# Leuven The Gothic town hall, the library tower, the Great Beguinage and the Oude Markt of the university city, 25 minutes by train from Brussels. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/leuven · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Leuven is the shortest day trip from Brussels and the one that surprises most people who did not have it on the map. It is home to the oldest Catholic university in the world still in operation, founded in 1425, and you can tell: the city has a Gothic town hall of stone lacework, a library with a history of wars, a beguinage that is a whole district and a square that is a single terrace. Half a day is enough; a whole day is enjoyable. ## How do you get there from Brussels? By train, about 25 minutes from the central Brussels stations, on the line towards Liège; from Zaventem airport, about fifteen minutes on a direct train. The station is a fifteen-minute walk from the Grote Markt, in a straight line along the Bondgenotenlaan. By car it is about 25 km on the E40, but the centre of Leuven is closed to through traffic and parking is expensive. The train is quicker and more comfortable. ## What to see in a day? Start at the Grote Markt, in front of the Gothic town hall, with 236 statues on its facade; the interior is closed for works until 2029. Walk to Ladeuze Square to climb the University Library tower, burned in 1914 and in 1940 and rebuilt both times. Have lunch near the square and walk down the Naamsestraat to the Great Beguinage, a red-brick district crossed by the river Dijle. On the way back, finish at the Oude Markt with a beer on a terrace. If you have time left, M Leuven has early Flemish painting and contemporary art, and is closed on Wednesdays. On a Saturday you can book the Stella Artois brewery tour, as it was born here. If you are going to enter the library and M Leuven, the ILUVLeuven Ticket at €19 saves you money. ## Where to eat? Domus, two minutes from the Grote Markt, is a brasserie with Flemish cooking and its own brewery since 1985; it is open Tuesday to Sunday, without a break at the weekend. On the Oude Markt and around it there are dozens of bars and cheap places to eat, designed for students. ## Where to stay? Leuven is a quiet base for seeing Belgium by train and is fifteen minutes from the airport, which makes it good for a first or last night. Martin's Klooster is a four-star in a building about 500 years old beside the river. The Leuven City Hostel, next to Ladeuze Square, has family rooms for four from €93. ## How to combine it? Leuven combines well with Brussels: morning here and afternoon in the capital, or the other way round. Also with Mechelen, half an hour away by train, or as a last stop before your flight, with your suitcase in the station left-luggage. ## Dónde está - Zonas: Beers of Belgium, Historic bookshops and libraries of Europe - Cerca: Mechelen (a 22.6 km), Brussels (a 24.7 km), Lier (a 29.5 km), Waterloo (a 30.5 km) ## Qué hacer - **The Grote Markt and the Gothic town hall** (30 min · All ages · Free): Leuven's town hall, from the fifteenth century, is one of the masterpieces of Flemish Gothic: a facade of stone lacework with turrets and niches full of statues of saints, artists and figures from the city. Opposite is St Peter's Church. Inside, in 2029 The interior is closed for repairs and refurbishment, and Visit Leuven expects it to reopen to the public in 2029. Meanwhile, its website has 360-degree photos of the rooms. The facade can be seen all the same, and at night it is lit up. - **The University Library and its tower** (1 h · All ages · Tower €10 · €8 reduced · €5 students · free under 12 · library with audio guide €5 · ILUVLeuven €19): Leuven University Library, on the Ladeuze square, was built after the First World War, with American help, to replace the one the German army burned in 1914; it was set on fire again in 1940. Its tower has a carillon and an exhibition on that history, and at the top, a view over the whole city. Tickets The tower and its exhibition cost €10, €8 reduced and €5 for students; under-12s do not pay. The library with an audio guide, €5. If you are also going to see M Leuven, the ILUVLeuven Ticket combines the library, tower, a city walk and M Leuven or Park Abbey for €19. There are carillon concerts on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday afternoons. With children At weekends and during holidays there is a family visit to the library, for €5 or €10 with the tower. - **The