Pet-Friendly Attractions in Leuven

Leuven's flamboyant late-15th-century Brabantine Gothic Stadhuis, with 236 niche statues on its facade, faces the Grote Markt opposite the Sint-Pieterskerk. The square and the Stadhuis exterior are open 24/7, leashed dogs welcome throughout and on the café terraces of the square. The Stadhuis interior tour admits assistance dogs only.

Founded in 1232, the Groot Begijnhof Leuven is the largest preserved beguinage in Belgium, a 3-hectare cobbled neighbourhood of brick houses, courtyards and the Sint-Jan-de-Doperkerk church, UNESCO-listed in 1998. Now part of the KU Leuven campus housing academics, the streets are a peaceful public space. Leashed dogs welcome throughout the cobbled lanes; the church interior admits assistance dogs only.

Late Gothic church on the Grote Markt opposite the Stadhuis, home to Dirk Bouts' 1464 altarpiece 'The Last Supper', one of the great masterpieces of early Flemish painting. The exterior, the church square and the Naamsestraat student strip behind welcome leashed dogs free of charge; the church interior to see the Bouts altarpiece admits assistance dogs only.

The Universiteitsbibliotheek of KU Leuven, rebuilt in 1928 after destruction in World War I and again after 1944, with its iconic Bibliotheektoren (library tower) offering a panoramic city view from the carillon balcony. The Ladeuzeplein square and the adjacent Sint-Donatuspark on the medieval ramparts are public and dog-friendly; the library interior and tower climb admit assistance dogs only.