Can I buy tickets at train station before departure (Paris to Amsterdam)?

My husband and I are going on a 10 day trip to Europe, we are flying to
Paris and want to go to Amsterdam by train for a few days. I don't
think it is worth it getting a Eurorail pass as we will only go to
Amsterdam and back (and maybe take a couple day trips from both
cities). We are arriving in Paris on a Friday morning and want to take
a train to Amsterdam right away, but I am not sure whether we can buy
tickets for thalys train right there at the station before departure.
We could buy the tickets from here, but it looks like you are buying
them for a certain time, and I am not sure how quickly we can make it
from the airport to the train station, or what if the flight is late.
So my question is - can we easily buy tickets for Thalys train at Gare
du Nord station right before departure on a Friday morning (22-Apr)? We
would also like to stop in Brussels for a few hours on the way, and
with point to point tickets it looks like we will have to buy two
tickets, Paris-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam, but can we buy the
return ticket Amsterdam-Paris?

wrote:
So my question is - can we easily buy tickets for Thalys train at Gare
du Nord station right before departure on a Friday morning (22-Apr)? We
would also like to stop in Brussels for a few hours on the way, and
with point to point tickets it looks like we will have to buy two
tickets, Paris-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam, but can we buy the
return ticket Amsterdam-Paris?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is there is some chance that the
train will be booked (I did a similar thing on a EuroStar train between
Naples and Rome. We wanted to take a 7:30 train but it was booked the morning
we left and we had to go on a train an hour later.

If this would be OK with you, then you should do it this way. Buying rail
tickets outside of the country before going is always more expensive, in my
opinion. I've done it when I wanted to book a sleeper for 5 people, but
otherwise would not.

Julie



--
Julie
**********
I could be wrong. My experience is limited to my experience.

Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

wrote:
So my question is - can we easily buy tickets for Thalys train at Gare
du Nord station right before departure on a Friday morning (22-Apr)? We
would also like to stop in Brussels for a few hours on the way, and
with point to point tickets it looks like we will have to buy two
tickets, Paris-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam, but can we buy the
return ticket Amsterdam-Paris?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is there is some chance that the
train will be booked (I did a similar thing on a EuroStar train between
Naples and Rome. We wanted to take a 7:30 train but it was booked the morning
we left and we had to go on a train an hour later.

If this would be OK with you, then you should do it this way. Buying rail
tickets outside of the country before going is always more expensive, in my
opinion. I've done it when I wanted to book a sleeper for 5 people, but
otherwise would not.

Julie



--
Julie
**********
I could be wrong. My experience is limited to my experience.

Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 15:18:47 +0000 (UTC), Juliana L Holm Buying rail
tickets outside of the country before going is always more expensive, in my
opinion. I've done it when I wanted to book a sleeper for 5 people, but
otherwise would not.

Julie

The Eurostar London to Paris is very expensive if you
want to buy tickets just prior to the journey, compared
with an advanced purchase.

On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 15:18:47 +0000 (UTC), Juliana L Holm Buying rail
tickets outside of the country before going is always more expensive, in my
opinion. I've done it when I wanted to book a sleeper for 5 people, but
otherwise would not.

Julie

The Eurostar London to Paris is very expensive if you
want to buy tickets just prior to the journey, compared
with an advanced purchase.

wrote:

My husband and I are going on a 10 day trip to Europe, we are flying to
Paris and want to go to Amsterdam by train for a few days. I don't
think it is worth it getting a Eurorail pass as we will only go to
Amsterdam and back (and maybe take a couple day trips from both
cities). We are arriving in Paris on a Friday morning and want to take
a train to Amsterdam right away

Not a really good idea as you will be very tired when you arrive, assuming
you are flying to Paris from USA.

but I am not sure whether we can buy
tickets for thalys train right there at the station before departure.

You certainly can, assuming a) there are seats available (those trains are
reservation only) and (b) there's no queue at the counter

We could buy the tickets from here, but it looks like you are buying
them for a certain time

Obligatory since the trains are reservation only. Depending on whether you
buy a promotional ticket, they should be refundable if you show up at the
departure train station less than 1 hour late.

and I am not sure how quickly we can make it
from the airport to the train station

A snap if you pick up the train at CDG(2). CDG(1) would require bus or
taxi... If train does not stop at CDG(2) then don't even dream of losing a
night's sleep, shlepping into the city to Gare du Nord to take a train to
Amsterdam. There are trains from Roissy to Burssels, so why go to the Gare
du Nord?

or what if the flight is late.

Not much you can do about that one...

So my question is - can we easily buy tickets for Thalys train at Gare
du Nord station right before departure on a Friday morning (22-Apr)? We
would also like to stop in Brussels for a few hours on the way, and
with point to point tickets it looks like we will have to buy two
tickets, Paris-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam, but can we buy the
return ticket Amsterdam-Paris?

Round trip train tickets (unless promotional and thus not likely to be
refunded) are not noticeably cheaper than one-way so it wouldn't make much
of a difference.

Bernard Higonnet

wrote:

My husband and I are going on a 10 day trip to Europe, we are flying to
Paris and want to go to Amsterdam by train for a few days. I don't
think it is worth it getting a Eurorail pass as we will only go to
Amsterdam and back (and maybe take a couple day trips from both
cities). We are arriving in Paris on a Friday morning and want to take
a train to Amsterdam right away

Not a really good idea as you will be very tired when you arrive, assuming
you are flying to Paris from USA.

but I am not sure whether we can buy
tickets for thalys train right there at the station before departure.

