Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel Zuid (Bruxelles / Brussels)

There have been major changes on the Bruxelles to Amsterdam rail route, as taking a high-speed Eurostar service is now the only option for a journey between the main stations in each of the city centers.
The Eurostar services primarily comprise trains, which used to be branded as Thalys services (the red trains), most of which commence their journeys in Paris.
Though there are also Eurostar services which take a London to Amsterdam route (the blue trains) and these trains can also be taken for a Bruxelles to Amsterdam journey.
These Eurostar services are now the only trains which are direct from Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid station to Amsterdam Centraal station.

There aren't any direct daytime trains from Bruxelles/Brussels to Berlin (they're near the top of SMTJ's European travel wish list), but it's usually a straightforward journey, most of which is on high speed lines.

Though on three nights per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) it's now possible to take a direct overnight train - and travel on the European Sleeper service.

A full service Nightjet train is also available, when heading to Berlin from Bruxelles by train on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

So Sundays is the only day of the week when there won't be a choice between travelling by day or night trains from Bruxelles to Berlin.

The Dutch high speed railway between Rotterdam and Amsterdam, used by both the Thalys and Intercity trains from Brussels, bypasses Den Haag/The Hague.
Until last year to compensate for this, there were three direct Intercity trains per day from Bruxelles to Den Haag, but these services have now been withdrawn.
So there are now two options for making a rail journey from Bruxelles to Den Haag/The Hague
1 = taking a Eurostar (formerly Thalys) train to Rotterdam and connecting there for trains on to Den Haag.
2 = taking an Intercity train from Bruxelles to The Netherlands and connecting in Breda or Rotterdam for Den Haag.

Take a new epic overnight rail journey across northern Europe.

Travelling by train from the Belgian capital to central Germany and beyond is wonderfully simple thanks to the comparatively frequent service of smart high speed ICE trains.

Frankfurt (Main) hbf is a very straightforward major station in which to change trains and connections are available there into a swathe of other destinations including Dresden, Leipzig, Linz, Munich, Nurnberg, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich.

There are no direct trains from Brussels/Bruxelles to Hamburg, but this is typically a very straightforward journey with only one connection required,

What's fairly unusual about taking the journey by train from Brussels/Bruxelles to Cologne/Köln is that alternative services operate on this route; the Thalys trains, which are now managed by Eurostar, and the ICE trains operated by Germany's national rail company.

They depart from Bruxelles/Brussels in different hours so if you need to depart from Brussels/Bruxelles or arrive in Cologne/Köln at a specific time, you'll be travelling on an ICE or a Eurostar (formerly Thalys) train.

Though if travelling at the cheapest price is your key criteria, be guided by that; it is timings rather than the type of train, which have a bigger impact on prices, -the cheapest tickets inevitably sell out faster on the more popular departures.

SMTJ prefers the on the board ambience of the ICE trains, but it's not worth paying more to travel by them, particularly on such a comparatively short route.

Though rail pass users should take the ICE trains and ignore the Thalys trains.

The only direct trains from Brussels/Bruxelles to Lille are the high-speed trains; the Eurostars heading to London and the TGVs heading to France.
Though the pandemic has impacted on the route as the number of Eurostar trains has been reduced in line with the lower demand.

How to buy tickets, what's on board the trains and how to use the stations, plus tips for making the most of the journey

You don't have to make a cross Paris transfer when travelling from Brussels/Bruxelles to Lyon by train.
Direct TGV trains make use of the high speed route that was constructed to the east of the French capital so that they can travel at more than 250 km/h for virtually the entire journey between the cities.

Connections are available in Lyon for a swathe of destinations which aren't served by direct trains from Bruxelles including Annecy, Aix-les-Bains, Chambery, Grenoble and Geneva.

The train which usually departs Bruxelles at 10:17 typically has a good connection into a high speed train which travels on to Barcelona

You don't have to make a cross Paris transfer when travelling from Brussels/Bruxelles to Marseille by train.
Direct TGV trains make use of the high speed route that was constructed to the east of the French capital so that they can travel at more than 250 km/h for virtually the entire journey between the cities.

Connections are available in Marseille for Cote d'Azur destinations including Antibes, Cannes and Nice; these towns and cities are no longer served by direct trains from Bruxelles.

TGV trains are are able to use a combination of high speed (LGV) railways to rush from Brussels/Bruxelles to Montpellier in the south of France.
On Fridays to Sundays the afternoon departure has it's journey extended beyond Montpellier, so that it is direct to Sete, Beziers and Perpignan; though on every day but Saturdays, the first train of the day also has good connections on to towns to the west of Montpellier.

Step on board the most frequent service of high speed trains between two European capital cities.

The capital cities of Belgium and Czechia are now linked on three nights per week by an epic overnight rail journey across northern Europe!

