Zeebrugge to Bruges diy

[Tikka234]

Hi were going to Zeebrugge in April a family group of 13 how the best aT to get to Bruges p O excursion is £48 pp

We have done this before as a small group. 

Anyone done the train ? 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

[Snow Hill]

We have done the train twice, got shuttle bus to Blankenberg train from there to Bruges costs about €7 return. Takes about 10 mins or thereabouts, about 15 min walk into centre of Bruges from station. 
 

Very easy and trains are usually on time. 
 

https://www.belgiantrain.be/en

Edited June 23, 2023 by Snow Hill

[Denarius]

1 hour ago, Snow Hill said:

We have done the train twice, got shuttle bus to Blankenberg train from there to Bruges costs about €7 return. Takes about 10 mins or thereabouts, about 15 min walk into centre of Bruges from station. 
 

Very easy and trains are usually on time. 
 

https://www.belgiantrain.be/en

Slightly off topic, but Blankenburg is a small seaside resort in which you can spend a pleasant afternoon if you do not want to go to Bruges.

[CaptainPedantic]

3 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

We have done the train twice, got shuttle bus to Blankenberg train from there to Bruges costs about €7 return. Takes about 10 mins or thereabouts, about 15 min walk into centre of Bruges from station. 
 

Very easy and trains are usually on time. 
 

https://www.belgiantrain.be/en

Totally agree, but do be careful to pay attention to the return train times and leave enough time to get the shuttle back to the ship. We once missed the return train and had to get a taxi back from Bruges which wasn't so cheap (AND he took us to the ferry terminal instead of the cruise terminal!!!) - probably the only time we've thought we were going to miss the ship. But it didn't put us off taking the train again on our later visits.

[BouncingWheel]

22 hours ago, Denarius said:

Slightly off topic, but Blankenburg is a small seaside resort in which you can spend a pleasant afternoon if you do not want to go to Bruges.

Totally agree. Done the shuttle plus train option 3 times plus once wandered around Blankenburg top. Very easy to do and you can control how long and when you want to be out. The painful bit is the shuttle back to the ship as you have to get off at the port gate terminal and then walk thru security and then re board again but I guess you’d have to do the same on a P&O excursion as well.

[Twilightstar18]

 

On 6/24/2023 at 4:55 AM, BouncingWheel said:

Totally agree. Done the shuttle plus train option 3 times plus once wandered around Blankenburg top. Very easy to do and you can control how long and when you want to be out. The painful bit is the shuttle back to the ship as you have to get off at the port gate terminal and then walk thru security and then re board again but I guess you’d have to do the same on a P&O excursion as well.

This is so helpful! Is the shuttle from the cruise ship terminal? It seems we also have to take a shuttle to the cruise ship terminal. Do we catch this shuttle to Blankenberg station from the terminal- is this organized by the cruise ship terminal or the ship? How frequent are the shuttles and the train to Bruges. Trying to figure out how much time we need to plan to do this. 

[BouncingWheel]

The shuttle is from the ship to the station.  How regular depends on how many the ship lays I believe and size of ship etc… 

We have never had any problems.

 

train times can be found online and it probably helps with Blankenburg being the end of the line. I vaguely remember 2 an hour when we last did it and there were loads of us from the ship doing this.

 

on the way back seats aren’t as easy to get as not an empty train but again we had no problems. The shuttle back does a stop at the port terminal for security purposes which it doesn’t do on the way out.

[Twilightstar18]

10 minutes ago, BouncingWheel said:

The shuttle is from the ship to the station.  How regular depends on how many the ship lays I believe and size of ship etc… 

We have never had any problems.

 

train times can be found online and it probably helps with Blankenburg being the end of the line. I vaguely remember 2 an hour when we last did it and there were loads of us from the ship doing this.

 

on the way back seats aren’t as easy to get as not an empty train but again we had no problems. The shuttle back does a stop at the port terminal for security purposes which it doesn’t do on the way out.

Thank you! Did your cruise list the shuttle as an option to book ahead of time. Our cruise with Disney in August doesn't list an option for a shuttle to the Blankenberg station as an option so I'm concerned it may not be offered. I did look at the train tickets and it looks like it is 1 per hour. They do have a duo ticket this summer where 2 people travel for the price of 1- Return would be €7 . 

[BouncingWheel]

None of our cruises listed shuttles and you couldn’t book them either. It was always first come first served queuing system. As already mentioned, if you have time to kill then a wander around town is nice before catching the train.

[gumshoe958]

In my experience cruise lines rarely advertise local port shuttle buses in advance as they want to sell you their own overpriced tours and have you believe they’re the only option.

 

But there’s invariably a lower cost DIY shuttle option that you’ll be notified about in the on-board newsletter the day before arrival. 

[Twilightstar18]

So it sounds like the shuttle bus from the port to the Blankenberg train station is arranged by the port and not the ship which is so helpful to know. Thanks! 

[gumshoe958]

I suspect the cruise line organises it, they just don’t tell you it exists until the last minute when they’ve sold as many shore excursions as they’re likely to.

 

It’s the same in many European ports which are some distance from the nearest town. There’s invariably a free or low cost shuttle bus for independent travellers, but you won’t be told about it until the night before you arrive.

[John Bull]

14 hours ago, Twilightstar18 said:

So it sounds like the shuttle bus from the port to the Blankenberg train station is arranged by the port and not the ship which is so helpful to know. Thanks! 

 

No - the port offers free shuttle to the port gate, but the cruise lines offer the (usually-payable) shuttle service to Blankenberge station.

