Going by train and arriving in Kortrijk

Dear future Erasmus students,

It is very easy to travel by train in Belgium: http://www.belgianrail.be/en/Default.aspx

First of all a train ticket here is between two stations. If you need to get from A to C, but need to change the change in B you will buy one ticket for A-C.
Also, the tickets are not made for one specific train. You do not have any train number, seat number or hour on your ticket. You just have the date, the departure station and the arrival station. If you miss your train you can just take the next one.

Here are some nice offers:
If you are under 26 you can buy a Go Pass 1 that costs 6,2 euros between any 2 stations in Belgium. You can buy it online.
http://www.belgianrail.be/en/travel-tickets/tickets/go-pass-1.aspx

If you are under 26 you can pay 52 euros for Go Pass 10 that includes10 trips between any 2 stations in Belgium.
http://www.belgianrail.be/en/travel-tickets/passes-cards/go-pass-10.aspx

If you are over 26 you pay 77 euros for Railcard of 10 trips
http://www.belgianrail.be/en/travel-tickets/passes-cards/rail-pass.aspx

It's most of the times the cheapest to buy a Go Pass 10 than buy a ticket each time, but it depends on how far the destination is and if it is weekend. The Go Pass 10 is simply a ticket that you have to fill in each time before you get on the train and show to the ticket controller.
Always mention if you are under 26 when you buy tickets.

Usually during the holidays there is a one week unlimited travels with 12euros for the ones under 26, so you will be able to see the whole Belgium very very cheap.

If you land on Zaventem-Brussels National Airport you have to take a train to Kortrijk. Besides the train ticket you also have to buy a Diablo Fee (5,25Euros): http://www.belgianrail.be/en/travel-tickets/tickets/diabolo-fee-to-airport.aspx

You can find the timetable of the trains here: http://www.belgianrail.be/jp/sncb-nmbs-routeplanner/query.exe/en
You just have to type that you come from ‘BRUXELLES-NAT-AIRPORT’ and that you travel to ‘KORTRIJK’.

There is usually one direct train every hour, at 13 minutes past but there are also other trains where you have to change in Brussels South or Gent. If you have a big luggage it's best just to take the direct train.

If you land on Charleroi (Brussels South), you can either take the bus to Brussels South (Bruxelles Midi) http://www.charleroi-airport.com/en/acces/shuttle-buses/index.html or the
bus to the railway station of Charleroi and then take the train to Kortrijk http://www.charleroi-airport.com/en/acces/train-bus/index.html .

Public transport – Bus and train (Charleroi and Brussels)- With bus A you can travel every 30 minutes between Charleroi Airport and the centre of Charleroi, the last stop is the main railway station of Charleroi (Charleroi-Sud). This stop is located south of Charleroi’s city centre. A journey with bus A takes 15 to 20 minutes, the price is € 6.00 for a single one-way ticket. The bus stop in front of the terminal is called Gosselies Airport. On Saturdays and Sundays the bus runs once an hour.

https://www.airportsineurope.com/airports/charleroi-airport/

Another option when arriving to Charleroi is to take the Flibco bus (https://www.flibco.com/en#/booking) to Gent and from there to go by train to Kortrijk. The price varies between 5 and 15 euros, depending when you take the bus and when you buy the ticket. Check the website for more information.