My friend and I will be going to Bruges from Paris..should be buy our train ticket before we leave the states, or would it be ok to buy it a couple days ahead in Paris? We would be leaving on a Wednesday evening.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9099 posts
It will be much cheaper to purchase it ahead of time at the Thalys website (www.thalys.com). You can get the lowest fare by purchasing a round trip ticket and discarding the unused return ticket. When you go to the site, it will ask you where you reside. Tell it your a resident of France, this way you can either print out the actual ticket at home or pick it up at a train station in France.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
The special fare Michael describes is called Smilys. It can only be booked online and is only sold as a return (roundtrip). The fare will be shown as €28.50 each way, but you will have to pay €57. Book up to 90 days in advance. To have any chance of getting this fare, book as soon as the 90-day window opens. The standard single (one-way) fare is €83.
Here is a cheaper route. Take the TGV from Paris to Lille. PREM'S (discount) fares booked up to 90 days in advance at sncf.com are as low as €20. Leave France as the default country, do NOT choose cancellation insurance, and print your own ticket. Take regional and/or intercity trains from Lille to Bruges. The fare is €14.40. Buy tickets for Lille-Bruges when you get to Paris.
To see timetables for the entire route, go to www.bahn.de and click on "Internat. Guests." Enter Paris as your departure city, put Lille in the "via" field, and enter Bruges as your arrival city.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
One more thing. Some TGVs stop at Lille Europe and some at Lille Flandres. The regional trains to Belgium all depart from Lille Flandres. It's a short walk between the stations.