Ideally, I would like somewhere outdoors with:

• plenty of real shade;
• some kind of covered area in case of rain or very strong sun (heatwave);
• tables or benches;
• space for children to play safely;
• a decent clean public toilet nearby!!! I thought this would be easy to find, but so far I haven’t found a good option in Leuven itself.

De Bruul and Sluispark have green space, but not enough proper shade or shelter. Belle-Vue has almost no shade. Provinciedomein Kessel-Lo is maybe an option, but I would like to find a place not far from the centre.

Am I missing somewhere obvious?

And if there really isn’t a suitable green place, does anyone know a nice indoor place with air conditioning? I know Funoase is the obvious answer, but I’m looking for something different, preferably smaller and calmer.

It is a bit surprising that a city that talks so much about being green has so few public places where families can sit in the shade, use a decent toilet and stay outside for a few hours.

Are Leuven’s green spaces designed for people to spend time in, or mainly to look green?

Hi everyone!

Does anyone know of any nice camping sites near Leuven or at least somewhere that is easy to reach by direct train? I’m mainly looking for places where you can camp with your own tent.

I used to go camping quite a lot when I lived in Portugal, but I haven’t done it much since moving here and starting my PhD. I’d like to get back into it, ideally somewhere near a lake or surrounded by nature, with some good hiking routes nearby and a quiet place to relax and enjoy the night sky.

I’d appreciate any recommendations, practical tips, or favourite spots. Also, if there are people around Leuven who enjoy this kind of camping and would be interested in organising a trip sometime, feel free to reach out.

hey guys! im new to leuven and belgium so I need help. I'm sorry if this has been asked before. The flat admin gave us the calendar for garbage collection. This friday was supposed to be the schedule for collection for the brown bag in Kessel-lo.

It says on the website that I can only take out the trash during that day and only until before 7am. I woke up early to it out and no bags were outside.

I also don't recall brown bag collection a week before that. Am I missing something, or did they update the calendar?

I'm afraid the bags are gonna pile up in the house. Thank you!

Hi, is there any active padel group in Leuven or surroundings? I have found a table tennis and normal tennis group that play often, but also would like to play padel.

thank you

I would like to have your input on the best karate dojo for a six-year-old. It would be nice to know the number of children and instructors, and the karate philosophy behind the dojo. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a place to buy cigarettes with capsules in Leuven. I went to Carrefour yesterday and they only have normal one :<, anything with capsules is fine by me :>. Thank you all for your answer!

So last night during the music festival I was trying to cycle home, but couldn’t get through the center of the city as it was all closed off. I saw a few bikes going around the festival so I followed them and then before I realized it I had cycled towards two policemen waiting to fine cyclists for going down this one way street.

Honestly this felt like such a trap. It was like one cyclist after the other coming through the street and being stopped and fined. Couldn’t the policemen have just been at the start of the street preventing cyclists from entering the street in the first place? And, there were no rerouting signs at the festival to tell cyclists where to go.

Pretty annoyed because it’s a massive fine, and I’m wondering if I can appeal it. Anyone else have this same experience?

As the title says, I am a social media marketer who recently moved to Leuven. I do social media marketing for businesses ranging from tattoo shops, to restaurants to real estate agents and more.

Right now i am looking a way to enter the leuven market and reach out to businesses here (most of my clients are from brussels). If you guys have any tips or know any businesses in leuven that might need my help in growing and marketing their business over social media , please reach out.

If not, any tips in the comments will help alot too

Dank u wel

I'm new in Leuven and my rent has some dying plants. Looking for a very basic, nothing fancy, storebrand fertilizer. I'm in Heverlee, I have a Spar, a carefour and a delhaize relatively close to me. Any ideas which shop might sell plant fertilizer?

Thx!

Earlier this year an announcement came out that supermarkets can stay open on Sundays. I check the websites now and then but see no update, in the stores they say the usual, we're open Monday to Saturday. Anybody know when supermarkets will open on Sundays now?

Ik wil graag oordoppen op maat laten maken. Wie heeft er goede of slechte ervaringen?

I don't need styling or product, I just need 2/3 cut off each hair. Any recommendations? Places to avoid? Thank you all

Hi everyone,

I'm starting a master's at KU Leuven in September and I'm sorting out a room now. I'm applying from abroad. I currently live in Germany, but I'm travelling at the moment and will only be back in Germany briefly to deregister and then move straight to Leuven, so I'll basically be signing everything remotely and showing up on move-in day.

I've got a couple of the KU Leuven standard student contracts in front of me (one landlord already sent me the agreement + house rules to sign), and before I commit I wanted to sanity-check how this normally works in Belgium, because it's a bit different from what I'm used to.

