TRAIN STATION: Leuven [IC]
ABOUT THE TOWN:
Large university town (pop. 88,000), twenty kilometres east of Brussels. You will need a doctorate before you can master the one-way system, so try to arrive by train and do the rest by muscle power. It was here that the Counts of Louvain declared themselves the Dukes of Brabant in the 12th century, a moment of historic importance for Europe. The University was founded in 1425 and is still a centre of influence in Flemish political life. The University's acrimonious separation from its French-speaking half in 1968 threatened the stability of the nation in no small way. The Grote Markt is astonishing at night, its recently cleaned, ornately carved Gothic town hall and St. Pieter's cathedral carefully lit. The city's simply named arterial road all spread out from here.
HOTEL TIPS:
Hotel tips: the Royale*, 6 Martelarenplein (T 016 22 12 52; F 016 29 52 52; www.laroyale.be) and the Mille Colonnes*, 5 Martelarenplein (T 016 22 86 21; F 016 22 04 34; http://millecolonnes.telenet.be) are both big and basic but bang opposite the station and cheap. Slightly up-market is Jackson's**, 110 Brusselsestraat (T 016 20 24 92; F 016 23 13 29; www.hoteljacksons.be) - no relation - a typical small town hotel just off the road from the station to the centre.
PUBS:
BLAUWE KATER
1 Hallengang
At the end of a blind alley off the street that becomes Naamsestraat. The "Blue Cats" is a noisy, scruffy jazz and blues café that some will loathe. Its list of 65 beers is strong on regionals and Trappists. You pay a bit over the odds for beer in order to listen to the most extraordinary collection of blues and jazz recordings this side of Chicago, some of astounding rarity. Live gigs are irregular and usually crowded. No food. There are a few seats in the alley. |
| Daily | 19.00 onwards |
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DOMUS
8 Tiensestraat
T 016 20 14 49
On one of the main streets that branch off the Sint Pieter's roundabout in the town centre. When it opened in the mid 1980s this was Belgium's first brewpub in decades. The now largely disused brewhouse can be at the back of the extensive courtyard. The bars are large, modern, split-level and loungey. The beer list of 55 includes the remaining house brew and the ones that others brew for them. Service is slick, though the gargantuan snack menu (11.00-24.00) leans towards the mundane. The restaurant menu (11.30-22.30) is a bit better. American breakfast is served until noon. Occasional live music in the courtyard includes Sunday afternoon concerts between May and September.
CLOSED MONDAY |
| Fri & Sat | 09.00 - 02.00 |
| Other days | 09.00 - 01.00 |
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UNIVERSUM
26 Herbert Hooverplein
T 016 20 07 50
This great barn of a place, loosely based on a 15th century building, five hundred metres out of town along Tiensestraat is a popular student haunt in term time. Despite its absurd opening hours it is often found buzzing. The beer list has now stabilised around 65, including a lot of Trappists but no wow factor. Sells a lot of Rodenbach Grand Cru. Food is large bar snacks and includes chicory in ham in season. |
| Fri | 06.00 - 04.00 |
| Other days | 07.00 - 04.00 |
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VLIEGEND VARKEN
24 Bogaardenstraat
T 016 20 68 57
An old brown café that appears to be going red in stages as some sort of refurbishment. Some breweriana, wall seating, a brown-tiled floor and an old chimney pipe left on the wall. One main room with a bar, plus another smaller room at the back with a couple of games machines. There is a small pool room upstairs. Note the "Flying Pigs" after which it is named. The beer list tops 80 and includes Westvleteren and the better Trappists, numerous regionals but no serious lambics. Basic bar snacks (to 22.00). Middle class thirty-something music. The younger element leaves it alone until later.
CLOSED SATURDAY |
| Sun | 20.00 onwards |
| Other days | 18.00 onwards |
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WENTELSTEEN
6d Busleidengang
T 016 23 96 48
This high-ceilinged grand café appears to be studying for a degree in fine arts. Just off Vismarkt, which in turn is just off the city centre, in a courtyard by the Trilingue College. The beer list nearly reaches 60, with an emphasis on safer regionals. Bistro food is a cut above most of the other Guide entries. The pictures on the wall are often for sale. The extraordinary library of board games is not, though you can play them. Good atmosphere, even when the grand piano slips into concert mode. |
| Sun | 14.00 onwards |
| Other days | 11.00 onwards |
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WIERING
2 Wieringstraat
T 016 29 15 45
If you leave the bottom of Grote Markt on Brusselsestraat, Weiringstraat is the second street on your left. Hidden at the back of the building on the corner is this curious split-level café that was nearly seen off by a disastrous fire since our last edition. Instead it was recreated virtually intact but for the quirky wall hangings, which will take a while to build up again. Stocks a range of 60 beers. The well-practiced menu (12.00-23.00) of hefty snacks includes grilled meats and scampi cooked in a dozen different ways. The cellar has gone no-smoking, appropriately. |
| Daily | 11.30 onwards |
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Other Leuven cafés:
On the same square as Wentelsteen (above), the Blauwe Schuit (16 Vismarkt - daily 11.00-02.00) is a loose-limbed café in French Colonial style, with a bamboo garden that seems to survive Brabantine winters. If you fancy a short trip out of town to the city boundary then take Diestsesteenweg from the back of the station to Kessel-Lo. A right will take you down Rerum Novarumlaan to the swimming pool at Sporthal Kessel-Lo (6 Stadionlaan) and its surprisingly beery café. Alternatively if you take the next left into Molenlaan, you get to Vlierbeek Abbey and the highly atmospheric old Rozenkrans (14 Abdij Vlierbeek - T 016 25 63 03 - closed Mo; Tu&We 15.00-24.00; others from 11.00), which often stocks the rare Schuur beers and bizarrely makes a spaghetti sauce with Westmalle Tripel. Eight hundred metres beyond the abbey is the Kastaar (218 Schoolbergenstraat - T 016 25 61 76 - daily from 16.00) a delightful rustic brown café. All have forty to fifty beers.
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