I have tried to book through Thalys a Paris-Amsterdam-Paris trip (1 night on 10 Feb) but the website won%26#39;t book tickets for non-French, can%26#39;t understand why. Also, its quite expensive.
Have also tried Euro coaches but its even more complicated.
Do you guys know if train tickets are more expensive if you buy them just a few days before ?
Are there any alternatives to train?
I read somewhere that Thalys is the expensive trains, but couldnt find which other company does the Paris-Amsterdam and back route.
Any tips?
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The price of Thalys tickets varies according to demand, and the conditions (exchange/return) of the ticket. The cheapest option I can find for 10/11 feb is €116 for a return ticket - is that too expensive?
The Thalys website (www.thalys.com) is in four languages (German, English, French, Dutch) - and you will also need to indicate where you will pick up the ticket(s); In your case, Paris. Tickets can also be mailed to you home address, if you live in France, Belgium or the Netherlands (maybe Germany too). There%26#39;s also a %26quot;ticketless%26quot; option (not always available) where you can print out your ticket at home.
The Thalys site is a bit buggy - maybe it doesn%26#39;t work correctly with you browser? I had some problems too, but it seems to work in Firefox. Note that the site remembers your language and location choice after your first visit - which is not always what you want. If that%26#39;s the case, delete the %26#39;cookie%26#39; in your browser prefs.
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I like using www.sncf.com ... it also has an English option... you leave the %26quot;country%26quot; as France and later you have choice of picking up the ticket in Paris at SNCF ticket office. If you find a discounted %26quot;Smilys%26quot; fare, you usually have the choice to print the ticket.
Thalys is the only train between Paris-Brussels - there%26#39;s not much point in trying to circumvent it.
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To answer your other question, waiting until just a few days before the trip can mean one of a number of things:
1 You pay a lot more;
2 You cannot get a ticket anymore (or only 1st class);
3 If you can use one of the last minute offers (on the website a few days before the travel date) you could buy a really cheap ticket.
There isn%26#39;t any other (train) company doing the Paris-Amsterdam route. But I think there are regular, slower (regional) trains, operated by the French/Belgium/Dutch railroad companies (who also operate Thalys). I%26#39;m not sure that would be cheaper, but it certainly would take a lot more time (and changing trains, buying new tickets several times).
Eurolines Paris - Amsterdam will cost you €62 (and more than 8 hours!). To book a ticket you will need to go to the French Eurolines site (www.eurolines.fr) - only in French... Euroline assumes that people departing from France always speak French.
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I am doing a similar itinerary - flying into Amsterdam from the States - going right to Paris and going back to Amsterdam. I looked into pretty much all the train options and concluded that flying was the most economical option. Air France has merged with KLM and there are a lot of flights for 50 Euros round trip. I got a slightly better deal through www.cheaptickets.com. I don%26#39;t know if you are travelling by train because you think it%26#39;s cheaper or because you like the train. I like the train, but decided in favor of time and money saved.
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Hi thanks for your valuable feedback. Before going to Paris I%26#39;m going to Bremen. Perhaps it makes more sense Bremen-Amsterdam-Paris rather than Bremen-Paris-Amsterdam-Paris... but the problem is I can%26#39;t find any flights and the trains are very expensive.
Any tips on Bremen-Amsterdam-Paris route?
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Have you considered flying one of the discount airlines. Check: skyscanner.com to see which discount airlines serve these locations.
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I hope your cheap flight won%26#39;t be a disappointment. Often, there are a lot of added costs: fuel surcharge, security surcharge, airport tax, passenger surcharge, noise surcharge, etc.
This can add up very quickly and is often not included in the prices. Also, getting to/from the airport will cost you extra, not to mention the time needed for check-in, etc. The train will get you from city center to city center.
For example, Schiphol charges:
- security surcharge EUR 12.78
- passenger surcharge EUR 13.22
- noise surcharge EUR 2.00
- fuel surcharge per segment flown (Europe) EUR 29.00
The surcharges and taxes are often higher than the flight price.
(Cheaptickets.com now mentions $1081 for an Air France return ticket Paris-Amsterdam, Skyscanner €750 for a return ticket KLM)
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