It would have been possible to travel on a direct train from Charleroi to Brussels, but thanks for making a detour via Ottignies.

Nice video ! Little tip if you plan this again: all tickets in Belgium are "open" tickets, meaning you can take whatever train you want to your destination, so at Charleroi you could have directly bought a ticket to Brussels and it would've been much cheaper 😉

I'm always surprised how many places I only know by their football team.

@PlanesTrainsEverything

Жыл бұрын

I'm the same. Football improves your geographical knowledge (up to a certain point.)

@rjs_698

Жыл бұрын

Except that the Saint Etienne the train passed through isn't the one with the football team!

@rjs_698

Жыл бұрын

​@@PlanesTrainsEverything- They'll be dancing on the streets of Raith tonight! 😂

@edwardkerr2951

Жыл бұрын

My mum thinks I'm a geography genius. I actually just have a lifetime of champions league and uefa cup viewing experience

@andrewmulley5222

Жыл бұрын

We need a Scott and Steve Marsh collaboration!!!!

Oh, I love to travel with non-highspeed-trains. And now we have the D-Ticket in Germany which allows you to travel with all regional trains, all local public transport in the whole of Germany and the border regions to France, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria -and all for 49 EUR per month. Such a great thing and I use it extensively since the launch in May. You can discover so many unexpected things during your journey which you then can visit again. I just read that France and Germany are considering to have a cooperation to accept the German flat-rate ticket in all of France too - that would be amazing: unlimited travel in both countries for just 49 EUR per month? That is heaven for all train lovers.

The next station along from Lobbes is Thuin where a rural tramway is preserved and runs on weekends during the summer.

@barvdw

Жыл бұрын

It's a lovely little town, too. I've been a few times on this line, once a few years ago going to Paris, but without the through train. I had to take a train to Erquelinnes on the border, walk the few km to Jeumont and had to take a TER to Maubeuge before finally getting on that Corail (in lovely red velvet 1st class). If I missed the train to Belgium, that's what I would still do, from Erquelinnes, it's an hourly service on weekdays.

Oh I remember selling those timetables when I worked for Thomas Cook! That exact cover! Those were the days :) The blue one was the worldwide edition is that right? Great video Scott, you always find the best ways between 2 points :D

@Scotrailboy2

Жыл бұрын

Hey steve

@PlanesTrainsEverything

Жыл бұрын

Yes, the nlue one was the worldwide timetable. I might be a bit sad, but I love opening the timetable at random and looking at those little symbols - knife and fork, a bed etc.

You can see this is a recent video as they have only recently changed the name of Charleroi's main station from South to Central in order to make it more intuitive for visitors. I really liked the old area in front of the station, with the trees and benches, it's sad to see it gone.

God, Maubeuge looks depressing. A drive-thru KFC, McDonalds and a Subway! Not the France I am familiar with, but I expect it has changed a lot. Bits of Northern France and Belgium are just ‘grey’, aren’t they? Still, I love the idea of going on local trains, and some of them are really quite old now. It reminds me of my Interrail trip 40 years ago where one could only use non-express services (TGV being in its infancy then). I got to go on some very slow services and some seemed never-ending, but far more fun than a TGV. And because Dad used to travel a lot around France in the 1980s, we grew up with a Thomas Cook timetable in the house.

12:47 You missed your chance for a ride with a vintage MS66 type. All built between 1966 and 1970. They are being slowly phased out so catch one while you still can.

3:00 Hey Scott, people still love the old Corail coaches and go out of their way to ride them. They're not grimy; they have "character".

You should have taken the first train from Charleroi to Ottignies. These Twins (automotrices jumelles) have been fully renovated a decade ago and are more comfortable than the one on the Desiro (the one you toke). The Twins become a rarity these days.

@jeanjacques9980

Жыл бұрын

I thought the same, older continental trains may offer more comfortable seating than some ultra modern U.K. trains

Maubeuge looks like one of those little French towns which used to close for two hours for lunch :-)

@maryburger1232

Жыл бұрын

We had 4 bank holidays in May this year here in France, he probably travelled on one of those days , the first, 8th, 18th and 29th were all bank holidays.

