Things to do in Lille
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Network Café
At Lille's hottest discotheque, you can sip beer and boogie in the main hall, presided over by two 5m-high statues from faraway lands, or in the baroque Venetian room, decked out with velvet settees and crystal chandeliers. A magnet for guest DJs, Network is hugely popular with students (especially on Tuesday and Wednesday) and the 20-to-40 crowd. On Sunday salsa/R & B dominate before/after midnight. From 9.30pm to 11.30pm on Thursday you can learn the proper way to dance to rock music (€5). The door policy is pretty strict – locals dress up – but tends to be a bit more relaxed for tourists. Situated 600m northwest of the Palais des Beaux-Arts.
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Fine Arts Museum
Lille's world-renowned Fine Arts Museum , built from 1885 to 1892, has a truly first-rate collection of 15th- to 20th-century paintings, including works by Rubens, Van Dyck and Manet. On the ground floor, there's exquisite porcelain and faïence, much of it of local provenance, while in the basement you'll find classical archaeology, medieval statuary and intricate 18th-century models of the fortified cities of northern France and Belgium.
Tickets are valid for the whole day. Information sheets are available in each hall. An audioguide is planned for the recently-reorganised paintings section.
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Palais des Beaux-Arts
Lille's world-renowned Fine Arts Museum displays a truly first-rate collection of 15th- to 20th-century paintings, including works by Rubens, Van Dyck and Manet. Exquisite porcelain and faience (pottery), much of it of local provenance, is on the ground floor, while in the basement you'll find classical archaeology, medieval statuary and 18th-century scale models of the fortified cities of northern France and Belgium. Tickets are valid for the whole day. Information sheets in French, English and Dutch are available in each hall.
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Maison Natale de Charles de Gaulle
The upper-middle-class house in which Charles André Marie Joseph de Gaulle – WWII Resistance leader, architect of the Fifth Republic and ferocious defender of French interests – was born in 1890 is now a museum presenting the French leader in the context of his times, with an emphasis on his connection to French Flanders. Displays include de Gaulle's dainty baptismal robe and some evocative newsreels. The museum is 700m northwest of Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse along rue de la Monnaie and its northward continuation.
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Citadelle
The greatest military architect of the 17th century, Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban (p944), designed this massive fortress, shaped like a five-pointed star, after the capture of Lille by France in 1667. Made of some 60 million bricks, it still functions as a French and NATO military base. It stands at the northeastern end of bd de la Liberté. Outside the 2.2km-long outer ramparts is the city centre’s largest park.
Children will love the amusement park, playgroundand small municipal zoo(admission free; h10am- 6pm, closed mid-Dec–mid-Feb), all on the Citadelle’s southeastern flank. Served by the Citadine shuttle bus.
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Musée d'Art Moderne Lille-Métropole
Colourful, playful and just plain weird works of modern and contemporary art by masters such as Braque, Calder, Léger, Miró, Modigliani and Picasso are the big draw at the renowned Museum of Modern Art, reopened in late 2010 after extensive renovations. A brand new wing features Art Brut (outsider art). Situated in the Lille suburb of Villeneuve-d'Ascq, in a sculpture park 9km east of Gare Lille-Europe. To get there, take metro line 1 to Pont de Bois and then bus 41 to Parc Urbain-Musée.
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À l'Huîtrière
In 1928 the great-grandfather of the present owners turned to the nascent art deco movement – first exhibited (and named) in Paris just three years earlier – to find suitably elegant decoration for his fish shop on 'Street of the Hunchback Cats'. The sea-themed mosaics and stained glass are worth a look-in even if you're not in the mood to dine on super-fresh seafood – accompanied, perhaps, by a wine or two from the 40,000-bottle cellar. Book ahead for Friday dinner and Saturday.
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Duke's Club
A traditional disco with three bars and three dance spaces on three levels (used simultaneously only on Saturday night), theme nights (see the website), and black light that makes white shirts glow a radioactive purple. Most of the bouncing bods in the 30-to-50 age range. To learn the 'correct' way to dance to rock music, drop by from 9.30pm to 11pm on Friday for a professional lesson (€6, including two drinks). Situated 600m southeast of the Palais des Beaux-Arts.
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Café Le Relax
Wazemmes denizens young and old drop by this ungentrified café de quartier (neighbourhood café) for an espresso or a strong Belgian beer – and to run into friends. A great place to get a feel for this ethnically mixed, working-class part of town. Feel free to buy edibles at the nearby Wazemmes market and eat them here with a beer. Local groups perform live from about 9pm to midnight on Friday and Saturday and 7.30pm to 10.30pm on Sunday.
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La Piscine Musée d'Art et d'Industrie
If Paris can turn a disused train station into a world-class museum (the Musée d'Orsay), why not take an art deco municipal swimming pool (built 1927–32) – an architectural masterpiece inspired by a combination of civic pride and hygienic high-mindedness – and transform it into a temple of the arts? This innovative museum, 12km northeast of Gare Lille-Europe, showcases fine arts, applied arts and sculpture in a delightfully watery environment.
reviewed
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Café Citoyen
A friendly, informal bar, run as a cooperative, with a social, ideological and environmental mission. Internet access is free if you order an organic microbrewed beer (€2.90), a glass of wine or a cup of fair-trade coffee from the friendly fellow in the Trotsky-style glasses. Also serves light meals (salads, soup, sandwiches), including vegetarian and vegan options; all products are organic and most are sourced directly from local producers.
