific train. (So if you miss the target train, just get a coffee and wait an hour.)

Tim: the original post makes clear that:

( cannot find any flights into Brussels or Bruges from NZ, and as I have a heap of credits I need to use, prefer to fly with our airline Air New Zealand)

Thanks Scudder
Yes we are indeed travelling from New Zealand ( as per my post)
Invercargill-Christchurch-Singapore-Paris
33hours travel time
At the moment only places that are showing available flight destinations in Europe are Barcelona, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, Milan, Budapest, and Madrid
So thought Paris was the closest option for us out of the cities listed.
I guess more cities will become available as they bring back more planes from their storage facilities, but who would know?

We may do the Belgium option at the end of our trip, and fly home from Paris yet.
Seems doing an open jaw ticket is going to present more issues ( we are also spending some time in southern Spain and Portugal( 2 weeks) , Turkey, (2 weeks) UK ( 2 week) , south of France (1 week) and Norway ( 1 week) as well as the Belgium /North France ( 1week) part of the trip )
Flying from Istanbul was going to be a mission due to going via Tokyo and having to change airports there ( husband hates the actual travel part of a trip so this would stress him out)

There are TGV trains departing directly from CDG Airport at 9:16am and 10:37am and 13:07 going to Brussels Midi station in less than 2 hours. The 10:37 train should work for you.

Thanks Kenko
I will take note of that

Yes, I have done this several times in both directions. I believe that the trains leave from Terminal 2 and that is typically where my US flights arrive, so it's quite easy. However you would want to verify if your airline might typically use a different terminal, as transfer to a different terminal would affect the train time you select. I actually love doing this as it gives me a bit of time to just sit and decompress after the long flight. Pick up a bottle of water and a snack and stare at the French countryside for a while! 😊

FYI, your train will arrive at Brussels Midi station. If you are going immediately to Bruges, you can get your onward train from there. However if you are staying in Brussels that night, the transfer to the local train (many per hour) to Central station is included in your fare. The area around Central station is a much nicer place to find a hotel and more convenient to the things you will want to see.

One more tip: You can buy your ticket online through the French train website SNCF, or through the Belgian website SNCB. Of the two, I find the Belgian site easier to navigate for non French speakers.
Have fun, Kiwi!