@mjt8199

Жыл бұрын

And very likely still does. He left Paris at 1019 and arrived just after midday so pretty much lunchtime.

@barvdw

Жыл бұрын

It use to be quite the industrial power house, but the industry is mostly gone, and as the city suffered heavily during WW2, about the only thing somewhat worthwhile is a part of the old city wall... But Scott took a few of the nicest and underrated lines in Belgium, I love the Sambre line 130A, as well as lijn 140 through the abbey ruins. But frankly, I'd have taken the older train from Charleroi, those old beasts aren't here for long anymore and except when it's very hot and you need air-conditioning, they are more comfortable than those Desiros IMO, too. Too little legroom, too straight back, just one toilet which is often broken down... 17:05

@ronaldvanhemiksem3544

Жыл бұрын

​​@@maryburger1232 Since the train called at Hourpes, it certainly was not a weekend day nor a national holiday in Belgium. So it can't have been recorded at 1, 18 or 29 May.

Very interesting idea to show is this! What strucks me both in France as well in Belgium is how gloomy Western Europe has become in places that are only served with regional trains. With a fancy high speed train you just rush through the landscape. Also here a clear example of the growing contrast between high end big cities and the villages that starve away.

The SNCF 40100 locomotive were magnificent beasts on this route back in the day. Took the "Vauban" from Brussels to Basel and back in the late 90s , great trip.

@111672balernabz2010

Жыл бұрын

EC162/163 Transalpin,Zurich-Graz,via innsbruck most scenic,originally started from vienna-basel sbb,via salzburg-innsbruck-zurich hbf,travelled fro landeck- zams-zurich hbf in 2007

I really like the vlogs keep it going. Pre Thalys I used to travel regularly by train between Paris and Brussel and back. The travel time was closer to 3 hours than 2h30 They had a proper dining car with white linen, real silver silverware and beautiful plates. The food cooked in the train’s kitchen was like a deluxe restaurant and by the time you got to the cognac you were nearly in Paris. Thalys is almost a commuter run from Paris to Brussel and with a full price 1st ticket you could take the train before or the one after with no réservation. If there were no seats then it was the bar. They had happy hour with cheap good Belgian beers after 17h00 every day. My memories of the old trains are still rosier though.

@s125ish

Жыл бұрын

When did the proper trains stop running on this route?

@geraldcapon392

Жыл бұрын

@@s125ish when Thalys arrived - on which your lucky to get a 3 week old croque monsieur zapped in a microwave.

@jimmytraveller2970

4 ай бұрын

Yeah Sadly the Good Days have Gone Forever Now it is all Slap Dash

Great video as always Scott, Thanks.

Fabulously enjoyable video Scott.

I just love your videos could watch them for days

Great video Scott. Really enjoyed this one.

Love your videos pal!

Oh this is great! I was curious about this.

Great video Scott.

Very good video, one of the cleanest places I've seen, thanks for "hanging in " with the tram trip.

Great video Scott

Great video as usual. Thanks.

I really like your videos 👍

Great video!

I would love to do a train journey like this. Thanks for sharing, Scott!

Great video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Sounds great, I cannot wait to watch the video! Just came back from Sicily, they have some scenic routes with very old diesel trains there (try Siracusa-Pozzallo), boy did I have fun!

Thanks!

Really enjoyed this. Having travelled Japan extensively by Shinkansen, I want to use regional trains for my next trip to enjoy the countryside and coastline the way you did in Europe. Really love the locomotive hauled trains - but those windows……. Btw great choice of soulful music - and as my wife is from Vietnam I will be getting your book!

