Schiphol to Ghent

[stuartmoss]

Hi All, I need to do this journey in May, I see from the DB app that the fastest way involves Thalys and Belgian IC. Is there any advantage to me booking this in advance, as in is the price likely to be significantly less? Is it better to book returns than singles? Any advice appreciated, thanks.

 

[30907]

The Thalys website is open for bookings into May.
The answers appear to be Yes and No respectively.
You might be better on the outward journey going for the Earlybird Belgium fare on the IC (book 7 days ahead), so you can catch the first available train.

 

[MarcVD]

Note that if you are not in a hurry, the hourly classic IC train Amsterdam Brussels stops in Schiphol and in Antwerpen Centraal, where you have at least two fast trains per hour to Ghent. Flat fare, can be purchased on the day of travel, any train allowed, no reservation required.

 

[swt class 450]

I think you may be able to save some money by taking the local regional SNCB/NMBS/NGBE train across the border from Roosendaal (Netherlands) to Antwerp (Belgium) instead of the NS Intercity train or the even more expensive Thalys train. Although of course this will take a bit longer as it will require more changes (you would need to take four trains in total).

The fare would be as follows:
• 20.90EUR - Schiphol to Roosendaal (change at Leiden Centraal)
• 15.90EUR - Roosendaal to Ghent (change at Antwerp Centraal)
= 36.80EUR - total fare

You can buy your second ticket (Roosendaal to Ghent) onboard the train from the Guard (and there is no surcharge for passengers buying onboard SNCB/NMBS/NGBE trains if they boarded in the Netherlands).

I think that this will be the cheapest option.

 

[Groningen]

It is still Gent.

 

[Spoorslag '70]

It is still Gent.

Even though I am also guilty of using Dutch (or German) names in English, sadly the most common English version is Ghent - and it looks awful. Still much better than Gand.

 

[Groningen]

What to think of Brugge becoming Brugges. On Wikipedia there we a whole list with townnames other than countries own name. As far as i know is London (Londen in Dutch) the only city name other than the english town name.

 

[SHD]

What to think of Brugge becoming Brugges. On Wikipedia there we a whole list with townnames other than countries own name. As far as i know is London (Londen in Dutch) the only city name other than the english town name.

Well Dutch certainly has exonyms - e.g. for French-speaking cities Parijs, Rijsel [a literal translation of Lille, a city where the vernacular language has never been Flemish or any other Germanic language...], Luik, Bergen [another literal translation] etc, etc.

Not to mention German and the many exonyms for places in central / Eastern Europe (Agram, Prag, Pressburg, Reval, etc)

Of course it is more respectful to use endonyms, but in standard speech or writing, especially on a forum, not everyone pays attention. It is hardly a capital sin.

 

[30907]

Of course it is more respectful to use endonyms, but in standard speech or writing, especially on a forum, not everyone pays attention. It is hardly a capital sin.

Agreed. And on an English-language forum, using common English-language forms is fine IMO, and will very rarely cause offence.
But just occasionally one needs to be careful - Pilsen and Budweis are familiar names (at least to beer-drinkers), but they are city names from the Austro-Hungarian empire, and I prefer to use the Czech equivalents - even if Budejovice is difficult to spell, thank goodness it's correct in autofill

 

[eastwestdivide]

What to think of Brugge becoming Brugges. On Wikipedia there we a whole list with townnames other than countries own name. As far as i know is London (Londen in Dutch) the only city name other than the english town name.

...or more often becoming "Bruges"?

 

[Matt_pool]

Why do people change Brugge to Bruges but don't change Zeebrugge to Bruges-sur-Mer!?

 

[rg177]

One thing that irritates me about the Interrail app is that everything in Belgium is done in French, so it's all Anvers, Gand, Courtrai, La Panne, Louvain etc.

Made it a bit tricky when I visited for the first time, deciphering what was where (particularly outside of the big cities)

 

[SHD]

Why do people change Brugge to Bruges but don't change Zeebrugge to Bruges-sur-Mer!?

It could be because Bruges has been used as an exonym in French and English since the Middle Ages, while Zeebrugge was not built before the beginning of the 20th century, at a time when the Flemish movement was gaining traction in Belgium.

Using literal translations as exonyms is not unheard of, but is not the most common choice. In addition to the Dutch examples I alluded to above (Mons/Bergen, Lille/Rijsel): Königsberg/Królewiec, Lviv/Lwów/Léopol

 

[tasky]

Some Flemish place names are referred to by their French versions in English. The reason is because many places entered the popular lexicon during the First World War, when millions of British soldiers were posted there.

At that time French was the official language of the Belgian government and Flemish was treated as second-class, so things like station signs and official documents would have used the French designation.

Thus, despite being Dutch-speaking, Ieper is referred to as Ypres in English. I don't know if the same is true of Bruges (which mostly sat out WWI), or whether the Flemish tourism industry pragmatically uses the French version to make it sound more romantic.

 

[SHD]

Some Flemish place names are referred to by their French versions in English. The reason is because many places entered the popular lexicon during the First World War, when millions of British soldiers were posted there.

At that time French was the official language of the Belgian government and Flemish was treated as second-class, so things like station signs and official documents would have used the French designation.

Thus, despite being Dutch-speaking, Ieper is referred to as Ypres in English. I don't know if the same is true of Bruges (which mostly sat out WWI), or whether the Flemish tourism industry pragmatically uses the French version to make it sound more romantic.

This is a very interesting argument, but considering the significance of Brugge & Ieper in medieval Europe in terms of industry and trade, and especially trade in English fabrics, the names “Bruges” and “Ypres” have been long, long established in English. If you do not believe me, check the Canterbury Tales

 

[Groningen]

There are also dutch looking names across the border in France like Steenvoorde, Steenwerk, Halewijn, Hondschote and Westkappel.

 

[radamfi]

There are also dutch looking names across the border in France like Steenvoorde, Steenwerk, Halewijn, Hondschote and Westkappel.

A dialect of Dutch used to be spoken in what is now northern France and some people in the area still speak it today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Flemish

 

[SHD]

There are also dutch looking names across the border in France like Steenvoorde, Steenwerk, Halewijn, Hondschote and Westkappel.

Indeed, these places belong to the French Westhoek, the Frankish then Flemish-speaking part of the historical County of Flanders that was eventually conquered by Louis XIV in the 17th century (Nijmegen Treaty). Note that the County of Flanders always had a Romance or French-speaking part, with Lille, Douai, and Tournai as major cities.

Regarding Ieper and Gent, let me quote the Canterbury tales:

A good wif was ther of biside bathe,
But she was somdel deef, and that was scathe.
Of clooth-makyng she hadde swich an haunt,
She passed hem of ypres and of gaunt.

 

[43096]

Indeed, these places belong to the French Westhoek, the Frankish then Flemish-speaking part of the historical County of Flanders that was eventually conquered by Louis XIV in the 17th century (Nijmegen Treaty). Note that the County of Flanders always had a Romance or French-speaking part, with Lille, Douai, and Tournai as major cities.

Regarding Ieper and Gent, let me quote the Canterbury tales:

A good wif was ther of biside bathe,
But she was somdel deef, and that was scathe.
Of clooth-makyng she hadde swich an haunt,
She passed hem of ypres and of gaunt.

Regarding that last, that is how John O’Gaunt (to keep it vaguely on topic I’ll reference 87013) got his name - he was born in Gent.