Driving from Bruge to Bayeux

From what I can tell, no train service for this route without going through Paris and we don't want to do that. Thanks, in advance.

You'll pay for the privilege of not taking a train through Paris. One way drop offs for cars rented in one country and returned in another can be hefty. But I understand not wanting to have to change in Paris especially if it involves changing stations. There is a train that does not go through Paris but it takes 8-1/2 hrs and has several changes.

You could take the train from Bruges to Lille and rent the car there to avoid the drop off fee.

Do you need the car in Belgium? If not, I would second Nancy's recommendation to pick up the car in Lille (which is some 30 km from the border with Belgium) to save quite a bit of money.

The train trip from Bruges to Lille normally involves a transfer in Kortrijk (Courtrai in French), but trains run frequently, about once an hour; there are a couple of nonstop trains here and there.

That’s exactly what we did 2 years ago. To avoid an expensive drop off fee. We took the train from Amsterdam to Lille and picked up the rental car there and drove to Bayeux, stopping in Etretat along the way. After our stay in Normandy, we dropped our car off in Paris at Orly then took a taxi into Paris for our stay there. Got this tip from our friendly forum here!

Are you flying into Brussels and home from Paris? That would make the most sense. Unfortunately Bruges is kind of isolated even from Lille. I see more places to visit in the France segment than coastal Belgium in grey November. Will you visit landing sites other than Omaha Beach area?

We did these two coastal areas on two separate trips, to Normandy/Loire, and Flanders. If you love driving, you could use the car to visit Giverny (or Chantilly) and return it at CDG. This is a lot of time in the car. Is this your first trip to Paris? I’d save as much time as possible for that.

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, November will be gray! Our son is in Lux for the semester and this is our available time. Will definitely explore these other options. Thanks, again!

I’m going to agree with everyone About picking up the rental car in Lille to avoid the extra country drop fees. Let me chime in to say take the bus from Brugges to Lille. Both Ouibus and Flixbus run almost hourly between the two cities in deluxe motorcoaches, both dropping off and picking up right at the train stations for as little as $4 each way depending how far in advance you purchase. It saves having to change trains, is faster and cheaper. Avis has rental cars available from both the Lille and Caen train stations making things a snap to pick up or drop off. Have a bon journee. Lucky you!

One more question on this - what about getting to Dunkirk from Bruge rather than Lille? It is closer to Bruge and the travel time to Bayeux is about the same. I'm thinking maybe getting to Dunkirk, getting a car might not be as easy as doing the Lille route, but wanted to see if anyone has experience with this connection. Again, many thanks for the feedback.

The problem with Dunkerque is that there is no direct cross border rail service to Belgium, despite the proximity to the border. You’d have to take a bus from the closest Belgian railway station in Adinkerke (or an all-rail trip that would most likely go via Lille anyway), and given that you’re just there to get a rental car, Lille is definitely the better choice.

Andrew - thanks for the reply back. My mistake, our plan was to take the bus from Bruge to Dunkirk. Do you (or anyone) have experience with this bus service? We found this: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Bruges/Dunkirk. There are a couple of buses a day and inexpensive. The most important thing is knowing that we can rent a car in Dunkirk. I've visited the autoeurope site and it looks like we can, but looking to see if anyone has direct experience with this. Plenty of time to drive down the coast to Bayeux, possibly stopping at Etrerat on way. Thanks!!

will you be OK with a standard transmission - no automatic - if that is all that a small place like Dunkirk can offer?