My husband and I are planning to spend 2 nights in Brugge, Oct. 1 and 2nd. We are departing from Paris by train. Some questions: is the name of the station Bruge-Gironde? This seems to come up on some of the rail websites. We are both seniors from the US. Do we qualify for a senior discount? The SNCF and THALYS websites want some kind a card, it seems. Some people on the forum refer to SMILY or SIMLYS discounts. What are they?
Any general information about this trip would be appreciated. I%26#39;d also like input about the trip from Brugge to Amsterdam.
Thank you in advance,
|||
As far as I know, Bruge Gironde is in France. Brugge, the one you want, is in Belgium! The station is called Brugge.
There are no direct Thalys trains from Paris to Brugge. All have a change in either Lille or in Brussels. The best you can do is buy a ticket to Brussels (trains are much more frequent than via Lille) with an ABS ticket that allows you to travel from Brussels to Any Belgian Station within a certain time frame (24 hours??). When you make an online booking, you can fill in that you want to collect your tickets at the station in Paris. I would do it this way, much easier than having them mailed somewhere.
You do qualify for a senior discount if you%26#39;re over 60. I don%26#39;t think a special card of any kind is essential to get the senior discount, just show your passport. On the Thalys booking website I see that there is actually a promo (Promo Flash) going on at 25 euro whereas the normal senior fare would be 54 euro. This Promo Flash ticket is non-flexible though! Both these prices are WITHOUT ABS! But if you decide on the Promo Flash at 25 euro you%26#39;d be cheaper off buying a loose ticket Brussels - Brugge in the station (12 euro).
Your question about Smily, this is a type of ticket, an early-booking ticket at a very low price. Smilys tickets,though, are always roundtrip trickets (you have to buy the return ticket even if you don%26#39;t use it) and Smilys tickets are not flexible.
For booking, go to http://www.thalys.com (choose France as your country of residence) and fill in all the details. Make a few simulation bookings first (with ABS, without ABS, etc.) before you decide. Good luck!
The Brugge to Amsterdam leg of your trip is on an intercity train for which you don%26#39;t need an advance booking, nor a reservation. You can buy your ticket until just before boarding the train.
|||
Thank you so much, amboselli. I spent hours going from one web site to another yesterday, trying to figure it out. Your very thoughtful letter really helped.
Two more questions; is it safe to wait until Monday morning, Oct. 1st to buy a ticket for that morning on the Thalys, or do I really need to book in advance? Is 2nd class OK? We will be arriving in Paris about 6 p.m. on Saturday, flying into CDG.
|||
Dear Amboseli, me and my mother are in the same situation, we go by train to Brugge, from Paris, on 29 september, them we go to Amsterdam on 1st october.
I really felt more confident after what you said about not needing to book in advance in Brugge to Amsterdam.
But I also considering go to Amsterdam renting a car, so, I would like to ask how easy (and cheaper than train?) is to drive to Amsterdam and do the drop-off there, once I have no knowledge in their languages.
Tks a lot,
Winston
|||
Well, you can take the chance and wait until the 1st but then you run the risk that
1) the train you want is fully booked
2) prices by then are on their highest level.
It%26#39;s really easy to book online and if you want to be in Brussels on the 1st I would book in advance.
2nd class is OK. Thalys is a comfortable train.
|||
@ Winston
Why would you go into the trouble of driving on highly congested highways in Belgium and the Netherlands to get to Amsterdam? Do take the train. It will not only be cheaper (drop-off a car in a different country is expensive and our gas is expensive) but much more relaxed. If you travel on a weekend you get a very good rate for train travel.
|||
Dear Amboseli, you definetely convinced me. I%26#39;ll take the train.
But, just a comment, I am not able to buy online the Thalys and/or IC tickets since I am in Brazil and it seems they only sell the tickets in the %26quot;print%26quot; way if you are in France, Belgium, Netherlands or in Germany...
I think I%26#39;ll thave to book this as soon as I get Paris on 22nd or 23rd september...
One last question if you don%26#39;t mind: Do have any suggestion of accomodation (twin room, up to e$ 100,00 per night) in Amesterdam which would be close to the Central Station ?
Many thanks and best regards,
Winston
|||
Winston,
Re hotels in Amsterdam, do repost your question on the Netherlands forum.
FYI You don%26#39;t need to buy IC tickets ahead of time. It%26#39;s only for high speed Thalys trains that you need an advance reservation (for the Paris to Brussels leg). I%26#39;m pretty sure you can buy tickets online. Maybe not for home printing, but definitely for pick-up in Paris. You just need to fill in %26quot;France%26quot; as your country of residence. Once you have booked and paid with your credit card, the system will give you a reservation number. With this number and your credit card (the same as the one you paid with), you can collect your tickets at any station in France.
|||
OH!... ok, nice to know. Once more, tks a lot for you kind assistance,
best regards,
|||
Thanks to amboseli for all the feedback.
I will arrive in Paris on 06th Oct %26amp; wish to travel to Amsterdam on the same day. I will return on 13th Oct %26amp; intend to stay in Brussles for 2 days.
I don%26#39;t find a way to book a return ticket from paris to Ams with ABS option. Do i need to buy a seperate ABS tickect from AMS to BUX?
Regards
|||
%26lt;%26lt;I don%26#39;t find a way to book a return ticket from paris to Ams with ABS option. %26gt;%26gt;
That%26#39;s right. ABS means Any Belgian Station and therefore does not apply to Amsterdam which is in the Netherlands.
I don%26#39;t quite understand your itinerary. Do you want to travel from Paris to Amsterdam? Then Amsterdam to Brussels? Then Brussels to Paris? Or do you travel Paris - Amsterdam - Paris with a trip to Brussels in between? In the latter case you will have to buy a roundtrip ticket Paris - Amsterdam - Paris and buy a separate ticket to travel from Amsterdam to Brussels and back (you can take a regular IC train to Brussels which is usually a little cheaper and for which you don%26#39;t need a reservation ahead).
No comments:
Post a Comment