Things to do in Lille
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Lille
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring, the connoisseur's window: terraces reopen, Citadelle in leaf and museum queues shortest.
Summer, longest days to 22:00 in June, boats and open air concerts, some independents close in August.
Early September is Braderie weekend, then golden weeks either side are among the best of the year.
Autumn, Lille3000 in edition years, football in swing and beer and carbonnade weather, darkest by November.
Winter, Christmas market in December then the greyest, cheapest months with empty museums in January and February.
What's on
- Braderie de Lille first weekend of September
Europe's biggest flea market, 53 km of stalls and over 2.5 million visitors over 34 non stop hours.
- Lille Christmas Market 18 November to 30 December
Around 90 chalets on Place Rihour plus the Grand-Place tree and 50 metre Ferris wheel.
- Lille3000 autumn, edition years
Themed seasons of city wide exhibitions and installations centred on Saint-Sauveur and Tripostal.
- Dunkirk Carnival February/March weekends
Regional carnival in the wider Dunkirk area during February and March weekends.
Best things to do in Lille
Vieux-Lille
Cobbled old town of Flemish townhouses, boutiques and estaminets, and the essential first walk in Lille.
Palais des Beaux-Arts
France's largest municipal museum outside Paris, with Rubens to Monet plus Vauban relief maps in the basement.
Grand-Place
The city's living room, ringed by grand Flemish facades and centred on the Goddess column.
La Vieille Bourse
Renaissance stock exchange courtyard filled with secondhand booksellers, print sellers and chess players.
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Lille
104 metre UNESCO belfry with the one viewpoint that makes Lille's flat Flemish geography click.
Marché de Wazemmes
Lille's loud, multicultural market for produce, street food, flowers and the covered food hall.
La Capsule
Rustic beer hall with one of the city's deepest draught and bottle lists, the consensus start for a beer crawl.
Brique House
Local brewery taprooms to continue a Flemish beer crawl after La Capsule.
Where to stay in Lille
Vieux-Lille
first trip, all-round base
Cobbled, restaurant dense and walkable everywhere, with the Citadelle for a morning run.
Grand-Place / Centre
one-night and business stays
Practical grand boulevards by the Opera and stations, five to ten minutes from everything.
Euralille / The Stations
early trains, groups and value
Newer, bigger and cheaper hotels between Lille Flandres and Lille Europe, ten minutes from Grand-Place.
Vauban / Wazemmes / Saint-Sauveur
repeat visitors and longer stays
Residential calm in Vauban, market life in Wazemmes and a cultural quarter growing in Saint-Sauveur.
Think twice about
- Lille-Sud, Moulins and Porte des Postes / Porte d'Arras fringe
Most deprived districts with little visitor infrastructure and the most visible street problems. Visit a venue if needed, do not base here.
- Station forecourts late at night
Lille Flandres underpasses and Euralille plaza edges concentrate begging, street drinking and pickpocket reports after dark.
- Rue Solférino / Masséna
Student nightlife strip loud until 2 to 4am Thursday to Saturday. Great to drink on, miserable to sleep above.
Best restaurants in Lille
La Table du Clarance
One star dining room in the Clarance mansion, giving regional produce the full fine dining treatment.
Bloempot
Florent Ladeyn's flagship for 100 percent local cooking in a former carpenter's workshop courtyard.
Au Vieux de la Vieille
The estaminet to beat, for carbonnade flamande and Welsh au Maroilles under hops from the rafters.
Chez la Vieille
Sister estaminet to Au Vieux de la Vieille on Rue de Gand, the overflow answer on the same street.
Bierbuik-Bloemeke
Florent Ladeyn's casual Flemish canteen for generous beer friendly plates and excellent local beers.
Le Club Marot
Small chic bistronomy dining room for a smart dinner without the Clarance price or formality.
Célestin
Tiny chef led micro restaurant with seasonal market menus and a serious natural leaning wine list.
Le Barbier qui Fume
Former barber's shop turned smokehouse, known for house smoked charcuterie and meats.
