I am trying to plan my train travel in Europe for our trip next week. We would like to take the train from Amsterdam to Brussels (2 nights) staying at Metropole on 27th and Brugge (2 nights) 29th no hotel yet and return to Amsterdam airport Oct 1 to take the plane to Hong Kong at 2PM. Can we take the 7:16 train? How far is central from airport?
It sounds like the IC is the best way to travel but standing from Brussels to Brugge isn%26#39;t appealing at 10am. Is the IC the same as nmbs? I%26#39;m confused with all the different spellings and where to take the train to/from-central, mid, zidi. We were thinking we%26#39;d go to Brugge first but I read on Mon everything is closed so we opted to go Brussels first. On another thread I read it said it might be better to get to Amsterdam the day before to take the flight just in case. I%26#39;d rather spend the evening in Brugge then Amsterdam because we would have spent time in Amsterdam already.
I%26#39;ve spent all day researching trains.
Any help would be appreciated.
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You don%26#39;t say which %26quot;central%26quot; you are talking about (there is one in Brussels, Antwerp and Amsterdam) or where 7:16 train would be from but I worked out that it is from Brugge to Antwerp. You do not need to go that early as, working backwards, the 10.00 train from Antwerpen-Centraal gets you to Schiphol at 11:49 and the 07:16 from Brugge would get you to Antwerpen-Centraal at 08:39. Therefore you could either catch the 09:00 train from Antwerp which gets you to Schiphol at 10:49, or leave Brugge later (use http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en).
With a 14:00 flight, I can see no need to go to Amsterdam the night before but if you do, Schiphol is only 20 minutes from Amsterdam-Centraal.
Museums are just as closed in Brussels on Mondays as they are in Brugge. Shops are open in both places on Mondays, closed on Sundays.
IC, meaning InterCity is a fast but not super-fast - TGV - train stopping only at major stations, not every village in between (for which you would need e.g. an RE, or regional express). It is clearly not %26quot;the same as%26quot; NMBS because it is a type of train, while NMBS (SNCB in French) or Belgian Railways is a train operator. However an IC train in Belgium will always be operated by NMBS/SNCB while those running between Belgium and the Netherlands are operated by both Belgian and/or Dutch Railways (NS).
Between Brussels and Brugge you have no choice other than IC, unless of course you want to take the stopping train (usually double decker) which takes twice as long. It is unlikely that you would have to stand all the way unless you would be leaving either with the evening commuters or on a sunny Saturday or Sunday morning when everyone is trying to get to the coast (these trains terminate in Oostende or Knokke/Blankenberge). You can catch the train to Brugge at any of the following Brussels stations, which are all on the same line, in this order and giving FR/NL/EN language versions (it%26#39;s not THAT hard!):
1) Bruxelles-Nord = Brussel Noord = Brussels North (also Gare du Nord/Noordstation)
2) Bruxelles-Central = Brussel-Centraal = Brussels Central (also Gare centrale/Centraalstation)
3) Bruxelles-Midi = Brussel-Zuid = Brussels South (also Gare du Midi/Zuidstation)
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P.S. To help with your choice of station, the Metropole Hotel is on Place de Brouckère which is connected by underground tram to both Gare du Nord and Gare du Midi, and by both bus and metro to Gare centrale. If you have luggage, trams are difficult - up high, narrow entrances, nowhere to stow luggage. Metro is easier, and from the entrance nearest to the Metropole Hotel (which is on top of the %26quot;tram%26quot; part of De Brouckère metro station) requires a bit of a walk to the metro part, partly covered by a moving walkway; however there is also a bit of a walk when you arrive at Gare centrale, via covered passageway. Central is the smallest and possibly easiest station to cope with, after that Nord and after that Midi, which is Brussels%26#39; main station and somewhere you need to watch your bags and pockets at all times.
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