Why come to Leuven?

Leuven, the capital city of Flemish Brabant, is a small university town right on the doorstep of Brussels. It's the kind of place that punches well above its weight, though. It might only have 90,000 souls living within its municipal border, but that border also encloses the oldest and largest university in the Low Countries – the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven – and the largest brewing company in the world – AB InBev of Stella Artois fame.

As a thriving student town, gifted with ancient colleges, ringed by science parks and plagued by hordes of cycling graduates, it could be a Belgian version of Oxford or Cambridge. Just arguably with nicer food, better beer and a thick Flemish accent.

As a visitor, expect a friendly welcome, especially for those partial to a sip or three of Belgium's amber nectar. But while Leuven's big corporate brewer – and its Stella, Leffe and Hoegaarden brands – may dominate the bars and cafés, there's plenty else to distract and savor for the beer connoisseur.

This year the venue is close to the beautiful “Meerdaal woud” a forest and nature reserve crossed by the Dyle river, which contains not only nice walks and cycling routes, but also lovely restaurants and brasseries grouped around the “zoete waters” and two wild-camping spots.

https://www.visitleuven.be/en/see-do
https://www.visitleuven.be/en/leuven-untold-stories
https://visitleuven.be/en/plan-your-visit

Getting to Leuven

By international train (or TGV/HST)

Train to Brussels south (Bruxelles-Midi/Zuid), Transfer to Leuven station (multiple trains per hour).
https://www.b-europe.com/EN 

By international bus

Bus to Brussels (North or South)
Switch to Train to Leuven station (17 min).
https://global.flixbus.com/bus-routes

By plane

Fly to Brussels (not Charleroi or Brussels South!). Take the Train there for 17 minutes to Leuven station. See https://www.brusselsairlines.com/be/en/homepage

If you do choose to fly to Charleroi (Brussels South), it will be a 2 hour train ride to Leuven or rent a car & drive for approximately an hour. See https://www.ryanair.com/

By Bus

Take "Bus 2" at Leuven station, get off at "Heverlee Celestijnenlaan". This is the route of "Bus 2":

And this is where it drops you off at the campus:

For more bus information consult https://www.delijn.be/en/routeplanner/.

By bicycle

There are several bicycle highways to Leuven (Belgium is quite bike friendly).
All information about these highways can be found on this website: https://fietssnelwegen.be/en/bicycle-highways/C3
If you're coming from far: https://eurovelo.com/ 

By Car

E40 > E314 > exit Leuven (N264) > Turn into celestijnenlaan > Domein Arenberg III (follow arrows to QDV Quadrivium).

We prepared direct links for Mappy, Waze, Google Maps and Apple Maps to make it easier to get there and avoid any confusions. 

If the parking spaces on campus are full, there is some overflow capacity in "Gaston Geenslaan 1, Heverlee":

Staying in Leuven

https://www.visitleuven.be/en/accommodation-summary
https://www.visitleuven.be/en/staying-over

Walking tour of Leuven

We prepared suggestions for what to see in

Leuven in one day at https://www.komoot.com/tour/1954661670

Leuven in a few hours: https://www.komoot.com/tour/1956973693

Eating in Leuven

There are a few streets that have too many restaurants to mention:

1. Muntstraat
2. Tiensestraat from Rector De Somerplein
3. Parijsstraat
4. Mechelsestraat
5. Big market

Honorable mentions: 

• Dewerf (students love it) similar: "Bar Stan"or "Het strand".
• Voltaire (bit more fancy), Gainsbourg (Grill), De Hoorn
• Life Bar / Oats day long (Where I take an acai breakfast)
• Domus (brewery , taste the house beers!)
• Raffat (pakistani), Similar "Sud Sud" (Mediteranian), Q'bo (Friendly Mexican ladies)
• Sakura (not cosy but VERY good sushi)
• Inizio (pasta bar, mention Frederik, he is a good friend), Guzzi, Rossi (slow food **michelin**) "Zoff" (zoff has special opening hours, check if they are open).

Beers in Leuven

Squares with many bars.

• Old market: longest bar in europe, Find "Cafe Allé" or "Apero" You must visit the square at lease once.
• Big market: Find "In den engel"
• Mathieu de Layensplein

Honorable mentions

• "Florida" Food bar (more to the edge of Leuven, nice terrace with hot weather)
• OPEK Chill, more alternative atmosphere.
• Irish pub "Thomas Stapleton" 
• Domus (Brewery, taste the house beers)