This guy is a gem

Nice one Scott 😊👍👍

thank you

Hi Scott from Spain. Thank you for a very interesting and scenic journey

Thank you for your interesting video

Good video, interesting,

Awesome Vlog Scott....very detailed account of the various means to travel between Paris and Brussels, the fares etc... Felt like travelling with you to the small towns in northeastern france and finally in to belgium....perfect blend of background music and your narration as usual is TOP NOTCH.... Keep up the great work... 🙏

Very post apocalyptic this one Scott. Very informative all the same. Really like the captions giving more information. 👍👍

I did something similar, through necessity, from Cologne to Brussels. DB insisted there was absolutely no need to make a reservation on the ICE, but it turned out they were all rammed and a reservation was needed. I was in no rush, so I took a local train to Aachen, got a wee, very retro, train over the border and then a regional train. Very pleasant, much more interesting, and mostly not stowed out.

@barvdw

Жыл бұрын

That's the way to go! Except when one of those ICEs breaks down (not too uncommon, I'm afraid, especially in Summer), and that tiny little train gets absolutely swamped.

@Zh09SpMAvE

Жыл бұрын

Ohhh yeah, especially the Aachen-Liège part is quite scenic, and it has some classic trains in that section. And you'll have a chance to see the magnificent station of Liège-Guillemins 😊

Great vid. Scott. You were close to the Waterloo battle area there. I’d like to see what it’s like. Cheers from Oz.

Hi Scott.Thanks for taking me on another one of your trips around europe.If it wasn't for you and our friend Steve i would never get out . You both have taken me to places that i know i will never get to .So i thank you sincerly .Keep em coming ...

Nice trip. I still have a 1988 Thomas Cook timetable. I agree with you about the romantic names of some of those trains. I managed to go on a few of them back in the day. My first experience with trains in continental Europe was from Cologne to Copenhagen on an overnight train. I was thrilled when waiting for that train in Cologne to see a train arriving from Paris which was travelling on to Moscow via Berlin and Warsaw. That just sounded the height of romanticism and intrigue to me at the time. Love your vlog.

An interest video and journey. Certainly beats flying and you got to discover some new places

Lovely video, as always, Scott. Another interesting trip, avoiding the high-speed line, would be a trip from Frankfurt Am Main to Koln. Umm!.😊

I would do Paris-Amiens, then Amiens-Lille, then Lille-Kortrijk and finally Kortrijk-Brussels. 6h and 30 minutes. All by fairly normal regional trains and acceptable connection times between trains.

@holygooff

Жыл бұрын

There's also Lille - Tournai - BXL.

@tammo100

Жыл бұрын

@@holygooff Probably even faster too

@holygooff

Жыл бұрын

@@tammo100 Yes. It stops often, especially before Tournai, but it is direct. The train to Courtrai goes to Ghent and Antwerp, so you need to change trains in Ghent.

@belstar1128

9 ай бұрын

If they show up on time because if not you are going to be sleeping on the metal bench .

enjoyed that trip greatsites ,,,,,, brian d.

Cheers from Ottignies!

Okay. We must admit we were hoping you would go into Tasty World. LOL. In these days of go, go, go and how quickly can we get from A to B, it's nice to slow down and appreciate the world going by at a more leisurely pace. Another good video. Thanks as always - Sandi & Greg H.

12:57 *its 😉 Great video -- thanks! Love Europe travel and trains.

Hope you enjoyed our country 🇧🇪 stay well friend, greetings from Antwerp 👋

Thanks man for the footage of Maubeuge. Now I know not to visit the place. In May I was in Paris and took TER from Paris Gare du Nord to Antwerp. But I took the route via Amiens and Lille. Amiens is really Nice!

@robertwilloughby8050

Жыл бұрын

Amiens is nice - I remember it as a stopping off point for family holidays - but all that red brick gets a wee bit oppressive after a while - if you want lots of red brick, there's always Northampton!

I was just trying to find a way to bring my bicycle to Paris from Brussels (eventually going to Bretagne) and booked the Maubeuge route as the TGV doesn't allow for bikes. Wish I found your video earlier today it would have saved me a lot of time searching! We really need to give these regional routes more love.