There is a choice between three services when taking a train from Bruxelles/Brussels to Rotterdam:

1: The new Eurocity Direct (ECD) services can be the logical choice - they're only 20 mins slower than the Eurostar trains, depart every hour, can be more than 50% cheaper - And are less than €8 more expensive than the regular Eurocity trains (option 3).

2: The Eurostar trains take the same route as the EuroCity Direct (ECD) trains but the journey time is around 20 mins faster, because these Eurostar trains have a higher top speed.
Though when comparing the journey times factor in the need to pass through the security checks at Bruxelles-Midi which can be required when accessing the trains.
They are also typically the most expensive option when taking a train from Bruxelles to Rotterdam.

3: The Eurocity (EC) trains are slower because they divert off the direct route, call at more stations - and also can't match the speed of the Eurostar trains on the high-speed lines.
However, they're usually the cheaper option and if you will be buying tickets last minute at the station, they're money savers.

They also depart from Bruxelles-Central and Bruxelles-Nord stations in addition to Bruxelles-Midi.
If you'll be heading to Rotterdam from Bruxelles-Nord, and take the ECD or Eurostar trains, you will need need factor in a minimum of an additional 20 mins from boarding a train at Nord to departing from Midi station.

Due to the network of high speed (LGV) railways in France these TGV trains take a route that's a long way from being a straight line, but despite travelling through the outskirts of Paris, this is still a much faster journey than it would be other wise.

On three nights per week it's possible to take a direct train from Brussels / Bruxelles to Vienna / Wien. though there is also the daily option of travelling across central Europe on a combination of two smart ICE trains.

There have been major changes on the Amsterdam to Bruxelles / Brussel rail route, as taking a high-speed Eurostar service is now the only option for a journey between the main stations in each of the city centers.
The Eurostar services primarily comprise trains, which used to be branded as Thalys services (the red trains), most of which continue on to Paris.
Though there are also less frequent Eurostar services which take an Amsterdam to London route (the blue trains) and these trains can also be taken for an Amsterdam to Bruxelles journey.
These Eurostar services are now the only trains which are direct from Amsterdam Centraal station to Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid station to

There aren't any direct daytime trains from Bruxelles/Brussels to Berlin (they're near the top of SMTJ's European travel wish list), but it's usually a straightforward journey, most of which is on high speed lines.

Though on three nights per week (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) it's now possible to take a direct overnight train - and travel on the European Sleeper service.

And from December 131h a full service Nightjet train will also be available, when heading to Berlin from Bruxelles by train on Monday Wednesday and Friday

This is one of Europe's longer railway journeys on which the train will be whizzing along a high speed line

What's fairly unusual about taking the journey by train from Cologne/Köln to Brussels/Bruxelles to is that alternative services operate on this route; the Thalys trains managed by the French & Belgian national rail operators and the ICE trains operated by Germany's national rail company.

They depart from Köln hbf in different hours so if you need to depart from Cologne/Köln or arrive in Brussels/Bruxelles at a specific time, you'll be travelling on an ICE or a Thalys train.

Though if travelling at the cheapest price is your key criteria, be guided by that; it is timings rather than the type of train, which have a bigger impact on prices, the cheapest tickets inevitably sell out faster on the more popular departures.
SMTJ prefers the on the board ambience of the ICE trains, but it's not worth paying more to travel by them, particularly on such a comparatively short route.

Though rail pass users should take the ICE trains and ignore the Thalys trains.

How to buy tickets, what's on board the trains, how to use the stations, plus tips for making the journey

There are now two optimum choices for taking the train from München / Munich to Bruxelles / Brussels:
(1) The daytime journey requires a connection between two ICE trains at Frankfurt (Main) hbf, but it's an exceptionally easy station in which to change trains.
(2) Or if you want to travel overnight the direct Nightjet train proved to be short lived, so travelling through the night also requires a connection.
Take the Nightjet train heading for Amsterdam, which typically departs at 22:50 and leave this train when it arrives in Koln shortly before 07:00.
Within 45min an ICE train will be usually be heading on to Bruxelles.

If you will be travelling with tickets then taking the train from Paris to Bruxelles / Brussels is simple and the speed of the train gives the journey a wow factor.
However, if you will be travelling with a Eurail or InterRail pass the reservation fees for using the passes over this distances are comparatively poor value for money, hence the alternative routes detailed below.

Travel direct on a train from the Czech capital, Praha, to the Belgian, capital, Bruxelles, on an epic overnight journey across northern Europe

The only direct rail service between the capital cities of Austria and Belgium is the the three nights per week, Nightjet train.
But despite the distance the daytime journey is straightforward, with what is typically an easily managed connection between two smart ICE trains.