Getting to Bruges: trains from Brussels and the airports, coaches and taxis

💡 The Short Version: Take a train to Brugge station (not Brugge-Sint-Pieters). From Brussels-South it takes 56 to 59 minutes, with three trains an hour. From London, Eurostar to Brussels takes 1 hour 53 minutes and you change for Bruges, about 3 hours 30 minutes in all by Eurostar’s own count. Brussels Airport has a direct train every hour (about 1 hour 26 minutes). From Charleroi Airport use the Flibco coach to the back of Brugge station. The Markt is a 20-minute walk from the station, or a €3 bus on line 1 or 2.

⚠️ Wrong station. Brugge-Sint-Pieters is a different, smaller station in the north-west of the city. Trains for visitors stop at Brugge.

Routes compared

Journey times are for the timetable that runs to 12 December 2026. Visit Bruges lists taxi flat fares of €200 from Brussels Airport, €250 from Charleroi Airport and €70 from Ostend-Bruges Airport, all with a prior reservation and all subject to change (Visit Bruges).

From London by Eurostar

Eurostar does not run to Bruges. It runs from London St Pancras to Brussels-Midi, which Eurostar times at 1 hour 53 minutes, and you change there to a local train. Eurostar’s own Bruges page says the whole trip is about 3 hours 30 minutes and that you can book all of it with Eurostar, so the Belgian leg is on the same ticket (Eurostar). The London to Brussels Eurostar guide covers the St Pancras checks and the way from the platform to the Brussels-Midi concourse.

Brussels-South is the Belgian hub for international trains. Visit Bruges lists the other routes that come in through it: Eurostar and TGV from Paris and Lille, NS InterCity and Eurostar from Amsterdam, and Eurostar and ICE from Cologne. Its own journey times to Bruges are about 2 hours 30 minutes from Paris, 2 hours 53 minutes from Amsterdam and 3 hours from Cologne. Night trains from Vienna (ÖBB Nightjet) and Berlin (European Sleeper) also reach Brussels-South.

Platforms at Brugge station, where the Brussels trains stop. Photo: Michiel Dumon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

By train from Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent

Three trains an hour leave Brussels-South for Bruges, and each ends at a coast town: Ostend, Knokke or Blankenberge. On the timetable to 12 December 2026 the trains leave Brussels-South at three minutes past the hour, at 28 minutes past and at 51 minutes past, taking 56, 58 and 59 minutes. From Antwerp, Ghent, Hasselt and Leuven Visit Bruges counts one to four direct trains an hour.

The Belgian railways set fares by distance and sell single tickets in the SNCB app and at machines, so check your fare for the day on the SNCB journey planner before you pay. SNCB runs a new timetable from 13 December 2026, and some journey times and changes will differ. If you are staying in Bruges, Visit Bruges points to SNCB’s Happy Trip deals for cheaper rail travel on a holiday (Visit Bruges).

Strikes can stop trains at short notice. The UK Foreign Office says strike action in Belgium can cause severe disruption and may be announced and extended with little warning, so look at the day before you travel (UK Foreign Office).

An SNCB InterCity train on the Knokke to Brugge line. Photo: Traveller-chewy93, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the airports

• Brussels Airport. The direct train to Brugge leaves hourly and takes about 1 hour 26 minutes. Trains that go via Brussels-South take about 1 hour 29 minutes, and there you join the three-an-hour service. The Brussels airport guide has the airport station and the supplement SNCB charges on airport tickets.
• Charleroi Airport. Flibco runs a direct coach between the airport and the back of Brugge station, 24 trips a day there and back, timed as far as possible to flights. The stop at the airport is at the front of the exit to Terminal 1. Booking online is cheaper than paying on the coach. A taxi booked in advance costs a flat €250.
• Ostend-Bruges Airport. A bus takes 15 minutes to Ostend station, then at least three trains an hour reach Bruges in about 15 minutes, between 06:00 and 22:00. A taxi costs a flat €70.

By coach

International coaches use the terminal at the back of Brugge station, at the roundabout in Spoorwegstraat. Visit Bruges lists FlixBus services from Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, London, Paris, Prague and Lille, and BlaBlaCar Bus from Paris. Flibco is the coach for Charleroi Airport.

By car

Take exit 8 ‘Brugge’ from the E40 onto the N31, then the ‘Brugge’ exit onto the Bevrijdingslaan; from Kortrijk and Roeselare use the E403. Visit Bruges puts London to Bruges at about 4 hours 20 minutes by Eurotunnel (284 km, 35 minutes of it in the tunnel). By ferry, Dover to Dunkirk takes about 2 hours and Dover to Calais about 1 hour 30 minutes, with DFDS or P&O, and the drive on to Bruges is 1 to 1 hour 30 minutes. The city discourages driving to the centre: paid parking is in the two central underground car parks, and the free peripheral car parks are on the edge of town. Prices and park-and-ride details are in getting around Bruges.

From the station to the centre

Walk about 20 minutes to the Markt, or take a bus: Visit Bruges says one runs about every 5 minutes between the station and the centre. Lines 1 and 2 both serve the centre, getting off at ‘t Zand, Sint-Salvatorskathedraal, O.L.V. Kerk or Dijver. A De Lijn ticket costs €3 and lasts 60 minutes, and on the bus you pay by contactless card only (De Lijn).

De Lijn buses at the stops outside Brugge station. Photo: Vitaly Volkov, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

The tourist office is on Stationsplein, and left-luggage lockers opposite it rent by the day, with a one-day minimum. Historium on the Markt has lockers open 10:00 to 18:00. See getting around Bruges for bikes and parking.

Coming by cruise ship

Cruise ships dock at Zeebrugge. GetYourGuide sells a round-trip shuttle between the Zeebrugge cruise terminal and Brugesad, from €30 (4.6 stars from 4,715 reviews), with buses every 30 minutes and a drop-off a few minutes from the centre.

Next steps

Once there, plan with the Bruges guide, the one-day route, where to stay and day trips from Bruges. Starting in Brussels instead? The Bruges day trip from Brussels has the entries and the tours that cover the train.