We have three days after our stay in Paris to get to Madrid. We will most likely fly from CRL to Madrid unless someone has a better plan. We want to Brugges and to Amsterdam am I am noticing that the distance is l o n g and f a r. Does anyone have a good plan? July 7 check out of Paris hotel. July 8 ?? Brugges / Amsterdam ??? Which order
July 9 catch flight to Madrid & check into Madrid hotel.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
You don't have time to do both Bruges and Amsterdam. Pick just one, fly to Madrid out of Brussels(Bruges) or Schipol (Amsterdam).
Posted by
OP
kansas, us
33 posts
How do we get to Brugges from Paris?
Can Amsterdam be a day trip from Paris?
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
Thalys high-speed has direct train every evening into Bruges. At other time you have to take the Thalys train to Brussels, and then transfer to an IC train to Bruges. The Thalys also has direct service to Amsterdam....travel time 3 hours 18 minutes. Check schedules and book tickets at: http://www.thalys.com
Posted by
Calgary, Canada
78 posts
We have taken the high speed train from Paris to Amsterdam - it was easy and took about 3 hours if I remember correctly. On a separate trip we took a high speed from Paris to Brugge and that was also easy - but I would choose just one. Personally I love Amsterdam - it's very, very different from Paris. Although Brugge was nice, it didn't knock my socks off so my two cents opinion would be to take the high speed train to Amsterdam and then fly to Madird from there.
Either way you'll have a great time, they are both nice!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33781 posts
If you want to go from Paris to Bruges you can also take a train from Paris to Lille and change there for the short hop to Bruges. I'd do Amsterdam, fwiw.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
142 posts
"Thalys high-speed has direct train every evening into Bruges" Is the Eurail pass valid on this train? I went to their page and couldn't find an FAQ. Thanks!
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
Jennifer, look at the Thalys page, http://www.thalys.com (click on English flag) At the top, click on "Fares", then look to the far left and click under the red heading "Pass and Interrail". Read the page carefully for explanations, rules, etc. NOTE that you can either make your passholder reservations there, OR on the phone from here; you run the risk of not getting a passholder fare if you wait, though - there are only so many of them...and some years are better than others (and rumor has it that this is a year of not-so-many passholder fares available). **Very Important! Note: across the top of the page it will say something like "Paris Nord > Bruxells-Midi/Brussels-Zuid"; look to the left of the page and choose YOUR two cities for the correct passholder fares! IF you're traveling at a later date, it's often cheaper to purchase an advance-sale discounted ticket than to pay the passholder fare.