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Railpass holders may ride Thalys trains, provided that their railpass covers the entire ride. Eurail, Europass, and Eurail Select passes (covering the entire ride) are valid. Belgian, Holland, France, and Germany Single-Country Passes are not valid.
However, railpass holders must pay a 15 Euro railpass-holder reservation fee to ride Thalys trains. Several travelers have reported difficulty making this special type of reservation, as seats in this catagory often sell out. Make your Thalys reservations early in your trip to avoid this problem. You can specify that you accept "Standby Seating" - which gets you on train, but does not guarentee you a seat.
If you cannot get a reservation, or your railpass does not cover Thalys trains, or you wish to avoid the Thalys reservation fee, use the following table to find an alternative to each Thalys route.
Note: Many of the listed alternatives include TGV trains. While TGV trains also require reservations, the quantity of "railpass holder seats" on TGV trains is not capacity-controlled. You can purchase a TGV reservation without telling the ticket agent that you are using a railpass instead of a regular ticket, although showing the agent your railpass helps agents understand why you do not want to purchase a ticket with your TGV reservation.
| Thalys Route | Alternative Route | Mandatory Reservation Fees on Alternative Route |
| Between Paris and Brussels | ||
| Thalys has a monopoly on direct service between Paris and Brussels. Alternative #1 (cheapest & easiest): Transfer at Lille-Flandres (France); and transfer again at Gent-Sint-Pieters (Belgium) or Tournai (Belgium). TGV trains run between Paris and Lille-Flandres. Regional (no reservation required) trains connect Lille-Flandres to Brussels, though you will need to change trains in either Gent-Sint-Pieters or Tournai. This connection operates every 1 or 2 hours, total travel time is 2:30 - 3:00. To find these connections is the online schedules, enter "Lille" as the VIA city. Alternative #2: Transfer at Lille, France between TGV trains. TGV trains run between Paris and Lille-Europe, between Paris and Lille-Flandres, and between Lille-Europe and Brussels. You can walk from Lille-Flandres to Lille-Europe in 10 minutes. This connection operates 6x per day, total travel time varies between 1:49 and 2:40 (depending on length of layover in Lille). To find these connections is the online schedules, enter "Lille" as the VIA city. Alternative #3: Transfer at Paris CDG Airport. TGV Trains run between Paris CDG Airport and Brussels, RER trains (free with railpass) run between CDG Airport and downtown Paris. This connection operates 5x per day, total travel time is 2:40. These connections do not appear in the online schedules. |
4 Euros per domestic (Paris - Lille) TGV train; 10 Euros per International (Lille or CDG to Brussels) TGV Train | |
| Between Paris and Amsterdam (via Brussels) | ||
| See above for info between Paris and Brussels. Hourly direct IC trains connect Brussels and Amsterdam. |
None between Brussels and Amsterdam | |
| Between Paris and Cologne (via Brussels) | ||
| See above for info between Paris and Brussels. Regular fast trains (marked with a "D" in schedules) connect Brussels and Cologne every 2 hours. |
None between Brussels and Cologne | |
| Between Brussels and Amsterdam | ||
| Hourly direct IC trains connect Brussels and Amsterdam. | None | |
| Between Brussels and Cologne | ||
| Regular fast trains (marked with a "D" in schedules) connect Brussels and Cologne every 2 hours. | None | |
| Between Brussels and Geneva (via Paris) | ||
| See above for info between Paris and Brussels. TGV trains connect Paris and Geneva approximately every 2 hours. |
10 Euros per International (Paris to Geneva) TGV Train | |
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