Leuven - 2026

KU Leuven library & beetle 'Totem'

Capital of the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, Leuven is the home of KU (Katholieke Universiteit) Leuven. Frequent trains link the city with Brussels (25km), Antwerp (43km) and Liège (66km).

Our previous stay in Leuven, for three nights in March 2024, was covered by a Leuven - Spring 2024 blog post. Brasserie Gambrinus, De Blauwe Kater, Het Strand, MALZ, Metafoor and STUK were featured.

View west (left) and south (right) from 7th floor of Ibis Budget hotel

After three nights in Liège, we stayed at Ibis Budget, next to Leuven / Louvain station, for one night. On Friday January 16, we were able to revisit De Blauwe Kater, Het Strand, MALZ and Metafoor as well as visit a couple of other bars for the first time.

The rear entrance to HAL5, Kessel-Lo, is on Locomotievenstraat, a pedestrian street that follows the track of an old railway siding which used to serve a railway workshop. It was closed when we visited on Friday afternoon but has been noted for a visit in August. There's a bar and food outlets inside the hall including Habibi for falafel and Antico Pizza.

De Fiere Margriet

Past visitors to De Fiere Margriet at Margarethaplein 11, may have fond memories of the extensive beer range and distinctive decor. The bar was closed for a while but is now open under new management with a less interesting beer range and standard furniture. As early customers on Friday afternooon we were greeted warmly but finding that black tea was not available for Meg we made our excuses and left.

It's always a pleasure to see the historic buildings in the centre of Leuven including the 15th century Sint-Pieterskerk on the other side of the street and the former town hall beyond. Motor traffic is restricted but there are buses and cyclists to avoid. 

We passed Leuven Central at the corner of  Jodenstraat and the decorative shops of Mechelsestraat before reaching Vismarkt.

De Blauwe Kater

At the north west corner of Viskmarkt, De Blauwe Kater is an imposing and reliable bar with several spaces, traditional furniture decorated with brass instruments and festival posters where blues or jazz music is often playing. 

We found a table on the slightly raised stage area. Tim enjoyed Saison Dupont Bio from the extensive list of Belgian bottled beers. 

Hops 'n More

Nearby at Mechelsestraat 50, Hops 'n More were moving into their new, larger premises. 

Misery Beer Co Harzington was not in stock but a helpful staff member recommended La Meute from La Source Beer Co as an alternative hazy IPA. This was a beer I had enjoyed last year at the La Source taproom in Brussels after visiting the Atomium.

MALZ

A return visit to MALZ, on the other side of the river Dyle, was essential and arriving just after 4pm, we were able to choose a table near a side window with a good view of the bar.

The smartly bound menu has two pages dedicated to local beers and mentions 'We have the largest selection of locally produced beers in town.' These pages include Hof Ten Dormaal Tinto, Sunshine Pale Ale and Saison. 

Tim chose Bier Beek Saison as not previously tasted. Music playing included Summer in the City. It was nice to see real plants and not plastic greenery at MALZ. 

Later, out of curiosity Tim and Meg split a can of Dok Brewing Company Gangmaker a 4.5% ABV Double Uytzet (Historic beer style from Ghent). Hopped with Fuggles it is a pale amber colour.

By 5.15pm, many tables were filled and at least half of the younger drinkers were experimenting with a milky turquoise colour beer at €8.50 a glass. Brewed in Palmetto, Florida by Corporate Ladder Brewing Co, Rum BA Expecto Patronum 10% ABV 'Bright and radiant with coconut, blue raspberry and lemon juice, aged in rum barrels for an extra spark of magic' did sound interesting!

De Metafoor

Recrossing the river Dyle, it's a 300 metre walk to another favourite bar - De Metafoor at Parijsstraat 34. We were lucky to find a free standard height table near the bar as people were just leaving when we arrived at 5.30pm. 

The seats at the small corner bar are always taken. There are low stools for the table by the front window. The green plants fit in well on the window sill there. It was very lively inside with conversations and laughter.

