Train Travel in August

If you are intending to use the Thalys train from Paris to Brussels - and connect to Brugge, or the Thalys from Brussels or Antwerpen to Amsterdam, you need to look into getting those tickets NOW. They never go down in price, only up as they sell out of cheaper ones.

You can reserve ahead either through Rail Europe or www.thalys.com; prices should be about the same. When you choose tickets to/from Bruges (with RE) or All Belgian Stations (noted on Thalys site as ABS), you have a reservation for the Thalys portion of the trip, then can use the same ticket to hop on an unreserved regional connection to/from Bruges within 24 hours.

but note that if the only non-Thalys portion is Brussels Brugge the cheap local tickets are usually cheaper than ABS, even though that is a very convenient ticket.

Thank you Nigel and Laura for your insight