We will be staying in Brugge for 14 days in October . For 8-10 days of this period we want to do the following - several trips to Brussels and Antwerp + Ghent + other areas yet to be decided.
Now the Euro Domino Pass (which looked extremely good value for Belgium) has been replaced by the new streamlined version of the Interrail Pass (at 229 euros each looks extremely poor value as we only want to travel around Belgium), can anybody advise on how to get the best value out of the Belgian Rail system for the above itinerary?
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I thought Eurail offered a Benelux pass, but the main Belgian one is (assuming you are over 26) Railpass, cost €69 for 10 single journeys anywhere in Belgium - i.e. each single journey would cost €6.90 irrespective of destination - valid for one year, see www.b-rail.be/nat/E/tarifs/passes/rail/
The best solution would probably be to buy a Railpass each but not use it for weekend trips to Brussels and Antwerp and for ANY trips to Ghent, where you would be better off paying the normal/weekend fare as this is less than the €13.80 return it would cost using your Railpass:
Brugge to Brussels €24 return, weekend return €12.80
Brugge to Antwerp €25.20 return, weekend return €13.40
Brugge to Ghent €11 return, weekend return €6.20
This is assuming that %26quot;several%26quot; trips to the same destination will not mean as many as 5, in which case there is also a Railflex card available for 5 journeys on the same route, cost varies according to the destination of course.
There is also a %26quot;Net Railcard%26quot; which costs €75 for one week on the entire Belgian network, if you can limit your travel to 7 out of the 14 days rather than spreading it out over 10 (or, do the more expensive trips during that week and then, depending on how many journeys you would be doing over the other 3 days, buy a railpass or just normal tickets).
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Many thanks, Gaminari for all the information. This looks a much better option and I note your comments about weekend travel.
I shall return later for ideas to fill in the missing days but in the meantime any suggestions on cities/towns to visit in addition to the above.
We love Art Galleries (especially Modern Art), Museums, Churches and shopping!
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You have already covered the main cities for art and churches (Antwerp%26#39;s OLV cathedral is the biggest church in the Benelux) but you could visit Ostende for its Museum of Modern Art: take a bus to Zeebrugge and then the coastal tram. Tournai and Mechelen have interesting cathedrals. Liège has another good Museum of Modern Art, see http://www.mamac.be/spip.php?article1. Not far from Antwerp is Lier, it%26#39;s a sweet little town with a pretty béguinage.
Dinant and Namur have interesting citadels looking down over the Meuse, I prefer the one in Dinant but Namur is better for shopping.
I would suggest you click on %26quot;Belgium forums%26quot; above the question box on this page and then look in the list on the left for Belgium Overview and Belgium Attractions: you can then go to the pages for individual cities and look up what there is to see there.
If you have time, you might also consider Maastricht in the Netherlands (via Brussels, line goes through Liège), it has good shopping and lots of churches. There are special Benelux weekend return fares but the only one I know is €42 from Brussels to Amsterdam.
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Thanks for the info! I%26#39;ll take a closer a look at those places,
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