Itinerary
ARRIVING AT BRUSSELS NATIONAL AIRPORT (ZAVENTEM)
Regular students may or may not have a welcoming party awaiting them at the airport when they arrive, while researchers and visiting professors are usually met by faculty staff. However, if you are not being met at the airport, or if you somehow miss the welcoming party, there are other ways for you to continue your journey on to Leuven.
The simplest but most expensive way would be to take a taxi from the airport. This will cost around € 70. An alternative and less expensive method would be to take the Leuven bound train at the airport itself. This will cost around € 7. These trains usually have Luik (Liège, in French) as its final destination but they stop in Leuven en route. The Brussels-Leuven trip takes about 20 minutes by express train.
Students who happen to arrive in Brussels South Charleroi Airport may take the shuttle coach that leaves the airport every hour to take you to the main Brussels railway station (Brussels South). The shuttle coach stop there is at the crossing of rue de France and rue de l’Instruction. The shuttle fare costs € 11 and tickets are sold inside the airpport terminal. The trip lasts around one hour. At Brussels South railway station, you may take the train to Leuven.
Do not take the train going to Louvain-la-Neuve since this will bring you not to Leuven but to the French-language university, Université Catholique de Louvain in Ottignies.
It is advisable to have already some cash in euro (€) when you arrive in case the money exchange offices would be closed.
ARRIVING IN LEUVEN
After having applied for accommodations beforehand, regular students and visiting scholars will have received specific instructions from the International Housing Service of K.U.Leuven on where to proceed once they arrive in Leuven.
Otherwise, visitors should have no trouble finding the Van Dalecollege at Naamsestraat 80, where the International Housing Service and the other student services are situated.
The simplest route from the railway station (indicated by O on this interactive city map of Leuven) to the Van Dalecollege (indicated by O on this map) is to follow the Bondgenotenlaan to the city hall (in Dutch: Stadhuis) and then take the Naamsestraat from there. The distance is roughly 1.5 km. If you decide to take a taxi, the fare would cost about €6. For further information, please consult the transportation pages.
Researchers and visiting professors are usually accompanied to their housing by the faculty staff who meet them either in Brussels National Airport or in Leuven. If you arrive by train, we suggest you take a taxi at the train station to your accommodation. Depending on the arrangements stipulated in their fellowship grant or contract, researchers and visiting professors are provided lodging at the Groot Begijnhof. The taxi fare should cost about €6.
