By train

By bus

Get around

Motorized traffic in the center is entirely underground, so it's pretty enjoyable for the pedestrian. The city is also very accessible for wheelchair, bikes, rollerblades...

Be careful, nearly everybody gets lost the first time they get around the town, as everything looks pretty much the same from an outside point of view, and Louvain-la-Neuve organisation is not very logical to unused strollers.

You can find a map of Louvain-la-Neuve .

See

Since it's a fairly new town (created in 1969), Louvain-la-Neuve does not present any historical buildings or similar monuments. Nevertheless, it was designed in a radically different way from older towns. The urbanistic development of the town brings some tourists, interested in the way the town evolved from scratch to what it is nowadays. You can find particularly interesting the following buildings/places:
The Bibliothèque des sciences(Sciences librairy) is situated place des sciences, upper town, and presents an interesting concrete architecural style.
The Aula Magna, on the main square is the main auditorium in the city, good panorama on the lake.
The tour (Tower), nearby the Place des Wallons, is the only building in lln with more than 5 storeys.
Some gigantic frescos are dissminated around the city center.

Do

Since Louvain-la-Neuve was made with the only purpose to host the university, it is full of... students the whole year long, but as they are leaving for holidays, the town can look quite empty during those periods. There are still plenty of things to do:

The biggest event in town is the student organised 24h bike, which is the biggest student party in Belgium, with more than 50,000 students. There are three different categories in the race, humanitarian, competition and folkloric bikes. This event takes place the third Wednesday of October.

The University has created a special type of flat, called Kot-à-Projet, which gathers between 8 and 12 students around a specific project, such as organising Job Fair, or circus activities. Thus, a lot of different kind of events are available during the course period.

If you have to cope with disrupting rainfalls, you could enjoy the Multiplex, situated on the main square.

A well-known theater is present in Louvain-la-Neuve since the very beginning of the city. The will provide you with a wide variety of plays, but only in French. It's situated near the Grand-rue.

The Ferme du Blocry and Ferme du Biéreau situated in respective districts offer a wide variety of concerts.

Learn

As the host to the Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve provides anybody eager to learn with anything they may wish to be taught. Besides the University, which provides academic courses in Sciences, Applied Sciences, Law, Sports, Economics, Theology, Philology, Psychology and Agronomy, you can find a wide range of college. Moreover, a lot of languages are proposed by the .

Buy

A new mall, l'Esplanade opened in october 2005 can provide you with anything you need. You can find it right beside the station.
Most shops are concentrated around the city center, in the Grand-rue and Charlemagne streets. There is also a gallery in front of the station.

Eat

Most of the restaurants are situated on or in between the main square and the university square next to the train station. However, some more specific places can be found elsewhere in town:

Very good belgian fries, and a true fritkot up in Lauzelle district, near the sport hall, Chez Jean-Lou.
University restaurant are quite cheap. The main one, Le Sablon is in the center, next to the Main Street. A smaller one is situated Place des sciences', called Le Galilée''
A more stylish place, the is to be found in the Biereau district , next to the Ferme du Biéreau.
Along with the mall, Louvain-la-Neuve was provided with a brand new fast food, which allow you to find well-known food, if you're afraid of tasting the Belgian cooking. Quick, Charlemagne street.

Drink

Night Life