@barvdw

Жыл бұрын

There are more direct routes, though. The detour via Ottignies was not really necessary, there's a faster IC to Brussels, twice an hour in the week, and an extra slower 'Airport' train to Brussels Airport (not CRL...) via Brussels-Schuman in stead of Brussels-Central, so even if your hotel is near the European Parliament, it's not faster via Ottignies. But you'd miss the abbey ruins, of course...

Love the 'semi-fast' idea, in the past a Waterloo-Bournemouth stopping service with long pauses at Southampton and Brockenhurst.

Greetings from Flanders...like your channel...better than TV....of course I have no more a TV.....Television...😁😉

Glad to see you getting some genuine French Cuisine!

I recall some of those names you listed at 11:37 applied to the ICE and TEE high-speed trains from back in the early 70s. All of my trips during my year in Germany were by the slow regional trains, as my often destination was not reachable via any of the high-speed trains of the time, that being Bitburg, which is why my trips took 10 hours.

Some time around 1995 I did the journey on some old TEE stock. Very comfortable carriages

I was in Charleroi in April the whole city is a construction site from what I saw . I wonder what the end game is? Exciting stuff Love the channel btw!

The Flanders-Riviera Express? Sure-diddly-do!

@Brrunoc1

Жыл бұрын

There used to be a sleeper between Calais and Rimini too

@christopdeck3457

Жыл бұрын

Every year, we used to take the Flandres Riviera express from Calais to Ventimiglia for our family holiday in Diano Marina Italy.

Maubeuge has quite a large zoo, other than the cheap train to paris its a one horse town and the horse left some years ago lol

I remember getting the sleeper train from Amsterdam to Paris back in the 80's I remember the train stopping for some time in St Quentin.

Loved reading The Thomas Cook Timetable for those long distance routes etc. I agree that High Speed Rail is rather impersonal compared to the loco hauled stock. One of my Favourite trains was The Mozart from Vienna to Paris with very smart red carriages. I remember riding in the carriages of your first train from Calais to Paris back in 2001 when it was still each to travel by ferry then train from the UK. I agree you see more from the slow trains especially useful for amazing scenery such as Switzerland and avoiding other high speed lines which are mainly in tunnels.

@111672balernabz2010

Жыл бұрын

EC 64,vienna/klagenfurt(train joined up somewhere in Austria,obb electric to frankfurt (m)hbf,dB class 181/2 to strasbourg ,2 x coaches detached,sncf cl 15000,continues to Paris est

this was interesting

Finally back in my beautiful Belgium ♥🇧🇪 Great video as always!

Very Nice report, but the IC from Charleroi to Anvers (Antwerpen), which stops in Brussels Midi, would have saved you time and money😊

@svd9549

2 ай бұрын

he could have bought just a ticket from chaleroi to brussels. In belgium it doesn't matter that it is more then one train to get to your destination as long as you take them on the same day.

In November 2019 I traveled from Dortmund to Dusseldorf, and then needed to take regional trains to Maastricht. It was one of the most enjoyable train trips I've taken. You do go through countryside slowly, which I like, and, waiting for the next connection at the station, I got into conversation as well. I would like to do this type of trip again if practical.

@jkardez4794

Жыл бұрын

Very interesting manner of traveling instead of simply rushing through like a business deal.

That Subway coffee sort of reminds me of a McDonald's coffee I got in Ouistreham waiting for the ferry to Portsmouth in 2017. They gave me the coffee, milk & water all separately for some reason lol

What a cool trip! I'm not to sure though why you took the S61 train, that greatly increases travel-time! From Charleroi-Central you can connect to a train through brussels all the way to Essen (Belgian, essen, bordering Roosendaal in the netherlands). I'd say the more effective route is > TER to Maubeuge (2h19) > IC to Charleroi-Central (1h10) > IC to Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Centraal (53m) That would be 4h22, your trip took much much longer and you had to take a S service, which is horrible comfort if you ask me!

