museum
Autoworld Brussels
300 vehicles spanning a century of motoring displayed in the grand Cinquantenaire Palace arcade.
22 km · about 25 min drive
EuropeBelgiumFlanders
Leuven
Flanders, Belgium · Europe
About Leuven
Leuven works well as a base: 5 minutes from Herent, 23km from St. Rumbold's Tower.
Leuven is in Flanders, Belgium, with about 100,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is Herent, about 4 km away.
Leuven (UK: , US: , Dutch: [ˈløːvə(n)] ), also called Louvain (, US also , French: [luvɛ̃] ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. A Dutch-speaking municipality, it is located about 25 kilometres (16 miles) east of Brussels. The municipality itselfRead more
comprises the sub-municipalities of Heverlee, Kessel-Lo, Leuven proper, Wilsele, and Wijgmaal and parts of Haasrode and Korbeek-Lo. It is the eighth largest city in Belgium, with more than 100,244 inhabitants.
Leuven has been a university city since 1425. This makes it the oldest university city in the Low Countries. KU Leuven, the largest Dutch-speaking university in the world and the largest university in the Low Countries (and thus also Belgium's largest university), has its flagship campus in Leuven.
The city is home of the headquarters of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest beer brewer and sixth-largest fast-moving consumer goods company.
Where to Stay in Leuven
Compare prices across Booking.com, Airbnb, Expedia, and more. Select your dates to see availability.
Filter presets
Pick your must-haves once: provider links open pre-filtered. Each filter lists which sites it applies to.
Compare before you book!
Prices can vary significantly between platforms. We recommend checking at least 2-3 sites to find the best deal for your stay in Leuven.
Explore the Area
Discover famous landmarks, scenic roads, and more near Leuven.
Loading map...
Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Leuven?
Within an hour or so of Leuven: Autoworld Brussels (22 km), St. Rumbold's Tower (23 km), Musée Hergé (24 km), Villa Empain (24 km).
Are there any good drives near Leuven?
The nearest famous roads are Chimay Street Circuit, Baraque de Fraiture and Brouwersdam.
Where is Leuven?
Leuven is in Flanders, Belgium, about 4 km from Herent.
Road trip
Drive to Leuven
Add it as a stop and the planner works out the driving, the nights and what's worth seeing on the way.
Start planningWhat's nearby?
Swipe through places to go
Places within a drive of Leuven. Keep the ones you like and add them to your trip.
Explore now
Quick Information
- Population
- 101,032
- Continent
- Europe
- Country
- Belgium
- Region
- Flanders
- Timezone
- Europe/Brussels
- Coordinates
- 50.8796, 4.7009
Tags
Worth the detour from Leuven
8 notable places within an hour's drive.
cathedral
St. Rumbold's Tower
Climb 538 steps up Mechelen's unfinished Gothic tower for a sky-walk panorama reaching as far as Antwerp and Brussels.
23 km · about 25 min drive
museum
Musée Hergé
Christian de Portzamparc's angular white museum in Louvain-la-Neuve devoted to Tintin's creator, holding original plates, sketches and the world's largest Hergé collection across eight themed galleries.
24 km · about 30 min drive
museum
Villa Empain
Baron Empain's 1934 marble-and-gilt Art Deco mansion on Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, restored by the Boghossian Foundation as an East-West art centre: Brussels' most sumptuous interior after the Horta houses.
24 km · about 25 min drive
landmark
Grand-Place
Opulent central square in Brussels surrounded by ornate guildhalls and the Gothic town hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
25 km · about 30 min drive
landmark
Manneken Pis
Small bronze fountain sculpture of a urinating boy that has become a beloved symbol of Brussels since 1619.
25 km · about 30 min drive
landmark
Atomium
Futuristic building in Brussels shaped like an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, built for the 1958 World Expo.
25 km · about 30 min drive
landmark
Lion's Mound Waterloo
A grass pyramid topped by a cast-iron lion marks the 1815 battlefield where Napoleon met his final defeat.
30 km · about 35 min drive
Driving in Belgium
- Drives on
- the right
- Petrol
- ~€1.74/litre
- Motorway tolls
- None
When to drive here
April to October
Nearby Destinations
Other places to explore near Leuven.
Plan a trip around Leuven
Your trip starts here
Plan a road trip from Leuven.
Pick the days, drop in the stops, and share it with whoever's coming.