City of Lille

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 see • Brochures

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.

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).

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)