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.
Final Destination: Amsterdam or Bruxelles or Dortmund or Essen or Koln
The Thalys trains are non-stop between Paris and Bruxelles.
The only station in Bruxelles/Brussels that the Thalys trains arrive at is Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel Zuid.
During the day (06:00 - 22:00) there are usually 1 or 2 x departures per hour, but there are typically no departures between 12:25/12:55 and 14:25.
Monday: 19 x trains
Tuesday - Thursday: 18 x trains per day
Friday: 20 x trains
Saturday: 12 x trains
Sunday: 15 x trains
Additional departures will be available from March 18th.
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: up to 3 months ahead of the travel date
Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey.
Use the ‘earlier trains’ and ‘later trains’ buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Rail Pass Users:
If you will be travelling with an InterRail or Eurail pass, you will have to pay a comparatively expensive reservation fee prior to the boarding these Thalys trains.
You can save money by following this routing - if you can book the €10 fee the TGV from Paris to Lille
If you want to avoid paying any reservations at all, you will need to take this routing:
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
B-Europe | from €29 | |
SNCF Connect | from €29 | |
Trainline | from €29 | |
Save A Train | from €29 | |
Happy rail | from €29 |
For a stress-free journey it's a good idea to be at the Gare Du Nord at least 20 minutes before departure as all passengers taking the Thalys trains have to pass through security checks.
So being at the back of the queue wondering if you'll be able to board in time is a scenario best avoided.
Around seven minutes after departure the train will move on to the high speed line and it will then travel at more than 270 km/ until it reaches the suburbs of Bruxelles.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.