Tim's beer choice here was Averbode Abbey Beer which is brewed by Brouwerij Huyghe. The wall by our table features a collection of classic Stella Artois advertisements including one based on a postcard featuring Leuven's historic centre. (Stella Artois is brewed at the AB InBev brewery on the edge of Leuven.).

Parijsstraat is one street away from the Oude Markt, famed for being lined with bars that are popular with the large student population.

We also followed a path through Atrechtcollege, shortly before the gates were closed at 7pm, on the way to our next bar.

De Reynaert

After a 1.3km walk we reached De Reynaert for a first visit. 

Caroline Debenham (@carolinedebenh1 on Bluesky) was an inspiration for this visit. In previous years Tim had thought it was too far away from the centre until Caroline went to find it closed on a Sunday in October 2025 and returned the next day for Taras Boulba and Hercule Stout.

There's a long bar opposite the entrance. The lighting is quite dim. The blackboard above the bar lists all the beers available with draught beers in the left column, and Trappist beers heading the second column. There are about 40 beers listed under the Blond heading including local beers, Saisons and Tripels. 

Tim's beers at De Reyneart were his favourites of the day - Juicy Crime of Passion by Brouwerij Mort Subite €4 and the well trusted Zeezuiper Tripel by Scheldebrouwerij €5.50. Coupled with the warm temperature, spacious surroundings and good music playing that included The Doors and Cortez the Killer by Neil Young, all the ingredients were there for this to become a new favourite bar in Leuven. We will surely visit again in August 2026 on the way to &/or from Germany by train via Brussels. 

Top tip - Leuven is a good place to stay near Brussels, especially when the SNCB train fare for those aged 65+ with a Train + subscription, as the fare is reduced to €2.50 off peak (€4,10 peak).

Het Strand

Located in a new development that includes a Zed cinema, it was nice to return to the vegan restaurant / bar Het Strand, Tiensestraat 138, for a meal with a friendly welcome. Tim chose draught Circus Session  IPA (4% ABV, €5) by Circus Brouwerij.

Leuven station looked rather special when illuminated at night as we walked past at 10.15pm.

Cafe In Den Ouden Tijd

It seemed early to return to the hotel so we had a final beer at In Den Ouden Tijd, Tiensevest 22, opposite the station. The cheap price for Stella Artois in white print stands out on a window and here was an opportunity to risk giving the bar a first try. 

Door to smokers' room                                                          Bar area

Most of the left side of the long room is a smokers' room separated by a glass wall like a giant fishtank. The bar is at the far end of the room and a glass door to the smokers room is only a couple of wooden tables distance away from the bar past games and pinball machines. It's dimly lit and there is a lot of wood panelling on the walls and bar front. The barman, with a Mohican hairstyle and Harley Davidson t-shirt, kept busy by customers of all ages, did a good job.

Tim enjoyed a 33cl glass of draught Stella Artois, brewed just over a kilometre away, for €2.50. 

Posting later on Bluesky about In den Ouden Tijd, it was nice that Jack Anderton, the founder of the European Beer Guide, replied to appreciate this research into a bar that he had passed by as we had also done on previously.

Saturday

Before our lunchtime train to Brussels to connect with an afternoon Eurostar train to London, we had time for coffee and iced cinnamon bun at Noir coffeebar and an interesting walk to the Groot Begijnhof / Grand Beguinage for a chance to 'step back in time' along the narrow cobbled streets.

 

Leuven Jazz Festival - Sunday 24 March 2019

We had agreed in advance that a day out in Leuven would be a good idea based on our previous stay there in March 2018. Find links to five previous Leuven blog posts at the end of this post.

A sunny start to the day on Sunday 24 March 2019, the third day of our Brussels trip. A short walk to Brussels Midi station, weekend return tickets to Leuven for 6.60 euros each from the ticket machine, up the escalator to platform 12 and we found seats on the busy 10.56am train due to arrive at 11.24.

After a smooth ride mainly through flat countryside, you know you will soon be at Leuven station when the train passes the tall tanks of the Stella Artois brewery.
Leuven has several universities and as the student population declines at weekends some bars, that rely mainly on students as customers, are closed on Saturday &/or Sunday.

