Hello
I am having a hard time understanding b-rail site. I am planning a trip to Brussels and want to leave on Sunday 3/20/2011 to Bruges. I've read that you don't need reservations. The train station closest to my hotel is Nord. I want to make sure trains run on Sundays or should I have planned to leave on Monday 3/21/2011. Any advice/tips I would greatly appreciate.
There are only small differences in the weekend schedules so you should easily find a train on Sunday. It is short milk run to Bruges on a regional train so no reservations possible. I am guessing there is a train an hour or more but you will not have a choice of stations. Use bahn.de for scheduling info.
Just went to the Belgian Rail site pluged in 3/20 and chose the Nord station. It tells me that there are direct trains every 30 minutes. No advance reservation is required, simply purchase your ticket at the station on the day of your journey: http://i56.tinypic.com/2usdfvb.jpg
Both of you, thanks so much! I guess I panicked. This is my second time going to Europe. Last years Spain trip we went along with a couple of experience travelers. I need to slow down... "breathe" and know that with Ricks Steves book in hand and awesome people like you, I will be ok!
"know that with Ricks Steves book in hand and awesome people like you, I will be ok!" But please, realize that Belgium has far more to offer than the three locations (Brussels, Brugge and Damme) in his book.