The best traffic-free bike rides around Holsbeek

The Tower The Keep...

It looks like the athletics track...

Quiet road and a reed field?

A truly rural setting, a potholed dirt road for cars and a paved cycle path for cyclists—that’s how it should be.

Cycle path along the Weefberg in the Averbode forest.

Take the designated bike path, because the gravel section where cars have to ride is in incredibly bad condition. Your water bottles will shudder out of their holders!

The Stella Artois brewery is located in the heart of Leuven. In the city registers of Leuven, we find a record of excise duties for the Den Hoorn brewery as early as 1366. It was at this brewery that Sébastien Artois became master brewer on June 13, 1708. His name thus became inextricably linked to the brewery and the city of Leuven. In 1926, the Artois brewery launched a Christmas beer, following the tradition of the time. It was called "Stella," the Latin word for "star." The beer was such a success that the brewer decided to market it permanently. Our Stella Artois still exists today. The horn and the year 1366 are still mentioned in the logo, references to the beer's origins. Click on the map at https://ab-inbev.be/ with the breweries, select the one for Leuven, and you will find this text with a photo and directions to the brewery.

Vlierbeek Abbey is located northeast of Leuven. To the south, it borders the Negenbunders and the Molenbeek valley, which, until the first half of the 20th century, connected to the then-existing part of the Lovenarenbroek. The avenues, the abbey site, and the surrounding fields have largely been preserved over the past two centuries. The priory was founded by the Benedictines of Affligem in 1127. The first monastic buildings were erected from 1158 onwards, and the first church was built in 1170. During the Wars of Religion, the abbey was destroyed. Reconstruction did not begin until 1642. A second building campaign began in 1776, during which only the church and the abbot's quarters were completed. The ruins of the original church tower still exist. The abbey was dissolved in 1796, but thanks to the Concordat, the first monks were able to return in 1801. In 1829, Vlierbeek became an independent parish. The abbey church is a defining feature: a remarkably homogeneous building in the Classical style, a series of geometric volumes devoid of any ornamentation. Adjacent to the church is the cemetery, which is still in use. In the garden adjacent to the church, we still find remains of the cloister, rebuilt in the 17th century. The old abbot's quarters date from the 16th century but have been renovated several times. In the vegetable garden, a 17th-century gazebo with a rococo stucco ceiling still stands, used as a chapel since 1963. Several outbuildings adjacent to the western enclosure wall were converted into private residences in the 19th century. The 18th-century carriage house was also converted into a residence. Farmhouse buildings from the 17th century stand against the northern fence, which originally housed a bakery and brewery. The 17th-century northern gate was originally equipped with a drawbridge, the ironwork of which has been preserved. The western gate with the gatehouse dates from the 16th century. Behind the farm, traces of the Baroque garden and its associated canal system can still be seen. The plot of the former 17th-century parterre garden is still recognizable. Also worth mentioning are the garden belonging to the rectory and the garden near the former coach house, as well as remnants of the 18th-century moated island garden in the northeast corner, remnants of hedges, the old cloister, and the vegetable garden. Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Vlierbeek Abbey Domain, https://id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/135101