@richardbloemenkamp8532

Жыл бұрын

I definitely need to try this someday. I have always used the Thalys, the Flixbus/Eurolines and the car. The possibility to use the train via Mauberge I was not aware of.

@alastairfulbrook1285

Жыл бұрын

@@richardbloemenkamp8532 Ouigo to Lille from Paris is only 10 euro from Disneyland Paris station (Marne le Vallee, 5 euro on the RER), then Belgian IC 19 euro to Brussels from Lille. Faster than Flix and cheaper than car or Thalys.

@richardbloemenkamp8532

Жыл бұрын

@@alastairfulbrook1285 that looks a bit simpler indeed, plus I have a 5-zone Navigo already. ;-)

Hello Scott, one option you overlooked was IZY. This was a Thalys budget brand which took the classic Paris-Brussels classic route. Lower fare. Used an 18-coach Alstom Eurostar set. Sadly soon after the pendemic arrived IZY was withdrawn from service and that Alstom set was towed away to be scrapped. IZY returned after the pandemic (using a older TGV unit) but was eventually withdrawn.

@theoverflightguy6118

Жыл бұрын

Actually IZY was using the high speed line just before Lille on the way to Brussels.

@s125ish

Жыл бұрын

Is this still operating?

@alexmcwhirter6611

Жыл бұрын

@@s125ish No. Sadly it has now ended.

Who else was half-expecting to see tumbleweed in Maubeuge? 😂 Btw, how are you getting Thalys fares FROM £76? I managed to book a train with them (albeit for early September) for £25.

You certainly like taking the scenic route.

Let’s go boss

I rode TER Trains in Paris from Strasbourg to Nancy then Nancy to Lyon (transferring in Dijon-which I have no memory of), and round trip to La-tour-du-pin to go to Lyon's amusement park (Walibi Rhone-Alps. They actually have shuttles from Part Dieu but I spaced on that). All the TER trains feel very old and the La-Tour-du-Pin (which might have continued to Grenoble) had cars like the Hogwarts Express instead of the more accepted 2-2 configuration (some business class is 1-2 depending on how lucky you are)

You literally posted this a week after I take the Maubeuge-Paris train in both directions, though you can also board as "early" as the Charleroi-Central (BE) station since it has a Chrl-Maubeuge line every 2 hours or so

I used a similar Thomas Cook timetable from 1992 to book & travel on the overnight motorail / sleeper Santander - Malaga (having arrived to Spain on the ferry "Bretagne" from Plymouth to Santander). Had to telephone the booking office in Spain and ask for a fax number. They read it out to me, I wrote the words down and then used a phrase book to look up the numbers. Way before the days of internet, or email.

Subway a bit of a dark horse when it comes to coffee, they actually make barista coffee which is really nice and a cheap cookie to go with it! Even here in Scotland :)

Interesting! This would be very useful for Eurail and InterRail pass-holders who are sick and tired of the high-priced, mandatory, seat reservations imposed by France and some other countries.

The travelling part being more interesting than the destination really - sipping and savouring the scenery as it passes by slowly. Was really enjoyable but Maubeuge seemed to be gutted and strangely devoid of human habitation .

Taking a train to Ottignies first and then one to Brussels is really going regional as there are direct connections between Brussels and Charleroi. You could try Brussels to Gent next. Via Denderleeuw and Aalst instead of a direct connection.

@fidgetspinner343

Жыл бұрын

Its a longish and pretty underwhelming walk from the station to Ghent centre, in fact I almost turned back as I was on a tight schedule with not long in each location. But continued into Ghent centre anyway and wow! It was a real surprise, absolutely lovely medieval style and very impressive indeed. Also Liege station is an absolute cracker too, although Liege itself is a bit of a dump.

@flitsertheo

Жыл бұрын

@@fidgetspinner343 In Gent you can take a tram straight from the station to the centre. The walk is indeed long and not interesting.

