Southampton to Bruges

[Senga]

We are cruising Norway and Iceland out of Southampton at the end of May.  I am interested in spending 3 days in Bruges after the cruise.  I'd appreciate some advice before we book our airfare from Toronto.  Would we be best to fly Toronto-London then fly London-Paris then train to Bruges, take the train from London to Paris then train to Bruges.  This would mean flights Toronto-London, Paris-Toronto.  We are in our mid-late 70's and want to make this as easy and stress-free as possible.

[gnome12]

It looks like the cruise is round trip out of Southampton. So you want to get to Bruges from Southampton at the end of your cruise, and then home to Toronto.

 

To get to Bruges I have a different suggestion. What about taking the Eurostar from London St. Pancras to Brussels-midi and then a connection on to Bruges? I just picked a random date (Nov 23) and there is a Eurostar train at 11:04 that would get you to Bruges at 3:30 pm. The transfer time in Brussels is 24 minutes so no rush there. I will leave it to the UK experts to discuss how to get to St Pancras in time to catch the train.

 

Another alternative. You don't have to go to London to fly. You could also fly Southampton to either Paris or Amsterdam and take the train from there, as detailed below, with generally a single connection.

 

As for return to Toronto, you have 2 options really. You can fly Paris-Toronto or Amsterdam-Toronto. I would check into the departure times from those cities. You can get from Bruges to Amsterdam (Schiphol) in just under 3 hours with one connection (faster with 2 connections but more of a hassle and tighter connections) and to Paris (Charles-de-Gaulle) in a little less time 2 hours 45 minutes with one connection, but with a shorter connection time.

Edited October 29, 2023 by gnome12

[rhiannon84]

I would definitely recommend taking the train to Brussels then connecting to Bruges/Brugge (Bruges is the French spelling,Brugge the Flemish). If you type Bruges as the destination on Eurostar website, it shows you “Brussels+any Belgian station” - you don’t need to book the Brussels-Bruges leg, just hop on the next available train (likely final destination will be showing, Blankenberge).
 

From Southampton, take the coach (National Express) to Victoria Coach Station which is a 5minute level walk to the Victoria Line on the tube - direct to Kings Cross St Pancras, with 5mins walk to the Eurostar check-in. Kings Cross is all level access or with elevators, and from memory Victoria is the same. Give yourself loads of time for any delays, then enjoy a leisurely brunch/lunch at Kings Cross (or the champagne bar!). 

 

Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid (Fr/Fl) is far less glam, but again it’s step free access from the Eurostar platform to the regional lines. There’s a staffed Info point under the huge departures board on the main concourse, and you’ll be able to ask for help in English (from most passengers too).

 

Agree with the suggestion of flying home out of Amsterdam or Paris. If return flights are much cheaper, consider flying into there and doing the Eurostar over to start your cruise as well?

[rhiannon84]

I forgot to add, National Express coaches - the driver will put your luggage in the hold underneath and get it out for you at the end. You’ll get a comfy seat, plus aircon (well, blowers) and probably Wi-Fi. Eurostar is all booked seating (you can pick table seating) with large luggage racks at the end of each carriage, and I think you can request assistance with bags/use a luggage trolley.
 

If you want to taxi between Victoria & St Pancras Intl that’s totally doable - either order an Uber to the coach station or walk around the corner to the main road where you’re more likely to find a black cab.

 

The Brussels-Bruges train could be a big double decker with step free access (IC) or a smaller regional one (R). As long as you avoid rush hour you should be fine for getting a seat. 
 

Man in Seat 61 is the expert train travel guide, and has more information and photos https://www.seat61.com/Belgium#london-to-brussels-by-train