Outdoor things to do in Lille
Parc de la Citadelle
110 hectares of park, woodland and canal around Vauban's star shaped citadel, made for running and picnics.
Zoo de Lille
Free zoo inside Citadelle park, an easy add on to a park walk for families.
Marin d'Eau Douce
No licence electric boats on the Deule from Citadelle park, with food and drinks to take aboard.
V'Lille
Bike share for flat towpath rides west along the Deule to Wambrechies or east along the Roubaix canal.
Golf de Bondues
The metropole's prestige golf club, with two complementary 18 hole courses in 120 hectares.
Golf du Sart
18 holes wrapped around the 1740 Chateau du Sart, with the clubhouse inside the chateau.
Golf de Brigode
Long established 18 hole parkland course east of the city, easier to book than Bondues.
Golf Lille Métropole
18 hole championship course plus a 9 hole academy course, the best learn and practice option near Lille.
Best hotels in Lille
Clarance Hôtel
1736 mansion turned five star boutique hotel with a garden, home to La Table du Clarance.
L'Hermitage Gantois
15th century hospice turned grande dame five star, with cloister garden, pool and spa.
Couvent des Minimes
17th century convent around a vast courtyard, the quietest luxury adjacent sleep in the old town.
Hôtel de la Treille
Small, friendly three star by the cathedral square, praised for location and staff over room size.
The People Lille
Design hostel with curtained dorm bunks and private rooms, plus a lively bar.
Hôtel Carlton Lille
The centre's classic grand hotel facing the Opera, with a dome and a cupola suite view.
Grand Hôtel Bellevue
Handsome good value four star in a Haussmann style building near Grand-Place.
Mama Shelter Lille
Playful design hotel by Lille Europe station, with a big restaurant bar and group trip energy.
Is Lille expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €65 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €150 a person |
| Splurge | €320 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Palais des Beaux-Arts: a few days ahead
- Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Lille: a few days ahead
- Stade Pierre-Mauroy: weeks ahead
- Marin d'Eau Douce: a few days ahead
- Golf de Bondues: a few days ahead
- Golf du Sart: a few days ahead
- Golf de Brigode: a few days ahead
- Golf Lille Métropole: a few days ahead
- Braderie weekend hotels sell out months ahead and prices multiply, with Lille3000, Christmas Saturdays and Champions League nights next.
- Book estaminets, Bloempot, Club Marot and La Table du Clarance two to seven days ahead for weekends. Bloempot is online only.
- Book the belfry online for a timed slot, and Eurostar and TGV tickets early before prices climb steeply.
- Palais des Beaux-Arts closes Tuesdays and La Piscine closes Mondays, and many kitchens close Sunday night and Monday.
Is Lille safe?
- Petty theft is the real risk in the Wazemmes crush, at Braderie and on station platforms, so keep bags close and phones in a front pocket.
- Begging in the centre is visible and persistent but generally non aggressive, a firm non ends it.
- Rue Solferino and Massena late at night are drunk and loud, walk through and use parallel streets after 1am if alone.
Lille travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Musee de l'Illusion is fun for children on a rainy day but no substitute for the Palais des Beaux-Arts or La Piscine.
- Rue de Gand mixes the best estaminets with tourist calibrated ones door by door, so use the named picks.
- Grand-Place first row terraces charge for the view, the same coffee is cheaper two streets into Vieux-Lille.
- Do not reduce Lille to a Paris day trip: one day gets the postcard, two nights gets Roubaix, Wazemmes and a proper estaminet dinner.
Getting around Lille: public transport and more
- Walk first: Grand-Place to the Citadelle, both stations and the Palais des Beaux-Arts are all 10 to 15 minutes.
- Metro Line 1 links the centre to Villeneuve-d'Ascq and the stadium, Line 2 to Roubaix and Tourcoing, and trams leave from Lille Flandres.
- Lille Flandres is not Lille Europe: they are 500 metres apart, Eurostar and most TGVs use Europe, regional services use Flandres.
- The City Pass bundles around 20 sites plus transport and pays for itself with two paid museums plus Roubaix in a day.
Who Lille suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Lille your trip
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