My husband, 18yo daughter and I will be visiting my son while he is in school in London for the semester. I am thinking we will spend 3 nights in London then take Eurostar to Bruge for a night or 2 then 3 nights in Paris(my daughter hasn't seen yet) then return to spend 2 nights in London before catching our flight out. I already booked our RT tickets out of Heathrow. I'm mostly interested in advice relating to Bruge. How to add that in. Thanks.
Posted by
Texan in CA
4415 posts
On the Eurostar website, you can book your tickets London > Brussels, then take the 1-hour train to Bruges. Then, take the Thalys train (Thalys.com) from Brussels > Paris. Then, Paris > London with Eurostar. Buy those tickets ASAP! Advance purchase tickets can be extremely reasonable, but the full-fare prices are waaaay more expensive :-(
Posted by
Orlando
516 posts
Brugge at night when the daytrippers are gone is wonderful. Go to www.flickr.com and tpye Brugge night in search feature.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33818 posts
I agree that you would be well advised to get your tickets, from the Eurostar website, when they are released for sale. The prices only go up - never down. As said above, you will be changing trains in Brussels. While Brussel-Zuid is a large station with several areas, everything is well signed and orderly. You can easily get a snack in the station if you like. As you are digging about, correctly spelling the name of the town is helpful. The two spellings, Flemish and French, are both correct - although Brugge is in the Flemish area of Belgium. Brugge in Flemish, Bruges in French. I hope the 4 of you have a great trip. When getting tickets on Eurostar you may be able to get facing seats.
Posted by
Sydney
12 posts
My husband and I stayed in Bruges last February for 2 nights and absolutely loved it.We had a great stay at The Grand Casselburgh Hotel (got a great deal 130euro p/n including breakfast). The town itself is absolutely charming with a lovely canal boat tour. It's a great village for walking around and especially after dinner with the lights reflecting in the canal. It is also an easy 15 min walk to the windmills on the edge of town. Oh yes and don't forget the chocolate shops ! We then caught the train back to Paris. An easy trip with one change and only a couple of hours.
I think if you only stay 1 night you may feel you didn't see enough. Enjoy
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
I agree you'll regret only 1 night in Bruges, but you'll also regret only 2-3 nights in Paris. Not enough time in any of these places imo. I love Bruges but with so little time I would only do London and Paris.
Posted by
Napa, CA
3580 posts
I agree with Susan. A few years ago I spent 2 nights in Brugges and felt it wasn't enough.
Posted by
OP
Madison, WI, USA
13 posts
Thank you everyone and please accept my apology for the misspelling of Brugge.
I am now having issues booking on Thalys. Since my daughter is only 18, I am trying to book her a ticket in the under 25 category along with our 2 adult tickets but can't seem to do that. I can either book us as 3 adults or book her as an individual ticket which then is more expensive than if I booked her as adult. Also, since the ticket is non-refundable, is it ok for an 18yo to use an adult ticket?
Posted by
Spring, Texas, USA
9 posts
We took a canal ride, toured the chocolate museum and the frite museum. Bought some lace. Just walking around and checking out the shops was fun. I tried tomato soup but found it tasted as though it had chili powder in it!