This page explains how to buy train tickets from Bruges to other European cities at the cheapest prices, buying online direct from the operators, usually with print-at-home tickets. Click here to buy tickets starting in another city.
I want to go from Bruges to...
Travelling from Ghent? The advice on this page will also help you with journeys from Ghent as the booking process is usually the same.
Before you buy your
tickets...
Take a moment to read these important tips for buying European train tickets. It answers all the usual questions, "Do I need to book in advance or can I just buy at the station?", "Can I stop off?", "Are there Senior fares?" and that old favourite, "Should I buy an $800 railpass or just buy a €35 point-to-point ticket online?". And most important, click here to understand how far ahead you can buy train tickets.
European train travel
FAQ...
Bruges to Brussels for €14.40...
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Belgian domestic InterCity trains link Bruges with Brussels Midi & Brussels Central every half-hour throughout the day, fare €14.40 each way.
The price is fixed and no reservation is necessary or even possible. Just turn up, buy a ticket and hop on the next train, easy!
Tip: You want the half-hourly Bruges to Brussels trains direct via Ghent taking around 1 hour. Don't get on a stopping train to Brussels via Roesalere taking 2h16!
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Standard tickets...
Standard fares are valid on any train that day. You can't stop off, buy two separate tickets for that. A round trip is twice the price of a one-way, unless made with a weekend return.
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Weekend return tickets...
If making a round trip to Brussels between 19:01 on Friday and the last train on Sunday, you can buy a weekend return for little more than the cost of a one-way, Bruges to Brussels €15.80 return.
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Senior tickets...
Anyone aged 65 or over can buy a €6.80 second class or €14.40 first class Senior Ticket for any point-to-point journey in Belgium, travelling on any train at weekends or any train after 09:00 on weekdays. It covers a one-way or same-day round trip between the stations you specify. Available all year round, but not valid most weekends in July & August.
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Stopovers...
You can stop off on the way with normal Belgian train tickets, as long as it's at a station on the direct route and you complete the journey the same day. If in doubt, buy two tickets.
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Rail-Pass...
If you plan to make multiple journeys around Belgium, you can buy a card giving you 10 one-way journeys anywhere in Belgium over the course of one year, for €77 2nd class or €117 in 1st class. That's €7.70 per journey! Buy at any staffed Belgian station. Check this and similar offers at www.belgiantrain.be.
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To check times & prices, and buy a print-at-home ticket online to save time at the ticket office, use the Belgian Railways website www.belgiantrain.be.
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A typical Belgian intercity (IC) train, on the Brussels-Ghent-Bruges-Oostende route... |
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2nd class seats. Larger photo. |
1st class seats. Larger photo. |
Bruges to Ghent, Antwerp & other destinations in Belgium...
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Simply check prices & train times at www.belgiantrain.be, then either buy online to save time at the ticket office, or buy at the station on the day.
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No reservation is necessary for Belgian domestic trains, they cannot sell out and there is no advantage in buying ahead other than saving time buying on the day. It's a turn-up-and-go railway.
Bruges to Amsterdam from €29, see the Bruges to Amsterdam page...
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You can easily travel from Bruges to Amsterdam by train in as little as 2 hours 44 minutes with departures every hour or so and fares from just €30. Train is the safe & comfortable way to go! You'll find full details on the Bruges to Amsterdam page.
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A Thalys at Amsterdam Centraal. See full-screen panorama photos inside a Thalys train. More info on Thalys. |
Bruges to Paris from €56...
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Every half-hour, a Belgian InterCity train links Bruges (Brugge) with Brussels Midi in 56-64 minutes, then high-speed Thalys trains run from Brussels Midi to Paris Gare du Nord every hour or so in as little as 1h22, see more information about Thalys.
I'd allow at least 20 minutes to change in Brussels.
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Buy Bruges to Paris tickets at www.thetrainline.com. Booking opens up to 4 months ahead.
Tip: Select Brugge (Belgium). You do not want Bruges in France (yes, there's a Bruges in France, south of Bordeaux). Nor do you want Brugge-Sint-Pieters, just plain Brugge.
Tip: In the search results, look for journeys taking around 2h40 with 1 change, with Thalys. Journeys via Kortrijk & Lille take an hour longer, involve an extra change, even though they may be cheaper.
You'll get an open ticket from Bruges to Brussels (no reservation necessary or possible, valid on any half-hourly train that day) plus a reserved seat on a specific Thalys train from Brussels to Paris, all in one transaction. You can print your e-ticket on A4 paper (Letter size paper is fine) or download the SNCB Europe app and show the e-ticket on your smartphone.
Tip: Feel free to take any Bruges-Brussels train before the one www.thetrainline.com suggests, either to have a more leisurely connection or to spend some time in Brussels between trains. Information about Brussels Midi.
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Air-conditioned Belgian InterCity train. |
2nd class seats. Larger photo. |
1st class seats. Larger photo. |
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Standard class seats. Larger photo. |
Comfort or Premium. .Larger photo |
A Thalys at Brussels... |
Bruges to London from £50, www.eurostar.com...
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Simply buy a ticket from Any Belgian Station to London at www.eurostar.com and print out your own ticket.
You can also book at www.thetrainline.com, which has the advantage that it will work out the Bruges-Brussels train times for you as well, also with print-at-home tickets.
