Hello all, this post will help you navigate the Eurostar website which comes in handy when it comes to traveling by train between London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Brussels. While this is not the only train company in this region and sometimes not even the cheapest, I believe it is the only one that connects London to the other 3 via the English Channel Tunnel (or Chunnel). I recently booked two trains on Eurostar for my upcoming trip, one from Paris to London, and one from London to Brussels. Since I was planning a trip to Bruges and not to Brussels, I was pleased that I was able to book a ticket to Brussels that was also good for any one trip to another city in Belgium for only a few extra dollars.
Booking the tickets
The Eurostar website is actually really good and quite easy to navigate. They have it in Dutch, Flemish, French, and English. Once there, you have the option to book a train, train and hotel package, or just a hotel.
As you can see, you can choose to go to and from London, Paris, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, or Brussels just on the front page. However, if you go into the main train booking page you can select more options, this is how I found the ticket to Brussels + any Belgian Station. This is what I booked for my journey from Bruges to Amsterdam. Once you pick your dates, their pricing display is very easy to read to see which times or days fit your budget and schedule best.
They also have tiered ticketing, similar to an airplane. You may notice that the prices are similar, if not more than an airplane. This gave me pause at first, but by the time you pay for upgrades to have even more than a personal item on one of the budget airlines, the gap is a bit closer and there is the benefit of seeing the countryside from the train, enjoying the food and drink, and a bit of added convenience from not having to deal with the normal hassles of an airport. I will say, however, that Eurostar does require more preparation than a regular train, since they require you to go through immigration before you board. So that is a downside to it which has become real Post-Brexit (it also leads to the train underselling it’s tickets to save time for customers, partially explaining the prices).
Conclusion
I booked a couple trains with Eurostar for my trip, and combined with an open-jaw flight itinerary, it made for a fairly simple triangle of a route for us. Booking a train on Eurostar is incredibly easy and straightforward. Another benefit of taking the Eurostar is that you go from city center to city center. So, you save time not having to commute to and from airports.
Eurostar and Belgian train operator, Thalys, recently merged to become part of the same company. It will be interesting to see if there is any more efficiencies gained here for travel in the region, as Thalys is one of the other big inter-city rail companies. In fact, I used Thalys for the second leg of my trip from Bruges to Amsterdam.
Finally, for more train info, and a depth of knowledge and research that I simply have not had the time nor opportunity to develop, check out The Man in Seat 61. I have found this to be an incredible resource any time I’ve traveled in Europe and is part of the reason that I love taking the train so much. On top of the environmental benefits of taking a train rather than a short term flight, there are many conveniences and efficiencies that simply do not exist with air travel in today’s world.
Thanks all for reading!
If you enjoyed this content, please consider subscribing to my blog for future posts! In addition, you can also check out some of my older posts:
South Beach: Sun, Fun and Culture on Miami’s Iconic Shore
The Magic of Amsterdam: A city of Canals, Coffee Shops, and Culture
A whirlwind day exploring Central London by bus, train, boat & foot
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