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Might be planning a short to Germany. The best timed train after work is 7 hours in Brussell's midi. To short for a hotel stay but I hear not much is at the station?

It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

DragsterDriver wrote:It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

Alternatively Venlo in The Netherlands. But that has 6 changes and is a tad more expensive(Though it might be the better time for arriving earlier in the morning)

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

Alternatively Venlo in The Netherlands. But that has 6 changes and is a tad more expensive(Though it might be the better time for arriving earlier in the morning)

Gare du Midi will have food and drinks. The area around it is a bit shit but if you have 7 hours, you can always walk to Grand Place and go to see manneken piss.

I don't sleep in sprouts.

eldanielfire wrote:Might be planning a short to Germany. The best timed train after work is 7 hours in Brussell's midi. To short for a hotel stay but I hear not much is at the station?

What time of day? It's not that far from grand place/central Brussels which has some decent bars.

happyhooker wrote:

eldanielfire wrote:Might be planning a short to Germany. The best timed train after work is 7 hours in Brussell's midi. To short for a hotel stay but I hear not much is at the station?

What time of day? It's not that far from grand place/central Brussels which has some decent bars.

Basically leaving Friday night, anytime after 5pm onwards. I need to be in Germany early Saturday basically. It's a half formed idea to surprise someone. Flights are way to expensive right now. I don't mind barely sleeping for one night.

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

Alternatively Venlo in The Netherlands. But that has 6 changes and is a tad more expensive(Though it might be the better time for arriving earlier in the morning)

Where in Germany are you going?

Archipel
Booze and Blues
Bizon

These are the three best bars in Brussels. They are about a mile from Gare Du Midi. Don´t go near the poxy Irish bar on Anspach or Delerium. For food there are some very nice places up around Place St Catherine where you can get a nice horse steak or mussels

La soule wrote:

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

Alternatively Venlo in The Netherlands. But that has 6 changes and is a tad more expensive(Though it might be the better time for arriving earlier in the morning)

Gare du Midi will have food and drinks.

And is marvelous if you fancy being mugged or raped for a bit...

(actually, the bars near the taxi-stand are fine).

DragsterDriver wrote:

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

Alternatively Venlo in The Netherlands. But that has 6 changes and is a tad more expensive(Though it might be the better time for arriving earlier in the morning)

Where in Germany are you going?

Dortmund.

eldanielfire wrote:

happyhooker wrote:

eldanielfire wrote:Might be planning a short to Germany. The best timed train after work is 7 hours in Brussell's midi. To short for a hotel stay but I hear not much is at the station?

What time of day? It's not that far from grand place/central Brussels which has some decent bars.

Basically leaving Friday night, anytime after 5pm onwards. I need to be in Germany early Saturday basically. It's a half formed idea to surprise someone. Flights are way to expensive right now. I don't mind barely sleeping for one night.

So, Brussels by 7pm, a night in some of the best beer bars known to mankind, and get back to the station.

Sounds perfect tbh

Brazil wrote:

La soule wrote:

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

Alternatively Venlo in The Netherlands. But that has 6 changes and is a tad more expensive(Though it might be the better time for arriving earlier in the morning)

Gare du Midi will have food and drinks.

And is marvelous if you fancy being mugged or raped for a bit...

(actually, the bars near the taxi-stand are fine).

Damn. I must be even more ugly than I thought

sewa wrote:Archipel
Booze and Blues
Bizon

These are the three best bars in Brussels. They are about a mile from Gare Du Midi. Don´t go near the poxy Irish bar on Anspach or Delerium. For food there are some very nice places up around Place St Catherine where you can get a nice horse steak or mussels

Bizon was my local in Brussels when I worked there, Le Roi de Belge on the next corner isn't bad either, Neuf et Voisins across the road from Bizon is fine for a filling bite to eat.

Duble post or maybe a trippel as we are discussing Belgian beers

Eurostar to Paris, then direct to Dortmund?

I’d have a look on loco2- for me I’d rather sit on a train relaxing than drag my (raped) arse around brussels.

I make it around 7hrs from London via Paris.

Witchfinder General wrote:

sewa wrote:Archipel
Booze and Blues
Bizon

These are the three best bars in Brussels. They are about a mile from Gare Du Midi. Don´t go near the poxy Irish bar on Anspach or Delerium. For food there are some very nice places up around Place St Catherine where you can get a nice horse steak or mussels

Bizon was my local in Brussels when I worked there, Le Roi de Belge on the next corner isn't bad either, Neuf et Voisins across the road from Bizon is fine for a filling bite to eat.

The staff in Bizon are sound out, they also do great music

Brussels is a kip

DragsterDriver wrote:I make it around 7hrs from London via Paris.

