Amsterdam Travel Forum

I would like to find out the train schedule and what it will cost to travel from Amsterdam to Brugge (one way), leaving on Aug. 6. I think I read somewhere that a reservation is not necessary. Also, as our lodging will be near the Lelylaan station, can we catch a train from there instead of going to Central? Will I be able to buy tickets with a credit card? There will be 6 of us, so I want to make sure that we'll have enough cash to buy the tickets. Many thanks!

You can check train schedules here:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?
here:
http://www.b-rail.be/main/E/index.php
or here:
http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/query.exe/en?L=b-rail&

Because I travelled on a Sunday I had to take the train from Amsterdam Centraal to 's Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch), and change there for the Antwerp train and then again for the Brugge train.
Thanks to the help of Noel nhoolb and others I was prepared for the changes and had no problems.

Antwerp to Brugge, there is a train every hour.

The only complication was where/when to change…Antwerp Centraal or Antwerp-Berchem. Having received conflicting advice, when I heard an announcement on the train to change for the Brugge train at Centraal, I did just that.

We went to the train information office to find which track we needed for the Brugge train.

The whole trip, with breaks (didn't take the next train, but a later one) as I did it, took 4 1/2 hours, cost €40.80.

You can check here as well:

http://www.nshispeed.nl/en

It is possible to go from Lelylaan, indeed about 40-45 euros.

Cheers
Dennis

You do indeed cahnge trains in Antwerpen Centraal when going from the Netherlands to Brugge. That the other poster got conflicting info is simple due to the fact taht for a long time Antwerpen - Berchem served as main station (and you thus had to change there) while Antwerpen - Centraal was being extended. The works at Centraal are now finished and the station is really a must see now.
An important tip for the original poster: For tickets to Belgium you don't have to go to the international ticket desk in Amsterdam. You can buy tickets for Belgium from the domestic ticket desks, and from the new ticket vending machines (the ones with touch screen). These machines accept credit cards and have an easy to use menu that is also available in English. So there is no need to join the often long queues at the international ticket office.
You could indeed get on a local train in the direction of Schiphol at Lelylaan, and change for the train to Belgium there.

KVB, Very helpful. I still find it interesting/difficult to find uniform info on the transfer points between Ams and Brugge. some places it says Antwerpen and some places it is Roosendaal. And I cannot get the info on the train schedules on the international site within www.ns.nl. Should be so easy but seems to be lots of conflicting info. the ns.nl site does have an excellent sub-site to enable one to practice buying the tickets to Brugge. But it does not show the transfer point(s).

Any help would be appreciated, we leave for Netherlands in two weeks for a three week biking trip.

Larry

Not a serious problem. They announce it on the train - and unlike other trains I have ridden the announcements are clear and easily understandable.

For train schedules you can use the trip planner on www.bahn.de or the one on www.nmbs.be if the one on www.ns.nl doesn't work. They all use the same database.

You will always have to transfer in Antwerpen. You might also have to transfer in Roosendaal, even if it doesn't say so in the schedule. This because currently the railways are having problems with the trains used on the route, so sometimes a substitute train runs, which involves a change in Roosendaal.
don't worry though, trains run frequently.