Leuven
EUROPE · FIESTA SIDE
A 600-year-old university town with Belgium's most flamboyant Gothic town hall and a square of 40-odd bars, locals call it Europe's longest.
The plan
Leuven Town Hall
A 15th-century Gothic wedding cake of 236 statues and pinnacles. Guided interior tours run most afternoons.
📍 Map & photos · €€ · Website ↗
Great Beguinage
A UNESCO-listed village of brick courtyards and little bridges south of the centre, now student housing. Free.
M Leuven
The city museum mixes old masters with contemporary shows, and has a rooftop terrace over the old town.
📍 Map & photos · €€ · Website ↗
Stella Artois brewery tour
A working AB InBev megabrewery on the edge of town, ending in tastings. Book online well in advance.
📍 Map & photos · €€ · Website ↗
St Peter's Church
On the Grote Markt, holding Dirk Bouts' Last Supper altarpiece and a rare surviving Gothic rood screen.
📍 Map & photos · €€
Getting there
Train from Brussels
Twenty-five minutes by frequent IC train. Leuven station is a ten-minute walk from the Grote Markt.
Fly Brussels (BRU)
The airport is only about 15 minutes away by direct train, making Leuven an easy first or last night.
From Antwerp or Ghent
Antwerp is roughly 50 minutes and Ghent about an hour, both with straightforward rail connections.
When to go
Best time to go
September to June, while term is on and the Oude Markt is properly busy
Cheapest months
July and August, when the students leave and hotel rates soften
Priciest & busiest
Graduation weeks in late June, and the December market period
If you've got one day
Morning
Grote Markt for the Town Hall's facade, then inside St Peter's for the Bouts Last Supper altarpiece.
Late morning
M Leuven for the collection and the rooftop, then a browse round the university quarter's bookshops.
Lunch
Stoofvlees or a croque in a Grote Markt cafe, or something cheap and fast in the student streets.
Afternoon
Walk south to the Great Beguinage, then on through Arenberg Castle park along the Dijle river.
Evening
Start at Domus for house-brewed beer, then work your way along the Oude Markt terraces.
Nearby & day trips
Brussels by train
Twenty-five minutes west, so it is easy to base yourself in Leuven and day-trip into the capital.
Park Abbey
A largely intact 12th-century Norbertine abbey just southeast of town, with ponds, a mill and a museum.
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