Help

Hi all,

Myself and my wife are making a trip to Europe and want to travel by train from Paris to Amsterdam but want to stop on the way and visit Brussels.

We have rail pass but realize that travelling on Thalys is expensive with supplementary charges whats an alternative ?

Our plan was to get on in Paris early am and reach Brussels by 10 am and then leave Brussels by 4 pm and reach Amsterdam by 10 pm or so. Is this do able ?

Also what should I do in Brussels as I don%26#39;t know what train station I will arrive at and I will have some luggage with us also.

Thanks in Advance.

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There is no alternative to Thalys between Paris and Brussels, so your best bet is to make your reservation and pay the supplement when you are in Paris (even travelling via Lille, you have only TGV trains now between Paris and Lille, so no escape from supplement). Between Brussels and Amsterdam, however, you can travel by normal InterCity train with no reservation and no supplement.

07:55 Thalys gets you to Brussels by 09:17 and the 08:25 by 09:47. You can continue to Amsterdam by IC train from gare centrale at 19:19 arriving at

Amsterdam Centraal at 22:06 (runs every hour so the one before is 18:19). IC calls at Midi a few minutes earlier and Nord a few minutes later so you have a choice as to where to get on.

When you arrive from Paris it will be at Gare du Midi,

you can either leave your luggage there if you want to continue to Amsterdam from Midi or, as I would advise, take a local train (e.g. any of those going to the airport) one stop from Midi to Central, which should be included in your Thalys ticket as it is to Brussels (covering station in the city). At Central, there are both luggage lockers and a left luggage office (consigne), on the level that gives access to the platforms (-1) near one of the entrances to platform 4. From gare centrale it is just 5 minutes down the hill to the Grand%26#39; Place.

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