Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel Zuid (Bruxelles / Brussels)

There is a choice between two services when taking a train from Bruxelles/Brussels to Amsterdam:

1: The Thalys trains are faster as they exploit the maximum speed of the high speed route from Antwerp to the suburbs of Amsterdam; and when the most heavily discounted tickets are still available, they can be cheaper too!
However, they only depart from Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid station.
Though when comparing the journey times factor in the need to pass through the security checks when accessing the trains.

2: The IC trains are slower because they divert off the direct route and also can't match the speed of the Thalys trains on the high speed lines that they share.
However, they're usually the cheaper option and if you will be buying tickets last minute at the station, they are money savers.
They also depart from Bruxelles-Central and Bruxelles-Nord stations in addition to Bruxelles-Midi.
If you'll be heading to Amsterdam from Bruxelles-Nord, and take a Thalys train, you will need factor in an additional 30 mins from boarding a train to Bruxelles-Midi at Bruxelles-Nord; and then making the transfer at Bruxelles-Midi.

If you will be travelling with Eurail or InterRail passes ignore the Thalys trains.

There aren't any direct 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.

There aren't any sleeper trains available on this route.

The Dutch high speed railway between Rotterdam and Amsterdam, used by both the Thalys and Intercity trains from Brussels, bypasses Den Haag/The Hague.
So in order to maintain the direct rail link between the Belgian and Dutch seats of government, three of the daily Intercity trains from Belgium to The Netherlands were diverted in order to serve Den Haag/The Hague.
However, they terminate at the city's secondary station, Den Haag HS (the HS doesn't stand for 'high-speed').
Though Den Haag HS has excellent public transport links to the city center.

If you want to travel by train from Brussels to Den Haag Central station, the options are:

1. take these direct trains to Den Haag HS and connect there for Den Haag Centraal.
2. Take a high speed Thalys train to Rotterdam and connect there for Den Haag Centraal.
3. Take an Intercity (IC) train to Breda and connect there for Den Haag Centraal.

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 there 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 managed by the French & Belgian national rail operators 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 Thalys train.
The ICE trains typically offer the quickest connections from the arrival of a Eurostar from London.

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.

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

1: The Thalys trains are faster as they exploit the maximum speed of the high speed route from Antwerp to Rotterdam; and when the most heavily discounted tickets are still available, they can be cheaper too:
However, they only depart from Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid station.
Though when comparing the journey times factor in the need to pass through the security checks when accessing the trains.

2: The IC trains are slower because they divert off the direct route and also can't match the speed of the Thalys trains on the high speed line that they also use.
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 a Thalys; factor in additional 30 mins from boarding a train at Nord to boarding a Thalys train at Midi station..

If you will be travelling with Eurail or InterRail passes ignore the Thalys trains.

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.

There are two train services which travel between Amsterdam and Bruxelles/ Brussels
(1) The high speed Thalys trains are faster and if you can book ahead, they're often not more expensive.
(2) The slower IC trains will be cheaper when the most heavily discounted tickets for those Thalys trains have sold out, so they will also be cheaper when booking last minute at the station.
Rail pass users can make big savings by taking the IC trains.

And unlike the Thalys trains they also call at Bruxelles Nord and Bruxelles Central railway station

There aren't any direct trains between the German and Belgian capitals, but despite the connection being required, this is typically a straightforward journey across northern Europe by swish high speed trains.

You can travel overnight by train between Berlin and Brussels, but the route is little different to the daytime service, as the overnight train from Berlin to Koln is a train designed for travel by day, so it doesn't convey sleeping cabins or couchettes.

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.