Will be traveling from London, UK to Bruges, Belgium in the fall. Will take the chunnel train from London. Going to Brussels and doubling back to Bruges seems "around the elbow to get to the thumb." What are pros and cons of renting a car in Coquelles and driving to Bruges? Any advantage - time or money wise - to going on to Brussels and getting transportation (another train or bus) back to Bruges? Thanks!
Linda B.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
By car, Calais and Brussels are so close to being equidistant that I couldn't guess which was closer unless traffic were horrible coming out of Brussels. If you drive from Brussels, you've got the big freebie of going through/by Gent (conversely, Gent could side-track you for a few days). If you drive from Calais, it's mostly a hike through industrial/commercial landscape with the additional pleasure of sucking diesel fumes the whole way if you get behind a convoy that has just come off the Dunkerque ferry. Picking up the car in France and dropping it in Belgium will generally stiff you a few hundred dollars. I saw once that it didn't but I think it was a fluke and didn't actually book it.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5508 posts
I've only done this via Eurostar, so can't comment on the car option. For the train, you can buy a Eurostar ticket to "any Belgian station". So there won't be any need to buy an additional ticket for the leg from Brussels to Bruges. The whole trip from St Pancras to Bruges should be under 3.5 hours. It is pretty easy to do and the trains are quite good in Belgium. If you buy your Eurostar ticket 120 days out, you should get the lowest price.