8 essentials: what to see and do in Leuven (Belgium) in 1 day

During your sightseeing trip through Flanders en Belgium maybe you will get to Leuven attracted by the possibility of seeing his famous gothic town hall,

Its façade is very famous, one of the most spectacular of this architectural style that you can see in this Belgian region.

Or perhaps with the intention of enjoying the great university atmosphere that is lived in this city during most of the year.

Or attracted by fame like beer capital of Belgium, which has its greatest exponent in the Oude Markt square, a hub for students and visitors to enjoy a craft beer on one of its always busy terraces.

In any case, I will tell you that the Leuven sightseeing tour It will bring you other pleasant surprises, with some really interesting corners.

In order to plan your trip, below you have a tourist guide to visit Leuven, and I will tell you what you can see in this Flemish city.

The best things to see and do in Leuven

Very near BrusselsAt the outset you should know that Leuven can arrive by train in just over half an hour.

And if you go directly from the airport of the Belgian capital, as was the case during my trip, it will barely take you a quarter of an hour to find yourself in Leuven.

From its train station you can walk to the Plaza Mayor along the shopping street Bondgenotenlaan, where you will see beautiful facades of buildings, which were rebuilt after the World War I in its original architectural style.

University Library in Leuven

On the way to Plaza Mayor, on the left you will find the enormous square where the majestic building of the Leuven University Library.

Keep in mind that Leuven It is the most important university city in Belgium, which may explain why it has such an impressive building as the headquarters of its library.

Of course, as a curiosity I will tell you that it is a building built with North American financing after the previous library had been destroyed during the World War I.

Built in the Flemish Renaissance style, in various corners of the current university library building you will find traces of the collaboration of the United States.

From the top of the tower you can see some good panoramic views of the city of Leuven; I had to go up to it for the next time I visit this flamenco city.

M-Museum Leuven

From the library, on the way to the Plaza Mayor you have the building M-Museum Leuven, an architectural mix of classical style and contemporary art.

The collection you can also visit combines ancient works with 19th century art.

Leuven Gothic Town Hall

In the Mayor's Square You find what, without a doubt, is the great architectural work to see in Leuven.

From the mid-15th century, the building of the Leuven town hall It is an impressive example of style flowery gothic.

The most outstanding corner of this architectural complex is the so-called front house, Front of St. Peter's Church.

Its façade will impress you with its spectacular collection of 236 statues mounted on its niches.

This, without a doubt, is going to be one of the images that will remain on your retina after the Leuven sightseeing tour.

St. Peter's Church in Leuven

In front of the town hall building you will also be struck by the St. Peter's Church. to the point that, due to its dimensions, it steals some of its prominence.

Of late Gothic style, the St. Peter's Church It is not a very old building since it began to be built in 1425 in the place where there was a Romanesque church with two round towers.

The current temple of much larger dimensions was built on top of this building.

Curiously, you will see that it does not have any tower, except for a small date on the transept, which was installed when the fallen roof was rebuilt during the Second World War.

In the initial project it was planned to build some tall towers, but the instability of the ground did not allow it to be carried out.

For their part, the Romanesque towers fell due to a fire in the mid-15th century.

When you enter the interior of Saint Peter's church You will notice its great luminosity thanks to the large stained glass windows that are distributed throughout the building and the white color of the interior decoration.

Surely the enormous and very baroque wooden pulpit, but also the various artworks which are displayed in the museum area that extends along the ambulatory.

Specifically, the most notable work is the painting of The Last Supper of primitive flamenco Dirk boutsOf 1468.

The St. Peter's church hours They are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 16,40:11 p.m.; Sundays and holidays, from 16,30 a.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.; It is closed on Wednesdays.

Oude Markt square in Leuven

Behind the Leuven main square There is a large rectangular square that is considered “the longest bar counter in the world".

This is explained because, except for a university building in the square, a succession of bars and restaurants with their respective terraces are located around the square.

You can imagine the atmosphere it has during the most critical moments of the university course.

La Oude Markt square is the best representation of the long Leuven brewing tradition, a city that in the 800th century had almost XNUMX brewing establishments.

Now in the region of Bravante-Flamenco There are 30 small factories that make up to 250 different types of craft beer.

And on your getaway to Leuven you can also visit the factory indr, the second largest in the world, where they produce the famous beer Stella Artois.

University colleges in Leuven

In your walk through Leuven you will be able to see various colleges and university buildings, since there are several that are distributed throughout the city center.

To highlight the Papal College (Paulcollege), building that in 1523 the Pope Hadrian VI established as housing for poor theology students.

Rebuilt in 1775, it is now a classical style building featuring the lions on the main entrance staircase to the school.

Views of Leuven from the University Pavilion

Another building worth mentioning is the University Pavilion, current headquarters of rectorate.

The original building was built in 1327 in Gothic style, but later, at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, it had to be rebuilt after a fire.

From its upper floor you have beautiful views of the Leuven main square.

Grand Beguinage of Louvain

Now, the great discovery of my trip to Leuven was the Great Beguinage, an enclave where you will truly feel transported to the Middle Ages.

Its origins date back to the year 1205, and it is a place where blessed women lived known as beguines.

El beguinage It became a small walled town where more than 300 homes were grouped together for these women, who had a vow of chastity, although not poverty.

This declared corner Heritage awarded by the Unesco together with the others beguinages of Belgium, currently it is a place of residence for teachers and students of the University of Louvain.