Getting from Blois to Arnhem by train

Hi Mardee,

It’s so nice of you to help your friends!

I’ve not traveled to the Netherlands (yet), so will only address the trains in France.

I’ve taken the train from Amboise (Blois is the next stop) to Paris.

Your friends have two options for the Blois to Paris journey:

1. The direct TER train departing at 11:49 and arriving at 13:23 Paris Austerlizt

2. Take an earlier train (7:30 or 9:20), but this journey involves a train change and backtracking to St.Pierre des Corps (Tours), and a layover, which will add an hour to their journey.

The first option doesn’t work if they plan to take the Thalys at 12:45, unless they spend an overnight in Paris, and depart the following morning.

The second option will get them to Paris with plenty of time to make the connection.
I’d suggest taking a taxi from Paris Montparnasse station to Paris Gare du Nord.

BTW, I found a Thalys departing Paris at 12:55 and arriving to Arnhem at 18:07.
Where did you find the one arriving earlier?

Hope this helps!

Edited to add:
If they take option one, they can buy their train ticket at the station the day before, the day of travel, or online since there’s no difference in price if booked in advance.

If they choose option 2, they may consider booking in advance since part of their journey may involve a TGV train. Check prices for tomorrow and for October 2nd, to see if there’s a price difference.

They should book 'in one go', through SNCF connect, the trains from Blois to Schiphol. Then buy a Dutch ticket for the connection to Arnhem.
Why? Because that way, if there are big delays getting to Paris and they miss their Thalys, they will be able to see SNCF staff who should allow them to take a later Thalys. This benefit outweighs the 20€ savings of buying Thalys on the Dutch website, in my opinion.

Thanks so much, Priscilla and balso!

Priscilla, I found that particular 12:25 train on the Deutsche Bahn site - it's THA 9339 leaving Nord at 12:25. And thanks for the info about the trains! I think it's going to work out of they take the 11:49 train to Austerlitz and then head out from Nord.

Balso, that's a good idea, especially given the potentials for delay. And I really like the idea of booking to Schipol and then hopping a train there. The train leaving Blois at 11:49 has one transfer in Paris, which makes it easier for them. It leaves a little later but it has the least amount of connections and is the cheapest. I will give them all this information and have them book through SCNF - thank you!

They need to be aware that the transfer in Paris between Gare d'Austerlitz and Gare du Nord involves either the metro (line 5, direct, seats usually available at Austerlitz but tons of stairs) or a cab (15-20€ or so). SNCF schedules reflect this and anything that allows more than 90 minutes to do this transfer is generous enough.

Luggage aside, I've experienced horrible lines to buy Metro tickets at Gare du Nord and L'Est, so bad that I bought bootleg tickets from a browsing tout in the crowd. Luckily, they worked. The USA is not the only place with infrastructure financing issues and The Great Resignation.

Yikes, thanks for the info! I've passed on all this info and told them that they should get a taxi from Austerlitz to Nord, so hopefully they will do that.

It is interesting to me that the routings found are via Thalys and Schipol.

I am the first to say that I haven't looked yet at the NS website but it seems counterintuitive to me.

Yes, changing at Schiphol means getting a train which misses Amsterdam Sloterdijk and Amsterdam Central and instead turns right after Amsterdam Zuid to Utrecht and onwards to the east southeast at Arnhem.

But the Thalys can't go any faster than 140 kph in the Netherlands even in the NS HiSpeed areas because of sandy foundations of the track (so it loses all its high speed advantage) and it seems to go to Randstad when you want to go east is strange. I would have thought to bear right after Antwerpen via Den Bosch (real name 's-Hertogenbosch) and then bear right to Nijmegen and then the quick jump to Arnhem.

But maybe logic isn't efficient.

overall, just one change at Schiphol is likely easier for people unfamiliar with Dutch trains, regardless of the longer route...

Hi Mardee,

I’m glad it’s all worked out and your friends can confidently book their train tickets!

Thanks for the information about the Thalys train; I actually found that train later on.

Well, I learned something new from your post.
I hadn’t considered getting the all in one ticket
from Blois to Schiphol, but it makes good sense. Thanks, Balso!

I do hope your friends decide to take a taxi between the 2 stations in Paris.

I’m curious, do you know why they chose to stay in Blois?

It’s a very hilly city. And… The train station is uphill from the city!

Wishing your friends a wonderful trip!

There is actually a solution that avoids having to deal with the Paris metro, and that is first going to st. Pierre-des-Corps. That is the TGV station serving Tours (maybe spend your last day there). From there you can take a TGV that bypasses Paris.

Book St. Pierre-des-Corps to Brussels, and look for a service that has you change trains in Marne la Vallee. I see one at 7:54, and another at 10:54. The change in Marne la Vallee should be easy. It is a modern station with elevators.

Then book Brussel - Arnhem on www.b-europe.com

Even when booked on two different tickets the connection is protected, as Brussel is a Railteam Hub.

“ I would have thought to bear right after Antwerpen via Den Bosch (real name 's-Hertogenbosch) and then bear right to Nijmegen and then the quick jump to Arnhem.”
This may be the most direct route, but it requires multiple changes. They would need to leave the Thalys at Antwerp to transfer to the regular non-highspeed international train towards Amsterdam. They would then leave that train in Breda and transfer to the direct train to Arnhem.

They could combine a TGV to Brussels (there is even one direct st. Pierre-de-Corps to Brussels service) with an IC service to Breda and onwards to Arnhem. Might well be the most comfortable way of doing this.

Nigel and Dutch traveler, yes, I think that was the problem. When I emailed her yesterday about all this, she had a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that Schiphol is out of the way. But logistically, it's easier for them (I think) since they will only have the one transfer in Paris and then getting a train from Schiphol to Arnhem. But who knows - I'm just passing all this info on so they may do something different.

Wengenk, I think the problem is that going from Blois to St. Pierre-des-Corps to Brussels to Arnhem still requires multiple changes (4 by my count) and they can alleviate the Metro issue by getting a taxi. I'm trying to make it as easy for them as possible and I know they are leery of having to switch trains multiple times. I don't think they are going to want to switch hotels on the last night.

Priscilla, I hope they take the taxi, too - I think they will. I'm not sure why they chose Blois - I know they wanted a base for the Loire Valley and are renting bikes from someplace there. Mostly they are staying with friends while in Europe and Blois is the only place they are staying at a hotel. I'll ask them next time I talk to them, though - now I'm curious.

It's interesting, though - I was in France over 20 years ago and was not all that thrilled with the country then, but helping them research this trip has awakened an urge to visit France again and give it another try. I think the circumstances at the time contributed to my feelings about the trip as my mom had recently died. So who knows? Maybe after my Scotland trip I'll start planning a trip to France... :)