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Candy and I were making a trip to Amsterdam and since we were going to be in the area for more than a week, we wanted to check out another country in Europe, of course. Belgium seemed to be the closest and at first, we were thinking of visiting Antwerp or Brussels since it would only be one train stop away but the more we looked into Belgium, the more we realized that Bruges was the place to visit. The charming little city looked gorgeous and exactly the type of place we like to explore.

Traveling via train is our favorite way to travel and we had several options of getting there. Getting from Amsterdam to Bruges takes about 3 hours via train taking the Thalys high-speed rail train and Belgium’s local trains. There is no direct train line from Amsterdam to Bruges so you have to switch trains no matter what.

At first, we were torn between taking the Thalys high-speed rail train or taking the regular trains. Taking the regular trains meant that we would have to transfer more than once and the more we thought about it, the more we leaned towards taking the Thalys train. There were many reasons why:

We get a reserved seat
We would have outlets at our seats
We would only have to transfer once
There is a decent bathroom
There is a little food court on board
Free WiFi was available

The one negative was that it was way more expensive to take the Thalys train. Almost 3x more expensive, but we decided to go with it since we each had a medium suitcase and two additional bags to carry with us. Making more than one transfer would have been a pain. If you have less luggage and don’t care about seating, I think taking the regular trains is the way to go.

With that being said, if we would have booked our tickets earlier, the price of the Thalys train would not have been that much of a difference from the regular trains. The earlier you book, the cheaper the tickets so make sure you book those tickets in advance.

We booked the tickets online at Trainline and booking the train was very simple. I have used Trainline before when I was traveling from Budapest to Bratislava and also from Vienna to Budapest and was highly satisfied with how smooth everything went.

The one thing we noticed when booking these tickets online was that we weren’t able to select our seats. We were able to choose our preference, window or aisle, but nothing else. Usually, when it’s reserved seats, we would get a seating chart and be able to select our seats but not with Thalys.

AMSTERDAM CENTRAAL > BRUGGE

Navigating Amsterdam Centraal was super easy since there were several attendants ready to help the travelers find their platform. We showed our tickets on our smartphone to one of the attendants and he kindly directed us to the right platform. We just scanned our mobile tickets through the stands and headed for Platform 15b.

When we got up to the platform, at first we were confused because we only saw 15a. We thought we had read the sign wrong so we went back down to double-check but we were right. We just had to walk down a bit further down the platform to the 15b section.

There were several digital boards on the platform with information on what trains were scheduled and which cart your seat number will be at. We had seats 87 and 88 which was in cart 17.

The Thalys train arrived right on time and everyone started crowding around the doors. If you have big suitcases like us, it’s better to try and get on board first so that you can store your luggage near your seats. There are several sections on the train where you can store your luggage. If you have a carry-on suitcase, it can easily fit above your seat.

You can easily store your carry-on suitcase above your seats on the Thalys train

We found our seats easily and were happy that our seats were right next to the luggage section. We also had large windows that gave us a great view of our journey.

We walked around the train for a little bit to check out what was on board and they have many restrooms throughout the train. They even have separate restrooms for men and women. Mothers (and fathers) will be glad to know that there is a baby changing room as well.

Our seats were in a perfect location next to the luggage cart

Decent restroom on board the Thalys train

We also stopped by the Thalys Welcome Bar and were pleasantly surprised with the selection of food they had at fair prices. You can choose anything from sandwiches to salads to snacks along with a variety of drinks including beer and wine.

Our transfer station was in Bruxelles-Midi and it was a quick 2-hour ride. Train rides always go by so fast for us. As we were looking for our next platform, there were a couple of attendants ready to help direct the travelers to the correct platform. We were so impressed with how on-point these stations were at helping the tourists. Without them, we would have been a little lost looking for our next train.

We were switching to a regular train and this was definitely different from our Thalys experience. The regular train was a bit crowded (on a Tuesday afternoon) and we almost didn’t find a seat. It was especially hard to find a seat with our medium suitcase but luckily, we each found a seat close to each other. As the train made stops, more passengers got off so we were able to sit together again and have a little more room.

BRUGGE > AMSTERDAM CENTRAAL

Our train ride back was a little different. We rode the regular trains first and then switched to the Thalys train in Antwerp, so our journey on the Thalys train was shorter (little over an hour).

We were able to find seats much easily getting on from Brugge but we made the mistake of sitting in the 1st Class section at first. We didn’t realize it was 1st Class until the train attendant came to check our tickets and told us we were in the wrong section. Oops! It was an honest mistake and it’s actually pretty hard to tell since it’s such a tiny section. We were able to find seats easily in the 2nd Class section too.

Waiting for our train to Antwerp at Brugge station

Antwerp station was a stunning station that was gigantic. There were plenty of food options here so Candy grabbed a healthy sandwich and of course, I grabbed my favorite Belgian waffle, Chez Albert. It’s seriously THE BEST waffle.

We found the platform easily but didn’t know where to stand on the platform. There were no digital boards like Amsterdam telling us where our carts would be and where we needed to stand. We just winged it and stood where we thought was reasonable. When we got on board, of course, we were in the wrong section. We tried to look for our cart but it was very difficult to locate. There were a couple of other passengers that were confused as well. Finally, a nice lady directed us to the correct cart and we found our seats.

We were very disappointed in our seats this time because we had no view. We were the only seats that had an obstructed view which was such a bummer. At least it was a shorter ride on a rainy day so it wasn’t a total loss but still disappointing.

Conclusion

Overall, we enjoyed our experience on the Thalys train. Our journey going from Amsterdam to Brugge was much better but it’s pure luck which seats you’re given. Maybe if we would have booked earlier we might have gotten better seats but we really don’t know how their system works. One thing we know for sure: book your tickets earlier so you can get a better price.