A group of 4 adults plan to make a day trip from Brussels to Brugge this weekend. If we buy a day return train ticket can we make a stopover in Ghent for a few hours and then continue with another train on the same ticket?
|||
No, for a start there isn%26#39;t such a thing as a %26quot;day return%26quot; (except special excursion tickets which include some sort of event or activity) but also where there is a special return price (weekend return) this is only valid if you travel to the destination and back without stopping off elsewhere. It seems to me there are 3 different ways to do this:
A. Normal way is to buy 2 separate tickets, one a straightforward single A to B and the other VIA the place you want to stop off at i.e. B to A VIA C (I personally consider it preferable to go to Brugge first and stop off in Ghent on the way back rather than the other way around, but there can be reasons for doing otherwise). Brussels-Brugge (or vice versa) single costs €12.90 and Brugge-Brussels (or vice versa) VIA Gent-Sint-Pieters costs €14 so total return cost this way would be €26.90 each, or €107.60 for 4.
B. A 10-trip rail pass costs €73 and can be used between as many people as you like; for 12 trips you would need to add 2 tickets from Brugge-Ghent for €5.90 (cheaper than Ghent-Brussels, at €8.60), total if my maths is correct, €84.80 (12 trips because Brussels-Brugge x 4, Brugge-Ghent x 4, Ghent-Brussels x 4: it wouldn%26#39;t matter which 10 you put on the card, for €7.30 each, and which 2 were covered by separate tickets)
C. Buy 2 sets of weekend returns, Brussels-Ghent (€9 x 4 = €36) and Ghent-Brugge (€6.60 x 4 = €26.40), total cost €62.40
As you can see, option C would save you quite a bit between 4 people, but using this option you would need to stop in Ghent before Brugge unless they will give you both sets of return tickets in Brussels.
|||
Thank you for your detailed answer. I just saw on the belgian rail site that they sell special Mobility ticket between any two belgian stations that cost 4eur. This is perfect and cheap :)
|||
Ah yes, this particular weekend, 19 and 20 September is the %26quot;semaine de la mobilité%26quot; meaning IMMOBILITY in some respects as Sunday is car-free day which means public transport will be jam-packed! Good luck with getting a seat.
However, you seem to have misread the information concerning the price: according to the b-rail site, the %26quot;mobilité%26quot; ticket is only available as a RETURN ticket (as with the %26quot;normal%26quot; weekend return) for €8, and you will each need 2 of them because %26quot;return%26quot; means going from A to B and back again without stopping in either direction. So you can use the back-to-back method I mentioned under C but with 2 of these tickets instead, i.e. €8 x 2 = €16 per person, which would cost €64 for 4 - which is more expensive than the price I worked out for you at €62.50!
b-rail.be/nat/…index.php
(explanation available only in French or Dutch).
While this happens to be a slightly better rate than the normal weekend rate between Brussels and Ghent (€9), it is in fact more expensive than the normal weekend rate between Ghent and Brugge (€6.60)! If they will allow you to use that this weekend, you could save all of €4 on the price I gave you, i.e. Brussels-Ghent return for €8 x 4 = €32 plus Ghent-Brugge return for €6.60 x 4 = €26.40, total €58.40!
No comments:
Post a Comment