Belgium’s Railway Network, The Densest In Europe

Choosing the train is always a good option to comfortably visit this country, which hides more surprises than you can imagine. Thanks to Belgium’s well-cared for rail network, you are guaranteed to reach almost anywhere, with truly admirable punctuality and comfort. Travelers to the train!

Get to Belgium

However, before getting on the Belgian rail network, you have to get to the country, which is very easy. We are referring to the country whose capital is also the capital of Europe, which is why it has a great connection with the rest of the continent.

It can be reached by plane, flying to Brussels and other smaller airports frequented by low cost flights . In addition, Belgium’s location in the northern and central part of Europe means that it has good motorways and motorways that connect it with France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg or Germany. And also, thanks to its stretch of coastline, there are abundant ferries to destinations in Great Britain.

And do not forget that Belgium can also be reached by rail, thanks to various high-speed train connections with other large cities in Europe. So you choose how to travel to Belgian lands.

Getting around the Belgian rail network

So, once we have arrived, our advice is to get a train schedule or always have the SNCB website at hand. This is the most important railway company in Belgium, where, as we already know, there is French-Flemish bilingualism, so that their singlas in the Flemish language are NMBS.

It must be borne in mind that the entire extension of Belgian territory is about 30,500 km², that is, somewhat less than the area of ​​Catalonia. Of course, the population density is very high, so that the populations follow one another at a very short distance from each other. For this reason,  sometimes the routes are very short, which is always very interesting to travel.

Are there high-speed trains on the Belgian rail network?

We are used to traveling by high speed train, so you may be wondering if there are any in Belgium. If they exist. But above all, there are them on the lines that communicate with other neighboring countries, since it is clear that given the distances, as a general rule such infrastructure is not worth it.

In other words, in Belgium, with total comfort, we can enjoy train travel at a more reasonable speed. This is something that allows you to contemplate the landscapes from the window and emulate the travelers of yesteryear.

What to visit in Belgium

Without a doubt, Belgium is familiar with its capital, Brussels. But other sites of undoubted historical appeal are also famous, such as Bruges or Ghent or the university city of Leuven.

There are also well-known sites as linked to cycling as Liège or Bastoña. Although they are not the only Belgian destinations related to sports, in this sense we would also have to talk about Spa and its famous speed circuit.

In addition, there are places that can surprise us enormously, such as the beaches of Ostend or the historic architecture of Tournai. Not to mention going diamond shopping in Antwerp or enjoying rural wonders like Namur and Dinant. And whoever wants to know key scenes of our history, can also go to Waterloo.

In this country you can discover these and many other interesting places, and the vast majority of them are accessible by train. Only with this information that we are going to provide you, we want to show in an obvious way the great density of railways. We have said that Belgium has about 30,500 km². Well, on that surface there are more than 3,500 kilometers of railways.

And if that were not enough, if the train does not arrive somewhere, from the nearest station we can always go along a bike path to our destination. We can’t think of a more environmentally friendly trip than spending a few days touring Belgium by train and bike.