Leuven

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Leuven
Leuven

Leuven is a city of about 90 000 inhabitants in Flemish Brabant, Belgium. It's a true university town in which the town is more alive during the academic year (end of September till June), although there are a lot of events in Summer (Beleuvenissen every Friday night of July, Hapje Tapje in the first weekend of August and Marktrock around August 15th). The university is the oldest catholic university around since 1425.

[edit] Understand

Leuven contains two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Groot Begijnhof is part of the Flemish Béguinages. The Belfry on St Peter's Church is a part of the Belfries of Belgium and France. The University buildings and the Historic Centre are also on Belgium's tentative list to become a World Heritage site in it's own right

[edit] Get in

Leuven can be conveniently reached by car. The E40 highway runs from Brussels via Leuven to Liège, whereas the E314 highway links Leuven with the province of Limburg and with Maastricht and Aachen, at about 1 hour distance.

Leuven's railway station is one of the busiest of Belgium. There are frequent trains to Brussels (18 minutes), the airport (13 minutes), Ghent (1 hour), Antwerp (50 minutes), Mechelen (20 minutes), Liege (1 hour), Bruges (1 hour 30 minutes), the Belgian coast (2 hours) or Mons (1 hour 30 minutes). This station has a twice hourly connection with Brussels National Airport at Zaventem (13 minutes).

[edit] Get around

[edit] Public transportation

The public transport company De Lijn has a number of bus lines through Leuven. Centre of their network is the Train Station and the stop at the Fochplein. Since distances are not that big, you won't really need public transport unless you're going to Meerdaalwoud, Heverleebos, Campus Arenberg' or the hospital Gasthuisberg.

[edit] On foot

Best method to discover Leuven. Most places of interest are in the centre of the city and lay only a couple of minutes from eachother.

[edit] Bicycle

The city has many special areas for cyclers and most - but not all (beware of police controls) - 1-way roads can be accessed in both ways for cycles. It's very easy and comfortable. Make sure to lock your bike to a fixed object or the bike will be stolen, it's a sort of a sport under students.

[edit][add listing] See

  • Gothic City Hall
  • University Library
  • Lakenhal, administrative centre of K.U.Leuven
  • Beguinage , UNESCO world heritage
  • Park abbey
  • Collegium Trilingue
  • St.Peter's Church
  • Castle of Arenberg
  • British Military Cemetery De Jacht
  • Oude Markt / Old Market
  • Kruidtuin / Botanical Garden

[edit][add listing] Do

  • Visit Inbev's main Belgian beer factory (Vaartstraat 94, ph 0032 (0)16 247 111, fax 0032 (0)16 247 497), which produces such famous names as Stella Artois, Vieux Temps and Leffe Radieuse.
  • Make a walk in Meerdaalwoud or Heverleebos, the green lungs of the city in the suburb Heverlee easily reachable by bike or bus. Many good walking paths. Some parts of the forests have never been taken in use by men.

[edit] Learn

[edit][add listing] Buy

  • The Diestsestraat is the most important shopping street in Leuven. It has been recently changed to be for pedestrians only for the total length of the street. This street also has two small shopping malls, one of them housing the Kinepolis movie theatres.
  • The Bondgenotenlaan also features a lot of shops, but is also the road between the railwaystation area and the centre.

[edit][add listing] Eat

  • There are many good eateries in the Muntstraat, very different styles from classical French Belgian cuisine to Mexican and Japanese.
  • The area around the Oude Markt (Old Market) and Parijsstraat has many restaurants and bars, the Old Market is sometimes jokingly called the longest bar in Europe.

[edit][add listing] Drink

  • Domus small homebrewery and tavern, the beer they brew is only sold there for consumption. .
  • Old Market (Old Market) with over 30 bars.
  • The area around the Tiensestraat, where there are bars owned by student organisations (Huis der Rechten for the law students, Politika for the political scientists, Pavlov for the psychology students, Dulci for the economics students, Fak Letteren for the arts students and Délibéré for the industrial engineers) and other bars filled with young people ( LaPaz, The Seven Oaks, Ron Blacks).

[edit][add listing] Sleep

[edit] Budget

  • The only youth hostel in Leuven. It's very modern and new, with a bar, a lounge, a terras in summer, ... From €17 per night, [1].
  • Vrienden op de Fiets, 2 adresses for members making a cycling or walking tour through Belgium, [2].

[edit] Splurge

[edit] Get out

Attend the nearby Rock Werchter music festival in late June/early July.

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