Hi Folks- The more I read on this website & others plus Rick's guides, the more confused I've gotten. We plan to be based in Amsterdam (have rented a houseboat) for 2 weeks in July & are planning to tour Benelux in a series of day trips plus make one 2 night trip to Paris. I have tried to figure out whether it's less expensive to buy a France+Benelux Eurail pass & add the reservation fee for the Paris trip, or buy point-to-point tickets everywhere (Bruges, Antwerp, Brussels, Haarlem, etc, plus Paris). The point-to-point map Rick has in the 2009 AMsterdam/Bruges/Brussels guide pegs the p2p prices at about 1/3 of what the RailEurope website has the same tickets, & I can't get the fare for the AMS-Paris-AMS trip on Thalys' website- it will show me passholder reservation fee, schedules etc, but not the cost of point to point. So-can someone please tell me once & for all- which is cheaper? Thanks for you help in advance & for all the great advice about Benelux already posted!
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
RailEurope is a ticketing agency that trades convenience for higher prices. Check the national rail websites for the real point-to-point rates:
For Thalys, here's some of the rates for Amsterdam-Paris:
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Layni, CLICK HERE to see the special offers page on Thalys.
Note also that there's a stiff supplemental fee on the Thalys from Amsterdam to Paris with a Eurail pass. I see 33Euro. This is probably covered in your reservation fee on RailEurope. <CLICK HERE to see what I see. There are no supplemental fees on P2P tickets.
Posted by
OP
Madison, WI, USA
101 posts
Thanks, gentlemen! I did find the Paris fares on the Thalys web link provided, & the arr/dep times on the ns.nl website, but despite the link I'm clicking that says "give trip & price" I can't find the fare. Here's the info: Ams Centraal to Brussels Centraal 4July09 @0854. Here's the page with the trip details but no fare: http://www.ns.nl/reisplanner-v2/index.shtml
Am I blind or stupid?
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Your problem seems to be that you're on the domestic rail site for the Dutch railway system. It's only good for journeys inside the Netherlands. For other trips, try http://www.nshispeed.nl/en