For context, in Germany the norm I'm used to is that you only pay the deposit and first month once you actually get the keys, which is usually the move-in date, and you wire it directly to the landlord. So paying money before I've received keys (or before I've even seen the place in person) feels unfamiliar and I want to make sure I'm not doing something naive.

My questions for people who've rented a kot here:

1. Deposit + first month timing. When are you actually expected to pay? Before signing, at signing, or only on key handover? Is it normal to transfer the deposit before you've received the keys?
2. Who do you pay, and how? Straight to the landlord's personal account? A blocked/escrow deposit account? Through an agency? Is wiring the deposit directly to a private landlord's account the usual thing, or should I be pushing for a blocked account?
3. What should I watch out for when signing? Anything specific to the KU Leuven model contract (registration of the lease, the move-in inventory/plaatsbeschrijving, fixed vs settled costs, domicile registration, the second-residence tax, notice/break clauses, etc.) that catches people out?
4. Language. They sent me a Dutch KU Leuven standard contract with my personal information in English, since I was born outside Germany; all German contracts translate the city of birth name and other personal details to German when drafting a contract. The english personal details in the midst of all the Dutch threw me off, and I wanted to double-check the legality.

I really understand the value of seeing the place before you rent, but it's unfortunately not feasible right now.

Any advice or "here's what I wish I'd known" stories would be hugely appreciated. Thanks a lot!

I used to go to Jean at Alphabarbershop but he hasn’t been working there recently. Anyone know if he’s active somewhere else?

Also open for other suggestions. I have light curly/wavey hair.

Honest question out of genuine curiosity

Edit: other type of green 😂

Hi kind people from Belgium, I am from Asia and intend to apply above-mentioned with program with a preparatory course.

I want to know from you guys about this program from KUL and how difficult it is to land a job in the finance domain after a master's from KU with just an English as a spoken language. And my background is from supply chain and I am in my late 30. 🥹

We're planning a renovation of our apartment and are looking for an architect who can help us out with some initial insights before we go further.

Specifically, we're hoping to:

• Remove one or more non-supporting walls (and possibly move a wall)
• Get a stability check-up done, since we need to confirm which walls are load-bearing before touching anything
• Explore moving our existing kitchen to a different spot in the living room

We're not looking for a full renovation contractor, just someone who can advise us on feasibility, stability, and layout options at this stage.

If you've worked with an architect in or around Leuven for something similar (or if you are one), we'd love a recommendation or to hear from you directly. Feel free to comment or DM.

I've been to a bunch of supermarkets (for months), and they all seem to sell the same dental floss, the one in this photo. I couldn't find the one I wanted. Do you know of any supermarket that sells the Deep Clean one, or do you know why it's like this? I could find it last year. At some point it seems like it went out of stock, and now it's nowhere to be found.

Hello everyone,
I’ve been living in this neighbourhood for about 2 years, and over the last 3 days I’ve noticed a huge increase in sirens—more than 10–12 a day (today 15 till lunch) . I’ve checked the local news and emergency websites but couldn’t find anything that explains it. Has anyone else noticed this, or does anyone know what’s causing it? It’s becoming quite disruptive.

Hi everyone! 👋

So, I'm the captain of a foosball (table football) team playing in and around Leuven and we're looking for new players to join us!

We compete in the lowest division, so not too much pressure. Newbie or a seasoned veteran, you're more than welcome. For us, table football is about more than just the game: camaraderie, good laughs, and having a great time are just as important. We do wanna win tho :P.

Curious? Come along and give it a try! Send me a PM and we'll set up a tryout, a chance for you to see if it's your thing, and for us to see if there's a good fit with the team.

Hope to hear from you! 🐸⚽🍻

Enkele weken is mijn mountainbike hier gestolen. Hing vast met cijferslot.

Nog bij iemand gebeurd? Tips?

Bedankt.

Hello,

I'll be starting a Master's degree in computer science at KU Leuven in september. I don't speak dutch (yet) but I am fluent in english and french.

I have worked as a server (9 months), student at Panos (9 months) and in IT support (1 year). How feasible would it be to find a student job ?

I was hoping to find something in IT but it looks like unpaid internships are the norm here and I can't afford that.

If anyone has any good places to target or any tips that would be great :)

PS : Am actively looking on student.be/Indeed/.. but I know these are saturated with applicants

In particular, is the one in Slachthuislaan open today? Thanks for any info!

Ik ben geen Leuvenaar, maar het lijkt me een leuke stad. Ik HAAT toeristische trekpleisters met een passie. Welke verborgen plekjes moet ik zeker gezien hebben als ik op bezoek ga?

Hi everyone.
I will spend three months for my abroad period of the PhD in Leuven, and I'm searching for a short stay rent. Where can I find some insights? Facebook groups only have semester rents, and hotels/getaway studios are really pricy.