Trains to take from Amsterdam to Paris

Full information on European trains from www.seat61.com This encyclopedia of rail knowledge will explain how things work and lead you to the various national train sites to find schedules and buy tickets. For a quick overview of the trips you are considering, the German company www.bahn.com shows train schedules for other countries too.

You have lots of options for train schedule. bahn.de is easy to use for scheduling information. However, purchase your tickets on the national rail site for that country. The chipkart is used for local transit within the city/area and not between cities.

The only leg of your trip that it would be beneficial to purchase in advanced is the Brussels-Paris leg. The fastes connection is on the Thalys high speed line, and you can save a fair amount of money by purchasing in advanced. Look here: Thalys Thalys is a premium service that works like an airline. Your ticket buys you a specific seat on a specific train. For the rest of your itinerary, there is no reason to buy tickets in advanced. Buy them at the counter on the day of travel. For Amsterdam to Maastricht, there are at least hourly direct trains. It is also possible to reach Maastricht via a change in Utrecht and Sittard. Maastricht to Brussels involves a change in Liege. Brussels to Brugge is serviced by frequent direct trains.

In Amsterdam, you will need some kind of ticket to use the local transportation. You can get single tickets, day passes, or an Anonymous OV Chipkaart. The first two are only good for Amsterdam. But the Anonymous OV Chipkaart can also be used on trains within the Netherlands, as well as on transit in other Dutch cities. You need a credit on the card of at least €4 to take local transit, and €20 to take trains. Details of paying for transit in Amsterdam: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g188590-s303/Amsterdam:The-Netherlands:Public.Transportation.html Unless you are going to several Dutch cities besides Amsterdam and Maastricht (the latter is fully walkable, so you're unlikely to need transit there), it's probably not worth getting an Anonymous OV Chipkaart. But if you are interested, here are details: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g188590-c119198/Amsterdam:The-Netherlands:The.Ov.Public.Transportation.Chipkaart.html I used it and it worked well. It may have even saved me money; although the card costs €7.50 to buy, the rides are discounted with it. But I was in several cities, and taking trams and buses a fair amount, and taking daytrips on trains a fair amount. For most visitors, it's probably not worth the trouble.