Train from Amsterdam to Bruges to Paris

There are no direct trains from Amsterdam to Bruges (Brugge). To save money take only IC trains, not Thalys. Your simplest route is Amsterdam Centraal-Antwerpen Centraal-Brugge. At some times of the day you'll also have to change at Gent St Pieters.

To see the timetables go to www.bahn.de. Click on the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner for English. After you get summary timetables for Amsterdam-Brugge, click on "Details for all" to see the connecting points. Be aware that for Amsterdam-Antwerpen you can choose either an IC train or a Thalys train. Choose the IC train.

None of your choices will take you to Brussels.

For Brugge-Paris the cheapest route usually is to take IC and/or regional trains from Brugge to Lille Flandres and a TGV from there to Paris.

The best website to check out train schedules across most of Europe is the German national railway website at www.bahn.de (look to the upper right to switch to English.) But in this case, you're best to go directly to the Belgian national rail site, where you can check schedules more easily....and purchase tickets in advance, if you wish. See http://www.b-rail.be/main/E . There is no "direct" service from Amsterdam to Bruges, but you can do it by train in about 3 1/2 hours, avoiding Brussels, with changes at Antwerp, or Antwerp and Gent. Use Amsterdam Centraal as your point of departure....trains run frequently. Thalys does run between Amsterdam and Brussels. But because the Dutch haven't finished their high speed track yet, it only makes that run 10 or 15 minutes faster than Intercity (IC) trains...so why spend the extra. As for Brussels-Paris, Thalys is the only way to go. But if you want to avoid Brussels altogether, you can get a train that's cheaper that runs from Bruges through Lille in northern France, then into Paris Nord....although it takes about an hour longer. You can also just pick up your tickets when you arrive in Amsterdam and then in Bruges (specify a connection thru Lille), but you may pay more on the Bruges-Paris run than if you'd purchased in advance.

Thank you for your help!

Michael, If you travel Amsterdam-Antwerp-Bruges on IC trains, the 2nd class fare is 45.40 EUR. No reservations are possible and your ticket is good on any train. You can take a Thalys train to Antwerp and an IC train from there to Bruges. The standard 2nd class Thalys fare is 56.00 EUR, but if you book well in advance (up to 90 days allowed) you can get a Smoove fare of 25.00 EUR. If you take a Thalys train to Brussels and an IC train from there to Bruges, the standard 2nd class Thalys fare is 64.00 EUR and the Smoove fare is 25.00 EUR. In either case you might be able to get the ABS (any Belgian station) add-on that would allow you to continue on to Bruges on IC trains from either Antwerp or Brussels at minimal cost.

What is the current situation for taking train from Amsterdam to Bruges?