Living in Anderlecht, near Erasme or the CERIA

In the west of Brussels, at the end of metro line 5: the Erasme campus, with the ULB's medical school and the hospital, the CERIA campus, and between them and the centre, the neighbourhoods of Anderlecht. The logical choice if your classes are there, with flatsharing as the format of choice.

The neighbourhood

Anderlecht is the westernmost municipality of the Region, flat and very varied. On the Gare du Midi side, Cureghem is dense, working-class and full of shops, with the Abattoirs market from Friday to Sunday morning. Further west, the old centre of Saint-Guidon keeps its place de la Vaillance, its Gothic collegiate church, its béguinage and the Erasmus House, where the humanist stayed in 1521. Not far away, the Astrid park and the RSC Anderlecht stadium, and further out the garden cities of La Roue, Bon Air and Moortebeek.

The Erasme campus is at the very end, a few metres from Flemish Brabant, surrounded by fields and nature reserves, such as the Vogelzangbeek valley and Neerpede. A quiet campus and hospital setting, where people come to study more than to go out.

Getting around

• Metro line 5 links the whole area: Erasme, Eddy Merckx, CERIA, La Roue, Bizet, Veeweyde, Saint-Guidon, Aumale, Jacques Brel, then Gare de l'Ouest and the centre. From Erasme, allow about twelve minutes to Gare de l'Ouest and about twenty to Gare Centrale, with a train every five minutes at rush hour.
• The same line heads without a change to the Plaine and the VUB (Pétillon, Delta). For the Solbosch, take the metro to Delta, then bus 71. For Woluwe, change to line 1 at Merode.
• The train: Anderlecht station, opened in 2020 next to CERIA metro station, is served by S trains.
• Tram 81 normally links Saint-Guidon to the Midi, Flagey and Montgomery, but until spring 2027, the works on place Bara and at the Barrière limit it to Montgomery - Trinité, and buses take over beyond. On the Midi side, Cureghem relies rather on metro lines 2 and 6 (Clemenceau).
• At night, watch out: no Noctis bus goes up to Erasme or the CERIA, the N13 stops at Westland Shopping. At the campus, only De Lijn's night bus 620 runs, from 1 am to 6 am.

Schools nearby

The Erasme campus, on route de Lennik, brings together the ULB's Faculty of Medicine, Motor Sciences, the School of Public Health, Erasme hospital and, since 2021, the Institut Bordet. HELB Ilya Prigogine also has its health and social departments there. The CERIA campus, on avenue Émile Gryson, hosts the Haute École Lucia de Brouckère. On the canal side, HE2B has its engineering campus in Cureghem and the Erasmushogeschool its Kaai campus.

Everyday life

Westland Shopping, the big shopping centre of western Brussels, covers your shopping. For fresh air, the Astrid park, the parc des Étangs and, next to the campus, the Vogelzang park.

Housing

Flatsharing dominates in Anderlecht: nearly half of the offer, often for four or more, ahead of kots. Around Erasme, the Erasme Campus I and II residences are a stone's throw from the campus, and City Campus faces the CERIA, 200 metres from the metro. Also check with the ULB Housing Office, which allocates housing near the campus.

For whom?

A good choice if you study medicine, health or social work at Erasme, or at the CERIA, and if you are looking for a quiet flatshare rather than nightlife.

Less suited if you often go out in town: with no Noctis up to the campus, getting home at night gets complicated. And if you have classes at the Solbosch, crossing the city will take you a good half hour.

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