Train Scheduling

How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. Choosing pretty much any Brussels station will give you schedules. But if you have a guidebook for Brussels, that will give you more info about which station is nearer your destination. You can also see the train stations on Google Maps. Brussels uses two languages for everything. If you want to get off near the Grand Place, use Centraal/Central station. If you're taking a fast Thalys train either from Amsterdam or to Paris, it uses Midi/Zuid/South station.

When using a Eurail Pass, I would avoid the Thalys train, because of the expensive seat reservation fees. From Amsterdam to Brussels, plenty of other train types do run. If you're heading to Paris, you don't have so many alternatives, but could go to Lille and then connect to a TGV with cheaper seat reservation. The DB schedules will specify which legs are "subject to compulsory reservation" and it's particularly important to book ahead for any fast train in France, which limit the number of seats for pass holders. See also http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/reservations.

Before you decide if a pass is the best idea, you really should determine the cost if you buy individual tickets. Depending on where you're going, that's often cheaper than a pass. Also, if you're planning to travel to France, please be aware that it significantly limits the number of seats available to passholders – I learned the hard way and it was an expensive lesson. Also in some countries, for example Italy, tickets are quite inexpensive, particularly if you do advanced purchases. And throughout Europe, buying a few months ahead yields substantial discounts, although the tickets are generally nonrefundable and non-changeable.

The RS guide books are very good at helping you decide which station you need in each city. At the end of the city section, there's a page with transportation details, which will give you that information. In the absence of that type of information, I pick the station with some version of "central" in its name.

The Bahn website can be used for all scheduling, but only for purchasing tickets for Germany. For any other segments, you need to go to the relevant country's website.

The website – the man in seat 61 – is a really good source of detailed information about each country's rail service, Including links including links to the relevant websites.

This is no more difficult than looking up flights. For a flight you need to know which airport you want to go to, for trains which station. For smaller towns, there is usually only one station, the same name as the town. Some rules:

1) Make sure you use the local spelling, Venezia, Roma, München, Köln etc. Whereas the English spelling (Venice, Rome, Munich, Cologne) may work, the correct local spelling always will.

2) Any good online map (I prefer Open StreetMap, better than Google) will show you the railway lines and stations in a city.
Look to find a big station on the edge of the city centre.

3) Try putting in just "Amsterdam" and see what options it gives, then guess.

4) If you guess wrong and pick a small suburban station, then it will show you you have to change at the main station, and then a short connecting journey. Now you know what the main station is called.

5) See "The man in seat 61" website. This is the best info website on rail travel there is. Click here for a fuller explanation about looking up train times.

Finally, For Amsterdam it is "Amsterdam Centraal", for Brussels, "Bruxelles Midi"
In Germany, the main station is always called xxx Hauptbahnhof (abbreviated HBf), "Berlin HBF", "Frankfurt (Main) HBf" etc.
For Paris, London and a few very big cities it is a different station depending on where you are coming from. If you don't know, just guess and if it says you have to start or end your trip with a short métro journey, you know you have guessed wrong.

For Amsterdam you should have used "Amsterdam Centraal". There are three stations in Brussels; depending on where (hotel?) you are going, one might be better than the others. If you know the address, input it on the destination line of the Bahn query page and click the "address" radio button. The website should give you the closest station. If you don't have the address, you might use the name of the hotel and select "POI" (point of interest).

In Germany, the station with Hbf after it is the Hauptbahnhof, or main station, for that city.

I'm sure someone will suggest that you should check the cost of individual tickets and compare it to the cost of a global rail pass. Particularly if you are traveling through Germany, where there are lots of Saving Fare tickets and regional passes, a rail pass might not be the best way to go.

Thank you to all of you for the assistance. I will check the singular cost first. By the way; when I was going to Brussels, I wasn't staying there, I was taking another train to Bruges. And since I didn't know which one went to Bruges, I didn't know which train to go to in Brussels. Thanks again.

If you put Amsterdam to Brugge into the Bahn webpage, it will probalby tell you if there is one station in Brussels to use or if you have to change stations in Brussels.

Looks like Thalys to Brussels-Midi, IC to Brugge is the best way as far as least changes of trains.

h2,

You've received lots of good tips so far, and I have a few comments as well. Figuring out trains is actually fairly easy, and I'm sure you'll get used to it very quickly. It would really help to have more details on your "A's to B's" destinations and which countries you'll be visiting, as it's difficult to provide specific information on stations or whatever without that information.

A few thoughts......

• Many hotel websites will indicate which station is closest to their location, and may also provide directions.
• In many cases, the largest station in each city is the one you'll be using (ie: Amsterdam Central, Berlin Hbf, etc.).
• European transit networks are very efficient and well designed. After arrival at the station, it's usually possible to get anywhere in the city via Metro, Trams or Buses.
• In some cases, you'll have to deal with "changes", so you'll need to do some research on that. For example, in Italy that usually involves disembarking from one train, going down into a transfer tunnel and then back up to the platform for your next train. In other cases such as "terminating stations" where the tracks all end at one point, changes are simply a matter of walking from one platform to another.
• You may find that the best solution for your trips is a combination of a Railpass along with some P-P tickets.
• It's a good idea to know the words for track / platform in various languages - Binario in Italian, Gleis in German, etc.
• You may find it helpful to have a look at THIS video or THIS video on rail travel in Europe and also THIS video.

The website/app Rome2Rio can be really helpful. You enter two cities and it shows you the travel options, along with relative costs and durations.

h2omstr,
If you actually want to go to Brugge, put in Brugge. The website will calculate the quickest route and tell you where to change, which, in some cases, is NOT via Brussels.

I forgot to say, "Amsterdam Centraal" is the main station in the centre of the city. If you are coming from Schiphol airport, you can pick up a train there.

P.S. In The first video that Ken posted, at about 0:10 to 0:20 you can see the front of the station, with the name writ large.

Thank you to all for the great advice. I have found that the best way to avoid the problem I was having is to avoid the intermediate locations; I just put heiloo, holland to Bruges, Belgium and I will automatically go to the correct intermediate stations. Thanks again for all the great suggestions.