Trying to plan a side trip out of Paris to visit the Vimy Memorial (France) and Flanders Field/Cemetery (Belgium). I'm trying to compare between renting a car vs. using the trains (cost and convenience). I have not been able to find train travel between either Arras, France to Waregem or Vimy, France to Waregem (full routing would look like this: Paris-Arras or Vimy, Arras or Vimy to Waregem, Waregem to Paris). I am using Rail Europe. I am guessing that there is no convenient train travel...and so therefore my answer is rent a car. Before I make the conclusion...I thought I would ask. Am I looking up the train routing correctly? Does anyone else see any train travel between Arras to Waregem or Vimy to Waregem? Thanks.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34010 posts
Car
These war sites are not in the towns.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Just so you don't end up needing to park a rental car in Paris (or driving it in Paris, if you can at all help it).
Posted by
OP
Beaverton, OR, United States
249 posts
Thanks Nigel and Kent...
Looks like I'm renting a car! No...will not be driving in Paris - thanks again.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
"I am using Rail Europe."
Rarely a good idea. They do not include all routes, and they mark up the tickets that they do sell (sometimes substantially).
To find train routes and schedules for almost all of Europe, use the Bahn (German Rail) website http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, following Rick's tutorial: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules
The Bahn site will only have prices for tickets that start or end in Germany. To find prices for other routes, you usually go to the website of the country where the train originates; here's a list, from the train guru The Man In Seat 61: http://tinyurl.com/bo8x6o6
I know you will be using a car for Vimy and Flanders Field, but I wanted you to have this information for any other train searches.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4088 posts
The French train operator http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/ shows a number of train connections between Arras and Waregem, in Belgium. Change trains in Lille France; journey about one hour 40 minutes. This is the TER service, regional trains, with no seat reservation required. Better to deal with the source than a reseller (for a profit) such as Rail Europe. Do use an old trick with SNCF: Specify ticket pickup for Antarctica. No joke; it will avoid an automatic bump back to RailEurope. You can pick up all tickets when you start in Paris. For that matter you could pay for them all at once without using the Internet, just going to a ticket agent in any Paris station.
Arras, by the way, is an interesting small city itself with its own history in both of the World Wars. You can also look at the government of Canada's site for Vimy. Getting there is not convenient but Arras taxi drivers know the routine. They will return to pick you up at an arranged time or on a phone call. http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/overseas/first-world-war/france/vimy/vimy_contact
Posted by
OP
Beaverton, OR, United States
249 posts
Thank you Harold & Southam! I think I will start over with DBahn ...and then check with SCNF. I know the memorials are not right near the train stations so that would require taxi....it is worth checking thoroughly. Sotham, thanks for the taxi tip!