Train, Antwerp

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From Amsterdam
The high speed train route between Antwerp and Paris now stops at Antwerp's central station (and not anymore at the Antwerp berchem station). You can also take a regular intercity train, which connects the Amsterdam Central Station to the Antwerp Central Station in about 2 hrs. The high speed train is currently not much faster but you can reserve seats. The trains also stop at the Schiphol National Airport. For schedules, see here :
http://www.aviewoncities.com/antwerp/gettingtoantwerp.htm

The Thalys train has a monopoly on the trains between Belgium->Paris. You can get some pretty good discounts if you buy a round [return] trip ticket, but [at least last September] there were no discounts for one-way tickets.

After doing some research, instead of taking the Thalys Antwerp->Paris Gare du Nord train, we did this:

Antwerp->Brussels Midi->Charles De Gaulle Airport via TGV, then RER into Paris Chatelet.

It requires train changes, but taking this instead of the Thalys saved us $50 each. It took about 35-40 minutes longer to get to central Paris,

However as you can see below, that was trimmed to about 20 minutes because the RER goes deeper into the center.

From Paris Nord [terminus of the Thalys], it takes about 22 minutes by metro/bus to get to the Marais neighborhood of our hotel.

The RER does stop at Gare du Nord, but by getting off at the next stop (Chatelet), getting to the Marais was just a 7 minute ride on the 69 bus. So, you actually get about 15 minutes back.

The savings paid for our 2-day Paris Museum passes, so we thought it was well worth it.

Arrived at Antwerp centraal station, and very impressive building. Currently some building work heading towards the trams, still worth lingering for a few minutes.
Be aware not all through trains go right into centraal, check the website for details

The current grand station building was built between 1899 and 1905 by Louis de la Censerie. He based his design on the station of Luzern and the Pantheon in Rome. The station was officially opened on 11th of August in 1905. In the middle of the 20th century, the building deteriorated badly. However, a possible demolition was avoided as the station received the status of a protected monument in 1975. Since 1998, Antwerp-Central has been undergoing big renovation and reconstruction works to improve its capacity. The entire works are expected to be finished by the end of 2007.

This station connects Antwerp with all the big cities in Belgium such as Brussels, Ghent, Leuven, Ostend, Charleroi and Namur. Antwerp is also connected with the international cities Amsterdam and Paris through its station Antwerp-Berchem. This latter station is located at about 5 minutes from Antwerp-Central by train. Trains are running between both stations every 10, 15 minutes and even less during rush hour.

The above stations are also connected with other transport means such as tram, bus or metro. Near Antwerp-Central, you can find the Franklin Rooseveltplaats which is the main bus stop to all towns nearby as well as around the city. Underneath the Central station, you can also find a metro station. As for the Berchem station, one can find trams and buses to the city at the other side of the square. It is also situated nearby the highway with a big parking lot.

Compared to the neighbour countries, train fares are relatively cheap in Belgium. In addition, there exists special formulas that combines the journey with an attraction for a special price, these are called B-Dagtrips (B-Daytrips). For more information on travelling with the train, please visit their website.

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Brussels and Antwerp are well connected. Trains run quite often between these two cities. It is better to buy a return ticket as it will be cheaper when you plan to come back. The main railway station in Antwerp is located not that far from the old town and you may simply walk.

There is also a tourist office downstairs of the building od the main railways station where you may get a map of the city centre.:-)

Antwerp has a very nice and historical train station. It is very easy to get there from many different cities of Blgium by train. Also it is possible to reach here from the Netherlands and some other countries easily by train. I strongly suggest Vt'ersto choose train for transportaion.

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Arriving to Antwep from The Netherlands is easy by train. From Amsterdam it is very convenient to take the international train, it takes just a 2 hours. Maybe it may require to stop at Antwerp Berchen and then switch to Antwerp centraal, but there is no problem as there are many traing getting to.

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One of the grandest buildings in Antwerp is the 'Central Station'. It welcomes visitors who arrive by train in Antwerp like a modern day cathedral. The part of the station where the platforms are is covered by an immense metal and glass dome (typical for turn-of-the-century railway stations in Europe), designed by architect Van Bogaert. The station building itself was designed between 1895 and 1905 by architect Delacenserie. Here ends the oldest railway line in Belgium (between Brussels and Antwerp over the city of Mechelen).
The entrance hall looks like a Taj Mahal built out of love for the industrial blessings of the new era. The inner decoration in eclectic style with the use of marble and the presence of a gigantic staircase make any visitor who enters Antwerp here feel like a king.
A few years ago, the Antwerp Railway Station was used in the British television series 'Hercule Poirot'. The famous 'Belgian' detective visited Brussels... and many Belgians were surprised to see that the Antwerp station had changed its name to 'Gare de Bruxelles' (Brussels Station).

There is connection to a lot off cities in Belgium. If you want to know more on scedules and prices check the website off the Belgian railroad company NMBS.