I'm planning to travel from London to Bruges in mid-September as part of my fall Europe trip, and in my research so far I've determined the fastest and likely easiest way is the Eurostar via Brussels. Also I understand I should book asap, and have learned than you can no longer book a thru ticket to Bruges on eurostar.com. The Man in Seat 61 website says you can book a thru ticket on raileurope.com (and theoretically this site as well as they are partners). But when I search these sites, I'm getting ticket prices close to $200 and routings with 2 or more changes, one in Paris--this seems odd and illogical. The price for London-Brussels on eurostar.com is as low as $76.
Should I just book the London-Brussels leg now to lock in the advance purchase price, and wait and buy a walk up ticket for the Bruges leg at the Brussels south train station the day I travel? It seems like the most cost-effective option, but maybe I'm missing another online option? Any feedback is appreciated!