Hi all, am feeling in over my head travel-wise.
Will be staying at a hotel near Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris - will be leaving substantial luggage there, going to Brugge for 2 days, then coming back, picking up the luggage and departing.
Is it better to get myself from CDG to Paris Nord and then take a train to Brugge, or can I take trains directly from CDG into Brugge? My outbound would be a Friday morning (earlier the better) and my inbound would be a Sunday night (later the better.) Feeling a little confused by the websites and would appreciate advice from more savvy travelers who are familiar with train travel in Europe.
IIRC,Thalys has the grand total of one train a week going to CDG, so not really an option. So the reality is you would need to go from CDG to Paris Nord via RER and from Paris Nord to Brugges via Brussels. All in all, still a very easy ride.
Check the schedules at capitainetrain.com. Don’t use Rail Europe - they put surcharges on their tickets. RickSteves.com has good resources/info for train travel.
We did Paris to Amsterdam. We looked at going to Brugge, but would have had to go from Paris to Brussels to Brugge. It took too long, so straight to Amsterdam it was.
I did Brugge as a trip from Amsterdam also but if I was going to go from CDG to Brugge and back to the airport or airport hotel, I would rent a car and drive. Don’t know how much time you have for this trip but if you did not want to do in a straight shot you can stop overnight at least one way. Without looking at a map I am thinking of one of the major cathedrals such as Amiens or Reims.
@Pizzagirl I’m sure you have a reason for what you are doing, but the last thing I would do is stay at a hotel near CDG. You can stay at a hotel in the city and take the RER, which is fairly quick, but you have the advantage of actually being able to see something.
For all intents and purposes, booking the train travel between CDG and Bruges should be a cinch in Europe and does NOT require an advance booking. PG could board the train and pay the fare without a reservation with a small surcharge. Any hotel should be able to book the trip via the web at sites such as SNCB or SNCF.
Driving between CDG and Bruges is easy but the short time and the PITA of a car at both end is NOT worth the effort. The train ride is much more convenient. Less than two hours to Brussels Midi and a connection to Bruges for an extra hour.
People love to complicate matters!
RT CDG-BRU
08:07 04/09/2015 Duration: 01:36 Direct connection 09:43
19:17 06/09/2015 Duration: 01:54 Direct connection 21:11
Trains between Brussels and Bruges leave several times per hour.
EVD - Yes, I have a specific business-related reason I have to be at the CDG airport hotel the morning I head out to Belgium and the night I come back (my flight leaves early the next morning). I’m staying elsewhere in Paris for the rest of my business trip. Don’t worry - I would not otherwise waste time in Paris staying at CDG!
I have been to Amsterdam - really enjoyed it, but really want to see Belgium with this little opportunity. Thanks for suggestion, but I don’t want the hassle of a car for this outing - I’m fully comfortable with train travel.