Eurostar - where would you go?

[ocrx8]

In a hypothetical situation, you have won £150 of Eurostar vouchers. Where would you go for a short break with your OH - Paris or Brussels?

[Pothole]

Bruges.

[Simon Brooks]

Toss a coin

[steve2]

another vote for Paris

[Amateurish]

Pothole said:

Bruges.

+1

Or Ghent.

[5potTurbo]

Amateurish said:

Pothole said:

Bruges.

+1

Or Ghent.

Both - they're not that far away from each other.

[ewenm]

Of those 2, Paris.

[NewNameNeeded]

I was very disappointed by Bruges. We went last year for a short break. Had glorious weather, and it's certainly very pretty... but I wouldn't recommend more than a 3 night stay. We didn't feel there was that much to do other than wander around the pretty streets, and the city itself is very small so you can do the various walks in a pretty short space of time.

It's the most overrated place I've visited. Maybe I was expecting too much. In the same year I also went to Prague (for the 4th time), Edinburgh, Milan/Lake Como and Paris - and I'd visit all those again, but not Bruges.

Eurostar is very pleasant though, and it's very easy to get there.

[mathmos]

Brussels and Bruges....not sure if you still can, but with a Eurostar ticket you used to get free train travel within Belgium for about 24hrs(maybe longer) after your Eurostar ticket was valid. So when we went we did a day/night in Brussels, then off to Bruges for 2 nights then back to Brussels to catch the train home and we didn't pay any extra to traval within Belgium.

[Minemapper]

Paris, every time.

Brussels would feel like I was going to work.

[5potTurbo]

mathmos said:

Brussels and Bruges....not sure if you still can, but with a Eurostar ticket you used to get free train travel within Belgium for about 24hrs(maybe longer) after your Eurostar ticket was valid. So when we went we did a day/night in Brussels, then off to Bruges for 2 nights then back to Brussels to catch the train home and we didn't pay any extra to traval within Belgium.

Eurostar tickets are valid from ANY station in Belgium, even as far south as Arlon.

[Amateurish]

5potTurbo said:

Eurostar tickets are valid from ANY station in Belgium, even as far south as Arlon.

Not any more

[5potTurbo]

Amateurish said:

5potTurbo said:

Eurostar tickets are valid from ANY station in Belgium, even as far south as Arlon.

Not any more

It worked for me last week...
I regularly take the train from Lux to Brussels, then on to London for work purposes the same day.
I only need to add a ticket from Luxembourg City to Arlon (~12) in order to get to Brussels using my Eurostar ticket.

[CoolC]

5potTurbo said:

Amateurish said:

5potTurbo said:

Eurostar tickets are valid from ANY station in Belgium, even as far south as Arlon.

Not any more

It worked for me last week...
I regularly take the train from Lux to Brussels, then on to London for work purposes the same day.
I only need to add a ticket from Luxembourg City to Arlon (~12) in order to get to Brussels using my Eurostar ticket.

The all stations ticket doesn't come as standard anymore. You have to click an extra box when booking which adds another ~8 to the ticket price.

[Flip Martian]

If you've not been to Bruges - go Bruges. If you have, go Paris. Actually, if you've never been to either - go Paris. You could easily spend a week in Paris and not see everything. Not the case with Bruges (as was said further up). Both are great.

[zbc]

Just to confuse matters - have you considered Lille? It isn't the most beautiful city in the world but it would make a nice destination for a quiet weekend with good food especially if you've already been to Paris/Brussels and in general you'll get more for your money when you're there.

[5potTurbo]

CoolC said:

5potTurbo said:

Amateurish said:

5potTurbo said:

Eurostar tickets are valid from ANY station in Belgium, even as far south as Arlon.

Not any more

It worked for me last week...
I regularly take the train from Lux to Brussels, then on to London for work purposes the same day.
I only need to add a ticket from Luxembourg City to Arlon (~12) in order to get to Brussels using my Eurostar ticket.

The all stations ticket doesn't come as standard anymore. You have to click an extra box when booking which adds another ~8 to the ticket price.

Ah, OK.
We have a travel agent at work that does that for us.

[ocrx8]

Thanks for all the responses; not been to either city - general consensus seems to be Paris.