Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam (poss Luxembourg)

Welcome to Thorn Tree.

I've looked at raileurope and whilst not extortionate the rail prices seem a little high

That's because RailEurope is an agency that charges commission, as well as only listing the more expensive trains. Someone posted in horror only a few days ago that "fares between xx and yy are $150" when it turns out he could do it for 14 euros.

Never use RailEurope. Search this forum and you'll see any number of posts explaining why. Each country in Europe has its own railway system and its own website. Look there.

Obviously fast and cheap don't go together. Generally the faster trains are more expensive than the slower ones, and the slower ones don't need to be booked in advance (or can't be booked in advance.)

Thanks for your reply, I realised rail Europe was a bit of a rip off , but the sncf site does link to it and sncb site is similar ,, they are only showing thalys and tgv trains , hence price, I also wouldn't mind going by coach I just want to see a bit outside city centres as I've visited before , but would like an idea of prices/times of cheaper trains, hmmm if I go to a bookshop I can sneak a look at thTHomas cook, timetables but I'd rather do it online if possible.

Any suggestions welcome

kirsty

Edited by: kirsty0108

I realised rail Europe was a bit of a rip off , but the sncf site does link to it
I remember having heard that Rail Europe is a subsidiary company of SNCF, that might explain the link.

See [www.voyages-sncf.com] for the Paris-Brussels route; btw, Thalys is the only direct train service on this route, the only alternative would be to take regional trains, which involve several changes - see [www.bahn.co.uk] and tick "local transport"; add IR trains, otherwise you'll get an estimated travel time that's slower than walking.
For Brussels-Amsterdam, [www.b-rail.be] is the website you need to check prices.

considering there is an 90 minutes between each leg of the tour
Brussels-Amsterdam on Thalys is more like 2 hours, by Intercity train its even a bit longer; still faster than going by bus, though.

The most user-friendly website for looking up websites throughout Europe is the one of German Railways that I mentioned above - www.bahn.co.uk. Although in many cases it does not give you fares for travel outside Germany, which means you will inevitably end up on the national railway sites again.

If rail travel is too expensive for you, you could consider [www.eurolines.com].

If you want to 'see the road' (cheaply), you could thumb it.
Paris to Amsterdam in 4 days hitching - easy.
Biggest problem will be getting out of big cities (such as Paris...).