Great Beguinage (Groot Begijnhof)** (1 h · All ages · Free): Leuven's Great Beguinage is a whole district, not a courtyard: cobbled streets, red-brick houses from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a Gothic church and bridges over the arms of the river Dijle. Beguines lived there until the twentieth century; today it is a university residence, which restored it, and a World Heritage Site along with the other Flemish beguinages. The walk It is ten minutes' walk south of the Grote Markt, along the Naamsestraat. You enter freely: walk the streets without hurrying, cross the bridges and leave by the other end. It is one of the quietest corners of Belgium. - **The Oude Markt, Europe's longest bar** (1 h · Adults and teenagers; with children, better by day · Free): Two minutes from the Grote Markt, the Oude Markt is a rectangular square surrounded by stepped-gable houses in which almost every ground floor is a bar. It is called Europe's longest bar, and with more than fifty thousand students in the city, you can see why. When to go In mid-afternoon, for a beer on a sunny terrace with the locals. At night, especially from Monday to Thursday during term time, it is student territory. In summer, when they leave, the square belongs to tourists and families. - **M Leuven, the city's art museum** (1 h 30 · Adults and teenagers · Included in the €19 ILUVLeuven Ticket): M Leuven is Leuven's art museum, two minutes from the Grote Markt: a contemporary building joined to a neoclassical house, with fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Flemish painting and sculpture alongside exhibitions of present-day art. Opening hours and admission Open every day except Wednesday, from 11:00 to 18:00, and on Thursday until 22:00. It is included in the €19 ILUVLeuven Ticket, which adds the University Library with its tower and a walk around the city. Check its website for temporary exhibitions and the single-entry price. - **Stella Artois brewery tour** (Adults; comfortable footwear, the route is 1.3 km · About €17.50 with tasting and gift, according to Visit Leuven): Leuven is the city of Stella Artois: the factory, one of the great ones of the AB InBev group, is on the Aarschotsesteenweg, north of the station. Visit Leuven sells guided tours of the brewery on set dates, which end with a tasting and a gift. How to book Only with prior booking on the Visit Leuven website, where the calendar appears: they are usually on Saturdays, with a few more dates during the week. According to Visit Leuven, the tour costs about €17.50 with tasting and gift; confirm the price when you book. The route adds 1.3 km on foot around the factory: wear comfortable footwear. ## Dónde comer - **Domus** (Restaurant, Leuven · Tiensestraat, €€). Qué pedir: a Flemish house dish with one of its beers, which arrive through a copper pipe from the brewery opposite - **Lukemieke** (Restaurant, Leuven · Vlamingenstraat, €). Qué pedir: the vegetarian dish of the day, with soup ## By plane: Flight to Brussels and train to Leuven Leuven is a quarter of an hour by train from Brussels-Zaventem airport, which has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities. It is a good first or last night of the trip: quiet, cheaper than the capital and with direct trains to the terminal. From Charleroi, bus to Brussels and train. ### Dónde dormir if you're flying - **Martin's Klooster** (Hotel): A four-star hotel in a building about 500 years old beside the river Dijle, with turrets, oak beams and leaded windows, five minutes from the Grote Markt and as many from the Great Beguinage. A new extension, the Gasthuis, houses the restaurant and meeting rooms. The rooms One hundred and thirty-five rooms that keep details of the old building with contemporary decoration. All have a seating area, a whirlpool bath, wifi and air conditioning. The hotel has a small bar, an orangery and the Curation restaurant, with its own bar. Getting there From Leuven station, about twenty minutes on foot through the centre, or by bus to the Grote Markt. Leuven is a city to explore on foot and by bike. - **Leuven City Hostel** (Hostel, desde 22 € / bed): A hostel a minute from the Ladeuze square, where the University Library is, and ten from the Grote Markt. It is the budget bed in the centre of Leuven. The rooms Beds from €22, double rooms from €67 and family rooms for four from €93 per night, according to its website. Reception is open from 8:00 to 20:00; if you arrive later, check-in