City of Lille

Historically, it has also been the capital of Flanders, and later an industrial powerhouse, thanks to which it now boasts a large and handsome historic centre. The night life, thanks to the city’s large student population, is cutting edge and lively. It is a diverse, dynamic, and beautiful city – there is something in Lille that will appeal to everyone.

Lille tourism website
Government website

Basic tourist information

Lille (map) is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region (Nord-Pas-de-Calais & Picardy.) in northern France, within a 90-minute train ride from Paris, Brussels and London.

⇒ Must seeBrochures

Lille hosts an annual braderie (La Braderie in Lille) on the first weekend in September. Its origins are thought to date back to the twelfth century and between two and three million visitors are drawn into the city. It is one of the largest gatherings of France and the largest flea market in Europe.

Place du Général-de-Gaulle (map). The main square of Lille. It has many beautiful, Flemish inspired buildings. There are myriad restaurants, bars, and stylish shopping centers located around the square.

Palais des Beaux-Arts, Place de la République (map). A famed museum covering European art from the 15th to 20th century. There are myriad events open to all, including night events and festivals.

Town Hall (Hôtel de Ville, map). The Town Hall and its 104-m-tall Belfry is a historical monument and Unesco World Heritage Site.

Cathédrale Notre Dame de la Treille (map). The construction of this cathedral started in 1854 and was eventually finished only in 1999.

La Vieille Bourse (map). Built in 1653, this is a historic and beautiful building with an atrium style opening and inner court. Within the inner court, you may find antique booksellers, posters, and other hidden gems.

The open market Marché de Wazemmes (map). Open every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday morning, but the busiest day is definitely Sunday. Vendors sell everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, Moroccan, Mediterranean, and Vietnamese food, books, stationery, suitcases, shoes, clothes, and even perfume and undergarments!

Also сheck оut мore info about Lille: WikipediaWikivoyage

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Regions & Cities of France

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::: Source: www.ezilon.com

The *French Riviera (Côte d’Azur, map), in southeastern France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Parisian region. Main cities on the French Riviera include Nice (map), Antibes (map) and Cannes (map); Cap Ferrat (map) is also a popular destination.

Provence – numerous famous natural sites can be found in the region, as the Gorges du Verdon (map), the Camargue (map), the Calanques National Park (map) and the typical landscape of *Luberon.

Loire Valley – This World Heritage Site is noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Amboise (map), Angers (map), Blois (map), *Chinon (map), *Orléans (map), and Saumur (map) >> +*Châteaux of the Loire Valley)

French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (map) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions. Notable towns in the French Alps include Grenoble (map), Chamonix (map), Annecy (map) is called “the Venice of Savoie”, Chambéry (map), Évian-les-Bains (map) and Albertville (map).

Corsica – is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus. It is a popular attraction for tourists with both cultural aspects (cities *Ajaccio and *Bastia) and geographical features (Parc naturel régional de Corse, map).

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes / adm. center Lyon
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté / adm. center DijonBesançon
Brittany / adm. center Rennes
Centre-Val de Loire / adm. center Orléans
Corsica / adm. center Ajaccio
Île-de-France / adm. center Paris
Normandy / adm. center CaenRouen
Nouvelle-Aquitaine / adm. center Bordeaux
Occitanie / adm. center Toulouse
Pays de la Loire / adm. center Nantes
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur / adm. center Marseille
Alsace / adm. center Strasbourg
Champagne-Ardenne / Châlons-en-Champagne
Lorraine / adm. center Metz
Hauts-de-France
Nord-Pas-de-Calais / adm. center Lille
Picardy / adm. center Amiens

For the most up-to-date information, see the official tourist resources.

Transport around Lille

The coach companies compete with rail on price, which means they usually are somewhat cheaper than trains, sometimes much cheaper, especially if booked in advance. Trains will be more comfortable and sometimes much faster.

ilevia.fr – Public transport of Lille.

Public transport (parisinfo.com) • Getting to France (uk.france.fr)

sobus.travel — sells bus tickets for all the bus companies.

The Noctilien (Map of Noctilien) is a night bus service that operates in Paris and the Paris region from 12.30am to 5.30am. OuibusIsilinesFlixBusEurolinesMegabus >> (*Intercity buses in France)

Gare de Lille Europe (map). Lille Europe lies at the heart of the Brussels-Paris-London high-speed rail corridor. TGV and Eurostar trains stop here; the TGV / Thalys journey from Brussels takes little more than 30 minutes, the TGV from Paris about an hour, and the Eurostar from London an hour and 22 minutes through the Channel Tunnel.

Lille is also linked by TGV to Lyon (3 hours), Nantes (4 hours), Strasbourg (3 hr 20 min), and Marseille (5 hours).

Trains are a great way to get around in France. For regional trains, schedules can be found at ter.sncf.com. You can get from pretty much anywhere to anywhere else by train.

For long distances, use the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, or High-speed train) on which reservations are obligatory. TGVThelloOuigo. + RailEurope • EurostarThalysizy (Paris-Brussels) • TGV Lyria (Switzerland) • DB (Germany) • RENFE (Barcelona) >> *Rail travel in France

Several weekends throughout the year in France are known as ‘Black Saturday’ (Samedi noir) because of the start or end of school holidays and the coinciding traffic jams on French roads caused by thousands of tourists travelling to and from their holiday destinations. When possible it is wise to avoid these days. For traffic reports, see the website of the French traffic service.

⇒ Driving in France (wikivoyage)

aeroport.fr – list of airports in France. / parisaeroport.fr – Paris airport information.

Brittany FerriesP&O FerriesDFDS Seaways

England ⇔ France:

  • P&O Ferries – operate freight and passenger services from Dover to Calais.
  • DFDS Seaways – operate freight and passenger services from Dover to Dunkirk.
  • LD Lines – operate freight and passenger services from Portsmouth to Le Havre.
  • Brittany Ferries – operate freight and passenger services from Portsmouth to Caen, Cherbourg, andSt Malo, from Poole to Cherbourg and from Plymouth to Roscoff.
  • Condor Ferries – operate freight and passenger services from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, Poole to St Malo and Weymouth to St Malo.

Ireland ⇔ France:

  • Brittany Ferries – operate ferry services from Cork to Roscoff.
  • Celtic Link Ferries – operate ferry services from Rosslare to Cherbourg.
  • Irish Ferries – operate ferry services from Rosslare to Cherbourg and from Rosslare to Roscoff.

Video source: Lille tourism

Links to additional resources with useful information for planning your trip.