Interesting journeys in Belgium and the Netherlands

ainsworth74 · 16 Mar 2024

I'm hoping that the more knowledgeable types around here might be able to steer me in the right direction! I have some time in the Benelux region next week (starting in Brussels and making may way eastwards to Amsterdam over the course of a few days) and I was hoping someone might be able to advise of any interesting journeys in the region either in terms of rolling stock (loco hauled would be good) or scenery (though my expectations are low on that front!) or for some other reason.

Any suggestions, information or ideas gratefully received

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Alfonso · 16 Mar 2024

Firstly I'd suggest heading northward would get you to Amstey quicker but eastward gets you into the ardennes which are quite scenic. Simply railway has a video of catching some nearly withdrawn peak time EMU and there's quite a lot of chat on here about old compartment loco hauled stock but I think that's mainly in the south. Belgian railways has a brochure online somewhere of interesting days out, including one to a cave reached by a historic train or tram. Apologies a bit vague...[edit] it's the grottes de han tramway I'm thinking of.

philg999 · 16 Mar 2024

If you travel from Rotterdam to Amsterdam via Den Haag you can see lots of tulip fields from the windows, and generally it’s more pretty than the HSL.
Otherwise between Brussels and Amsterdam it’s not very interesting from the train window. There are some very pretty lines further east in Belgium, through the Ardennes and across to Luxembourg. In NL there is plenty of nice countryside/water features, towns and coastline for cycling and walking around, but IMO looking out of a train window doesn’t do it justice.

DanielB · 16 Mar 2024

philg999 said:
If you travel from Rotterdam to Amsterdam via Den Haag you can see lots of tulip fields from the windows,

Don't expect too many tulips there next week however.

But for interesting scenery one should stay away from most main lines. With the exception being the Oostvaardersplassen which are (confusingly ) west of the Almere Oostvaarders to Lelystad mainline. And keep an eye out along that line for the concrete structure in the middle of the fields which was supposed to become Lelystad Zuid station.

The rural decentralized lines are nicer, but not really on the route to Amsterdam.
Though... Utrecht - Leiden is a relatively nice one.

peterblue · 16 Mar 2024

Not a rail journey, but the bus journey from Alkmaar to Leeuwarden over the afsluitdijk is interesting.

If you've got time to divert via Luxembourg I would do that - more scenery in southeastern Belgium and Luxembourg itself is nice.

Otherwise I agree with philg999 that Benelux is best explored rather than viewed from a train window!

alholmes · 16 Mar 2024

If you want some interesting rolling stock, the ICM Koploper units are now gradually being withdrawn and scrapped in the Netherlands, but there’s still a few routes where you can find them. I was there a couple of weeks ago, and they seem to be on these routes:
Den Haag CS - Enschede
Rotterdam - Leeuwarden / Groningen
Amsterdam CS - Almere C
Amsterdam CS - Amersfoort

DanielB · 16 Mar 2024

To add to the list above: ICM is also on Den Haag - Groningen/Leeuwarden, Schiphol - Enschede and Den Haag/Schiphol - Amersfoort Schothorst.

However there are hardly any services completely operated by ICM anymore. Mostly it's a mix with DDZ with varying ratios from service to service.
In my observation Amersfoort - Amsterdam - Almere has the highest percentage of ICM.

StephenHunter · 16 Mar 2024

Still plenty of loco-haulage around Brussels, I believe. Their national rail museum is at Scharbeek.

Ken H · 16 Mar 2024

You can tick tram boxes. Trams in Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Charleois and the Kusttram which joins up to the main line in a few places.
Antwerp Central station is nice
Dont expect 19th century stations like the UK. I suspect much was destroyed in 2 world wars.

Magdalia · 16 Mar 2024

ainsworth74 said:
I was hoping someone might be able to advise of any interesting journeys in the region either in terms of rolling stock (loco hauled would be good) or scenery (though my expectations are low on that front!) or for some other reason.

It is a long time since I visited Belgium so can't comment on the trains.

For scenery I'd recommend the old line from Liege to Aachen via Verviers and the line from Namur to Luxembourg. The former is rather like the Pennine route via Standedge but better. Apparently Liege to Luxembourg is also good though I've not done it.

For beer and chocolate the place to go is Bruges.

D6130 · 16 Mar 2024

Magdalia said:
For beer and chocolate the place to go is Bruges.

For reasonably-priced beer and chocolate - without being over-run by tourists - I would rather go to Gent, Antwerp or any one of about twenty other historic Belgian cities which aren't Brugge/Bruges! Kortrijk, Oudenaarde, Geraardsbergen, Hasselt, Tournai, Mons, Namur and even Liege, come to mind.

Other scenic routes in or near the Ardennes which are worth travelling over are Namur-Dinant-Bertrix (- Arlon) and Namur-Liege along the valley of the River Meuse.

peterblue · 17 Mar 2024

I would avoid Bruges. A lot of tourists. Gent has the same sort of vibe while being a bit nicer, a bit bigger, and with fewer tourists. There are some other smaller historic cities you can visit also.