After our previous visit to Leuven in March 2018, West Berkshire CAMRA Ullage magazine (Summer 2018) published my feature on the visit including a photos of Koen and Steven at M-Cafe and Jef Janssens at Hof ten Dormaal Brewery. Unfortunately M-Cafe is closed on Sundays but I was able to leave printed copies of the back issue on the bar counter by entering via M-Museum.

This was also an opportunity to pick up a copy of the Leuven Jazz Festival brochure (7th edition, 14-24 March 2019).
There was a chance to glance at this with coffee in the sunshine at a table outside Picasso Cafe looking across the cobbled square of Monseignur Ladeuzeplein towards Jan Fabre's beetle 'Totem' and the historic Leuven university library and tower.

Although we had missed the 12.15 start time, we were able to enjoy free access to a dark gallery level of nearby 30CC/Schouwberg to watch the jazz / funk fusion band Electric Banana 2.0, with members of the band that won the first B-Jazz international contest 40 years previously.
Emerging into the sunlight we headed to Taverne Universum via Monseignur Ladeuzeplein. Sint-Donatus park.

Although Taverne Universum has a spacious interior and a reasonable beer menu, the irritating pop music resulted in us walking out and heading instead to STUK passing remains of the 12th century city walls in Sint Donatus park.

STUK cafe  (1/2)

We found the cafe at STUK: House for Dance, Image & Sound was open at 13:40.Several customers were busy with laptops.

For my first beer of the day, I enjoyed Trappist Orval (4.20 euros) although it was a slight disappointment that it was not served in the correct glass. With big windows facing Naamsestraat, this is a light and spacious 'Grand Cafe' space with a bar at one end and a stage near the entrance.

We reached the peaceful surroundings of the Groot Begijnhof / Great Beguinage from the Zwartzusterstraat pedestrian entrance. The only vehicles on the cobbled streets are bicycles.

Our visit coincided with the flowering of the magnolia tree on the river banks where a bridge crosses.

De Vetten Os

We left the Begijnhof and walked through residential streets to De Vetten Os, Simon's favourite locals bar in the city.

I was inspired by the sunshine to order Hoegaarden from the limited range of draught beers. We chose a sunny inside table although a few tables are also available outside, next to the road.
We had noticed there was not much traffic as through traffic uses the city's ring road.
Locals were chatting at the bar and a mature woman also arrived and ordered a glass of beer at another table. We were given a friendly farewell by all on our eventual departure at 4pm.

Cafe Belge

After recrossing the river Dijle by following Janseniusstraat we reached the open space of Pater Damiaanplein where foursomes were playing pickleball in marked court areas. From here we turned north towards Oude Markt where we found Cafe Belge, with the pulpit near the front for the DJ, had no other customers inside.

We checked the blackboard behind the ornate bar for the choice of draught and bottled beers and then also looked at the extensive illustrated beer menu.

Disappointingly, my choice of Brouwerij t'Verzet Space Cadet wheat beer (3.50 euro) was served in a generic glass and the taste was more bitter than expected.

Some good tunes were playing on the sound system including the Zombies - Time of the Season, Rodriguez - I Wonder and Creedence Clearwater Revival - Born on the Bayou. On leaving we noticed there were now several customers at the shady outside tables with views of Oude Markt.

De Fiere Margriet

We walked past St Peter's church with its incomplete bell tower to find that De Fiere Margriet was closed on Sunday.

De Blauwe Schuite

We continued on via Mechelsestraat pedestrian street and Vismarkt to De Blauwe Schuit.

We found a table by a tall window in the narrower front part of the large room. Further back the room widens with windows to the courtyard garden opposite the bar.

After looking through the beer menu we ordered Leuvense Tripel by Brouwerij van Steenberge (Tim 4.20 euro) and Trappist amber coloured La Trappe Quadrupel (Simon, 11% ABV). Thankfully both were served at our table in the correct glasses and met our expectations for beers to savour rather than quaff!

