Paris to Vlissingen on Sunday July 21,2012

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Hello-

I am a Canadian resident (my father lives in the Netherlands) and I want to travel from Paris to Vlissingen with one adult and three children (7,9,12 at time of travel). What can you recommend for the fastest most economical option? We may be travelling from Vlissingen to Amsterdam approx two weeks later but I am a not certain of that leg of the trip yet.

Thank you in advance for any advice you may have!

July 21, 2012? Maybe you meant 2013?

Anyway, since there is no direct train from Paris to Vlissingen you'll to make change and here you have two options: a) make one change in Rotterdam (high-speed train Thalys Paris-Rotterdam and local dutch trains from Rotterdam to Vlissinge) or b) make two changes (high-speed train Paris-Brussels, then train from Brussels to Roosendal and finally Roosendal-Vlissingen). Both options roughly take around four and a half hours and will cost pretty much the same in total
Regarding most economical option it makes sense to consider purchasing in advance discounted tickets from Paris to either Rotterdam (or, if you go with option b - Brussels), that way you'll have a promo fare tickets for the most expensive part of the route. Tickets can be bought via official tgv-europe website*, sale is open for up to 92 days in advance, so if you check now dates in January or early February you can see  how cheap the tickets can be (Paris-Brussles start from 25 euro, while Paris-Rotterdam from 29 euro), for July you can count on more or less similar discounted fares.
Next, when you already in Brussels or Rotterdam second ticket till Vlissingen, full fare standard ticket price for Rotterdam-Vlissingen bought in Netherlands is € 18.60, full fare international ticket Brussels-Roosendal-Vlissingen is € 29,60

In regards to Vlissingen-Amsterdam (or any other rail journey within Netherlands) we can just remind you about special offer from Dutch Railways for passengers with children - Railrunner. On the same ns.nl website you'll find also all the other necessary info (timetables, fares etc.) when traveling in Netherlands

* tgv-europe website is a bit tricky, so in the beginning when on website they will ask you this:

Make sure you click on "Continue on tgv-europe.com", that way you won't be redirected to North American reseller website. Or, as an alternatively, from the very start you can simply click "Other Countries" at the bottom left without clicking on "America"

Thank you so much - yes 2013! I appreciate all the information. It confirms my previous research but I had been wondering if there was other options/tips I had been overlooking. Thanks again - great forum!

if there was other options/tips I had been overlooking.

Well, due to geographical reasons it's difficult to count on other means of public transportation besides trains/buses. Faster train option probably more convenient when traveling with children, but if you want it's possible to consider bus options as well, like taking EuroLines bus from Paris to Breda (though it's hardly will be cheaper and definitely longer than high-speed Thalys train) and then train/bus to Vlissingen   
Also if you want something more exotic, then you can check out ferry route from Breskens to Vlissingen, but again it's not going to be cheaper or faster

these are your other options; NOte that NOW nothing can yet be booked-only 2-3 month before and prices go UP on 1/1-NL and 1/2-13=BE-with a few %.
1. Thalys -1/day direct to BRUGGE or ev 30 mins via Brussel and option for ''any BE=-station''-trains BRU-BRUgge run 2/3 per hour and are unreserved. Good way to also see Brugge!
In Brugge bus Veolia/deLIJN runs ev hour to BRESKENS- in 80 mins- buy ticket from driver, about 5/6 eur each.
This bus ends at the ferry-free winter- 2/3 eur/pp summertime, with nice views as you approach Vlissingen- takes 15/20 mins.
This way is about same time as Thalys via Rotterdam but a lot cheaper.
2. ONLY sat-sun there is a direct bus by veolia-Connexion-ev 2 hrs, to MIDDELBURG, but not from the main station in Gent. Find tiems via 9292.nl=our national routeplanner. Likely better to also use a bus as Vlissingen train is far from town-and there are 4-6 buses/hr from Mbg.
3. as per dec the slower hourly benelux trains will NOT run anymore-that means from Antwerpen a slow all stops local to Roosendaal and then change-NL times will also change a lot from then. You can cut off by using the bus from Antwerpen delIJN to PUTTE grens=Moretuslei-and change to the Dutch bus veolia to bergen op Zoom-and catch the very same train as from Roosendaal.
These are all local buses-pay driver for tickets.

1. Thalys -1/day direct to BRUGGE or ev 30 mins via Brussel and option for ''any BE=-station''-trains BRU-BRUgge run 2/3 per hour and are unreserved. Good way to also see Brugge!
In Brugge bus Veolia/deLIJN runs ev hour to BRESKENS- in 80 mins- buy ticket from driver, about 5/6 eur each.
This bus ends at the ferry-free winter- 2/3 eur/pp summertime, with nice views as you approach Vlissingen- takes 15/20 mins. This way is about same time as Thalys via Rotterdam but a lot cheaper.

Arrivans, this options seems like a good one, slightly more hassle with extra changes, but, imho, totally worth it because of Brugge and a ferry

Again thank you for the help!