Best ticket option for Brussels and Waterloo

[A S Leib]

What's the best option for visiting Waterloo and using (an unknown number of) trams / metros in Brussels? I think it would be to get one or possibly two Le Tec tickets and to use contactless for the Brussels services.

• I have an Interrail pass and am using it for other services that day, so that's Brussels – Braine-l'Alleud sorted
• Braine-l'Alleud station – Waterloo battlefield / panorama is short enough to walk
• The battlefield to the Wellington Museum is the bit where I'd expect to use the Le Tec bus
• Interrail would solve Waterloo station – central Brussels, but an hourly service and buses taking less than fifteen minutes longer means it might be worth taking a bus for that bit as well
• The STIB-MIVB contactless cap is, as far as I can tell, 50¢ cheaper than a day ticket so the former should work out cheaper

 

[MarcVD]

Waterloo to Central Brussels is twice hourly, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[A S Leib]

Waterloo to Central Brussels is twice hourly, if I'm not mistaken.

You're right. It is hourly on Sundays, when I'm going, but as changing at Braine-l'Alleud is the same time as the direct Brussels train, that still means I'll only need one bus ticket.

 

[dutchflyer]

IF you do not mind spending perhaps the odd 50 cts extra, then do not bother and KISS: keep it simple: MIVB/STIB contactless, it has a London-style daily cap, so no worries.
TEC charges on non-express lines either short or longer distance, I guess, but did not check that to/fro BRU would be longer distance: just pay driver the ticket in charge, there is an additional charge for issue of paper ticket, but I guess you do not hold a MoBiB chipcard, that would avoid that.
Or grow older: from 65 on a personal MoBiB a YEARly senior season is just 12€.
BTW: IF you hold a ´days in the month´ INterRail, then using a travelday just for this would be a big waste of money.
TEC intends (unconfirmed, what I´ve read a bit vague on other forums) to raise fares quite a lot from next general rise in ´26 and then also introduce the contactless payemnt, what the other Belgian operators; deLIJN for Vlaanderen and MIVB/STIB for BRUssels already offer. Their sunday service tends to be much less as weekdays-and yesterday there was yet again an unannounced strike, unclear to what extent.

 

[A S Leib]

Thank you.

BTW: IF you hold a ´days in the month´ INterRail, then using a travelday just for this would be a big waste of money

My planned route for that day's Mannheim – Cologne – Waterloo – Brussels – London, which would otherwise cost considerably more.

 

[dutchflyer]

There IS another option that may confuse you-and after serious searching I found it will not apply for this length. Its named BRUssels/BruPass XL and is a combined single allowing transfers between the 3 operators in an area that slightly extends beyond the boundaries for BRUssels-BruPass (that simply means combined the 3 for the BRUssels area as it is officially recognized as such in Belgium-including the ´language laws´). As a single it cost €3,50=slightly more as the corresponding singles for 1 operator would be, but it is only for sale loaded on a MoBiB chipcard. However, it took quite some searches to find out, but Waterloo is just outside this enlarged area. So all this will not apply for your case.
That looks like a serious attempt at indeed getting value for money on a IR-pass-and also will not leave you that much time for all those visits.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Really thought for a moment you hadn’t realised the Eurostar had shifted from Waterloo to St Pancras almost 20 years ago!

 

[nwales58]

Waterloo to London Waterloo is easy.

For those preferring Napoleon’s earlier victories, Austerlitz (Slavkov u Brna) to Paris Austerlitz by train takes a little longer.

 

[A S Leib]

Waterloo to London Waterloo is easy.

Depending on how little time you leave to go through security and how (un)lucky you are with making connections, it might even be quicker than Waterloo (Merseyside) to London Waterloo.