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Where to look for a kot in Brussels?

Brussels is big, and its campuses are spread to the four corners of the city. The right neighbourhood depends first on where your classes are, then on the metro, tram or bus line that takes you there. A quick tour.

Before choosing

Your classes. The big universities have several campuses far apart from each other. The ULB is at the Solbosch and the Plaine (Ixelles), with the faculty of medicine at Erasme (Anderlecht). The VUB is right next to the Plaine, on the Etterbeek border. UCLouvain has its Woluwe campus (medicine, health) around Alma station, and UCLouvain Saint-Louis is in the centre, near the Botanique. The colleges and art schools have their sites all over the place.

Your commute. Brussels is crossed by metro, tram and bus (STIB), by bike or on foot. Rather than the distance as the crow flies, look at the direct line: a kot twenty minutes away with no change beats a closer kot with two connections. Shared bikes and scooters round off the network nicely for short trips.

Your budget. Brussels rents are among the highest in the country, and they vary a lot from one neighbourhood to the next. Flatsharing is very common among students there, for that very reason.

The neighbourhoods

71 25 M5 M1 Midi Nord Central Luxembourg Schuman Ouest Centre Saint-Josse Saint-Gilles Flagey Etterbeek Bascule, Châtelain Cimetière d'Ixelles Uccle Auderghem Boitsfort Anderlecht Forest Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Kraainem Schaerbeek Evere Molenbeek Koekelberg Jette Laeken ULB Solbosch ULB Plaine, VUB ULB Erasme UCLouvain Woluwe UCLouvain Saint-Louis ESA Saint-Luc UCLouvain LOCI ICHEC EPHEC Woluwe IHECS, HELB (Reyers) VUB Jette La Cambre HE2B ISEK HE2B IESSID HE2B ISIB HE2B ESI
Your school:
Base map © OpenStreetMap contributors

The city centre

Inside the inner ring road and just around it: cultural life, nights out, shops, and every metro line within reach. Handy if you want to live Brussels to the full, or if your classes are at Saint-Louis or in a school in the centre.

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The Pentagon: Dansaert, Sainte-Catherine, the Bourse

The historic heart: the Grand-Place, rue Neuve, the Dansaert and Sainte-Catherine neighbourhoods with their designers, bars and restaurants. Very lively, often noisy, with many old flats. From the centre, metro lines 1 and 5 go straight to Erasme, the Plaine and Woluwe, and bus 71 to the Solbosch.

Usual rent: €490 to 680 a month, without charges

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The Pentagon in detail: Dansaert, Sainte-Catherine, the metro, the schools in the centre.

Saint-Josse and Botanique

Just north-east of the inner ring, around the Botanique and chaussée de Louvain. A working-class, very mixed neighbourhood, among the cheapest in Brussels, a stone's throw from the centre and from UCLouvain Saint-Louis.

Usual rent: €495 to 650 a month, without charges

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Saint-Josse and the Botanique in detail: the Botanique, tram 25, UCLouvain Saint-Louis on foot.

Saint-Gilles

South of the centre, between the Midi station and the top of the municipality. A young, lively neighbourhood, with its squares and cafés, ESA Saint-Luc and UCLouvain's faculty of architecture (LOCI). Well connected to the centre by metro and trams, although the Midi station works cut the trams until spring 2027.

Usual rent: €475 to 695 a month, without charges

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Saint-Gilles in detail: the Parvis, the Midi station, the works until 2027.

Around the ULB and the VUB

Brussels' big student neighbourhood spreads around the Solbosch and Plaine campuses. Plenty of kots, flatshares, and a student life that never stops. Bus 71 links the centre to the Solbosch through Flagey, and tram 25 serves the ULB from Etterbeek.

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The Cimetière d'Ixelles

Despite its name, it is the liveliest neighbourhood for an ULB student: a few minutes on foot from the Solbosch and the Plaine, with supermarkets, snack bars and bars. Ideal in the first year, less so if you are after quiet.

Usual rent: €480 to 650 a month, without charges

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The Cimetière d'Ixelles in detail: the cafés, the campuses on foot, the trams to the VUB.

Flagey and Porte de Namur

Around place Flagey and the Ixelles ponds, up to Matonge and Porte de Namur. A central, multicultural, lively neighbourhood, with many flats and flatshares. Bus 71 reaches the ULB in about ten minutes, the metro runs through Porte de Namur.

Usual rent: €480 to 625 a month, without charges

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Flagey, the ponds and Porte de Namur in detail: the square, Matonge, bus 71.

Etterbeek and the European quarter

Between the European institutions and the VUB and Plaine campuses. Residential streets, the shopping neighbourhood of La Chasse, and tram 25 to the ULB. Rents go up as you get closer to the European quarter.

Usual rent: €475 to 650 a month, without charges

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Etterbeek and the European quarter in detail: place Jourdan, the trams to the campuses, the schools.

La Bascule and Le Châtelain

Between Ixelles and Uccle, around chaussée de Waterloo. A sought-after neighbourhood, quieter and more expensive, with no metro but well served by trams, and a bike ride from the ULB. The Bois de la Cambre is right nearby.

