Benelux

My wife %26amp; I are planning a trip to Benelux for a period of 6 days. Our itinerary is as follows:

1 day in Antwerp

2 days in Netherlands

1 day in Luxembourg

2 days in Brussels/Bruges

We are planning to buy a couple of Benelux interrail passes.

My first question is that is this pass valid on buses, trams, boats etc. or only valid on trains?

In total, we%26#39;ll be travelling only 3 days between countries. For the remaining 3 days, we will be either in Netherlands or in Belgium only. How economical is the public transportation system in each of these countries?

Thanks in advance...

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The InterRail Benelux Pass is a Flexi Pass valid for unlimited travel on the national railway networks of Belgium (SNCB), Netherlands (NS) and Luxembourg (CFL) subject to the terms and conditions of the pass.

So for other forms of transportation than train you will have to buy seperate tickets.

I don%26#39;t know whare in the Netherlands you are planning to travel to but assuming Amsterdam then a return ticket on the normal international train is 69euros approx. If you travel over the weekend then there are special weekend return fares of 39 euros.

You can check out prices and schedules on the Belgian rail site

www.b-rail.be/main/E/ or the Dutch rail site www.ns.nl and click in the English tab.

You will have to work out yourself if the Belelux pass is more economical than buying normal tickets

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Firstly as has already been said, railpasses are only valid on trains. For the record, there is no integrated public transport pass for the whole country in Belgium, there is one in the Netherlands but only on an annual basis and I don%26#39;t think you would want to spend €3470 (OV-Jaarabonnement)!

Secondly, what you do have in the Netherlands is the Strippenkaart, a multi-trip card that is valid on buses and trams - i.e. everything BUT trains - all over the country, see http://www.amsterdamtips.com/

getting-around-amsterdam-the-strippenkaart.p…

Thirdly, there is no equivalent in Belgium but in my opinion, public transport is not that expensive here: you will be mostly walking in Brugge but if you take a bus it will cost about €1 per journey per person. In Brussels things have become quite complicated with the new Mobib (plastic chipcard) system but basically the maximum price per individual ticket is €2 if you buy it on the bus or tram (you have to buy in advance for the metro) or if bought in advance, from machine or metro station ticket offices, €1.60 with Mobib, €1.70 for paper ticket. However, your best bet would be to get a 1-day JUMP ticket valid on the whole of the Brussels city transport system, i.e. buses, trams, metros, for €4.20 (Mobib) or €4.50 (paper ticket, this one including the urban part of the railway network).

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I forgot Antwerp. The De Lijn equivalent of the STIB 1-day JUMP card is the dagpass, which costs €5 if you buy it in advance, €6 from tram or bus driver. For single tickets it depends on how many zones you are travelling through but for most trips within the city it will be €1.20 if bought in advance, €1.60 on the tram or bus. I think these are current prices, perhaps Amboseli will advise if not!

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Thanks Ronaldo %26amp; Gaminari. This was really useful. Based on your information, I think the best way out will be to buy a 3-day pass and then buy local passes for each of the individual cities that we plan to cover.

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For the record I was just reading a book about train travel in Europe and it says the Benelux rail pass is very rarely worth it compared with point-to-point fares (to make it worthwhile you would have to be visiting several places in the Netherlands) so I hope you are calculating individual fares before buying any pass. If you are arriving from London by Eurostar, this would include the cost of onward travel within Belgium, e.g. to Antwerp.

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