On our summer Europe trip-one day we will travel from Kalmar
Sweden to Copenhagen,change trains- a night train to Koln
arriving the next day and taking a train to Brussels and on to Brugge- 2 consecutive days on the train. Does this mean I will use 2 days off my Selectpass or use just 1 day- as it is somewhat continuous travel? I do know that traveling from Sweden thru Denmark and Germany to Belgium means I need to account for 4 countries traveld thru for my pass
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Careful here. I looks like two days of your rail pass, to me. There is something called the ""7 PM rule"", which says that if you get on a on a night train after 7 PM, and stay on the same train until after 4 AM, you can just write in on your rail pass the 2nd date of travel. However, this does not apply to night train travel before 7 PM nor to any other train travel before the night train. Here, I see regular trains from Kalmar to Koepenhaven, as well as the CNL train leaving before 1900, so I don't think the 7 PM rule applies. But since you must use the first day from Kalmar to Koepenhaven and for the first part of the night train to Koeln, and the second day for the rest of the night train to Koeln, the rest of the travel from Koeln to Brussels is included with the 2nd day.
There is no "continuous travel" rule.
As for Ryan Air, they don't fly from Stockholm or to Brussels. They do fly from an airport over an hour from Stockholm by bus to Chaleroi, about an hour by train/bus from Brussels.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Although I prefer trains to planes, I'll suggest that you consider flying from Skavsta to Charleroi to save yourself some time, even though it's a five-hour train ride in the "wrong" direction to get from Kalmar to Skavsta. And since you wouldn't have to buy the supplement for sleeping accommodations on the night train or pay the passholder fare on a Thalys train from Koeln to Bruxelles, you would save some money too.
Take the train from Kalmar to Nyköping. Here's a quote from the Skavsta site: "The local train station in Nyköping is 7 km away from the airport. Take a taxi for a fixed price (about SEK 200) or the local bus no. 515 or 715 for approximately SEK 20 to/from the train station."
Leave Kalmar at 13:09, connect in Alvesta and Norrköping, and arrive at Nyköping at 18:11.
Take the Ryanair flight that departs at 20:00 and arrives at Charleroi at 22:10. If you book today, you can get a fare of €5 which includes all taxes and fees.
Take a quick bus ride from the airport to the Charleroi Sud train station. Leave Charleroi Sud at 23:07, connect in Bruxelles, and arrive in Brugge at 01:43.
Now that I've spelled out all of that, here's a counter-argument. Train are more comfortable than planes and much more friendly to the environment. Taking the train means arriving at Brugge at a reasonable hour rather than in the middle of the night. Perhaps it's well worth a little more time and money to take the train.