Train to Brussels

[Chapeltom]

Hello all

I think this is my first post in this section of the forum, so pardon any ignorance. I'm planning to travel to Brussels for roughly a week in August 2012/September 2012. I hope so anyway, this is the really early stages of planning. For this http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.belgium-tourism.net%2Finformations%2Fevenements_bruxelles__week_end_de_la_biere_belge%2Ffr%2FE%2F42252.html so a beer filled weekend and a couple of days exploring alongside it.
My local station for buying a through ticket to Brussels is Stockport, few questions.

• When will I be able to book tickets for August?
• What is the cheapest fare I'm likely to get as a Youth? Anything over £110 and I think a flight will be better.
• How far is the Grand Place from the station in Brussels? I presume its fairly near?
• Does a non-flexible through ticket from Stockport to Brussels cover a delay from Stockport to London Euston (1st leg of the journey)?
• My language skills aren't good, is English spoken in Brussels?

Thanking you all in advance

 

[radamfi]

Eurostar reservations open 120 days before travel, but if you buy a through ticket to Stockport I'm not sure if you can buy that early. 90 days notice should be fine for getting cheap fares, especially for Youths.

Just had a search for a Youth return from Stockport to Brussels in January and even with this short notice I can get a £50 fare each way on a through ticket. You could buy separate tickets for the Virgin and Eurostar trains and it might not be much more expensive (if you all have Y-P railcards) in the unlikely event that you can't get a cheap through ticket.

Common understanding is that you need a ticket to 'London International (CIV)' if you want Eurostar to allow you to get the next train if there is a delay earlier on, but I believe that is not actually necessary, due to CIV regulations. Certainly if you have a through ticket from Stockport there will be no problem.

The Grand Place is probably about 30 minutes walk from Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid station but a Eurostar ticket allows further travel to Bruxelles-Centrale/Brussel-Centraal at no extra charge which is nearer.

Brussels is officially a bilingual city where French and Dutch have equal standing. (The Dutch language in Belgium is also known as Flemish, but is virtually the same as the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands with a few different words and softer accent). However, French speakers are in the majority in Brussels even though it is surrounded by the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. There are some tensions between the two language groups so it is actually a good idea to speak English as it may cause offense if you address a Dutch speaker in French or vice versa. English is widely understood in Brussels, particularly with Dutch speakers, less so with French speakers.

 

[Aictos]

As to the language barrier, I found most places I went to in November spoke either fluent English or enough English so you could understand the basics of what was being asked - that being said, there were one or two places which didn't speak English but it wasn't difficult to work out what they were saying.

If you do get to visit Bruges, then a guided tour of the canals is recommended, although there's a Subway outside the railway station I would seriously recommend one of the local cafes instead simply because you can eat at a Subway anytime.

 

[radamfi]

If you venture outside Brussels then most of the touristy towns (e.g. Bruges and Antwerp) are Dutch speaking and so will speak English well. If you (unlikely) venture into the French speaking area (e.g. Liege or Charleroi) then knowing a few words of French won't do any harm but isn't absolutely essential.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Brussel Centraal is v.close to Grand Place, alternatively take underground tram to Bourse which is even closer.

Also, to reinforce what raddamfi said, do not try speaking French in either Brussels or Flanders, it can seriously annoy Flemish speakers if/when they discover that you speak english

 

[Gordon]

Another way from Stockport to Brussels would be via Hull and the Hull - Zeebrugge ferry.

My mum and dad swear by the convenience of this service and you would save the cost of a hotel by being on the ferry overnight and arriving in Belgium bright and early.

On arrival in Zeebrugge take the coach for the short transfer to Zeebrugge station where your - loco hauled! - train to Bruges/Brussels will be waiting.

Alternatively stay at Zeebrugge and ride the coastal tramway. At Zeebrugge the tramway has two alternative routes to cater for any of the lifting bridges which the tram tracks cross being raised for boats to pass underneath - its really fascinating. Close the same point there is a very active rail freight yard as Zeebrugge si one of Europe's busiest ports. When I visited (from The Queen Elizabeth as the last call of a Baltic cruise) I saw all the above and rode the tram to Knokke - it used one of the alternatives outbound and the other one on the way back!

The other advantage is that you can book right now, as ferry companies open booking long in advance.

As for Brussels - you may as well be in the UK so much English is spoken. For Grand Place either use Brussels Central or - as has been stated - the tram/premetro/metro network (get a 24hout ticket and ride at will)




.

 

[shinkansen1966]

Also, to reinforce what raddamfi said, do not try speaking French in either Brussels or Flanders, it can seriously annoy Flemish speakers if/when they discover that you speak english

I concur. In Brussels, just speak English. And by speaking English, you'll stay out of the Belgian language divide.

I've walked from Brussels Midi to Grand Place in 20 minutes. I did motor along, mind. Had 90 minutes in Brussels between arriving Eurostar and onward ICE.

 

[WestCoast]

Although, to be fair Brussels is mostly French speaking, I believe around 85% of the population speak French as their first language. Most local jobs in Brussels require French language skills. People will address each other in shops/banks/restaurants in that language.

Flanders is of course a different story, that's completely Dutch speaking, although Dutch speakers tend to be very good at languages in general and will often speak French as well as English. In Wallonia, no one really speaks Dutch, but many people know basic English.

Brussels is very good on the rail scene, but it's definitely not my favourite European capital city. On the other hand, Gent/Antwerp/Bruges are great places.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

dont reccomend hanging around the Midi Station area , and certainly not to the south of it , at any time. Some unpleasant stragglers around there.

 

[gordonthemoron]

on the other hand there's a couple of reasonable bars on the northside by the E* check-in. Avoid the irish pub in Midi station itself

 

[Oracle]

I was amazed that in Oostende, which is in Flanders and just along the tramway from Zeebrugge, the shop staff spoke excellent English, and some were trilingual! I can on ly guess that as it's a sea port as well as a seaside town, they get tourists from Wallonia.

 

[Greenback]

In my experience, people in Belgium and The Netherlands speak far better English than I do!

 

[button_boxer]

Most public-facing jobs in Brussels require at least bilingual FR/NL and sometimes (particularly for tourist -facing) trilingual FR/NL/EN. But in practice most native Dutch speakers would rather avoid speaking French even if they know how, and vice-versa. Given the option both would prefer English over the 'other' language.

This caused an interesting situation for my wife when she was working there a few years ago. She speaks French but not Dutch, but when signing up for a telephone line she had a Dutch-speaking sales assistant taking her details. She opened the conversation in French but he switched to English... and she ended up getting all her bills in Dutch and having to get a work colleague to translate them!

 

[Gordon]

A very serious (fatal) crash on Belgian railways a few years ago was allegedly caused by the language divide. It was alleged that a signalman speaking one language refused to another member of staff from the 'other side'.

If Belgium was located in another part of the world the divisions would probably have caused more serious effects long before now.

 

[Oracle]

What happens in the German-speaking east? There are railways passing through it I thought.

 

[johnnychips]

What happens in the German-speaking east? There are railways passing through it I thought.

There is only one station, a terminal line at Eupen. When the train sets off, the internal signs and the announcements are in German, only to switch to French at Welkenraedt, the next stop.

 

[tony_mac]

I recall being in Antwerp some years ago, and (vaguely) communicating in French - I was told quite certainly that we should speak in English!

It probably won't matter to you, but I found that, at reasonably short notice, you can still get cheap Deutschebahn London-Spezial tickets to Aachen or Cologne. It may be different in summer.