A Guide to Public Transportation in Belgium

My family and I have been going to Belgium since 2000. We spent the first two years in Brussels, then the next two years in the Edegem suburb of Antwerp. I have been going to Antwerp ever since. We have taken the train, the bus and the Airport Express. I have also ridden friend's bikes and ridden in private vehicles as well as done
a great deal of walking. Other than traveling with friends on bike or by private vehicle my preferred modes of transportation in Belgium are walking, the train and the Airport Express.

I have traveled all over the Flemish speaking Northern region known as Flanders from the eastern village of Heist op den Burg to the North Sea coastal village of De Haan with Brugge, Leuven, Sint-Kruis, Brussels, Zaventime, Edegem, Haacht and Antwerp in between. I have experienced the same treatment on public transportation no matter where I have been.

I'm thankful that I have never traveled on the public buses by myself because in all of the times I have been on a bus I've only found one driver who spoke any English. Fortunately, I have always gone with a friend who speaks the language.

We also found that no one spoke English at the ticket counter for the bus line. I would suggest that, if you choose to take the bus that you go with someone who understands the language. If you can't do that, make sure to go with detailed instructions on which routes you are to take.

In Flanders, the name of the bus line is De Lijn. In the French speaking or Southern region of Belgium known as Wallonia the bus line is known as Tec.

I used to take the train from the Brussels Airport. The people are friendly, insistently helpful and usually speak English. It is the main transportation to Brussels and it was easy to use since there is no need to transfer trains.

I switched to the Airport Express run by De Decker van Riet when I moved to Antwerp even though it costs more than the train because I have to transfer trains in Brussels to get to Antwerp. This same company can also take you from the Brussels Airport to cities in the Netherlands.

The Airport Express takes a straight route to the same station, in Antwerp, as the train, with no transfers and my luggage is put under the bus rather than my needing to drag my bags on and off the trains.

When I'm not going to or from the airport, I prefer to take the train between cities and to walk within the cities or villages.

The train line is national, so you can travel all over Belgium on the same train line. At least in Flanders, I have always been able to find someone who speaks English at the ticket counters as well as on the train. I've also been able to get detailed instruction from the ticket counters for specific train transfers I may need to take, and the train platform numbers that I need to take the train from.

The cities and villages are set up for walking and riding bikes, so it's pretty easy to get to most areas by foot or by bike. One of the exceptions is Brussels. The inner part of Brussels is easy to walk. The inner ring road is about nine and one half miles around with huge "you are here" type map billboards stationed around the route. The inner historical part of the city is inside that. However a great deal of the city streets angle out from the inner ring road in rays to a second ring road and is a very long walk from the city center.

Walking in most other areas is a good idea because there are so many places that you would miss otherwise. They are tucked into all kinds of nooks and crannies which require very careful exploration. A lot of places are easy to miss because they aren't obvious or may be disguised by their neighbors or are invisible from certain angles.

For more information on other choices in transportation there is both a website for Flanders and for Wallonia. Both of these websites cover some of the same things like car, limousine, train, boat, RV and bike rentals because the companies are national. But some of the options are only regional, so depending upon which region you're visiting, choose the website appropriate to the region.

For general information on visiting Belgium I would also suggest visiting the specific websites for both the Flemish and the Wallonian regions for helpful information on your trip.

Sources:

http://www.delijn.be/en/index.htm

http://www.infotec.be/index.aspx?PageId=631734023237830544

http://www.b-rail.be/nat/E/

http://www.brusselsairportexpress.com/en/3/

http://www.visitflanders.us/index.php?page=transportation#bycoach

http://www.visitbelgium.com/?page=transportation

http://www.visitflanders.us/index.php?page=introduction

http://www.visitbelgium.com/