You certainly can, assuming a) there are seats available (those trains are
reservation only) and (b) there's no queue at the counter

We could buy the tickets from here, but it looks like you are buying
them for a certain time

Obligatory since the trains are reservation only. Depending on whether you
buy a promotional ticket, they should be refundable if you show up at the
departure train station less than 1 hour late.

and I am not sure how quickly we can make it
from the airport to the train station

A snap if you pick up the train at CDG(2). CDG(1) would require bus or
taxi... If train does not stop at CDG(2) then don't even dream of losing a
night's sleep, shlepping into the city to Gare du Nord to take a train to
Amsterdam. There are trains from Roissy to Burssels, so why go to the Gare
du Nord?

or what if the flight is late.

Not much you can do about that one...

So my question is - can we easily buy tickets for Thalys train at Gare
du Nord station right before departure on a Friday morning (22-Apr)? We
would also like to stop in Brussels for a few hours on the way, and
with point to point tickets it looks like we will have to buy two
tickets, Paris-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam, but can we buy the
return ticket Amsterdam-Paris?

Round trip train tickets (unless promotional and thus not likely to be
refunded) are not noticeably cheaper than one-way so it wouldn't make much
of a difference.

Bernard Higonnet

wrote:

My husband and I are going on a 10 day trip to Europe, we are flying to
Paris and want to go to Amsterdam by train for a few days. I don't
think it is worth it getting a Eurorail pass as we will only go to
Amsterdam and back (and maybe take a couple day trips from both
cities). We are arriving in Paris on a Friday morning and want to take
a train to Amsterdam right away, but I am not sure whether we can buy
tickets for thalys train right there at the station before departure.
We could buy the tickets from here, but it looks like you are buying
them for a certain time, and I am not sure how quickly we can make it
from the airport to the train station, or what if the flight is late.
So my question is - can we easily buy tickets for Thalys train at Gare
du Nord station right before departure on a Friday morning (22-Apr)? We
would also like to stop in Brussels for a few hours on the way, and
with point to point tickets it looks like we will have to buy two
tickets, Paris-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam, but can we buy the
return ticket Amsterdam-Paris?



You can certainly purchase your tickets at CDG. There is a small chance
that the next train will be full but it is unlikely that several in a
row will be full. Holidays might be an exception. In any case you
would have to skip several possible trains to take care of the chance of
arriving late in any case. I suspect that you would arrive earlier by
booking in Paris in almost all cases.

You don't say where you are flying from. If it is a long flight I would
recommend making the Brussels stop on the way back to Paris. As
fatigued as I am after a long flight I can manage train travel but my
impressions of anything that I visit on that day are very limited. Hop
to Amsterdam, settle in, wander a bit that day and get some sleep. The
rest of the trip will get you the sight seeing.

You might get some idea of the cost of a Brussels stop from the train
sites. It might well be that you can get a day return ticket Amst - Br
for less than the cost of fitting in a Brussels stop on the Paris -
Amsterdam round trip.

wrote:

My husband and I are going on a 10 day trip to Europe, we are flying to
Paris and want to go to Amsterdam by train for a few days. I don't
think it is worth it getting a Eurorail pass as we will only go to
Amsterdam and back (and maybe take a couple day trips from both
cities). We are arriving in Paris on a Friday morning and want to take
a train to Amsterdam right away, but I am not sure whether we can buy
tickets for thalys train right there at the station before departure.
We could buy the tickets from here, but it looks like you are buying
them for a certain time, and I am not sure how quickly we can make it
from the airport to the train station, or what if the flight is late.
So my question is - can we easily buy tickets for Thalys train at Gare
du Nord station right before departure on a Friday morning (22-Apr)? We
would also like to stop in Brussels for a few hours on the way, and
with point to point tickets it looks like we will have to buy two
tickets, Paris-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam, but can we buy the
return ticket Amsterdam-Paris?



You can certainly purchase your tickets at CDG. There is a small chance
that the next train will be full but it is unlikely that several in a
row will be full. Holidays might be an exception. In any case you
would have to skip several possible trains to take care of the chance of
arriving late in any case. I suspect that you would arrive earlier by
booking in Paris in almost all cases.

You don't say where you are flying from. If it is a long flight I would
recommend making the Brussels stop on the way back to Paris. As
fatigued as I am after a long flight I can manage train travel but my
impressions of anything that I visit on that day are very limited. Hop
to Amsterdam, settle in, wander a bit that day and get some sleep. The
rest of the trip will get you the sight seeing.

You might get some idea of the cost of a Brussels stop from the train
sites. It might well be that you can get a day return ticket Amst - Br
for less than the cost of fitting in a Brussels stop on the Paris -
Amsterdam round trip.

schrieb:

My husband and I are going on a 10 day trip to Europe, we are flying to
Paris and want to go to Amsterdam by train for a few days. I don't
think it is worth it getting a Eurorail pass as we will only go to
Amsterdam and back (and maybe take a couple day trips from both
cities). We are arriving in Paris on a Friday morning and want to take
a train to Amsterdam right away, but I am not sure whether we can buy
tickets for thalys train right there at the station before departure.
We could buy the tickets from here, but it looks like you are buying
them for a certain time, and I am not sure how quickly we can make it
from the airport to the train station, or what if the flight is late.
So my question is - can we easily buy tickets for Thalys train at Gare
du Nord station right before departure on a Friday morning (22-Apr)?

What about taking the direct Thalys train to Brussels from the airport
at 10:46 a.m.?

Regards & X-post, ULF