A single place to visit between Lyon & Brussels

[Forg]

Ladies & gentlemen, I have a gap.

Leaving Lyon on 27th June, booked in Brussels 30th June.
We don’t have a car.

All the places I’ve semi/demi considered have involved travelling through Paris if going by train … like, wanna go to Strasbourg or Stuttgart, you go through Paris. Then from there to Brussels, through Paris again.
I’ve tentatively looked at flights, while travel times can be a little bit shorter there’s more stuffing-about at airports and it’s mostly going through a hub such as Paris or Frankfurt or Amsterdam.
One-way car rentals don’t seem to be available.

I mean those 6hr train trips aren’t the end of the world … but if we went to Paris they’d be 2hr train trips.
But I’m not convinced Paris is optimal in June. So busy, so scammy, it’s nearly as scammy as Beijing.

Any suggestions, thoughts or alternatives?

 

[Scarlett]

If you can deign to travel by bus, I’m sure Flix bus could get you most places enroute.

I’ll start with:
Geneva (easy to get around with trams. Go to CERN. Walk around the lake)

Luxembourg (only a small city and interesting to explore for a day or two)

Nürburg in Germany. (If the name doesn’t mean anything to you give it a miss. If it sounds familiar, go there and hire a dedicated car for a lap or two )

Go to Bruges before Brussels. Just go there! Then get a local train to Brussels.

If you’re interested in military history go to Lille or Ypres or for specifically Australian memorials, to Villers-Bretonneux.

 

[MELso]

Ladies & gentlemen, I have a gap.

Leaving Lyon on 27th June, booked in Brussels 30th June.
We don’t have a car.

All the places I’ve semi/demi considered have involved travelling through Paris if going by train … like, wanna go to Strasbourg or Stuttgart, you go through Paris. Then from there to Brussels, through Paris again.
I’ve tentatively looked at flights, while travel times can be a little bit shorter there’s more stuffing-about at airports and it’s mostly going through a hub such as Paris or Frankfurt or Amsterdam.
One-way car rentals don’t seem to be available.

I mean those 6hr train trips aren’t the end of the world … but if we went to Paris they’d be 2hr train trips.
But I’m not convinced Paris is optimal in June. So busy, so scammy, it’s nearly as scammy as Beijing.

Any suggestions, thoughts or alternatives?

Eh? There are direct trains between Lyon and Strasbourg through SNCF and DB, and one daily service from Strasbourg to Brussels on SNCF.

Assuming my May trip goes ahead, I'll be taking the train from Bordeaux to Strasbourg. Several hours but nonstop.

It's just that the full schedules probably haven't been loaded yet.

 

[harryhv]

Like Champagne? Try Rheims. Lots of wonderful champagne-tours and a historic cathedral where the kings of France were crowned. Not overcrowded with tourists, and not overpriced.

 

[OZDUCK]

I would be happy to stopover at either Strasbourg or Rheims.

The train trip between Strasbourg is very easy without a change of train and you can avoid Paris. The train we took passed through some lovely countryside mostly to the east of the Vosge Mountains.

Rheims is lovely and very walkable city with plenty of good food available and has a lively student vibe.

 

[AIRwin]

Dijon, the heart of Burgundy and famous for their mustard and wines.

 

[Forg]

Eh? There are direct trains between Lyon and Strasbourg through SNCF and DB, and one daily service from Strasbourg to Brussels on SNCF.
...
It's just that the full schedules probably haven't been loaded yet.

Thanks - this might explain it!
Now you mention it, I do recall from a few weeks ago the SNCF site saying that schedules are only available from "about 3 months" beforehand, and the dates I'm looking at are a bit over 3 months in future.
I might check the DB site directly, they seemed to have more services timetabled when I was looking at other trips ...

Do you remember roughly how long those trips are? Only asking if you remember, I'll go looking myself tonight.

@Scarlett ... jeez your suggestions are on-point!!
Like, they're all really perfect! Which means we've either done all but one before - or my wife isn't interested in doing a hot lap of the 'Ring.
The one place we've not been is Luxembourg and that was one I've already put on my consideration-list, I'm still browsing around the Things To Do there (although yeowch it makes Switzerland look affordable!).


Back to the original post ... others have suggested I just do the Paris thing. In late June we'd obviously avoid the 4hr queues for Disneyland Paris attractions like the Eiffel Tower or Louvre ... but I had envisaged just general Tokyo Peak Hour crowds trying to get around, catching a Metro, trying to walk down the street & avoid the pickpockets etc. But if the whole place doesn't feel in June like a pickpockety NYE Sydney Harbour then maybe it's still worth going?
I still have in mind that we should go some time in future but at a more user-friendly time of year & for longer. So I still think I'm looking for suggestions like the ones already made in this thread.

 

[MELso]

Thanks - this might explain it!
Now you mention it, I do recall from a few weeks ago the SNCF site saying that schedules are only available from "about 3 months" beforehand, and the dates I'm looking at are a bit over 3 months in future.
I might check the DB site directly, they seemed to have more services timetabled when I was looking at other trips ...

Do you remember roughly how long those trips are? Only asking if you remember, I'll go looking myself tonight.

About 4 hours each IIRC. The SNCF services are on TGV Inoui. Looking at the SNCF site, the tickets are available to book now too.

 

[Forg]

About 4 hours each IIRC. The SNCF services are on TGV Inoui. Looking at the SNCF site, the tickets are available to book now too.

Aye ... and in fact I wonder if there's some sort of glitch on their site which was blocking me from finding them the other day. It lets me put in Brussels as a destination so long as Strasbourg hasn't been entered as an origin ... but if I put in Strasbourg as origin first then it acts like Brussels doesn't exist!

Now I'm looking at what's involved in the transfer that involves walking between Paris East and Paris North ...

 

[VPS]

Thanks - this might explain it!
Now you mention it, I do recall from a few weeks ago the SNCF site saying that schedules are only available from "about 3 months" beforehand, and the dates I'm looking at are a bit over 3 months in future.
I might check the DB site directly, they seemed to have more services timetabled when I was looking at other trips ...

Do you remember roughly how long those trips are? Only asking if you remember, I'll go looking myself tonight.

@Scarlett ... jeez your suggestions are on-point!!
Like, they're all really perfect! Which means we've either done all but one before - or my wife isn't interested in doing a hot lap of the 'Ring.
The one place we've not been is Luxembourg and that was one I've already put on my consideration-list, I'm still browsing around the Things To Do there (although yeowch it makes Switzerland look affordable!).


Back to the original post ... others have suggested I just do the Paris thing. In late June we'd obviously avoid the 4hr queues for Disneyland Paris attractions like the Eiffel Tower or Louvre ... but I had envisaged just general Tokyo Peak Hour crowds trying to get around, catching a Metro, trying to walk down the street & avoid the pickpockets etc. But if the whole place doesn't feel in June like a pickpockety NYE Sydney Harbour then maybe it's still worth going?
I still have in mind that we should go some time in future but at a more user-friendly time of year & for longer. So I still think I'm looking for suggestions like the ones already made in this thread.

I think you are right to avoid Paris in June for such a short time

 

[MELso]

https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/tgv-inoui is the link. Adding Strasbourg to Brussels brings up the route (leaving at 17.01 each day).