Paris to Brussels by private car — door to door, no train

The Thalys does Paris to Brussels in an hour and twenty-two minutes and, for one person booking two months out, nothing beats it. The picture changes for a group, for late bookings and for anyone travelling with luggage or to an address outside the ring: the fare is per person and rises steeply close to departure, and Brussels-Midi to your hotel is a taxi at each end.

By road it is 310 kilometres and three and a quarter hours, from your door in Paris to your door in Brussels, at one price for the whole vehicle that does not move whether you book in March or the night before.

Distance

310 km

Drive time

3 h 15 each way

Day length

One way or return

From

€1,180

When the car beats the train

Four people and up, almost always. A late booking, almost always. An early morning meeting where the first Thalys does not get you there in time, always. A journey with real luggage, or with a stop on the way, or to an address in Waterloo, Tervuren or the airport corridor rather than the centre, always.

Where the train wins is a solo traveller, booked well ahead, going centre to centre. We will tell you so if you ask; it is a better use of both our time than quoting you for something you should not book.

What is on the way

The route runs up the A1 past Lille, which is worth ninety minutes if you have them — a Flemish grand place, the Palais des Beaux-Arts and the best food market in northern France. Waterloo, with the Lion’s Mound and the 1815 memorial, is fifteen minutes short of Brussels and is a common stop on this run. Ghent is forty-five minutes west of Brussels if you want two cities in one journey.

Business travel and the paperwork

We are a licensed French VTC operator and every journey is invoiced properly, with the SIRET and licence number on the document, which is what your finance department will ask for. Payment is by card or bank transfer, and a single invoice can cover a return or a series of journeys across several days.

What makes this journey different

• One fixed price for up to 7 passengers, not per seat
• Door to door, including addresses outside the ring where taxis are scarce
• Ghent or Antwerp added on the same corridor at no structural change
• Airport runs: CDG to Brussels, or Brussels Airport to Paris
• Invoiced by a licensed French VTC operator, suitable for business expenses

How the day runs

1. Any timePick-up in Paris

   Your hotel, home, office, or CDG, Orly and Beauvais airports.

2. +1 h 45Optional stop in Lille

   The Grand Place and the market, if the schedule allows it.

3. +3 h 00Optional stop at Waterloo

   The Lion’s Mound and the 1815 battlefield memorial.

4. +3 h 15Brussels

   Dropped at your hotel, office or Brussels Airport.

What the price includes

• The whole vehicle, not a seat: four people pay what one person pays.
• All motorway tolls and fuel, on both legs of the journey.
• Your driver’s waiting time at every stop, with no meter running.
• Parking charges at the sites you visit.
• Baby, child and booster seats, fitted free on request.
• Flight tracking and free waiting time if your plane lands late.
• Bottled water, phone chargers and Wi-Fi on board.
• A written invoice, issued by a licensed French VTC operator.

Frequently asked questions

Other journeys out of Paris