Thanks for the website to check. Though I can't find the option you gave.

I’ve stayd there for work - thought it was a bit shit really, Muslims and whores everywhere, and hotel advised us not to go out at dark on foot, and we were fairly central.
The next night I was in Rotterdam, a far nicer place.

I had to spend a couple of hours there a couple of months back. Wouldn't want to have to kill 7 there though. It's got a reasonable number of cheap eateries etc (nothing really quality), but over all seems a bit grubby. Didn't seem like much worth wandering to in the near vicinity either. With that amount of time I would probably get a local train somewhere else in the city, kill a few hours and leave myself an hour and a half or so to get back to Midi. Or just try to set a record for how many Belgium waffles you can eat in the Haagen Dazs before puking all over the concourse.

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:I make it around 7hrs from London via Paris.

Thanks for the website to check. Though I can't find the option you gave.

I did Paris to Dortmund, and then London- Paris.

Or you could london-Amsterdam Eurostar, Amsterdam- Dortmund.

Or go eurotunnel and drive it, around 5hrs from Calais.

Yes grubby city. Make sure your bring Euros before you go as it is an absolute cúnt of a place to get money out at a cashpoint. Easy enough city to get around on foot or by public transport.

Buy bread from a man in Brussels, six-foot-four and full of muscles, ask him "do you speak-a my language?"

Or-

Fly Stansted to Amsterdam, train to Dortmund.

Cheapest is fly direct to Dortmund Friday lunchtime, even the later flight is cheaper than all the trains.

Gare du Midi is minging. I stay in the Park Inn by Radisson which is ultra modern, clean and cheap, bang opposite the station.

Let’s be honest, the safest way to navigate any time in Belgium is to be ‘over 16’.

Life is considerably less complicated when you are.

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

Alternatively Venlo in The Netherlands. But that has 6 changes and is a tad more expensive(Though it might be the better time for arriving earlier in the morning)

Venlo is a shithole!

SaintK wrote:

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

Alternatively Venlo in The Netherlands. But that has 6 changes and is a tad more expensive(Though it might be the better time for arriving earlier in the morning)

Venlo is a shithole!

It is and negotiating six changes isn´t going to happen

backrow wrote:I’ve stayd there for work - thought it was a bit shit really, Muslims and whores everywhere, and hotel advised us not to go out at dark on foot, and we were fairly central.
The next night I was in Rotterdam, a far nicer place.

You must have been over by Gare Du Nord in Brussels. Rotterdam is a great city but also has exact the same issues you mentioned

Diego wrote:Brussels is a kip

Agreed. I've been to many parts of Belgium, and Brussels is the least pleasant place. Good food and beer, but I'd rather be in almost any other Belgian town.

This area is outside the main station. It might keep you occupied for a minute or so.

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:

eldanielfire wrote:

DragsterDriver wrote:It’s a bit grubby, but they have beer. Find a different train?

Alternatively Venlo in The Netherlands. But that has 6 changes and is a tad more expensive(Though it might be the better time for arriving earlier in the morning)

Where in Germany are you going?

Dortmund.

Why???

Its got a second to none selection of high octane beers. I was there for a stag-do weekend where you had to always be seen to have an 8% or better beer in your hand or be fined. After a while, you had to scratch hard to get a sensation from your skin. And you felt like you had raw sugar running through your veins ...

Been there a lot. But really hard to say you would recommend it for a weekend over other cities on offer nearby.

Recommend -

Exploiting the beer culture or possibly the gin palaces (although the rest of the world has caught up on what Belgium has had for decades ...)

Food can be good ... a city with a billion expats will have lots of restaurants but not all are worth the price. Check out websites for good recommendations of what you are looking for.

Rue des Bouchers is the classic restaurant area tourist trap off the Grand-Place; it is what you would expect and best avoided.

Prostitution is legal so some of the guys here seem to know what to recommend ... I will leave it to them ...


Yeah, I am not sure I can recommend more than one night in Brussels ... but I am no expert on Dortmund either (more brothels, I bet if the Germans are consistent ... ).

tabascoboy wrote:Buy bread from a man in Brussels, six-foot-four and full of muscles, ask him "do you speak-a my language?"

I had a similar experience in a den in Bombay.

We stayed in the Meininger hotel in brussels, which wasnt an overly long walk to the train station from what I remember

eldanielfire wrote:Might be planning a short to Germany. The best timed train after work is 7 hours in Brussell's midi. To short for a hotel stay but I hear not much is at the station?

Total kip and EVERYONE is minging.

Leinster in London wrote:This area is outside the main station. It might keep you occupied for a minute or so.

Rue de arsechot is a well known place to avoid. Easily avoided though in fairness. Its like saying go to Dublin and avoid, well nearly all of Dublin