11 days London to Belgium-Amsterdam-Cologne-Paris

4 Belgian cities in 2.5 days sounds a bit ambitious. I’d drop at least one city, and spend less time in Brussels. Maybe just a few hours on one of your transit days.

Where you plan to stay? You can easily zip around Belgium for day trips, basing yourself in one city.

As hard as it is, I might also skip one of Paris/ Cologne/ Amsterdam. 

Eurostar reservations are expensive - you can’t avoid it to/ from London, but you can avoid it between Brussels-Amsterdam (take the Intercity, ignore any mention of having to pay a supplement, that info is wrong!) and between Amsterdam and Cologne (take the ICE). Reservations aren’t compulsory on these, at least not in May.

Note that you can get a direct Eurostar from Amsterdam to London, which might help.

rvdborgt thanks for your response 

ralderton thanks for all of your suggestions. We were planning to stay in Brussels the entire 2.5 days in spending half a day exploring Brussels. The two days would be exploring Antwerp, Gent and possibly Brugge in which we would take the local trains. We weren’t sure if we could do all 4 cities so was thinking 3. How much would it cost for local trains and which cities are a must do between them? As far as your recommendations what would you suggest as a location to skip as far as Amsterdam, Paris, and Cologne. We want to travel to Germany and thought Cologne would be easier but we’re not fully committed yet so if you can suggest an alternative city. 

You can look up domestic fares for Belgium here:

https://belgianrail.be/

I think you might be duplicating yourself a bit visiting all those Belgian cities in such a short space of time, but I do get the temptation!

I’d be tempted to spend a few hours in Brussels after your Eurostar from London, but then spend your 2 nights in Gent. It’s a smaller city to navigate, so a lot more manageable, with much more charm than Brussels. Then you can hit Bruges, Antwerp and even Brussels for a day or half day from Gent if you like. Bruges and Brussels are only 30 min away, Antwerp is an hour.

To give you an idea, Brussels to Gent is about €10 for a ticket, or covered by your railpass. Some good advice for Belgium here; https://www.seat61.com/Belgium.htm

Yeah, Cologne’s probably the easiest German city to hit. 2 hours from Brussels, also direct service to Amsterdam and Paris if you need.

But if I had to scrap one city, I’d scrap Cologne and keep Paris and Amsterdam. Others might have different opinions.

Thanks again. This info is so helpful. We don’t want to duplicate cities so can you clarify? So we will proceed with Gent but unsure about Antwerp and Brugge? Is it better to explore Gent and Brugge, Gent and Antwerp or simply Gent?

I’m going to take the defence of Brussels here 😉

The centre of Brussels is indeed a bit meh, especially around the North and Zuid/Midi stations a lot of tourists only see. But it’s a city of neighbourhoods, kinda bit difficult city to appreciate than e.g. Bruges. But it’s definitely worth of your time if you are a city person and up for some discovery in less obvious neighbourhoods. Walk 10-15 minutes uphill from Midi station to St. Gilles neighbourhood, and you’ll have a completely other vibe (that is much more pleasant).

It has wonderful museums and a vibrant cultural scene, and if you venture out of the centre towards the east you have lovely neighbourhoods and architecture, with lots of nice bars and restaurants, beautiful parks and a totally different experience than the bit gloomy centre. You can easily spend 3-4 days there, if you’re visiting the best museums.

If you want the quick basics, agreeing Ghent (my hometown) is a slightly more favourable base, if you plan to whistle-stop tour Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels and none of the southern cities in Belgium. They are all worth a visit.

You don’t have to be scared to duplicate cities. If you’ve seen it, you take the train to somewhere else. It’s not a big country, and trains are frequent and fast (about every 15-20-30 min on the main lines between the biggest cities from early to late).

Depending on where you want to stay:The main station of Ghent (Sint-Pieters) is a bit decentral, so count a 10-15 min tram ride extra + some walking. Dampoort station is much closer to the centre on a walking distance, but you’ll need a change getting there from Brussels.

BrendanDB thanks so much. Very informative. So yes we will arrive in Brussels explore and do day trips to the other indicated cities. We had already reserved an Airbnb in Brussels in thinking would be a central location to explore. Not sure if we should change it to Gent?

I am new to train travel to multiple cities in Europe. So our itinerary will look like this but please correct me if there’s a need.

