TRAIN FROM BRUSSELS TO LEUVEN

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Day 4: BRUSSELS - LOVAINA - BRUSSELS

Sunday, November 3

Ringgggg, ringgggg ... the alarm sounds and when we look at the time it is just after 6 in the morning and we realize that we are in Brussels and today is the day that we will visit one of the most famous cities in the area and we will take a train from Brussels to Leuven.
Another good option to visit the city from Brussels and not miss anything is to book an excursion to Leuven with a Spanish guide.
The first thing we do, before thinking about anything else, is to look out the window and immediately we are encouraged to see that the day is very clear and possibly allows us to fully enjoy the day we plan to enjoy in Leuven.
Leuven or Leuven, as it is known here, it will be the last stop we make on this getaway to Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven.
So after 7 in the morning we leave our hotel in Brussels, the Park Inn by Radisson Brussels Midi Hotel, we cross the street and enter the Brussels Midi Station, where the first thing we do is approach the ticket vending machines, where we get our tickets from train from Brussels to Leuven for 12.40 '- euros, with the cheapest option that is to combine weekend with round trip.

First of all we look for a place to have breakfast and how could it be otherwise and being in a train station, the options are very varied, although we decided on a pastry shop, where we see enough people and ask for a couple of Neapolitans plus a cappuccino and coffee for 6.30 euros.
What a difference in price depending on where you decide to have breakfast!
The next train from Brussels to Leuven It leaves at 9.36 in the morning on platform 19, so we still have a few minutes to finish breakfast quietly before we set off for our next destination: Leuven.
While we wait for the train from Brussels to Leuven, we can't help thinking about the next getaway to Belgium that we do, since we have still pending many things that we wanted to see: Mechelen, Dinan, Luxembourg ...
And with the experience we have had choosing as a base of operations Brussels and the hotel right in front of the Brussels train station, we can't be happier.

More practical information to prepare your trip to Brussels
- 10 essential places to visit in Leuven
- 50 things to see and do in Brussels
- The 5 best tours and excursions in Brussels
- 10 essential places to visit in Brussels

The tour in train from Brussels to Leuven It's 20 minutes, so we take the opportunity to review today's planning and enjoy the scenery until we arrive around 10 in the morning.
Just get off the train in Leuven we perceive that it is much colder in Leuven that not in Brussels although the day seems to be clearer.

Just arrived after our train journey from Brussels to Leuven

Our first stop in Leuven it will be his famous Library and the sculpture of the "cockroach pricked on the stick".

Leuven Square

The less you are curious enough to see ...

Cockroach in a Leuven Square

The streets of Leuven They are quite lonely at this time of the morning and the truth is that it is a pleasure to enjoy a walk almost alone.

Leuven

Leuven Square

From here we go to one of the Leuven's most famous places, its impressive City Hall or Stadhuis.

St. Peter's Church in Leuven

Just turn the street and find the Town Hall or Stadhuis from Leuven, we understand perfectly, everything they say about their architecture.

Stadhuis of Leuven

The Stadhuis of Leuven It was built between 1439 and 1463 with the benefits of textile trade and was erected as a demonstration of the wealth of the city's merchants.

Stadhuis of Leuven

This unique high-rise building is famous for its magnificent facade, decorated with carvings.
Its three floors are adorned with a succession of narrow windows.
On the roof, dark and very steep, you can see small windows and narrow towers.

Views of the Stadhuis de Leuven

However, its uniqueness lies in its stone decoration, with delicate sculpted tracery and detailed medieval sculptures, located in 300 niches.

Details of the Stadhuis de Leuven

In late Gothic style, these magnificent carvings describe all kinds of grotesque scenes, as well as traditional tales and biblical stories.

Admiring the Stadhuis of Leuven

We are in the area of Town Hall or Stadhuis from Leuven more than 45 minutes, enjoying the solitude of its streets and of course taking enough snapshots that allow us to remember every detail when we are at home.
Every time we notice more the cold that is in Leuven So we took advantage and stopped to have a couple of coffees and some macarons for 4.45 in a McDonald's, which is one of the few things open in the center on Sunday, something that catches our eye as we expected to find everything open.
How good a coffee feels at this time with the cold weather…
After a while resting and warming, we go out and go directly to the famous area of bars, restaurants that is the Oude Markt Square, where we see the remains of a Saturday night we feel very lively.

