I’m sure this has been asked before but I couldn’t figure out how to search the forums.
My wife and I plan to start our trip in Bruges and end in Paris.
Should we just fly in and out of CDG? Seems like we can go to Bruges from CDG pretty easily: catch the TGV to Brussels and transfer (takes three hours?), or maybe even a bus to Bruges.
The alternative is to fly into Brussels and home from CDG.
Any advice?
Thanks.
We usually fly open jaw -- for example this fall we fly into MIlan and out of Paris. Last fall we flew into Paris and out of Berlin. It saves time hassle and money. I'd fly into Brussels and out of CDG with your itinerary. You choose the 'multi site' option whe booking airline tickets. It costs no more than the average of the round trip to each city. From Brussels to Bruges, you can just grab local tickets when you get there. There are lots of local trains and you don't hve to risk a late flight etc. for the Thalys from CDG to Brussels/Bruges you have to either leave a big gap between ETA and the train. FWIW. our flight into Paris last fall was two hours late.
I agree that using the multicity option into Brussels and home from Paris is much easier and less problematic. No worries about late arrivals and risk if losing an expensive train ticket or hours wasted waiting at the station. And the cost of a multicity ticket is likely not more than a RT to Paris plus the comparatively expensive Thalys train ticket to Brussels.
Consider flying into CDG and out of Brussels or Amsterdam. I absolutely hate leaving France via CDG. It is the most inefficient airport in the world in my humble opinion. (Nowhere near as bad landing there as opposed to taking off from there.) Very easy to train between these cities.
I agree with Kelly if this works for you. for years we ended our trips in Amsterdam so we could fly out of schiphol rather than CDG. I will say that CDG is a bit less inefficient to fly out of than it once was. But flying out of Brussels might be better.
If you have direct flights to CDG from your area and none to Brussels, I would not consider Brussels. The transfer to the TGV at CDG is easy.
If you need 1 stop anyway, or if you have non-stop options to Brussels (IDK if they exist from the US), then you can indeed consider the open jaw.
If it’s all the same to you, I’d fly into Brussels. It’s true you can pick up the TGV at CDG easily enough on paper. Reality gets a lot more complicated/stressful thanks to the everlasting chaos of CDG. You’ll want to purchase that TGV ticket ahead of time, and you’ll have to account for possible flight delays, time going through immigration, navigating the airport, etc. This means either cutting it close or waiting an extra long time. And it’s still not exactly a short train ride. FWIW, I think I had given myself an hour and a half to pick up the TGV, and after dealing with all of the above, made it with a few minutes to spare. Not fun though.
Also, the Brussels airport is on the same train line as Bruges, so you don’t even need to go into Brussels to switch trains or anything.
Thanks very much! Into Brussels is the unanimous choice.