The beermats, with an illustration of a view of Monseignur Ladeuzeplein where we had earlier had coffee, bore the slogan which translates as 'Park your bike quickly and safely?'. The reverse has a link to Leuven's transport iniatives which make the city a pleasure to walk around in, without the fumes and dangers of car traffic.

Simon had been anxious that the bar's pet peacock might have disappeared so we were pleasantly surprised to spot him in the courtyard as we departed at 6pm.

There is plenty of space in the courtyard to spend time outside on a warm day.

De Blauwe Kater

Only two minutes walk from here back through Vismarkt to De Blauwe Kater at Mechelsestraat, 51.

There is a choice of 8 draught beers and a beer menu also lists a variety of bottled beers.

My choice was a bottle of Saison Dupont and Simon chose a bottle of La Guillotine after noticing the display on the left of the bar.

These were served to our ground floor table beside a window with a view towards Vismarkt which has provision for bicycle parking..
There was a live Blues Brothers album playing on the sound system which Simon recognised with pleasure. On this occasion we did not hear much else though!

Visit 'the Blue Cat' on a Monday evening if you want to enjoy live blues music from touring bands. Details of the next gig are shown on a blackboard.

The blues music theme extends to the photo signs clearly distinguishing the Ladies and Gents toilets.

We stayed for a second beer and this was a chance for me to try Brouwerij van Hoegaarden Julius (8.5% ABV, 4 euros), as advertised in the window.

Before she finished her shift, I persuaded Chantal Alvarez, who had served us, to pose with a current issue of the West Berkshire CAMRA magazine Ullage.

It was around 7.45pm when we left and retraced our steps towards St Peters Church and the illuminated historic town hall beyond to stop for a quick Greek style meal nearby.

De Metafoor

Around 8.15pm we arrived at De Metafoor at Parijsstraat 34, one street down from the Oude Markt.

Inside tables were occupied but there were seats at the bar. Simon wasn't impressed with his choice of Le Fort by Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinste but my Hapkin by Brouwerij Alken-Maes (8.5% ABV, 4.60 euros), served in the correct glass, became a new favourite.

Views from the bar towards the street are of subtle trompe-l'oeil wall art (top) and the snake plants on the window ledges adjoining the central doorway.

STUK Cafe (2/2)

The final event in the Leuven Jazz Festival was a free gig by I H8 Camera 'Super 9' at STUK Cafe from 9pm. There was barely enough room for the 8 guitarists and drummer to fit on the stage!

We found a space to squeeze in two extra seats at the side and waited patiently for the music to start with glasses of De Koninck Triple D'Anvers to ease the frustration of the delay. It was necessary to leave before the end of the show to catch the 22.33 train to Brussels Central station.

Brussels - Brewdog & Le Roi des Belges

Arriving at Brewdog Brussels, opposite the station entrance after 11pm, there was plenty of seating space.

We ordered 25cl glasses and my choice of Small Batch Juicy IPA tasted good and was less hazy than expected.

When staff started tidying up empty glasses from the tables, it was a sign that we should soon leave but there was still time to get Dana from Brewdog to pose with the Summer 2018 issue of Ullage for an #UllageOnTour photo to include in the @UllageBeer twitter feed.

With our hotel a 25 minute walk away towards Lemonnier we also managed to stop off at Le Roi des Belges at Place Saint Gery for a nightcap after midnight. A check on Untappd confirms that Simon's choice was Gageleer by De Proefbrouwerij an organic beer with bog myrtle.
A magazine rack on the wall seemed an appropriate place to leave my spare copy of Ullage magazine before we finally called it a night.

Links to 2018 Leuven blog posts:

 

Thursday 22 March - includes De Fiere Margriet, The Capital  Leuven Thursday Night
Friday 23 March - includes STUK, De Spuye Leuven Friday
                            - includes M-Cafe, Cafe Belge  Leuven Friday Night
Saturday 24 March - includes De Blauwe Schuit, Hof ten Dormaal  Leuven Saturday
                                - iucludes De Blauwe Kater, De Metafoor  Leuven Saturday Night 

Simon & Tim - The Capital - Thursday 22 March 2018