Oude Markt Square

Local Oude Markt Square

We travel it a couple of times up and down, taking advantage, as in the rest of Leuven The loneliness of Sunday morning.

Walking through Oude Markt Square

Oude Markt Square

From here, when it is just after 12 noon, we go to the Great Beguinaje de Leuven, where we arrive after 15 minutes walking.

Streets of Leuven

They say that not many tourists arrive here because they are on the outskirts of the Leuven center and it is certainly a luck because “this city within another city” is a great visit to do without crossing tourists.

Great Beguinaje de Leuven

The Great Beguinaje de Leuven or Groot Begijnhof van Leuven, is a very well preserved and completely restored historic center that includes a dozen streets in the city of Leuven.

Great Beguinaje de Leuven

Photographing the Great Beguinaje de Leuven

It has an area of about 3 hectares that includes about 300 homes, this being one of the largest beguines that still exist in the Netherlands.

Great Beguinaje de Leuven

Book the best rated tours and excursions in Spanish in Brussels by travelers:
- Excursion to Bruges and Ghent
- Excursion to Bruges
- Ghent excursion
- Excursion to Antwerp
- Amsterdam excursion
- More excursions and tours here

Great Beguinaje de Leuven

This beguineage extends on the sides of the Dijle River, which is divided into two channels within the beguinage, forming an island.

Channels of the Great Beguinaje de Leuven

Great Beguinaje de Leuven

Details in one of the houses of the Great Beguinaje de Leuven

Since 1960, the Beguineage is owned by the University of Leuven and is used as a campus, especially as a residence for students and academic guests.

Great Beguinaje de Leuven

Here we are until almost 2 in the afternoon, that we return to the Leuven center, with the intention of stopping to eat in a restaurant recommended in the forums.

Leaving the Great Beguinaje de Leuven

Without realizing it, in a few minutes the sky goes from being blue to gray and starting to rain, so it's time to accelerate.

Before it starts to rain ... Leuven

We arrived at the restaurant in 5 minutes and surprise! It is closed and every time it starts to rain with more force so having the McDonalds right next to it and all the restaurants around it we don't think about it too much and we decided that today will be a “fast food” day.
And here we are until 3:30 in the afternoon, eating, having a coffee and making the table, looking out the window to the sky and waiting for it to stop raining to be able to visit the Cathedral.
And a few minutes after 4 in the afternoon ... stop raining! So we don't think about it in the least and go straight to the Church of San Pedro.

St. Peter's Church

Automatic doors, shop section with shop assistant next to a stove reading the newspaper ... and half restored with many works of art covered.
This is what we found in our visit to the St. Peter's Church and the truth is that it disappoints us a lot.

Interior of the Church of San Pedro

Seeing what time it is, we decided that it is time to leave Leuven, but not before passing again in front of the Town Hall or Stadhuis from Leuven to have a vision of one of the most beautiful places in the city.
We return to the Leuven Station with the thought that time, despite raining, has given us a good truce to visit the most important things we had in mind when we arrived at Leuven.
We take the train from Leuven to Brussels and in just over 20 minutes we planted in Brussels Zuid or Brussels Midi Station.
We cross the street and go straight to our hotel in Brussels to rest for a while.
A few minutes after 5 pm, we leave the hotel in Brussels and we take the subway to the Grand Place, where as soon as we leave the station, a downpour begins to fall !!
But we endure like champions until 7 pm, touring the center of Brussels center And after trying in yesterday's restaurant and seeing that it is closed today, we return to the Grand Place area, where we end up in an Italian where we ordered two pasta dishes or a liter water for 35 euros.
Keep up with the liter water that costs 5.50 euros ... 1000 of the old pesetas! 😉
At 8 pm we finish our dinner and take the subway back to our hotel in Brussels, the Park Inn Hotel by Radisson Brussels Midi, where today we have to start dreaming soon ... tomorrow at 4 in the morning we have to take the bus that will take us to the airport ... and we will return home ...