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Meert
Gaufres (waffles) made in a hinged iron griddle with Madagascar vanilla are the speciality at this luxury tearoom-cum-pastry-and-sweets-shop, which has served kings, viceroys and generals (including Charles de Gaulle, a life-long fan) since 1761. Next door, Meert’s chocolate shop (per kg €89) has a wrought-iron balcony, coffered ceiling and painted wood panels that will transport you back to 1839.
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Vieille Bourse
The Vieille Bourse is a Flemish Renaissance extravaganza ornately decorated with caryatids and cornucopia. Built in 1653, it consists of 24 separate houses set around a richly ornamented interior courtyard that hosts a used-book market (1pm-7pm Tue-Sun); old postcards, comic books and CDs are also on sale. In the warm months locals often gather here to play échecs (chess).
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Café Oz
Footy and rugby on a wide screen, Australiana on the walls and cold bottles of Toohey's Extra Dry – what more could you ask for? Popular with English-speakers, including students, this place is packed when DJs do their thing from 9pm to 3am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Opens at noon daily in nice weather and has a great warm-season terrace. Happy hour 6pm to 9pm Monday to Saturday.
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Coming Out
Popular with thirty-somethings, this relaxed bolthole welcomes punters – most of them gay and lesbian – with dancing laser dots, three Belgian beers on tap (€2.90) and a lounge area with coffee tables and low stools. The eclectic soundtrack ranges from French chansons and 80s to techno, trending to house and dance on Friday and Saturday. A good source of information on the local gay scene.
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Tchouka Club
A till-dawn gay and lesbian disco that's got Lille's clubbing classes chattering. Has photo-montage wall murals, plenty of flashing lights, buff barmen in tank tops and a soundtrack that's heavy on electro, house and techno. So packed after 1am that you may have trouble getting in. Relaxed dress code. Has a Facebook page. Situated 700m due south of the Palais des Beaux-Arts.
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Tous Les Jours Dimanche
Having tea or a light lunch here, surrounded by a motley assemblage of antique furniture and well-chosen objets d'art, is like hanging out in an arty friend's living room. Specialities include salads, sandwiches (€10) and quiche-like tartes (€10). On Sunday from October to April, you can have a brunch anglais (English brunch; €21) starting at 11.30am.
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L'Illustration Café
Adorned with art nouveau woodwork and changing exhibits by local painters, this laid-back bar attracts artists, musicians, budding intellectuals and teachers in the mood to read, exchange weighty ideas – or just shoot the breeze. The sound track is mellow, ranging from Western classical to jazz, French chansons and African. Very French in the best sense of the word.
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Vice & Versa
The rainbow flies proudly at this well-heeled, sophisticated bar, which is as gay as it is popular (and it's very popular). Decor includes brick walls, a camp crystal chandelier and lots of red and green laser dots. Has 80s-themed nights from 10pm every Tuesday, a house-and-electro DJ from 10pm on Friday and Saturday, and a soirée from 9pm on Sunday.
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Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse
Housed in a remarkably attractive 15th- and 17th-century poorhouse, the Hospice Comtesse Museum features ceramics, earthenware wall tiles, religious art and 17th- and 18th-century paintings and furniture. A rood screen separates the Salle des Malades (Hospital Hall) from a mid-17th century chapel (look up to see a mid-19th century painted ceiling).
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Le Barbue d'Anvers
This well-regarded regional restaurant occupies an 18th-century building at the end of a cobblestone courtyard, its three levels decorated with antique Dutch and Flemish furnishings. It's named after a race of Belgian chickens so naturally specialities include waterzoï de volaille (poultry and vegetables baked in a cream sauce).
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Le Palais
Serves solid cuisine of French and Flemish inspiration at eminently fair prices. Regional specialities include carbonnade and potjevlesch (a gelled pâté made with pork, rabbit, fowl and veal). Creatively lit with octopus-like light fixtures - but the brick walls never let you forget you're in Vieux Lille.
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Hospice Comtesse Museum
Housed in an attractive 15th- and 17th-century poorhouse, the Hospice Comtesse Museum features ceramics, faïence wall tiles and 17th- and 18th-century paintings, furniture and religious art. The Salle des Malades (Hospital Hall) is decorated with Lille tapestries. The museum was undergoing renovations as we went to press.
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La Voix du Nord
On the southern side of place du Général de Gaulle, the 1932 Art Deco home of La Voix du Nord , the leading regional daily, has a gilded sculpture of the Three Graces on top. The goddess-topped column (1845) in the square's fountain commemorates the city's successful resistance to the Austrian siege of 1792.
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Loos, Arras and Vimy Ridge WWI Battlefields Small Group Day Trip from Lille
by Viator
Join a small group tour from Lille for a unique experience at a reasonable price. Accompanied by either ex-army personnel or Battlefield Guides with postgraduat…Not LP reviewed
from USD$180.22
