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Is a day trip to Bruges, Belgium advisable from Paris?

Can you do a day trip to Belgium from Paris? I am particularly interested in Bruges but would consider another destination in Belgium if at all possible.

Posted by
19656 posts

It would be very time consuming and expensive, but yes it CAN be done. The question is WHY? Using the Thalys to Brussels, it would take a tad more than 2 1/2 hours. But Thalys last minute tickets are quite expensive (like over 100 EUR each way), so to make it cost effective, you would have to book nonrefundable tickets many months in advance.

Posted by
7181 posts

Like a day trip to Baltimore from NYC, or a daytrip to San Diego from Thousand Oaks. Consider a less-impossible poor idea, like a daytrip to the D-Day beaches in Normandy. Although Google Maps is not precise at estimating times, it's a good place to start.

Posted by
6734 posts

First you ask if it's 'advisable' then you ask if it's 'possible.' No, and yes, respectively.

Carve out more time for Bruges, or save it for another trip when you can do it justice.

Posted by
11037 posts

At the end of Nov., there is little more than 8 hrs of daylight. Be sure to factor that into your plans

Posted by
11507 posts

Oh for goodness sake , hundreds of nor thousands of people do this as a dayrrip from Paris with bus companies, I myself did it about 7-8 years ago . It’s simple to do , and while a long day it wasn’t hard at all, nap on bus on way back.

It’s a pretty little place and for me a day was more than enough .

Look at Pariscityvisions or Francetourisme , both are long established reliable companies .

I do agree the point about time of year is very good , it’s dark out early in winter and weather could be wet , not particularly nice for just wandering about .

Posted by
1954 posts

You don’t say when you want to go to Bruges. From 23 November there will already be a Christmasmarket in Bruges, it closes every day around 10 pm, on Friday and Saturday even 11 pm. Indeed coming months it will be dark earlier but then the city is beautifully illuminated. So close to the sea, you can have strong winds and high humidity during the winter months, if temperatures drop around freezing point it can give a very oncomfortible feel especially when it rains as pat already says.

If you can book well ahead I would go with the train. The train station in Bruges is about 10-15 min. walking from the historic centre. Renting a car just for a day needs too much time and you will be exhausted at the end of the day returning back during dark.