Adventures in Benelux trains
June 26, 2012 12:50 AM Subscribe
I'm in Eindhoven, I have a train ticket from "Any Dutch Station" to Brussels tomorrow. From then I need to get to London.
Is there any fun or interesting detour I can make?
I need to leave Eindhoven on wednesday morning, end up in London Wednesday night and am happy to buy extra train tickets if it's worth it.
As an extra factor, I could potentially leave Eindhoven this afternoon, but I risk having to pay for a night in a hotel that I'm not using. Not the end of the world, but I'd want to make it worth it if I do this.
(oh, yeah, also it's my first wedding anniversary, so that might make a difference)
What are your recommendations?
I need to leave Eindhoven on wednesday morning, end up in London Wednesday night and am happy to buy extra train tickets if it's worth it.
As an extra factor, I could potentially leave Eindhoven this afternoon, but I risk having to pay for a night in a hotel that I'm not using. Not the end of the world, but I'd want to make it worth it if I do this.
(oh, yeah, also it's my first wedding anniversary, so that might make a difference)
What are your recommendations?
What of the Netherlands have you seen already?
Madurodam in Den Haag, Museum of the Image in Breda which has a great pub down the street. I love Antwerp & Ghent and liked Bruges, but would spend more than a few hours in any of those.
It's unlikely, but if you go too far off the beaten path, NS train conductors might be a bit grumpy with your choice of route.
posted by knile at 2:05 AM on June 26, 2012
Madurodam in Den Haag, Museum of the Image in Breda which has a great pub down the street. I love Antwerp & Ghent and liked Bruges, but would spend more than a few hours in any of those.
It's unlikely, but if you go too far off the beaten path, NS train conductors might be a bit grumpy with your choice of route.
posted by knile at 2:05 AM on June 26, 2012
I'm seconding Ghent as a detour for you! Bruges is nice but maybe a little overly-quaint. Whereas Ghent is just beautiful - very romantic, especially down by the Graslei at night. But it's also a cool city. I lived in Belgium for 4 years and it would definitely be my pick of the places to go there! It takes just 30 minutes by train from Gare du Midi in Brussels to get to Ghent (then you take a bus/tram to the centre). Definitely worth it, and it is that beautiful at night there where I mention by the canal! There are also some good restaurants and bars there by the water, and a Marriott hotel!
posted by cornflakegirl at 2:20 AM on June 26, 2012
posted by cornflakegirl at 2:20 AM on June 26, 2012
Nthing Gent. We're having some really nice weather right now, so it's perfect for walking around/sitting on patios and having a drink. So of course I'm stuck inside "studying".
If you've seen what you want to see in Eindhoven, I'd take the train to Gent this afternoon, walk to the center, and just hang around there. Then tomorrow it should be no problem to take the train to Brussels to get to London.
posted by Karmeliet at 2:47 AM on June 26, 2012
If you've seen what you want to see in Eindhoven, I'd take the train to Gent this afternoon, walk to the center, and just hang around there. Then tomorrow it should be no problem to take the train to Brussels to get to London.
posted by Karmeliet at 2:47 AM on June 26, 2012
Or you can go to Brussels early, then spend some nice hours there, visit the comics museum and or just chillax in a nice Belgian pub...
posted by MartinWisse at 3:46 AM on June 26, 2012
posted by MartinWisse at 3:46 AM on June 26, 2012
Best answer: Another option I'd definitely recommend is Maastricht. A lovely old old city in the southernmost tip of the Netherlands and the capital of the province of Limburg. It's not much of a detour either: there's a direct connection from Eindhoven, and it's fairly easy to get to Brussels from Maastricht.
But unless you've already been there, I wouldn't rule out going to Brussels early.
posted by Sourisnoire at 5:13 AM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
But unless you've already been there, I wouldn't rule out going to Brussels early.
posted by Sourisnoire at 5:13 AM on June 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
Nthing Gent. Far nicer than Bruges -- fewer tourists. The canals are lovely to explore, and it has the perfect small city feel.
