Lille in 3 days

Flemish facades and French food an hour from Paris and 90 minutes from London, with student-city energy. Best time to visit: May-September and early December. Average daily budget: $90 to $160 USD.

Day 1, Get oriented

Base: Vieux-Lille, The old town of 17th-century Flemish facades, boutiques, cheese shops and the prettiest streets.

Morning: Palais des Beaux-Arts. France's second-largest fine arts museum after the Louvre, with Rubens, Goya and Delacroix.

Afternoon: Explore Vieux-Lille, The old town of 17th-century Flemish facades, boutiques, cheese shops and the prettiest streets.

Evening: Vieille Bourse book market. The old stock exchange courtyard, full of secondhand booksellers and tango dancers in the evening.

Eat: Moules-frites with a Ch'ti or Jenlain beer

Day 2, Go deeper

Base: Centre & Grand Place, The commercial heart around Place du General de Gaulle and the old stock exchange.

Morning: Marche de Wazemmes. Sunday morning chaos of produce, spices, rotisserie chicken and flowers.

Afternoon: Explore Centre & Grand Place, The commercial heart around Place du General de Gaulle and the old stock exchange.

Evening: Eat moules-frites in an estaminet. The Flemish tavern experience: mussels, chicory, potjevleesch and local beer.

Eat: Carbonade flamande, beef slow-cooked in brown ale

Day 3, Hidden side

Base: Wazemmes, Multicultural, cheap and lively, home to the huge Sunday market and student bars.

Morning: La Piscine museum in nearby Roubaix, an art deco swimming pool converted into a gallery.. A local favourite most visitors miss, worth the detour.

Afternoon: Explore Wazemmes, Multicultural, cheap and lively, home to the huge Sunday market and student bars.

Evening: The Citadelle park, Vauban's star fort surrounded by running paths and woods.. A local favourite most visitors miss, worth the detour.

Eat: Welsh, a molten cheddar and beer dish from the north

Hidden gems

La Piscine museum in nearby Roubaix, an art deco swimming pool converted into a gallery.
The Citadelle park, Vauban's star fort surrounded by running paths and woods.
Maison Meert for its 170-year-old vanilla waffles.
Rue de Gand at night, a single street of packed restaurants locals actually book.

Getting around

The centre is flat and walkable, and two metro lines plus trams cover the rest cheaply. Lille has two stations side by side: Lille-Europe for Eurostar and TGV, Lille-Flandres for regional trains and Paris. London is 90 minutes, Paris one hour, Brussels 35 minutes and Bruges around 90 minutes.

Safety

Lille is generally safe and easy to walk, with busy streets late thanks to the student population. Keep normal city awareness around the stations, Wazemmes at night and Rue de Bethune, where pickpocketing and bag snatching happen. During the September Braderie the crowds are enormous, so carry nothing loose in back pockets.

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