Venue Information for Agda Implementors' Meeting XLII in Leuven

The Agda Implementors' Meeting XLII in Leuven is scheduled to take place:

Date: Apr 13-18, 2026
Place: Leuven, Belgium
Venue: Dept. of Computer Science
Celestijnenlaan 200A
3001 Heverlee (Leuven)
Map - Access guide - Parking
Main room: Java, 200A.05.152
Breakout room: Perl, 200A.05.120 (or the roof terrace next to Java)

Belgium

Belgium is an EU and Schengen country, and the currency is the euro (EUR/€).

The national languages are Dutch, French and German. Leuven is officially a monolingually Dutch-speaking city. Most Belgians have a fairly good command of the English language.

Emergency number: 112
Country calling code: +32
Electricity: ~230V, power outlet of type C/E - Wikipedia
Time zone: UTC+2 (CEST)

Getting to Leuven

By train

NMBS train planners: domestic trains - international train connections.
In practice Deutsche Bahn may be best aware of train connections anywhere in Europe (without necessarily being able to book them).

Leuven/Louvain railway station has direct connections to:

• Brussels-Airport Zaventem (not to be confused with Zaventem proper), a railway station directly underneath Belgium's main airport,
• Brussels-South/Brussel-Zuid/Bruxelles-Midi, with direct high-speed connections to London, Paris (incl. airport) and various destinations in France; and 6x per week a night train to Berlin (3x direct; 3x via Antwerp, NL, and on to Prague)
  • Barcelona-Sants can be reached from Brussels-South with a single change in Valence TGV or Lyon Part-Dieu. You have to force planner tools to find this; they will instead recommend that you change in Paris but then you have to hurry through the Parisian metro.
• Luik/Liège-Guillemins, with direct high-speed connections to Frankfurt am Main (incl. airport) and Dortmund via Köln/Cologne; and direct IC connections to Luxembourg,
  • From Köln Hbf, there are direct connections to Hamburg Hbf, where you have:
    • Connections to Denmark,
    • A direct night train to Malmö and Stockholm,
    • A further connection to Kiel Hbf where you can take the ferry to Gothenburg.
• Antwerp-Central/Antwerpen-Centraal/Anvers-Central, with direct IC and high-speed connections to Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Schiphol Airport; and 3x/week a night train to Berlin and Prague.

Note: Railway announcements in Belgium are made in the language of wherever you are (this even holds within a moving train!), and place names are translated. The French name for Leuven is Louvain, but Louvain-la-Neuve is an entirely different place.

Heverlee railway station is not very well connected, nor is it very helpful to get to the Arenberg campus.

By car

Just drive to Leuven. Belgium has significant traffic congestions, especially towards Brussels and Antwerp in the morning and in opposite direction in the evening.
Note: Road signs are in the language of wherever you are, and place names are translated. The French name for Leuven is Louvain, but Louvain-la-Neuve is an entirely different place.

See below for parking information.

By plane

Some nearby airports that are easily reachable by train are Brussels-Airport (BRU), Paris Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG), Frankfurt am Main (FRA), Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS).

Note that Brussels-South Charleroi Airport (CRL) is not at all in Brussels and does not have a railway station. It is however connected to the railway stations of Brussels-South/Zuid/Midi, Charleroi-Central and Fleurus by shuttle bus and public bus (operated by TEC). Each of these railway stations has direct trains to Leuven; Charleroi and Fleurus also to Heverlee.

Local transport in Leuven

Bike

By far the easiest mode of local transport in Leuven is the bike, especially since the Arenberg science campuses are located outside of the city center.

• Blue-bike:
  • Shared bikes to pick up at Leuven/Heverlee railway station and drop off at the same location.
  • Shared e-bikes to pick up and drop off at several locations in Leuven, including the railway stations and Campus Arenberg III.
  Administered via the Blue-bike app (official versions only iOS and Google Play Store).

Walk

You'll rarely have to walk more than a few kilometers, so it's a serious option if you like walking.

Bus

Public buses in Flanders are served by De Lijn. You can pay by credit/debet card, phone or smartwatch on the bus.

Relevant bus stops are Heverlee Celestijnenlaan (in front of the campus) and Heverlee Campus Arenberg (in front of the CS building).
The city center's bus hub is Rector De Somerplein (which is spread over Rector De Somerplein, Margarethaplein and Grote Markt).

• Bus 2: Engels Plein (Vaartkom) - Leuven Station - Rector De Somerplein - Heverlee Station - significant detour - Heverlee Celestijnenlaan - Heverlee Campus Arenberg. (Very frequently)
• Bus 12: Leuven Station - Heverlee Station - significant detour - Heverlee Celestijnenlaan - Heverlee Campus Arenberg.
• Binnen- & buitenringbus Leuven (bus 10 & 11) currently do not pass anywhere nearby our campus due to ongoing works.

Car

The car is not an efficient means of transport in the city centre (within the ring road) or in Kessel-Lo. The traffic flow is usually relatively good on the ring road (especially the North-West side), Koning Boudewijnlaan and Celestijnenlaan.

Parking

At the venue: In Parking Kapeldreef, the tower directly beside the CS building.
Please mail me in advance if you need access.

