Lille

[Shinyhappyapple]

Has anybody been? Did you like it? Any recommendations?

Having made our first trip via Eurostar visiting Paris earlier this year, we’ve figured it’s a nice easy way to do short city breaks, thought we’d start with Lille as its nearest. Looking at early September.

We had a week there. Visited Paris one day and Ghent another. The Art Gallery is fab, we also visited the nearby one in an old swimming pool too. And it’s just a nice place with cafes to mooch in. It’s a bit of a mix between France and Belgium.

It's very pretty but I didn't think there was a lot to do there.

Brussels is more interesting I think, or Bruges if you don't mind hopping on another train.

I have only visited Lille once, so I’m certainly no expert, but I got the impression that it’s a northern, working, industrial city not a tourist destination. Going there on holiday would be like going to Sheffield.

We spent a nice weekend there. Stayed in a lovely boutique type hotel (it was 2005 so can't remember the details).

Ate moules frites. Drank wine.

Would you be thinking of visiting on the weekend of 5-6 Sept? If so, that's when the Braderie de Lille, a massive flea market and assorted attractions, takes place.
I went for one day of the Braderie around a decade ago and most parts of the city centre get totally packed. May be just what you're looking for, or your worst nightmare.
Whenever you go, if you fancy a stroll and some greenery away from the immediate centre, you could walk around the citadel park. There's also a botanic garden a couple of miles south of the centre.
Because of when I went, I'm sure I didn't see Lille at its best.

Had a three night trip there in May and enjoyed it. Visited the art museum which is very good. The old town is very pretty with cobbled streets and nice shops. We visited during a bank holiday and it was very busy especially around the Westfield shopping centre. You can easily get to Paris etc via their good train service.

I spent 3 days there with my art student teen girls. Nice historic centre. Interesting cathedral, good art museums (La Piscine at Roubaix is well worth the 25 minute metro/tram ride. Exquisite patisserie and hot chocolate at the café as well as miles of artwork in an amazing art deco setting.) I think the Modern Art museum is still closed for major refurb.

Food and drink generally is mostly Belgian influenced, moules frites, 'welsh', beers etc but of course plenty of steak frites. Crepes, gaufres etc.

City bikes are brilliant, 1E50 for 24 hours as long as you only use for up to 30 minutes at a time. Stations to return or pick up are everywhere and there are loads of cycle paths. Only downside is the cobbled areas are hard on your bum!

We went for the Olympics, they hosted some basketball and handball matches. We also did a few sites like the tower at the town hall and the art gallery. I really liked the city and also has easy access to Paris and Disney. I was planning to day trip over to Belgium to see some of the World War I sites around Ypres, but we never went. I think this is easier with a car, it's like 40 minutes away, but public transport it was going to take closer to 2 hours.

It’s a pleasant enough city, but I’d go on the Brussels or Amsterdam if you want to go north. Or change in Brussels and head to Germany.

Hated it and found staff unfriendly and felt unwelcome.

Depends on what floats your boat. It has some of the most beautiful intricate brickwork and architectural tiling in the world. I appreciate that is a bit niche. I could spend days looking at it.

They do an amazing chocolate cake .... There is a cake shop on the edge of the old city where you can spend a good hour in the queue.... So worth it.

Just behind the art gallery is a more alternative cafe culture area.

Thanks everyone.

@TreesAtSea useful to know that about the date, although we would be going midweek.

I get what people are saying about going further to more interesting places, but given we have to travel down to London first and it’s only a short trip, we didn’t rent to go too far. We do plan Amsterdam as a break another time, and a longer holiday to Bordeaux via Paris. I had always been a bit wary of the idea of going under the sea, but having done it now and realised you don’t even notice that part of the journey, I feel that more options have opened up to us.

Bruges looks very doable in the day from Lille (just looked, it’s an hour on the bus) so may do that.

@Unescorted
I like intricate brickwork too. And chocolate cake!

That all sounds good, thank you, @bonbonours - although I wouldn’t be riding a bike!

That’s interesting as until our recent trip to Paris, that had been my general view of France, but we had such a lovely time and the people were so friendly, it’s made us want to see a bit more.

Bruges is lovely to wander around and the cathedral has the only Michelangelo statue outside of Italy.

It's amazing to see a great work of art in the kind of setting for which it would have been made rather than in a museum. If you go early in the day you might be able to sit with it alone.

We ended up going to Belgium for a day which was lovely.

We’ve been there several times for weekends. Love it. Great food. And only 1 hour 20 from London. We went to Arras for a change recently and headed back to Lille early. 100% recommend. SIL went recently on our advice and loved it too.

It's quite pretty and has some very nice shops and the big Westfield shopping centre. I like it best near Xmas when everything is beautifully decorated and the market is on. We went to Arras last year for the Xmas market. There is not a lot else there - but the wartime tunnels sounded interesting. 2 or 3 days would be perfect, longer I would look to do some daytrips. Brussels is about 30 mins on the train. Calais is nice in the summer.

Lille is well worth a few days. Plenty to see and do. Lots of beer, interesting food etc...

If you go I recommend a restaurant called Estaminet du Welsh. Fab food.

Go to Vieux Lille and they have several "Estaminet"s with the local delicacies, often involving nuclear cheese...

Its an absolute shithole. Grey, grotty with a lot of deprivation. Spend an extra hour on the eurostar and go to Brussels for the same food and architecture with loads more to do

Why do you always get numpties like this on Mumsnet?

That's a shame. You've been unlucky. I've been several times (DD lived there) and I found it a really friendly city. Waiting and retail staff speak good English.

It's an absolute shithole. Grey, grotty with a lot of deprivation

Nonsense. It's an affluent city.

Second pp who recommended a trip to the La Piscine - Musée d'art et d'industrie André Diligent de Roubaix. Would also visit Maison natale Charles de Gaulle.

Beautiful walks around the Citadel and by the river. Sundays - lots of shops, restaurants closed but La Bellezza is open and it's great.

And Tiger Milk for Mexican food!

Yep, OP should definitely visit a Mexican chain restaurant for her short hop over to France 🙄