Paris toBruges

Just some general comments. For a few trips a rail pass generally cost effective. Second, RE is the last place you want to look for scheduling and especially pricing. RE only shows limited availability for the routes and times that they sell tickets for which is not all of the routes or times. Someone with more specific info on those routes will be along shortly.

Oh, crikey, no! If you can commit Right Now, an advance purchase ticket costs €41,60 per person (one-way) directly from CDG (without having to first train into Paris from CDG). <<Important - what time are you scheduled to arrive at CDG? Are you checking any luggage? >> There's only one DIRECT train that you can take from CDG; the others will first get you into Paris, then you'd train from there to Bruges. These advance tickets are Non-Refundable; however, personally, if I left enough time b/n arriving and departing at CDG I'd gamble to get such great fares. On the rare off-chance that my plane arrived really late, yes I'd have to eat the cost of my ticket but that's a gamble I'm willing to take. Please get back to us with the info I asked for! And BTW, I REALLY don't think you want a railpass...more on that later.

We arrive at CDg at 10:10 and the cheap fare to Bruges (by way of Brussesls) is at 12:35. You're correct..I will purchase the cheap ticket with the reservation and eat it if the plane is late. We've have been to Europe several times and have always had trouble with the French reservation fee. Thanks for the advice.

Forgot something. Where can I find a good web-site for train information (not high-speed) and prices. I know that there are more trains than what RE indicates.

There's a bright, sunny world beyond RailEurope ;-) The most inclusive, detailed, and informative (and easiest to navigate) is the German train site, Deutsche Bahn............http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml............For France, it's ............http://www.tgv-europe.com/en/...&#40;when it asks you for 'your country', click on 'Great Briatin' - if you don't, it will send you right back to RailEurope! Don't worry - they won't send your tickets to Great Britain - you can choose to have them emailed to you, or some other alternative. You can buy your tickets from this site. Speaking of that - you can only purchase French tickets from the French train website, German tickets from the German train site, etc. AND you can purchase an international ticket from the country of origin. USUALLY, for all of the above! Every site has it's idiosyncrasies...

And for a 10:10 arrival at CDG, definitely don't dally if you're going to make that 12:35 train. And I'm assuming you will not be checking any luggage on the plane...Be sure all of your luggage has tags on them; you can pick up a few from your airline counter if you forget. I know they're required on Thalys trains...(not that I've ever seen anyone check for that, but...) BE AWARE you won't be able to use the automatic ticket machines because they require credit cards with chips (AKA 'chip-and-pin), and practically nobody in the USA has one, and you probably won't be able to have the tickets mailed to you. I think only those trains solely within France get the option of printing the tickets at home. Therefore, you'll have to pick them up at the train ticket counter at CDG - that line will take probably anywhere from 30-60 mins to get through, so that's why you'll have to boogie down there...And buy those tickets ASAP - those low advance-purchase fares go very quickly...

Thanks for giving me the TGV-europe site. I getting ready to order some tickets at very good prices. However, I have inquired about having the tickets mailed to the US and, also, I was a little confused about reservations on certain trains. I'm not sure if seat reservations are included. Thanks again for all of the information.

Jim, if you buy a point-to-point ticket, the reservation is included in the ticket. Another thought...some of us have found that we need to contact our cc company to authorize international transactions before trying to purchase online or the transaction will be blocked as fraudulent.

Thank for the information. Did contact my cc thru my bank.

Jim....you must keep telling the tgv-europe site that you live in Great Britain to keep from being shunted over to the RailEurope site. As soon as you give it any indication that you're booking from the U.S., like wanting tickets posted to your home, you'll end up at the more costly RailEurope location. So realistically, your only option is to pick up the tickets at the train station (your chip-less credit card won't work in automatic machines, but you do need it when you pick up tickets you've booked.) Frankly, 2:25 minutes between aircraft landing and train departure would feel too close a shave for me, because of possible lineups at the station for tickets. Another alternative would be to take the RER to Paris Nord and book one of the more frequent TGV runs from there to Bruges at a later time, say 2 pm and onwards.

I have taken a train from Brussels on a day trip to Paris and used a train for a day trip to Brugge from Brussels and enjoyed the day(of course not on the same day.). However, I would recommend spending a day or two in Paris, and then a day or two in Brugge. From Brugge, I took a day trip to Ghent. I enjoyed Ghent because it was less touristy and a beautiful city.I ate at a restaurant along the River where most of the locals go and loved it. I also enjoyed Brugge and the sites in that town. I ate at a restaurant around the main square and also a breakfast at a restaurant by the River. During this time, I used a Rail Pass and did not have a problem at all. The only difference is on some of the high speed lines, had to pay for a seat reservation/supplement. I used a Thalys from Brussels to Paris and then return. The train from Brussels to Brugge and Ghent was local. When I was checking train schedules, I usually used Deutsch Bahn, it was more reliable. Enjoy your trip.