AlbertBeale · 17 Mar 2024

peterblue said:
I would avoid Bruges. A lot of tourists. Gent has the same sort of vibe while being a bit nicer, a bit bigger, and with fewer tourists. There are some other smaller historic cities you can visit also.

I'd second Gent - bigger than Bruges, only half as far from Brussels on the train (about 4 services an hour), and with lots of old buildings all around the centre (as opposed to most of them seeming to be in one lump, theme-park style, in Bruges). Lively; plenty of waterways to wander along (like Bruges); cheap Trappist beer (just like everywhere in Belgium...); easier (in my experience) to find more little quirky frequented-by-locals bars etc, than is the case in Bruges. And remember that all the Flemish half of Belgium has an integrated system of bus/tram ticketing - the 24-hour pass becomes worthwhile if you're doing more than about 4 trips a day (though a "trip" includes changes of bus/tram within one hour).

ainsworth74 · 17 Mar 2024

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, you've certainly given me plenty to ponder!

Ken H · 17 Mar 2024

ainsworth74 said:
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, you've certainly given me plenty to ponder!

do tell us what you end up doing.

MadMarsupial · 17 Mar 2024

Agree re Gent. Also worth considering, if you have time, is a trip to the the far East i.e. Eupen. Eupen is "capital" of the German speaking enclave in Belgium. Interesting and friendly place.

duesselmartin · 17 Mar 2024

Try the wonderful town of Dinant. Also the line among the river Meuse is wonderful.

AlbertBeale · 17 Mar 2024

And don't forget the coastal tramway, virtually the whole length from France to the Netherlands! Rail-connected in a few places - Ostend being the best.

duesselmartin · 17 Mar 2024

Oostende is a nice town in itself.

zero · 17 Mar 2024

You see very little of the actual coast from the coastal tramway unless you get off and walk.

rvdborgt · 17 Mar 2024

zero said:
You see very little of the actual coast from the coastal tramway unless you get off and walk.

There are a few place where you do see the coast, e.g. between Oostende and Middelkerke.

sheff1 · 17 Mar 2024

D6130 said:
For reasonably-priced beer and chocolate - without being over-run by tourists - I would rather go to Gent, Antwerp or any one of about twenty other historic Belgian cities which aren't Brugge/Bruges! Kortrijk, Oudenaarde, Geraardsbergen, Hasselt, Tournai, Mons, Namur and even Liege, come to mind.

Definitely. Brugge is OK before 1000ish in the morning prior to the hotel-based tourists hitting the streets and the day trippers arriving, after that .....

Ken H said:
Antwerp Central station is nice
Dont expect 19th century stations like the UK. I suspect much was destroyed in 2 world wars.

If you want interesting historic stations I second stoppng off at Antwerpen Centraal in Belgium and (on a smaller scale) Haarlem in The Netherlands.

Schaerbeek station in Brussels is architecturally impressive, but not in the best of areas.

eastwestdivide · 17 Mar 2024

There’s a few interesting and modern stations too, like Liège Guillemins, and the front of Rotterdam C.

DanielB · 17 Mar 2024

sheff1 said:
If you want interesting historic stations I second stoppng off at Antwerpen Centraal in Belgium and (on a smaller scale) Haarlem in The Netherlands.

Den Haag HS is also a beautiful historic station, despite the interior of the platform building being more modern as it was destroyed by a devastating fire in 1989.

johnnychips · 17 Mar 2024

Last year I found the NMBS/SNCB and DeLijn apps much improved and easy to use compared with previously. No problems buying on line or using the tickets.

sheff1 · 17 Mar 2024

DanielB said:
Den Haag HS is also a beautiful historic station, despite the interior of the platform building being more modern as it was destroyed by a devastating fire in 1989.

Indeed. Back in the 1970s we used to stop off for a meal in the station restaurant there (carpets on the tables place) before continuing onwards to the overnight ferry.

rvdborgt · 17 Mar 2024

johnnychips said:
Last year I found the NMBS/SNCB and DeLijn apps much improved and easy to use compared with previously. No problems buying on line or using the tickets.

De Lijn has improved a lot indeed.
NMBS/SNCB's new app is just a little less crappy than when it was introduced a few years ago. Its rating in the app stores has never been much higher than 2, whereas the old app was around 4.

childwallblues · 17 Mar 2024

My favourite trip is from Liege to Welkendraet making a quick diversion up to Eupen, back to Welkendraedt and then over the German border to Aachen

t

AlbertBeale · 18 Mar 2024

childwallblues said:
My favourite trip is from Liege to Welkendraet makind a quick diversion up to Eupen, back to Welkendraedt and then over the German border to Aachen.

t

Yes - some pleasant scenery on the old line. And the remaining service from Welkenraedt over the border was itself somewhat - ahem - historic last time I used it.

boiledbeans2 · 18 Mar 2024

You may want to read a thread I started 2 months ago, although it's based within Brussels rather than travelling out of it:

Train bashing in Brussels advice

Hi everyone, I have roughly 1.5 days in Brussels and would like to do some train/tram bashing. It will be my second time in Brussels. The first time I was there, I mainly visited the touristy attractions, though I enjoyed the train rides there. I visited both the Tram museum and Train World. I...

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Interesting journeys in Belgium and the Netherlands

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