Usual rent: €540 to 700 a month, without charges

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La Bascule and Le Châtelain in detail: tram 7 to the ULB, the art schools, the Bois de la Cambre.

Uccle, Auderghem, Watermael-Boitsfort

The green municipalities of the south and south-east: residential, quiet, with large parks and the Sonian Forest. Often more spacious housing, but longer commutes and evenings where the trip home needs planning.

Uccle

Usual rent: €500 to 650 a month, without charges

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Auderghem

Usual rent: €500 to 650 a month, without charges

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Watermael-Boitsfort

Usual rent: €505 to 690 a month, without charges

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Near Erasme

The Erasme campus, in the west of Anderlecht, is at the terminus of metro line 5. If most of your classes are there, living along that line spares you crossing the city every day.

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Anderlecht

A large, very varied municipality: lively neighbourhoods near the centre and the Midi station, others residential and green on the way to Erasme, around the line 5 stations. Rents are more affordable there than in Ixelles.

Usual rent: €470 to 600 a month, without charges

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Anderlecht, Erasme and the CERIA in detail: metro line 5, the health campuses, flatsharing.

Forest

South of Anderlecht and Saint-Gilles: residential, with the Forest park and moderate rents. Less directly linked to Erasme, but well placed for the centre and the south of the city.

Usual rent: €455 to 625 a month, without charges

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Near the Woluwe campus

The UCLouvain Woluwe campus is served by metro line 1, at Vandervelde, Alma and Crainhem stations. Living along that line puts your classes a few minutes away, in quiet, green neighbourhoods.

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Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre

Two residential, green municipalities, with the Woluwe shopping centre and the student cafés around the campus. A peaceful setting to study, fifteen to twenty minutes from the centre by metro.

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert

Usual rent: €475 to 650 a month, without charges

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Woluwe-Saint-Pierre

Usual rent: €465 to 615 a month, without charges

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Woluwe and the UCLouvain campus in detail: metro line 1, the health schools, living in peace and quiet.

Kraainem, Wezembeek and the outskirts

Just past the region's boundary, on the Flemish side. Rents can be lower there, but beyond the metro and a few STIB buses that cross the boundary, many connections go through De Lijn buses: check which season ticket covers your trip before signing.

Usual rent: €440 to 600 a month, without charges

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Elsewhere in Brussels

The north and west of the city are more residential and often cheaper. An option to consider if you have a tight budget and a good direct line to your campus.

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Schaerbeek and Evere

Schaerbeek is a large municipality of fine townhouses, working-class and mixed, with more gentle rents than in the south. Evere, further out, is mostly residential.

Schaerbeek

Usual rent: €505 to 675 a month, without charges

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Evere

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The north-west, on the other side of the canal, has rents among the lowest in the city. Its four municipalities each have their own character, though.

Molenbeek

Young, very working-class and multicultural, with a strong community and artistic life. Two faces: the lower part of the municipality, near the canal, is dense, commercial and very lively, a stone's throw from the centre; the upper part, towards the Karreveld, is residential, green and quiet. Several metro stations link both to the centre.

Usual rent: €480 to 595 a month, without charges

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Koekelberg

One of the smallest municipalities in Brussels, quiet and on a human scale, between the bustle of Molenbeek and the residential north-west. The basilica and the Elisabeth park around it are its heart. The metro runs through Simonis.

Usual rent: €395 to 540 a month, without charges

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Jette

A village spirit, friendly and peaceful, popular with families. Place du Miroir and its Sunday market, its brasseries, and large green spaces close by: the Roi Baudouin park, the Dieleghem wood. Linked to the centre by tram and train.

Usual rent: €455 to 630 a month, without charges

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Laeken

Part of the City of Brussels, Laeken changes from one street to the next: the royal estate, the Atomium and the Heysel on one side, dense and lively working-class neighbourhoods around Bockstael on the other. Mostly residential, served by metro 6.

Usual rent: €505 to 625 a month, without charges

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By school

Your classes Where to look first
ULB Solbosch and Plaine, VUB Cimetière d'Ixelles, Flagey, Etterbeek, La Bascule
ULB Erasme Anderlecht along line 5, Forest
UCLouvain Woluwe Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
UCLouvain Saint-Louis, schools in the centre Centre, Saint-Josse, Saint-Gilles
ESA Saint-Luc, UCLouvain LOCI Saint-Gilles, Forest, La Bascule
La Cambre La Bascule, Flagey, Cimetière d'Ixelles
ICHEC (Montgomery) Etterbeek, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre
EPHEC Woluwe Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Kraainem
IHECS, HELB (Reyers campus) Schaerbeek, Evere, Etterbeek, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert
VUB Jette Jette, Koekelberg, Laeken
HE2B ISEK (Forest) Forest, Uccle, Saint-Gilles
HE2B IESSID (Etterbeek) Etterbeek, Flagey, Cimetière d'Ixelles
HE2B ISIB (Anderlecht) Anderlecht, Molenbeek, Saint-Gilles
HE2B ESI (centre) Centre, Saint-Josse, Schaerbeek

In every listing, you can see the trip to your school on foot, by bike, by public transport or by car: add your school to your profile to see it.

Read next Universities and colleges The higher education institutions of Brussels and their campuses.

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