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Train Question: Lyon to Bruges

Posted by (Lockport, IL) on

I have to travel from Lyon, France, to Bruges, Belgium, on Saturday, June 13th. I have a few rail questions if anyone can help:

  1. When should I book it? I'm seeing some train options now, but I've also read online advice that the rail itinerary will open up four months in advance. Will there be more options if I wait?

  2. How many changes should I expect besides one in Brussels? Is it realistic to have only one change?

  3. Should I book the Lyon to Brussels train and then buy the Brussels to Bruges separately that day?

  4. Should I book it at the SNCF website? Somewhere else?

If anyone has any advice, I'd be very appreciative!

Posted by
7729 posts

Sure! A few pointers

  1. You can check times on SNCF Connect and set a notification for when sales open.

  2. There are several daily direct trains from Lyon to Brussels Midi, taking as little as 3:45 hours. For example there's one at 8:27 AM.

  3. The price of trains within Belgium is largely fixed, you can buy the Bruxelles- Bruges ticket at any time for 12.30€ on weekends, on belgiantain.be (the Belgian Railways (SNCB) website for domestic trains). You could also buy the whole itinerary as a single transaction on B-Europe (the SNCB website for international trains), but there's no reason to do so IMO, and I'm not sure B-Europe has access to the lowest French fares.

  4. See 1. and 3.

Posted by
3653 posts

There is also a direct bus from Lille to Bruges. It's cheaper and
faster.

The OP is going from Lyon, not Lille...

Posted by
3653 posts

Trains within Belgium are basically commuter trains. There is no point in buying tickets in advance. And you can't even buy tickets more than 30 days in advance.

Posted by
59 posts

"The OP is going from Lyon, not Lille".

So what? His TGV will definitely stop in Lille, and there, behind the Lille Europe station, there are Flixbuses to Bruges. I've done it from Angers. It would be the same from Lyon. Around ten euros, 1h 10 minutes.
You need to arrive a little early though, it's not necessarily easy to find in five minutes.

Posted by
8626 posts

One reason to buy the last leg of the trip in advance would be to avoid humping your luggage to the ticket lobby scrum, and getting in a vending machine line, or a live clerk ticket line. You could walk directly to the platform for the (several per hour) train to Bruges.

Posted by
134 posts

Can I purchase the Brussels to Bruges ticket through the app? I would think so, yes? I agree that trying to buy the ticket in person would be more of a hassle.

Thank you to everyone that has offered advice. It's much appreciated!

Posted by
7729 posts

Can I purchase the Brussels to Bruges ticket through the app? I would think so, yes? I agree that trying to buy the ticket in person would be more of a hassle.

Yes, through the SNCB app or the website if you don't want yet-another-app. Buying in person is an unnecessary hassle.

Posted by
670 posts

Train from Lyon to Lille.
Bus or train Lille to Brugge. Avoiding the dog leg thru Brussels.

Posted by
3653 posts

The problem with combining train and flixbus is that in case of a disruption you will be out of luck, and out of pocket...

When you book lyon - Brugge with the railways they are on the hook for getting you to Brugge. If for whatever reason you are stranded somewhere they have to put you up in a hotel at their expense until you can continue.

If you book however Lyon - Lille with SNCF, and Lille - Brugge with Flixbus what is your plan in case your train to Lille is delayed?

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