@merlinsmind-reserve

Жыл бұрын

Continue to Calais, via De Panne. There he can take a bus to Dunkerque and then a train Dunkerque - Calais 😊

@barvdw

Жыл бұрын

@@merlinsmind-reserve it's 2 buses, nowadays, but both are free. The trunk line, 4x/hr from Dunkerque stops in Leffrinckoucke, where you have to change onto a half-hourly bus to Adinkerke-De Panne. Or vice versa.

@spm9153

Жыл бұрын

@@fidgetspinner343 : In Gent, if you don't want to take the tram to the centre (line 1), you can take a train to Gent-Dampoort (on the line to Antwerpen and Eeklo), which is much closer to the center than Gent-St-Pieters (main station).

I did a similar trip but amsterdam to brussels. Got first class return for 2 for half the price of thalys and only about an hour longer

I believe that waiting for the direct IC Charleroi - Brussels on arrival doesn't make that much of a difference when taking the transit option at Ottignies. Unless you need every minute you can get for a connecting train in Brussels, better take the direct IC. Unless you really like trains of course 😅 thanks for the TR!

Here in the northeastern US, McD and Dunkins have better coffee than most because they make small pots, while other places tend to make big multi-gallon urns, which can get really strong/burnt towards the bottom.

I hope to make this journey some day. A strong coffee ☕ and a donut 🍩 for 2 euros is a good deal.

Scott how about the slow train to Barcelona from Paris via Toulouse and La Tour Carol fantastic scenery you can do it overnight from Parks but lack the views obviously,,,

At 15:43, you filmed the stairs and the platform of the former Bruxelles Chaussée de Louvain station, which closed 99 years ago, in 1924 !

It's all about tgv here and sod the rest ,i find the tgv expensif from my local station and use the ter trains to get to lyon (an hour) Marseille (2& 1/2hours) they have brought back some intercities which are cheap but dont come down as far as i am , most of the rolling stock are from the late 70's 80's and have been refurbished now and again ,another thing night trains are starting more and more but again no good for me as the one that come through my station is like 3/4 am and i can't buy a ticket to nice

Interesting train trip, via Mooburg 😅

It cracks me up that all of the station’s announcements are preceded by David Gilmour’s “Rattle That Lock” 1:13

Maubeuge was the star of a sixties song "Clair de lune à Maubeuge". Charleroi was famous for production and printing of Belgian comics such as Spirou and Tintin.

The TGV inOui trains do look very nice. The other trains do look very strange.

For a second, i thought you were going to the barber shop Scott 😢

from chareloi there are normally hourly services to brussels Zuid

'This is the earlier train I decided not to catch.' Very wise. Certainly no danger of worrying, like Woody Allen in the opening of 'Stardust Memories', that the people on that train might be having a better time than you.

Interesting and well executed theme. Having just got back from riding around the rail lines near Amsterdam it is interesting the state of different north european countries’ railways. In Holland it seemed either to be something wonderfully new and sparkly or something so old you feared that rather than returning to the depot it would be off to the scrapyard. France seems somewhat in decline ( and suffering from the UK branding disease) and Belgium for as long as I can remember seems to have more graffiti than seems physically possible. Are railways a view into the general state of a nation?

@holygooff

Жыл бұрын

Most of the north of France is just countryside, so very sleepy and without much investment. The very north is (post-)industrial and thus rather like places like Charleroi in Belgium or some areas in the UK. Holland doesn't have that.

Good video Scott . That train to Charleroi is one ugly train travelled on similar in Sweden and Denmark.

@barvdw

Жыл бұрын

Yep, we call them Danish noses. I like them!

Having a map would be useful! But good video! Thanks!

I've travelled on business in Belgium on local trains and found the system a bit creaking, including some stations literally crumbling away, and the rolling stock a bit grotty.

Well flying depends on when and how you book it. I paid 150 pounds to fly from Brussels to Cracow in Poland and back. Brussels Airlines too, with a change in Germany for Lufthansa. 200 pounds sounds crazy, must be a last minute on a Friday afternoon.