Lille is the capital of the Flanders Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is an hour from Dunkirk, an hour from Gent or Brussels, and is only 90 minutes by Eurostar from St Pancras London. It is near the border with Belgium, just as it is the UK.
It is a cultural hub, with medieval art, wonderful architecture, fantastic food, and it is clean. Once an important merchant centre of French Flanders with canals running through some streets, many Flemish influences remain, especially in the facades of the buildings. he historic centre, Vieux Lille, is characterised by 17th-century brick town houses, cobbled pedestrian streets and the large central square, Grand Place which houses the Opera House and is next to Theatre Square.
It is a city that is so easy to visit that it is almost a crime not to… but it is a crime to drop a cigarette end. We visited for the Ed Sheeran Concert, before they had staged Bruce Springsteen. The stadium is clean, efficient and very very easy.
We walked the whole City App Tour and did 20,000 steps. It took a whole day and Jean thinks it was about ten miles. There are cycle pod tour and CV2 tour options, or you can use this guide to select what you want to see.
