Is it practical to take Rail Europe from Paris at 1pm and spend an afternoon in Brussels, Belgium before taking a train that evening to our final destination, Amsterdam? [mi]

February 20, 2009 2:32 PM

Is it practical to take Rail Europe from Paris at 1pm and spend an afternoon in Brussels, Belgium before taking a train that evening to our final destination, Amsterdam? [mi]

The regional trains do not require a seat, but is there a place to stash our luggage so we can enjoy Brussels without lugging our luggage around the city?

- Where in Brussels is the train station? In the center of town? (Bruxelles Midi)

- Anything we need to see or do while spending one afternoon in Brussels? (I've searched and found a post from 2006 -- wondering if there is more current info)

Thanks for the help.

posted by seinfeld to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total)

Frankly, having spent time in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, and a host of other western European cities, I really didn't like Brussels all that much. I spent an afternoon there en route to Bruges once and bided my time seeking out a French-speaking cafe to get an omelet and a Cantillion. It was dirty and ugly and while I'm sure there's nicer aspects to the city than I found, it was not something I'd go out of my way to do again.

Bruges was so much nicer, and only a 20 Euro / 2 hour round trip from Brussels (midi/zuid) - and perfect for an afternoon.
posted by kcm at 2:58 PM on February 20, 2009

Oh, and there's plenty of day lockers for luggage at the station (nearest the Eurostar platforms).
posted by kcm at 3:00 PM on February 20, 2009

I second kcm, Brussels is pretty boring.
posted by halogen at 3:08 PM on February 20, 2009

Response by poster: Well, in that case.. Is there a train from Amsterdam to Bruges? Perhaps we'll go direct from Paris to Amsterdam and then take a day-trip to Bruges?

- Or is there a more worthwhile day-trip from Amsterdam?

Thank you!
posted by seinfeld at 3:19 PM on February 20, 2009

Brussels sucks, as mentioned above, but (if I remember correctly) a half-hour train ride will take you to Ghent, which is a beautiful smaller city. I might be biased just due to the fact that I had one of the craziest drinking nights of my life there, but I have since recommended it to others and they thanked me after going ..
posted by mannequito at 3:20 PM on February 20, 2009

Brussels does NOT suck! Just stay out of the touristy parts right in the centre. If the weather is bad, you win because it's way less crowded.

You have to go via Antwerp or Brussels to Gent or Bruges anyway and that's a chunk of time round trip.

The Eurostar pulls up at Brussels Midi/Zuid. You then need to take a local train one stop to Central (the Zuid area is kind of crappy). Local train running up to Amsterdam leaves from here every hour or so - make sure to check the time on http://www.ns.nl and look for the time that is not the Thalys, you can't catch those ones without a prebooked ticket.

The trip up is fine, just sit anywhere. Runs until about 9pm at night so stay as long or short in Brussels as you like.
posted by wingless_angel at 4:01 PM on February 20, 2009

My understanding, based on a brief chat with some locals the one time I passed through Brussels briefly, is that the area around the train station (midi, I think it was) is pretty crappy and not worth visiting.
posted by Simon Barclay at 4:31 PM on February 20, 2009

+1 for the area around Brussels Midi being pretty run down (I worked just outside the city for a year). You'd probably do best to grab a taxi from there to somewhere worth visiting; while you can take the subway or the tram, they can be kind of confusing.

If you just want to be able to say you've "done Brussels", head over to the Grand Place, have a beer and maybe some frites, and then head on back to the train station. Yes, there's the Manneken (and Janneken) Pis, and a few other highly touristy things nearby, but you really won't miss much.
posted by lowlife at 5:19 PM on February 20, 2009

Brussel doesn't exactly suck, though it pales in comparison to Paris or Amsterdam. You can certainly enjoy yourself if you have to kill some time there, but I wouldn't make it a destination.
posted by randomstriker at 5:22 PM on February 20, 2009

This depends entirely on what you want to do and how much energy you have to do it. I would recommend wikitravel, in this case particularly the Brussels page. In the Get In section you can see how the trains work, where in the city the stations are located and where you want to be in the city if you only have an afternoon. This is why I mentioned energy, because I am almost certain Brussels has enough interesting stuff for an afternoon if you are willing to trek away from the station. The Get Around section will educate you on the public transport system of the city. If you need any additional orientation and don't have a guide book map, I would suggest Google Maps. Just type in Brussels Midi Station and you're away. The Get Directions function is also good for seeing how far away things are by foot (just remember to select Walking from the drop down menu). I used to take a photo on my camera of any important information or maps so I would always have them with me. The wikitravel page should also have enough info about sights to let you decide if it's worth it for you personally. At the bottom of wikitravel city guides they usually have a section called Get Out which often has good information about day trips and nearby attractions, the Amsterdam page should give you some insight about good stuff in the area.

I haven't been to any major rail stations in Europe that don't have a locker storage system, although they do vary in price if money is a concern. The German rail site Bahn has information on most European trains and is excellent for planning your train trips.

Sorry for rambling so much, especially if you already knew all this stuff, but I only just got back from Europe and kind of miss doing this stuff every day. Hope you have an amazing time no matter which option you go with!
posted by atmosphere at 5:47 PM on February 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Watch your step in Brussels; dog crap EVERYWHERE. (My brother and his family live in Brussels and I visit them ~once/year).
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:33 PM on February 20, 2009