Bucket List: Best Activities and Amazing Places to Visit in Lille, France

Lille in France offers a lot of tourist spots for sightseeing. You can expect that this city will complement your aesthetics in multiple ways. This city is known for offering historical structures with unique architecture, churches, and parks. Here are some of the things you can do during your trip to Lille:

Roam Around Old Lille

Old Lille epitomizes the city’s history through its picture-worthy sites. This old town is filled with bourgeois houses and baroque-designed structures that date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

Some of the must-visit sites are Place Louise de Bettignies and Rue de la Monnaie. What makes this a lively hub is the presence of bars and restaurants that will surely give you an entertaining nightlife.

Tour Palais des Beaux-Arts

This museum provides a prestigious collection of French art. The collection consists of artworks that date from the 15th to the 20th century. Several famous artworks were made by several distinguished artists such as Rubens, Van Dyck, Rodin, Claudel, Van Gogh, Donatello, and Picasso.

Other collections include 17th to 18th-century ceramics, drawings, and large-scale models of old and modern cities.

Visit La Vieille Bourse

La Vieille Bourse is recognized as “The Old Stock Exchange of Lille.” This structure houses several monuments such as the old stock exchange, 24 similar-looking residences, an inner courtyard, and a transaction and meeting hub for florists, booksellers, and tourists.

You will notice how this venue is filled with decorations exhibiting Lille’s history regarding the colonial period, traditional practices, and locals’ lifestyles.

See The Grand Place

The Grand Place is Lille’s resident market square. This is because of the venue’s consistent influx of activity. What attracts tourists is the venue’s classical architecture and sculptures such as the Goddess and Louis XIV sun.

Another factor that also increases foot traffic is the presence of Lille’s important venues, such as Theatre du Nord and Vieille Bourse, which happens to be one of Europe’s largest bookstores.

See the animals at Parc Zoologique de Lille

Parc Zoologigue is the best place to encounter a variety of species. The animals are grouped depending on their habitats and taxonomic origins. Some of the zoo’s must-see sections are Land of America, Land of Africa, Tropical House, Monkey Valley, Isle of Madagascar, and Aviary Valley.

The unique species that can be found here are red pandas, mandarin ducks, and snowy owls.

Visit LaM (Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art)

While Lille is known for having classical art in its environment, there is also plenty of contemporary art to admire that can be found in LaM. LaM has collections that date from the 20th to the 21st century.

The museum’s artworks were categorized into Modern, Contemporary, and Outsider Art. There are plenty of paintings and sculptures made by prominent artists such as Georges Braque, Daniel Burren, and Aloise Corbaz.

See the Lille’s Citadel

Lille Citadel is an important monument in the city’s history. It is a large piece of land filled with structures that served as one of Franc’s defensive networks. The city-like venue is protected with numerous traps such as ditches, ravelin fortifications, and tenailles.

As of now, Lille’s Citadel is home to the Rapid Reaction Corps-France. To visit this tourist spot, you must sign up for a tour.

Go to Belfry of City Hall

The Belfry of City Hall is your best chance to see all of Lille. Belfry measures up to 104 meters high and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When arriving at the top, you will be given a pair of binoculars to see the entire city and other nearby areas.

Meanwhile, the town hall is a Flemish-inspired structure filled with Art Nouveau and Art Deco decorations. You will also be given a history lesson on Lille’s development.

Tour Maison Folie Wazemmes

Maison Folie Wazemmes is a cultural venue for Lille’s locals. This structure formerly served as a working mill. As of now, it houses some of Lille’s rising artists from various disciplines. Some of the rooms you can expect to see are a performance hall and exhibition space.

The venue is now known for hosting multiple performances in the fields of dance and theater. There are also workshops you can attend.

Visit Villa Cavrois

Villa Cavrois is one of the perfectly designed houses that you will ever see. It was designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens, who embraced the Modernist style of architecture during the 20th century. The house was designed to bring the perfect lifestyle to the 9 members of the Cavrois family.

The most fascinating aspect is the technological amenities such as built-in speakers, an elevator, and a central heating system.

Tour La Piscine Museum

La Piscine Museum is a refreshing trip down memory lane. The museum was created to commemorate France’s industrial workers during the 1930s. It is mostly a textile botanical garden complemented with ceramics, drawings, paintings, and sculptures. All of these are connected to France’s industrial heritage.

There is also a water basin in the viewing room that hosts exhibit fashion shows and collections.

Shop at Marché de Wazemmes

Like every tourist city, Lille has its version of a city market called Marché de Wazemmes. This market is present three times a week, with Sunday as the day that has the most traffic. During Sundays, there are approximately 400 stalls with nearly 50,000 visiting customers.

Some of the products you can expect to see are exotic food, textiles, leather goods, and beauty products.

Buy Pastries at La Maison Méert

La Maison Méert is the best place to satisfy your sweet tooth. It is an authentic establishment. It is known for producing Lille’s best patisseries. One of its signature dishes is the Gaufre Fourrée de Lille, a thin waffle sandwich with vanilla cream.

There are also various sweet snacks to choose from, such as chocolates, cakes, candies, and teas.

Experience the Vauban Garden

The Vauban Garden is a perfect getaway from city noise. This English-inspired garden offers a harmonious environment that is similar to a raw land of mother nature.

The garden measures up to 35,000 square meters and is filled with pools, trees, oaks, and flowers. You can also expect to find exotic fruit-bearing trees that are unique to the city’s region.

Relax in Jardin des Plantes

Jardin des Plantes is another relaxing garden worth visiting. This garden is known for having a significant number of roses that are complemented with multiple trees. For educational purposes, all of the plants in this are categorized according to their respective geographical origins.

There is also a greenhouse which you can visit. This garden is best visited when you are looking to take a brief break from traveling between tourist spots.

Lille Travel and Tour Packages

To help you plan out your vacation to Lille, we listed places to visit and other amazing activities in Lille, France. We also listed some of the best travel deals and tour packages and excellent flight deals and accommodation.

Searching for the best hotels, resorts, and affordable flights in the nearby Cities? Check out our list of affordable Lille hotels and resorts via Agoda, Booking, or you may also see available Airbnb properties in the city.

Want more updates about new package tours and tourist spots in Lille, France? Follow #TeamOutofTown, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bloglovin, and Pinterest for more travel ideas.

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