Common travel mistakes

Louvain-la-Neuve vs. Leuven/Louvain

Travelling to Louvain-la-Neuve can often lead to confusion. One of the quirks of our multilingual country that confuses travelers is the difference between Louvain-la-Neuve and Louvain. Louvain is the official French translation used to refer to the Dutch-speaking city of Leuven, whereas Louvain-la-Neuve (LLN) is the official French/Dutch name of the city where the conference will be hosted. When coming to LLN by public transportation, please make sure your bus/train/… is going to Louvain-la-Neuve and not Louvain. See more information below or watch this excellent video explaining the difference between both cities.

Getting there

Strategically located in the heart of Western Europe, Louvain-la-Neuve is easy to get to from most places, whether by air, rail or road.

By airBy trainBy car
Brussels Airport (BRU)
  • located in Zaventem, 12 km or 8 mi northeast of Brussels
  • main international airport, with connexion to every major city in the world
  • 1 hour train ride connecting the airport to Louvain-la-Neuve (€12.20)
    • do not throw away your train ticket before exiting/entering the airport, you will need it to pass the turnstile
    • make sure your train ticket includes the Diabolo fee
  • taxi to Louvain-la-Neuve (€90)
Brussels-South Charleroi Airport (CRL)
  • located in Charleroi, 46 km or 29 mi south of Brussels
  • low cost flights to everywhere in Europe, major RyanAir hub
  • 1h30-2h train ride connecting the airport to Louvain-la-Neuve (€13.10 in total)
    1. take the bus shuttle from the airport to Charleroi-South train station
    2. take the train from Charleroi-South to Louvain-la-Neuve
Belgian trains
www.belgiantrain.be
International trains
www.b-europe.com
Brussels Midi/Zuid station
  • high-speed services (Eurostar, ICE, Thalys, TGV)
  • 50 minutes by train to Louvain-la-Neuve
  • Direct international trains to Brussels-South:
    • From London
    • From Paris and Lille
    • From Amsterdam and Rotterdam
    • From Cologne, Düsseldorf and Aachen
Caveat
When in Brussels (bilingual region) or in Wallonia (French-speaking region), always make sure to take the train going to Louvain-la-Neuve and not Louvain. Trains going to the Dutch-speaking city of Leuven are translated to Louvain in French timetables, which might be confusing!
Louvain-la-Neuve is located next to the E411 highway.
Car parks
  • free car parks 24/24 (Parking Malin Lauzelle, Rédimé, Baudouin), 15 min walk from centre
  • underground fee-paying car parks

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Moving around

Louvain-la-Neuve is a pedestrian city. All university facilities are at a short distance allowing to do everything on foot. All hotels and bed & breakfast in Louvain-la-Neuve are within a walking distance of 20 minutes maximum.

The train station and bus central station are 5 minutes walking to the conference centre. Only people staying in other cities (Brussels, Leuven, Wavre) would require taking public transportation (bus/ shuttle from nearby towns, train to every other city) or driving to reach the conference.

Shuttles will be organised to get to Leuven on Friday evening for the conference dinner (40 min by bus – possible to return by train in 1 hour for people wanting to get back early).

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