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Booking opens up to 6 months ahead, book early as Eurostar has airline-style pricing with cheap fares in advance, expensive fares on the day.
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A ticket from Any Belgian Station to London covers a journey from Bruges to London using the regular half-hourly Belgian InterCity (IC) trains from Bruges to Brussels Midi taking around 1 hour, then a Eurostar journey to London St Pancras taking just 2 hours.
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If you get a through ticket from www.eurostar.com, it's valid on any Bruges-Brussels IC train at any time in the 24 hours before your Eurostar leaves Brussels. It is valid in the same class as the Eurostar ticket, so if you buy a 1st class (Standard Premier or Business Premier) ticket on Eurostar, you get 1st class travel on the Belgian IC train. There are no seat reservations on Belgian domestic trains, you just sit where you like.
www.thetrainline.com usually sells you a Flex ticket for Bruges-Brussels, good for any train that day.
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Air-conditioned Belgian InterCity train. |
2nd class seats. Larger photo. |
1st class seats. Larger photo. |
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A Eurostar at St Pancras... |
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Eurostar 1st class... |
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Eurostar 2nd class... |
Bruges to Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin, Germany from €27.90, www.bahn.de...
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Belgian domestic trains link Bruges with Brussels Midi in 58-64 minutes twice an hour through the day. High-speed trains then link Brussels Midi with Cologne Hbf every hour or two in 1h50 - some are French & Belgian-owned Thalys trains and others are German-run ICE trains that continue to Frankfurt (Main) Hbf. Change in Cologne or Frankfurt for destinations all over Germany.
I'd stick with ICE as you can then buy a through ticket from Bruges or anywhere in Belgium to anywhere in Germany, which makes it both cheaper and more secure than using Thalys (because you get passenger rights in the event of a delay & missed connection with a through ticket that you don't get if you have 3 separate tickets that you'd get if you used Thalys).
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Buy tickets from Bruges to anywhere in Germany from €27.90 using the German Railways www.bahn.de.
You print your own ticket or can show it on your laptop or smartphone. I recommend registering when prompted, so you can log on at any time and check or reprint tickets.
If you want to see journeys involving Thalys as well as ICE, use www.thetrainline.com,.
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Air-conditioned Belgian InterCity train. |
2nd class seats. Larger photo. |
1st class seats. Larger photo. |
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ICE3 2nd class. |
ICE3 1st class, with leather seats. |
ICE high-speed train. More info. |
Bruges to all other countries...
Take a Belgian InterCity train from Bruges to Brussels and change there. See the International trains from Brussels page.
Find
hotels in Bruges & other cities
Recommended hotel...
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In Bruges, if you can afford it and for somewhere really special, try the Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce, a luxurious and romantic boutique-style hotel in a fabulous location on the canal and within easy walking distance of all the sights.
Other hotel sites worth trying...
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www.tripadvisor.com is the place to find independent travellers' reviews of all the main hotels.
Backpacker hostels...
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www.hostelworld.com: If you're on a tight budget, don't forget about backpacker hostels. Hostelworld offers online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in backpacker hostels in most cities at rock-bottom prices.
Travel insurance & VPN
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Always take out travel insurance...
Never travel overseas without travel insurance from a reliable insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover cancellation and loss of cash and belongings, up to a sensible limit. An annual multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip policies even for just 2 or 3 trips a year, I have an annual policy myself. Here are some suggested insurers. Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these links.
In
the UK, reliable insurers include
Columbus Direct.
If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over 65, see
www.JustTravelCover.com.
You
can use
Confused.com to compare prices & policies from many
different insurers.
If you live in the USA try
Travel Guard USA.
A Curve card saves on foreign transaction fees...
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Most banks give you a poor exchange rate, then charge you a currency conversion fee. A Curve MasterCard means no foreign transaction fees and gives you the mid-market exchange rate, at least up to a certain limit, £500 per month at time of writing. The balance goes straight onto one of your existing debit or credit cards.
How it works: 1. Download the app for iPhone or Android. 2. Enter your details & they'll send you a Curve MasterCard - they send to most European addresses including the UK. 3. Link your existing credit & debit cards to the app. 4. Now use the Curve MasterCard to buy things online or in person or take cash from ATMs, just like a normal MasterCard. Curve does the currency conversion and puts the balance onto whichever of your debit or credit cards you choose. You can even change your mind about which card it goes onto, within 14 days of the transaction.
I have a Curve Blue card myself - I get some commission if you sign up to Curve, but I'm recommending it here because it's great. See details, download the app and get a Curve card - they'll give you £5 cashback through that link, too.
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Get a VPN for safe browsing. VPNs & why you need one explained...
When you're travelling you often use free WiFi in public places which may not be secure. A VPN means your connection to the internet is encrypted & always secure, even using unsecured WiFi. In countries such as China where access to Twitter & Facebook is restricted, a VPN gets around these restrictions. And lastly, you can select the geographic location of the IP address you browse with, to get around geographic restrictions which some websites apply - for example one booking site charges a booking fee to non-European visitors but none to European visitors, so if you're not located in Europe you can avoid this fee by browsing with a UK IP address using a VPN. VPNs & why you need one explained. ExpressVPN is a best buy and I use it myself - I've signed up as an ExpressVPN affiliate, and if you go with expressvpn.com using the links on this page, you should see a special deal, 3 months free with an annual subscription, and I get a small commission to help support this site.