5 day Eurail pass vs individual tickets ( haven’t calculated but seems tedious)

Fri May 3- London to Brussels using pass Euro Star with seat reservation needed 

Sat May 4- Explore Gent and Antwerp possibly Brugge

Sun May 5-Explore Brugge and Brussels 

Mon May 6- Travel to Amsterdam Intercity train no seat reservations needed or using pass Eurostar no seat reservations needed?Explore Amsterdam using as needed local transportation 

Tues May 7-  Explore Amsterdam 

Wed May 8- Travel from Amsterdam to Cologne or another nearby German city. Take Ice no reservations needed or using pass Eurostar no seat reservations needed? Explore using local transportation 

Thurs- May 9 Explore Cologne or nearby city local transportation 

Fri- May 10 Cologne to Paris using pass Eurostar seat reservations needed. Explore using local transportation.

Sat- May 11 Palace of Versailles using local transportation 

Sun - May 12 Return to London using pass Eurostar seat reservations needed.

There are no pass holder seats available in 2nd class on the Eurostar from London to Brussels on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of May. There are pass holder seats on one departure on the 2nd of May.

AnnaB yikes thanks. What would be an alternative for traveling on 5/3?  5/2 isn’t an option 

You could get a full price ticket for the Eurostar. It won't be cheap though if something still is available. You could go by ferry or fly.

Other alternatives would be :

- Flixbus : 9h journey to Brussels for 40€. 7h20 to Bruges. It takes the ferry.

- Harwich - Hoek van Holland (Rotterdam) ferry: 30% discount with Eurail. More here: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/london-to-amsterdam-by-ferry.htm

- and as said a flight or full priced Eurostar ticket but nothing will be cheap 2 weeks in advance

The Channel is a big bottleneck and Eurostar has a monopoly on that route so they set the rules. It's the most convenient way to cross the sea so their trains are always full.

Passholder reservations can sell out days or weeks in advance at busy times.

EDIT: Personally I'd choose the Flixbus to Bruges. 7h is not too bad and you can stretch your legs on the ferry. Price-wise it's unbeatable: a flight would cost 4-5x more and save at best an hour. Obviously do not wait to book.

Don't worry, the rest of the trip will be easier.

Okay what about another location in Belgium or Amsterdam? What site should I use to reserve seats from London to this destination 

There are no seats for Eurail pass holders on the Eurostar from London to mainland Europe at all on the 3rd of May. If you want to travel on the 3rd and with the Eurostar, you need to buy a full price ticket. 

What website should I use to reserve a seat from London to Brussels? Exploring different dates 

https://www.raileurope.com/  in desktop mode. Add Eurail as Railpass. 

Rail Europe is the best website to book (no fees). Use the desktp version and click on add railpass.

B-Europe (https://www.b-europe.com/EN/Booking/Pass#TravelWish) shows availability in a clearer way but there’s a 4€ booking fee.

Feel free to ask if you need help. Honestly the 7am bus seems like a solid option!

EDIT: the second best option would be to travel on 2nd May. Eurostar to Lille/Brussels:

• 2nd class pass: 08:16 departure
• 1st class pass: 09:01, 15:04, 17:04 and 19:34 departures

The cost is 30 EUR per person for a Eurail seat reservation from London to Brussels in 2nd class. If you see a higher price, those are full price tickets.

Is there a simpler way to reserve seats? I haven’t purchased a eurail pass yet. When I go to the rail Europe site all I see are the regular ticket prices. I’m open to traveling to Amsterdam or another location either on 5/3 or 5/4. 

As I wrote before. There are no Eurail pass holder seats on the Eurostar on the 3rd of May from London to any city in mainland Europe. 

There are pass holder seats from London to Paris in the evening of the 4th of May. 

1st of May is labour day, so a public holiday, a lot of people make a long weekend out of it. + There are some school holidays in Belgium and the Netherlands. 

So you'll best decide quite quickly before all remaining options run out. All the alternatives were given :) 

If you want to completely shake up your itinerary, you can go for the ferry Harwich-Hoek van Holland, visit Amsterdam first. Then Belgium/Brussels, then Paris, Afterwards back to London with the Eurostar.

Or otherwise the Flixbus London-Bruges, good option, with a nice break on the Calais-Dover ferry.

Eurostar is one of the most annoying trains with Eurail, very convenient product, but horribly expensive last-minute and inflexible.