 

A problem with shuttle plus train is that the train only runs hourly, and because of the shuttle you can't plan to get to the station at the ideal time. So whether you have to wait at the station for only two minutes or 62 minutes or somewhere in-between is a matter of luck

 

JB 🙂

Edited June 27, 2023 by John Bull

[Dutch_Travelgirl]

There seems to be some confusion here about the various shuttle busses at the port of Zeebrugge. The port of Zeebrugge where the cruise ships dock is a working port where large container ships etc also dock. It’s not a dedicated cruise port. For safety reasons it’s not allowed for cruise ship passengers to make their own way from the ship’s berth to the cruise terminal building. With containers stacked high, trucks etc etc, it’s too dangerous to walk around the port.
Therefore the port of Zeebrugge offers free shuttle busses from the location where the ship is docked to the cruise terminal building. This is the same principle as when your flight arrives at a remote stand without an airbridge. In many airports, you aren’t allowed to walk from this remote stand to the terminal building, but you’re bussed there.

 

So in Zeebrugge you’re bussed to the cruise terminal building. Once there, there are several options to get to Brugge; take a paid shuttle bus or make your way to the train station of Blankenberge and train to Brugge. 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Dutch_Travelgirl

[Cassicruiser]

Are there many taxis available at the port in Zeebrugge - I've heard conflicting reports so hard to get a definitive answer.  There will be 4 of us so would like to take a taxi into Bruges and arrange them to pick us up later to go back to the ship.  

[skatie]

On 6/29/2023 at 2:45 AM, Dutch_Travelgirl said:

There seems to be some confusion here about the various shuttle busses at the port of Zeebrugge. The port of Zeebrugge where the cruise ships dock is a working port where large container ships etc also dock. It’s not a dedicated cruise port. For safety reasons it’s not allowed for cruise ship passengers to make their own way from the ship’s berth to the cruise terminal building. With containers stacked high, trucks etc etc, it’s too dangerous to walk around the port.
Therefore the port of Zeebrugge offers free shuttle busses from the location where the ship is docked to the cruise terminal building. This is the same principle as when your flight arrives at a remote stand without an airbridge. In many airports, you aren’t allowed to walk from this remote stand to the terminal building, but you’re bussed there.

 

So in Zeebrugge you’re bussed to the cruise terminal building. Once there, there are several options to get to Brugge; take a paid shuttle bus or make your way to the train station of Blankenberge and train to Brugge. 

@Dutch_Travelgirl is the cruise terminal the same place we could catch a taxi or do we still need to venture out somewhere  past the terminal to find a taxi?

[gumshoe958]

12 minutes ago, skatie said:

@Dutch_Travelgirl is the cruise terminal the same place we could catch a taxi or do we still need to venture out somewhere  past the terminal to find a taxi?

Taxis pick up from right outside the cruise terminal. 

[Cassicruiser]

On 7/3/2023 at 5:39 AM, gumshoe958 said:

Taxis pick up from right outside the cruise terminal. 

Are there many taxis available, or is it recommended to pre-book? Thanks

[gumshoe958]

Pre-book to be safe.

[MWcruiser]

On 7/6/2023 at 3:38 AM, gumshoe958 said:

Pre-book to be safe.

I can not find any that will prebook.  Martin's Taxi will not!  Any suggestions on who might prebook?

[Ladybug18]

I am running into the same issue...can't find a taxi that will prebook from the port of Zeebrugge to Bruges.

[CRUIS4ME]

We used a shuttle. We caught the shuttle outside the port terminal.  Cross the street and on the left corner, a line formed to get tickets and catch the shuttle.   Recommend get off ship immediately and try to be in the first bus that departs.   Coming back, recommend to catch shuttle by three o’clock.   It’s a 45 min trip.   

[Twilightstar18]

13 hours ago, CRUIS4ME said:

We used a shuttle. We caught the shuttle outside the port terminal.  Cross the street and on the left corner, a line formed to get tickets and catch the shuttle.   Recommend get off ship immediately and try to be in the first bus that departs.   Coming back, recommend to catch shuttle by three o’clock.   It’s a 45 min trip.   

Is this the shuttle to the Blankenberg train station or to Bruges

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, Twilightstar18 said:

Is this the shuttle to the Blankenberg train station or to Bruges

 

 

That's the privately-operated shuttle service to Bruges.

It drops at the same place as ships' "Bruges on your own" excursion, on the edge of the city centre at Bargeplein, a pleasant 10-minute walk over "the little red bridge" & thro Minniwater Park to the cobbled city centre (big buses aren't permitted in the centre).

 

Shuttles laid on by ships - usually for a small fee - go 3 miles to Blankenberge station.

Train is quick and cheap, and Bruges station is about the same distance from the centre as Bargeplein.

The only problem is that trains are hourly, and because they're preceded by a ship's shuttle ride it's not possible to plan to be at the station a few minutes before the train leaves - so you might be waiting at the station for three minutes, or an hour-and-three-minutes, or somewhere in-between.

 

JB 🙂

[Harters]

By the by,  for anyone not wanting to go to Brugge, both Zeebrugge and Blankenberge have stops for the Coastal Tram which runs from there all along the coast to De Panne near the border with France. 

 

It's a lovely bit of coast with some nice towns - like Oostende, Nieuwpoort and Koksijde. Trams run every 10 - 20 minutes and  you can buy a day ticket which allows you to hop on and off.

 

https://www.delijn.be/en/content/kusttram/