In general: Parking finder - Map of paid parking zones

Food & drinks

Tipping in Belgium is considered an expression of exceptional appreciation.

Near the Venue

Quick lunch:

• Alma Quadrivium (map): soup & sandwiches (same campus, 5-10 min walk; open 10h00-14h00 during Easter break.)
• Alma 3 (map): student canteen with warm lunch (15 min walk, across the Celestijnenlaan; open 11h30-14h00 during Easter break.)
• De Spuye (map): warm lunch (< 10 min biking, in Arenberg Park next to the ring road)
• Alma De Moete (map): soup & sandwiches (next to the CS building, probably closed) (Closed during Easter break.)

Restaurants:

• Kantineplein (map): Zorba - The Lodge - Oude Kantien
• De Spuye (map)

City Centre

There are many restaurants and take away places all over the city centre. Particular concentrations can be found at Muntstraat/Tiensestraat/Eikstraat/Hogeschoolplein/Alfons Smetsplein and Parijsstraat.

Cafés are concentrated at Oude Markt and Parijsstraat.

Heverlee Railway Station

There are a couple of restaurants around the railway station of Heverlee.

Groceries

Finding grocery stores near the venue will only be hard on Sunday afternoon, in which case there is Carrefour Express Heverlee.

Accommodation

Here we list some possible options, but feel free to use a search engine or booking platform instead. There is also a booking tool by the city administration's tourist office.

Hostel

• Hostel De Blauwput (HI Hostel, directly behind the railway station)
• Leuven City Hostel

Hotel

• The Shepherd (with HoTT/UF / EPN-WG6 2024, several people stayed here and expressed their contentment.)
• The Lodge Heverlee (a.k.a. De Oude Kantien - close to the venue)
• Hotel Mille Colonnes (directly in front of the railway station)
• Begijnhof Hotel
• Klooster Hotel
• Ibis Budget Leuven (directly behind the railway station)
• Ibis Leuven Centrum
• Note: Ibis Heverlee is in a somewhat desolate location at a parking next to the E40 high road. Some regard the forest immediately surrounding the parking as unsafe.

Tourism and Activities

Leuven

• The tourist office's top 10 tourist attractions,
• A walking tour by the tourist office, with a freely available pdf guide, which as a local organizer I can really endorse, including the optional extensions (which have a lower attraction density). The main loop passes by:
  • Rector De Somerplein / Fonske,
  • Domus,
  • Ladeuzeplein with Museum M and University Library,
  • Hooverplein,
  • Sint-Michielskerk,
  • Museum of Zoology,
  • Sint-Donatuspark (municipal park),
  • Vandalecollege
  • Groot Begijnhof (Great Beguinage; UNESCO world heritage),
  • Dijlepark,
  • Sint-Antoniuskapel, with the grave of Father Damien in the crypt,
  • Oude Markt
  • Universiteitshal / Lakenhal
  • Grote Markt / Sint-Pieterskerk & City Hall
  The part in the north that can be cut off, passes by:
  • Anatomical theatre,
  • Botanical garden,
  • Handbooghof with former inner city wall,
  • Klein Begijnhof (Small Beguinage),
  • Sluispark / De Hoorn / OPEK / Vaartkom.
  The south-east extension passes by:
  • Middenbermpark (central reservation park) from Naamsepoort to Parkpoort,
  • Philipssite,
  • Abdij van Park (Park Abbey),
  • Street art at Geldenaaksebaan,
  The other extensions are new and I have not extended my bullet lists.
• Other walking tours
• Campusbibliotheek Arenberg / Celestijnenklooster (Campus Library Arenberg / Celestine Monastery; close to the venue at the end of Celestijnenlaan)
• Abdij van Park (Park Abbey),
• Abdij van Vlierbeek,
• Abdij van Keizersberg,
• Hal 5 (behind the railway station, in Kessel-Lo),
• Park Heuvelhof,
• Provinciaal Domein Kessel-Lo,

Green spots

• Arenberg Park & Castle (next to the venue),
• Egenhovenbos (next to the venue; some regard the forest immediately surrounding the high road parking as unsafe.)
• Heverleebos (go there by bike or by bus; keep your walking muscles for within),
• Zoete Waters (with restaurant 't Spaans Dak),
• Vijvers van Bellefroid (Bellefroid Ponds),

Egenhovenbos and Heverleebos are now part of the National Park Brabantse Wouden.

Sports

• With a 5€ day ticket, you can make use of most of the KU Leuven sport facilities.
• The Shelter (canoeing/kayaking on the Dijle).

Art / Culture

• OPEK (Openbaar Entrepot voor de Kunsten / Public Entrepôt for the Arts)
• STUK (House for Dance, Image and Sound)
• 30CC (Cultuurcentrum 3000, the municipal culture centre)

Belgium

From Leuven, it is easy to take the train to destinations such as Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, Mechelen, Liège, Namur, the Ardennes ..., as well as the 60km-long highly urbanized Belgian Coastline (De Panne, Oostende, Blankenberge, Heist-Duinbergen-Knokke). Some nature on the coastline can be found in Het Zwin near Knokke and in the surroundings of De Panne.

Local Organizers

Andreas Nuyts - Yee-Jian Tan

---