It's half an hour or so on the fast trains from Gent Sint-Pieters to Bruxelles-Midi, and the connection is very straightforward (downstairs to either corridor, walk to Eurostar check in); I would suggest you spend as long as possible in Gent and avoid returning to Brussels until the last moment; Bruxelles-Midi is not exactly the most salubrious of European transportation hubs.
You are [un]lucky not to be there at the time of the Gentse Feesten though.
I really want to recommend Liège but it seems to hide its charms very well, other than the beautiful new station and the cathedral.
posted by Talkie Toaster at 8:45 AM on June 26, 2012
It's half an hour or so on the fast trains from Gent Sint-Pieters to Bruxelles-Midi, and the connection is very straightforward (downstairs to either corridor, walk to Eurostar check in); I would suggest you spend as long as possible in Gent and avoid returning to Brussels until the last moment; Bruxelles-Midi is not exactly the most salubrious of European transportation hubs.
You are [un]lucky not to be there at the time of the Gentse Feesten though.
I really want to recommend Liège but it seems to hide its charms very well, other than the beautiful new station and the cathedral.
posted by Talkie Toaster at 8:45 AM on June 26, 2012
Yes. Ghent. Be sure to visit St Bavo's Cathedral for a look at their splendid altarpiece.
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 9:06 AM on June 26, 2012
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 9:06 AM on June 26, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks all, really great advice.
In the end, due to the vagaries of time and train tickets we went to Rotterdam to see the Cube Houses and have lunch and then on to Brussels.
However, your recommendations have inspired us and I think we might try and go to Ghent for festival and then wander about the whole region with a bit more time to spare.
I think Mrs Just this guy, y'know (or possibly Just this girl, y'know, or however it's best to designate wifely association to my user name) would be delighted by horse fishing in Oostduinkerke and I have not yet managed to go to Luxembourg, so some sort of Eurotrain adventures will probably occur in a month or so.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:43 AM on June 28, 2012
In the end, due to the vagaries of time and train tickets we went to Rotterdam to see the Cube Houses and have lunch and then on to Brussels.
However, your recommendations have inspired us and I think we might try and go to Ghent for festival and then wander about the whole region with a bit more time to spare.
I think Mrs Just this guy, y'know (or possibly Just this girl, y'know, or however it's best to designate wifely association to my user name) would be delighted by horse fishing in Oostduinkerke and I have not yet managed to go to Luxembourg, so some sort of Eurotrain adventures will probably occur in a month or so.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:43 AM on June 28, 2012
Glad you enjoyed the visit!
People here in Paris gave me a lot of crap for spending a 4-day weekend in Luxembourg, because as many will tell you, there isn't *that* much to do in Luxembourg City. When you think about Luxembourg, think outside the box (capital). Since you mention it here, I wanted to recommend that there is a lot more to the country than the capital. Many many castles, hiking paths, bike trails, forests, streams, and whathaveyou are available. We stayed in Larochette (1 hr by bus from Lux. City) and were never without something to do.
posted by whatzit at 4:29 AM on June 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
People here in Paris gave me a lot of crap for spending a 4-day weekend in Luxembourg, because as many will tell you, there isn't *that* much to do in Luxembourg City. When you think about Luxembourg, think outside the box (capital). Since you mention it here, I wanted to recommend that there is a lot more to the country than the capital. Many many castles, hiking paths, bike trails, forests, streams, and whathaveyou are available. We stayed in Larochette (1 hr by bus from Lux. City) and were never without something to do.
posted by whatzit at 4:29 AM on June 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
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Are you together? If so you may want to somehow detour through Brugge in Belgium if you have not been there yet. It has a cliche cute romantic old town. (It's also a busy provincial capital with population 200K or so, but you wouldn't notice that as a tourist.) There are a lot of places to walk, to eat, and it is a pleasant visit even in the drizzly rain. You could go alone, but this is definitely more fun as a couple. Even if it does not fit your existing ticket, it's about 1 hour and 20EUR roundtrip from Brussels.
If you want something a little more unusual, I have always wanted to visit Oostduinkerke, where traditionally (and they still keep it up to some extent) horses were used for clamming. Ghent is also a nice visit, larger than Brugge but with its own castle and more bustling environment.
posted by whatzit at 1:26 AM on June 26, 2012