Lille: a major economic centre in the heart of Northern Europe
Lille, capital of Nord-Pas de Calais, benefits from a privileged location close to the economic and decision-making centres of Northern Europe: Paris, London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Luxembourg.
- The urban area is very well served with two train stations, Lille-Flandres with a regional vocation in the city center and Lille-Europe. A true railway crossroads, Lille is 1 hour from Paris by TGV, 1 hour 20 minutes from London with the Eurostar and 38 minutes from Brussels by Thalys.
- Lille-Lesquin international airport.
- Urban transport: the Lille public transport network has 45 km of automatic metro on two lines and 60 stations; 2 tram lines between Tourcoing and Roubaix and nearly 70 bus lines, 8 of which are cross-border.
The urban agglomeration of Lille, made up of 87 municipalities on the border of Belgium and Northern Europe, has 1,2 million inhabitants.
An attractive metropolis: Lille has successfully focused on the creation of large specialized business parks such as Euralille, Eurasanté and Euratechnologie to attract companies and their employees.
The metropolis also hosts 4 of the 6 certified competitiveness clusters in Nord-Pas-de-Calais: Up-Tex dedicated to textiles, Nutrition-Health-Longevity, Commerce Industries and Materials for domestic use.
Visit Lille: from Old Lille to Euralille, heritage and museums
Tourism in Lille: its cultural dynamism, its lively districts, the Wazemmes market halls, its shops, the pedestrian streets, the alleys of Old Lille, the taverns and of course the quality of its architectural heritage attract more and more tourists!
Architecture and heritage:
- Old Lille: the decorations of the 17th century facades in stone and brick.
- The Grand Place surrounded by a group of beautiful buildings from the 17th to the 20th century, in particular the Old Stock Exchange and its inner courtyard. Built in 1652-1653, it is the most beautiful monument in the city.
- The Vauban citadel built between 1667 and 1670 on a star plan. Vauban added the Fort du Réguit to the defensive system of Lille in 1673.
- The gates: of Roubaix and Ghent which date from 1620. The gate of Paris, a triumphal arch, end of the 17th century.
- The Town Hall, whose 104m high belfry is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built between 1924 and 1932 in the Flemish style.
Contemporary architecture: Euralille Rem Koolhaas, Jean Nouvel, Christian de Portzamparc and Claude Vasconi are the great internationally renowned architects and urban planners who created this new district around the Lille Europe TGV station, Lille Grand Palais and the Euralille shopping centre.
Museums :
- The Palais des Beaux Arts in a 19th century building houses remarkable collections of works from Antiquity to the 19th century, making it one of the leading museums in France.
- The Museum in Villeneuve d'Ascq: the greatest names in modern and contemporary art gathered in the largest museum of 20th century art in Northern Europe!
- The Museum of Art and Industry is housed in a former Art Deco swimming pool from 1932 that has been renovated. Collections of applied arts and fine arts.
The Lille flea market and the flea markets in the North
If the one in Lille is the most famous, the flea markets are unmissable events throughout the Nord-Pas de Calais whether on the scale of a street, a village or a large city. Beyond the "flea market", they are part of the culture, the art of living, the sense of solidarity and the conviviality of the people of the North by promoting meetings between generations.
The famous Braderie de Lille is held on the first weekend of September. A flagship event in the Nord region, its reputation is national, European and even international. For the occasion, Lille becomes the scene of a huge popular "garage sale" that takes place over a hundred kilometers in the streets of the city center. Non-stop, for two days from Saturday at dawn until Sunday at midnight, some 3 million visitors crowd into a festive atmosphere around the stalls of the largest flea market in Europe! Emblematic of the Lille flea market, over the hours, mountains of mussel shells rise up in front of the terraces, cafes and restaurants.