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Cycling the outskirts of Leuven

Cycling around Leuven

Join me for a 2-hour cycle ride around the perimeter of Leuven.

In my last post I introduced you to how to use RouteYou to create your own walking or cycling route. Just to show you how easy it is in practice, I made this simple 27 km cycle ride from my home around the outskirts of Leuven. As I mentioned, it’s just a matter of selecting the distance and direction, choosing a recreational cycle route, and you get a proposal for a route. I had to pull it to the south a little as I wanted to go through the Heverlee woods to the south of Leuven, but that was all the tinkering necessary. Here’s the map of the route, followed by some pictures.

cycling the outskirts of Leuven
Winksele church
First stop: Maria Hemelvaart church in Winksele. Dates back to the 12th century but was renovated in the 18th.
cycling the outskirts of Leuven
Over the E314 motorway, with University College Leuven & Limburg (UCLL) in the distance
cycling the outskirts of Leuven
Hospital fire station
UZ Leuven
Leuven university hospital, campus Gasthuisberg, where three of our four children were born
IMAC Tower
University buildings with the IMAC Tower in the background. IMAC is one of the world’s leading nanotechnology research facilities
River Dyle Leuven
The River Dyle
KU Leuven
More university buildings
Heverlee Woods
Into Heverlee woods, a great area for walking and cycling
cycling the outskirts of Leuven
Under the tunnel under the E40
Heverlee War Cemetery
Heverlee War Cemetery contains 977 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 37 of them unidentified, and 29 First World War burials 
ETF Leuven
Leuven Evangelical Theology Facility
cycling the outskirts of Leuven
Final resting place for the local nuns
Park Abbey
The mill of the Park Abbey
Park Abbey
The Park Abbey, which is in the middle of a major renovation project
cycling the outskirts of Leuven
Transportable milking shed
Leuven railway station
Heading down towards Leuven railway station
Stella Artois brewery Leuven
The local brewery
Leuven-Mechelen Canal
The start of the Leuven-Mechelen canal
Canoeing on the canal in Leuven
Canoeists on the canal. Canaloeists?
cycling the outskirts of Leuven
The canal towpath is a popular cycling route. Actually on Sunday mornings in particular it can be quite crowded
Cycling around the outskirts of Leuven
Local food processing facility
cycling the outskirts of Leuven
Fields close to home

So that was the cycling the outskirts of Leuven route I took. Feel free to join it anywhere along the route, where it’s most convenient for you. You can download the map and the GPX track from my page over at RouteYou. Any questions, just contact me or comment below. And for new cycling or walking routes, add your email below:

6 thoughts on “Cycling the outskirts of Leuven”

  1. Lots of interesting stuff on this tour, I’ve never seen a portable milking shed before. The abbey looks beautiful, especially the mill. The trees along the River Dyle look so odd – – someone must prune them into that shape (?)

    1. Yes Robert, the leaves are growing back after being pollarded. And I’m looking forward to when the abbey is renovated. Sometime mid 21st century probably!

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