We are leaving in about two weeks and still haven't finalized our country to country travel plans. We are a family of four, with two youth (18 & 21). We arrive and spend 4 days in Amsterdam/Haarlem, then move on to Brugge for 3 days, over to Colmar/Strausbourg, and end up in Paris. The Benelux/France Pass seemed like a deal, but there are only two trains a day to Colmar from Bruge and the hours are difficult, plus there is a surcharge on one of them. We had wanted to do all train travel with a pass or point to point, It is frustrating to figure out if we have to travel on hi speed trains between countries, at extra cost, especially between Amsterdam and Bruges. We also looked at a combination of car/rail. It seems as though renting a car once we leave Haarlem is the way to go, then park it in each city until we drop it in Paris. Price wise, I think with drop fees for the car, its going to be about the same. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19109 posts
I find it surprising that you can only find two trains/day from Bruges to Colmar. Where did you find schedules?
You can't find fares for that trip, but check schedules on the German Rail website. RailEurope, if that is what you used, doesn't show all connections.
On the Bahn website, I just found 10 connections leaving Bruges after 6 AM and getting to Colmar before midnight.
As everybody says, "DON'T USE RAILEUROPE FOR SCHEDULES".
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Amsterdam to Brugge by rail couldn´t be easier. Go to the international travel desk at Amsterdam Centraal station (easy to find). Buy a ticket to Brugge, either on the high-speed Thalys train or regular intercity train (cheaper but not too much slower). Trains leave hourly and never sell out. At Antwerp, change trains to Brugge- your wait will likely be less than a half hour. One ticket covers the entire length of the trip.
Don´t bother with any kind of rail pass within the Benelux countries for your trip. With the exception of some of the passes sold by the national rail companies for travel within one country, third party passes in these countries are almost always more expensive than buying tickets as you go.
Also, a rental car in Brugge is more of a hassle than a benefit. Many of the hotels that advertise `free parking´ give you a pass to park in the municipal lot by the train station. You would need to take the bus to get back and forth from your car to the hotel.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
As Tom said, your cheapest train route for Amsterdam to Brugge is to take IC trains with a connection in Antwerp. (At certain times of the day you might also have to make a connection in Gent.) The fare is 45.40 EUR and your tickets are good on any train.
If you're willing to make multiple connections, then there are lots of departure times for Brugge-Strasbourg/Colmar. However, the simplest is to take IC trains and make one connection in Bruxelles. Leave Brugge at 06:31 and arrive in Colmar at 13:28. Leave Brugge at 11:58 and arrive in Colmar at 18:57. Leave Brugge at 15:58 and arrive in Colmar at 23:22. The fare is 93.60 EUR.
If you book your Colmar/Strasbourg-Paris tickets NOW at www.tgv-europe.com, you may still be able to get a discount fare. To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the Rail Europe site which doesn't offer discount fares, choose Great Britain as your country of residence. Pick up your tickets at the station in either Colmar or Strasbourg.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
The other thing NOT to use Rail Europe for (besides schedules) is ticket prices.
RE marks up tickets, in part to make their passes more attractive by comparison.