Venue

The workshop will be held at the campus of K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Workshop Town

Centre of Leuven Leuven is one of Europe's most ancient university towns, and is ideally located. Straddling the banks of the navigable Dijle River and the trade route from Bruges to the Rhine territories, Leuven grew to become a major trade and textile center. The first references to the town can be traced back as far as the 9th century. It was around the 11th-12th century that Leuven began to develop as an important trading centre.

Perhaps Leuven is best known for its university: de Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Founded in 1425 by Pope Martin V, the K.U.Leuven is the oldest university in the Low Countries. Town and university enjoyed many periods of prosperity. The town hall, the famous 'Begijnhof', the churches, cloisters and colleges stand silent witness to those days and make Leuven the interesting place it is. Leuven is also the home of the famous brewery Stella Artois.

Leuven is only 25 km away from Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the center of the European Union. Leuven is located very centrally in Flanders and in Belgium and is an ideal starting point for many excursions. Leuven itself is a small town. Its diameter does not exceed a 25 minutes walk.


Workshop Site

The Workshop will take place on two locations. Hotels and restaurants are situated within walking distance of the Workshop site.

College De Valk One day the Workshop will be held at the old college "De Valk", a classicist building from the 18th century, situated right in the centre of Leuven at only 100 meter of the town hall. The College is used by the Faculty of Law.

College De Valk
Tiensestraat 41
B- 3000 Leuven
A map of the location can be found
here ("De Valk" is situated in the red circle). This map also gives an overview of the town. To see more details, simply click on the region you want to see, and the program returns you a more detailed map.


Arenberg Castle The other day the Workshop will be held in the Arenberg Castle, which dates early 16th century, and lies within the beautiful natural surroundings of a parc which also hosts many sporting facilities and students' favourite dining place Alma (actually Alma 3; there are many Alma's across Leuven). Currently the castle is used by the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

Kasteelpark Arenberg
close to the "Kantineplein"
B- 3001 Heverlee
A map of the location can be found here ("Arenberg Castle" is situated near the red cross, click to zoom).

Faculty Club On March 28, we offer you an exquisite evening dinner at the Faculty Club, located in the Groot Begijnhof; a beautiful, peaceful, ageold historical site on walking distance from the city center. The Faculty Club is esteemed for the hosting of meetings and events, and offers high-quality meals a la carte.

Faculty Club
Groot Begijnhof 14
B- 3000 Leuven
A map of the location can be found here ("Faculty Club" is situated near the red cross, click to zoom).

Travel Information

x by plane ...

The national airport (Brussels Airport) is at about 25 km from Leuven. You can take a TAXI, but this is quite expensive (approximately 50 euro). You can also take the train, which leaves directly form the airport (see
instructions below).
To get from North America to Belgium you might consider flying to London first and taking the Eurostar there (direct train to Brussels).
For flight info from and to Brussels Airport, please consult the Brussels Airport website. If you are looking for European low-cost airline routes to the nearest airports in Brussels, check out www.flycheapo.com.

x by train ...

There is a direct train connection from Brussels Airport to Leuven. Trains depart 19 minutes past the hour (destination LANDEN) and 37 minutes past the hour (destination LEUVEN) from 5:19u to 23:37u; the voyage takes about 15 minutes and costs € 3.00. The train station is located in the basement (level -1) of the aiport terminal building. If you depart from somewhere else, detailed timetable information is available on the Belgian Railways (SNCB/NMBS) website. The railway station in Leuven is located here.

x by car ...

North-West

West + South-West

South

South-East

(North-)East

Antwerpen, Amsterdam

Gent, Oostende, Paris

Luxembourg

Liege

Hasselt, Aachen, Köln

Ring around Antwerpen, direction Brussel (E19)

In Gent, direction Brussel (E40)

Direction Namur, Brussel (E425)

Direction Brussel (E40)

Direction Leuven & Brussel (A2)

You arrive at the Ring around Brussel, follow direction Luik/Liege (E40). After ten km, exit Leuven, Genk, Aachen (A2).

Take the exit Leuven, Genk, Hasselt (A2)

Exit Brussel, direction Leuven

Immediately leave the A2 (direction Leuven). After 4 km, you arrive at the red circle at the bottom of this map

You arrive at the red circle at the left side of this map

Attention:

If you want to drive to your hotel, mind the traffic loops in Leuven. Enter Leuven as close to your hotel as possible.

Tourist Information

K.U.Leuven
KULeuven search and navigation matrix


Leuven
City of Leuven
Hotels in Leuven
Short list of some hotels in Leuven
Maps and pictures of Leuven

Belgium
Belgium, an overview
Belgian character and culture
Tourism in Flanders
Belgian Tourist Office in NYC
Weather forecast
Weather forecast (Brussels) (not quite accurate)
Belgium Travel Network
Brussels-Capital Region
Brussels Tourist Information
Welcome to Wallonia
Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium
Meteo Services
Federal Government

Belgian Search Engines
KULeuven navigation matrix
Belgium Ad Valvas ®
Webwatch
Yahoo: Belgium
Yahoo: Leuven
Infobel: white pages phonebook

Transport
Zaventem, Brussels Airport
Highway traffic information
CWLease Routeplanner International
CWLease Routeplanner Belgium
NMBS, Belgian railways
Thalys, railway Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam
EuroStar, railway Brussels, London, Paris

Beer
Guide to Belgian Beer
Benelux Beer guide




7th Dutch-Belgian Information Retrieval Workshop (DIR 2007)