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There are several ways of getting from Brussels to Paris. The fastest is probably the train, but it gets more expensive when you buy the ticket on the last minute.

My question can be really split into two:

Is there an alternative way, maybe through a different ticket operator, of buying a cheap train ticket from Brussels to Paris in short notice?

The alternative is going by Bus. What alternatives are there? Are there other operators besides Eurolines? maybe cheaper and/or faster?

Are there other options?

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Cheapest and sometimes fastest is hitchhiking. – mouviciel Feb 19 at 15:33
But on this previse route it is far from being the fastest means of transportation – Marcel C. Feb 19 at 16:14
Thanks for the question. Next time, as you've pointed out - your question is really two parts, and it'd be better to ask it as two separate questions. Thanks! – Mark Mayo Feb 19 at 16:54

4 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted

Thalys is definitely the fastest way of getting from Brussels to Paris. You can buy tickets directly at the Thalys website. You can also buy them at the Belgian (SNCB) or French (SNCF) railway companies. The prices are in principle identical.

The trip by bus takes around 5 hours, to be compared to the 1h20 of the train trip. Apart from Eurolines you can use iDBUS. The prices are more or less the same. I have checked for a departure in 2 days. Eurolines is 25 EUR and iDBUS varies between 15 and 33 EUR depending on the departure time. Thalys starts at 79 EUR on that particular day.

In case you are unable to choose among the two bus companies, note that they are using different terminals in Brussels and Paris. Choose whichever suits you best.

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up vote 10 down vote

The fastest route is the Thalys train that takes 1:22 hours and is a non stop train. If you compare that to the car, you need more than 3 hours according to Google. Consequently, buses can't be any faster than cars. Another option would be flying, but a flight takes around 1 hours, without including the time for getting to the airport, security check, waiting for departure, etc.

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Other options like walking, taking a boat, use a bicycle, etc. are not really useful options. So to answer the first part of your question: If you want to use the fastest connection, then take the train!

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busses will actually take far longer than cars as they're restricted to slower speeds than cars by law (and stop more often too). – jwenting Feb 19 at 13:23
Even in my wildest dreams I would never have thought about walking from Brussels to Paris. It is slightly off the mark. – Marcel C. Feb 19 at 14:49
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@MarcelC, I guess you've never hiked the GR 12 then! It goes Amsterdam–Bruxelles–Paris. It's probably not the most popular GR. A hiking guide for the Belgian part was published in 2009. They do make significant detours in order to see nice sights, though. Detailed questions can be asked at The Great Outdoors. – gerrit Feb 19 at 14:58
@gerrit, I am aware of the GR12. However you are right in the sense that I have never hiked it. Why should I? There are more sexy things to do ;-). My point is the following, if in our modern times someone asks about traveling 300 kilometers from one city to another it is kind of (...) to cite "walking" as an alternative. If someone is interested in that option, he will state that explicitly in his question. – Marcel C. Feb 19 at 17:15
And walking is neither cheap not quick. It takes 1 to 2 weeks and you will have to eat, drink, sleep, ... – Marcel C. Feb 19 at 17:16
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up vote 6 down vote

In 2010, I hitchhiked from Brussels to Paris, first from a gas station on the periphery of the city to a rest stop on the highway towards Paris, then in a fast Mercedes all the way to Paris, in fact much faster than legal. That day I continued to Bordeaux.

Of course, hitchhiking is not reliably the fastest, but it can certainly be very fast and it is certainly the cheapest.

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+1 because it is really the cheapest. – Marcel C. Feb 19 at 19:21
up vote 2 down vote

Regarding your bus question. Recently a new bus service emerged, called IDbus.

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