rail travel from brussels....? who's done it?

[TIZZARD2286]

Hi, so I have booked my Eurostar 2 for 1 to brussels, I realise now that I can jump on antother train and visit somwhere else. We arrive in brussels on a NOVEMEBER monday am and have to leave there again by thursday early pm.
Any recommendations as to where we could go? Cheap is good, but Memories are far more important as we don't get much time off work. Just want to see some more of the world!

Aged 25 my independant and now married travels so far have taken me to. FRANCE,SPAIN,ANDORRA, IRELAND, WALES, SCOTLAND, DUBAI, HONG KONG, THAILAND, BARBADOS, GREECE, TURKEY AND BELGIUM.

IF I COULD VISIT RUSSIA OR ITALY OR SWITZERLAND - and see something interesting, it would be great.
PLEASE HELP ME EVERYONE.
Thanks in anticipation.

[mushroom25]

In the time you have available, you probably cannot get to Russia & back.

But you can reach just about anywhere in Switzerland within a day - go to http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en? newrequest=yes&protocol=http:& and put "bruxelles midi" as your start point, and any swiss town as your arrival & you'll get an itinerary - eg Geneva (Geneve Cornavin) can be reached in 5-7 hours. You'll get 1, maybe 2 days at your destination.

[TIZZARD2286]

Thanks for your information MUSH'
Have a good day

[jno]

you can also use your Eurostar ticket to go anywhere else in Belgium for free (I presume the trips have to be on the same day as the actual Eurostar travel, but this may not be the case); so you could base yourself in Bruges, Ghent or Antwerp, say.

[TIZZARD2286]

Thanks, assumed more rail connections to wider europe from Brussels. Did winter bruge before (christmas markets, by car). Don't need to do that again!
Thanks for ur info jno

[jno]

did Bruges last month by Eurostar TIZZARD - and left my bag on the train! Camera and photos all gone forever. Please learn from my foolishness.

Yes, you're right, Brussels will be the best hub. Some info here:

http://www.2747.com/2747/world/station/brussel s.htm

[TIZZARD2286]

Thanks again, just think, your lucky you dont have a moustache (guess) are slightly 'brown' and accidentally left your bag on a train at gatwick!
I'd never leave my camera on a train - quote, too worried about that, more likely to leave my wife there by accident!
Thanks for your help

[TIZZARD2286]

jno, thats a nice site. complete and comprehensive and not one i found with my limited search criteria!
thank you

[Buenchico]

Let's start with a few basic bits of information:

1. Any decent bookshop should be able to sell you the Thomas Cook Rail Map of Europe. It's a standard reference work for planning European rail travel. You probably don't really need it for one short trip but it might be useful for planning futures journeys. (It will also be available in larger public reference libraries)

2. All European rail timetables are available, in English, on the German Railways website:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

3. Some international rail services need to be pre-booked. If you book through National Rail's official partner company, Rail Europe, you'll have to pay a booking fee. Once again, it's the German Railways which come to the rescue. Book your travel through their UK booking centre:
http://www.bahn.co.uk/-S:PtVOZ9:ecB6SdNNaIlmjN NNNUAM/db_uk/view/info/index.shtml

A quick glance at the Thomas Cook map shows that the distances from Brussels to either Italy or Russia are far too great to allow for you to travel there and back in such a short space of time. However, if I assume that you're travelling on the 0743 Eurostar, ex Waterloo, you could take the 1125 service to Lyon (arrives 1505) and then the 1533 train to Geneva (arrives 1719). That would give you some time to explore Geneva:
http://www.geneve-tourisme.ch/?rubrique=000000 0000&lang=_eng&PHPSESSID=cacaaf4764514d1d1a078 ec26ef2fb3c

If you want to visit a country other than Belgium, why not travel to Germany. There's a good train service to Cologne, with a typical journey time of around 2 hours

[TIZZARD2286]

Correct assuptions. Geneva looks most viable at the moment.
Cheers

Buenchico..What is your background if you don't mind me asking?

[Buenchico]

AAGH! Cut off in mid-flow! Let's try again:

If you want to visit a country other than Belgium, why not travel to Germany. There's a good train service to Cologne, with a typical journey time of around 2 hours 15 minutes:
http://www.koeln.de/tourismus/en/http://www.am sterdamtourist.nl/en/default.aspx

Or try the Netherlands. It takes about 2 hours 40 minutes to Amsterdam:
http://www.amsterdamtourist.nl/en/default.aspx

Luxembourg is about 3 hours away from Brussels:
http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/

Chris

[Buenchico]

No, I don't mind you asking but it would take all day to list everything I've done!

My degree's in maths but I've done all sorts of jobs including (as might be apparent here) running a ralway station ;-)

Chris

[TIZZARD2286]

Only asked 'cos you answered my 'how to squat' in a commercial situation. (sounds quite strange that).
You sound like you have led an interesting and varied life
SO FAR!
Keep up the good work and thkx
Tony