is by key box. There is a free enclosed bike shed. Getting there The station is about ten minutes' walk away. By car, parking in the centre is difficult and expensive: the hostel recommends the car parks on the outskirts. ### Servicios - **Leuven station and the train from Brussels**: About 25 minutes from Brussels · direct trains from Zaventem airport · 15-minute walk to the Grote Markt ## Car-free: Leuven by train and on foot Leuven is the shortest day trip from Brussels and the easiest without a car: about 25 minutes by train and a compact centre that can be walked from the station. Presupuesto orientativo: 80–170 € por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir without a car - **Martin's Klooster** (Hotel): A four-star hotel in a building about 500 years old beside the river Dijle, with turrets, oak beams and leaded windows, five minutes from the Grote Markt and as many from the Great Beguinage. A new extension, the Gasthuis, houses the restaurant and meeting rooms. The rooms One hundred and thirty-five rooms that keep details of the old building with contemporary decoration. All have a seating area, a whirlpool bath, wifi and air conditioning. The hotel has a small bar, an orangery and the Curation restaurant, with its own bar. Getting there From Leuven station, about twenty minutes on foot through the centre, or by bus to the Grote Markt. Leuven is a city to explore on foot and by bike. - **Leuven City Hostel** (Hostel, desde 22 € / bed): A hostel a minute from the Ladeuze square, where the University Library is, and ten from the Grote Markt. It is the budget bed in the centre of Leuven. The rooms Beds from €22, double rooms from €67 and family rooms for four from €93 per night, according to its website. Reception is open from 8:00 to 20:00; if you arrive later, check-in is by key box. There is a free enclosed bike shed. Getting there The station is about ten minutes' walk away. By car, parking in the centre is difficult and expensive: the hostel recommends the car parks on the outskirts. ### Servicios - **Leuven station and the train from Brussels**: About 25 minutes from Brussels · direct trains from Zaventem airport · 15-minute walk to the Grote Markt ## As a family: Leuven with children Leuven is small, flat and quiet, and works well with children in half a day. The best for them is the library tower, free up to age 12, and running through the streets of the Great Beguinage. ### What works best The University Library tower, with a family visit at weekends The Great Beguinage, free of cars The Grote Markt and its town hall full of statues ### Where to sleep Family room for four at the Leuven City Hostel ### Where to eat Domus, with a kitchen all afternoon at the weekend ### Bear in mind The Oude Markt at night belongs to students The town hall is closed inside until 2029 ### Qué hacer as a family - The Grote Markt and the Gothic town hall - The University Library and its tower - The Great Beguinage (Groot Begijnhof) ## With teenagers: Leuven with teenagers Leuven is one of the oldest university cities in Europe and is full of young people: for teenagers it helps them imagine studying abroad. ### What works best The library tower, with its story of two fires M Leuven, on Thursday evening A stroll around the Oude Markt by day ### Where to sleep Leuven City Hostel ### Where to eat Domus ### Bear in mind The Stella Artois tour is for adults ### Qué hacer with teenagers - The University Library and its tower - The Oude Markt, Europe's longest bar - M Leuven, the city's art museum ## Consejos ### Go on a term-time day From September to June, with the students, the city has more life. ### The ILUVLeuven Ticket Library with tower, a city walk and M Leuven or Park Abbey for €19. ### Last night before the flight The train to the airport takes a quarter of an hour. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How long does it take from Brussels to Leuven? About 25 minutes by train from the centre and about 15 from the airport. ### What is there to see in Leuven in half a day? The Grote Markt with the town hall, the library tower, the Great Beguinage and the Oude Markt. ### Can you visit Leuven town hall? Not inside, until 2029. The facade can be seen from the square. ### Can you visit the Stella Artois brewery? Yes, on set dates, with a booking on the Visit Leuven website. ### Is it worth staying overnight in Leuven? If you are flying from Zaventem, yes: the airport is fifteen minutes away by train.