Leuven is a university town through and through. Its university, founded in 1425, is the oldest in the Low Countries, and its students fill the streets, cafés and squares, giving the city a youthful energy. At its heart is the Grote Markt, dominated by two buildings: the Town Hall, a Gothic masterpiece covered in hundreds of statues, and opposite it, the Church of St Peter, a great Gothic church whose tower was never finished but which is part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France.
The church, built in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, was badly damaged in both world wars. In August 1914, German troops burned much of the city, including the university library, an act that caused international outrage. The library was rebuilt after the war with American funds and was damaged again in 1940. Inside St Peter's, the treasury holds two famous paintings by Dirk Bouts, including the Last Supper, one of the masterpieces of Flemish painting. The tower has a carillon.
Leuven is also a beer city. It is the home of Stella Artois, whose brewery dominates the north of the town, and of AB InBev, one of the world's largest brewers. The Oude Markt, a square lined with bars, is said to be the longest bar in Europe, and in the evening it is packed with students. The Groot Begijnhof, a seventeenth-century beguinage, now part of the university, is a peaceful enclave of brick houses and cobbled streets.
Riding in Leuven is urban and slow, with many one-way streets, cobblestones and pedestrian zones. The city centre has restricted access, so park outside and walk. The countryside around Leuven, toward the Hageland to the east, with its low hills, vineyards and orchards, and the Dijle valley to the south, offers pleasant riding on quiet roads. Belgian roads can be rough, with cobbled sections in villages.
Leuven has every service. Local food includes stoofvlees, a beef stew made with beer, and waffles. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, though Belgium can be wet at any time.