The Real Deal About Lille

Brian and I spent two days in Lille. We were here on a scouting mission, to see if it was a place we’d like to spend a month in next summer. We decided it is not the city for us. Here’s why:

1. A little stinky (not the cheese kind)

We tromped around Lille basically all day for two days. Everywhere had a slight sewage smell or at least a gentle waft of one now and again. It sort of colored the rest of our experience there; like seeing everything through rose colored glasses except instead of rose it was poo color.

2. Too much graffiti

Graffiti was everywhere, and not the cool artsy kind that you can appreciate. This was more like the lackluster delinquency of a disaffected teenager. It detracted a lot from the cool Flemish building architecture, which was quite nice without the tags.

3. Vibe was off

Yes, that is super subjective. But for us, the city felt like an old city that lacked old city charm. It was full of beautiful architecture that was overshadowed by construction, graffiti, and people going about the business of living in a hangdog sort of way. It’s a tall order to summarize a city vibe in only two days, so take our word with a big grain of salt. 🙂

But wait, Lille wasn’t all dirt and depression

There are several cool things to explore if you do find yourself here.

1. Vieux Lille

Walking around and exploring Lille’s old town was the most fun part of the visit. The streets are cobbled and lined with cool buildings that house plenty of restaurants, boulangeries, pâtisseries, clothing and houseware stores.

Clothing stores range from modest prices to haut couture like Louis Vuitton. We wanted to flex our fancy muscle, so compromised and bought a box of chocolates from the Alain Ducasse boutique, lol. You can’t buy Alain Ducasse chocolates in the United States, so if you think about it, it’s actually way more fancy than an LV bag.

Old Lille has some beautiful architecture including La Vieille Bourse, a beautiful Flemish Renaissance building that used to be the stock exchange. It is in the Place du Théâtre – you can’t miss it! The building courtyard is home to a second-hand book market and when we were there, a pretty neat art installation also.

Don’t miss Notre Dame de la Treille Cathedral. Also known as the Lille Cathedral, it is a hulking and kind of strange blend of Gothic revival and modern styles. Inside, the Catholic church feels very much like what you’d expect: stone columns, soaring ceilings, a rose window. However, the front exterior facade is jarringly modern.

I love visiting churches when I travel, and this one does not disappoint. They even have a concert series here during the summer.

2. Citadel Park

This park is huge and seemed to consist mostly of a walking/jogging trail that surrounds an active military base, although there are other parts we didn’t explore. We thought we’d be able to go into the citadel but it is closed (which makes sense, since it is in use by the French military). Nonetheless, the trails around it were pretty.

3. Wazemmes Market

Wazemmes market is a nice place to go if you actually want produce or if you like to meander at little outdoor markets that sell clothing and shoes for low prices. However, the outdoor market is very, very crowded. It operates only on certain days but there is a large, indoor space that is open daily, selling various foods like meat, cheese, and bread.

The inside market was much less crowded. We bought a pain aux raisins at a boulangerie inside the market and it did not taste fresh. My spidey sense tells me that you’d get better everything at a specialty shop (boucherie, fromagerie, etc.) versus here in the market. If you want to peruse, it’s something to do. But if you’re short on time, this market is skippable.

4. Palais des Beaux-Arts

This is a large art museum that includes works by Rodin, Donatello, and Monet. We didn’t have a lot of time so skipped it, except for a photo op of the exterior. It’s okay though – I spent a couple of hours in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam earlier that week so had fulfilled my European art museum quota.

5. Beffroi de Lille

You can climb to the top of this belfry in Vieux Lille to get a bird’s eye view of the city. However, we’d just climbed the belfry in Bruges a day before this, so belfry’s were old hat and we were unimpressed.

Just kidding, I’m sure it’s very nice and of course, the view from the top of this one will be quite different!

There is a very cute cocktail bar called Le Parisis, run by a man who speaks great English, where you can get an aperitif with a great view of the Porte de Paris, which is a stone’s throw from the belfry. We had many drinks in Bruges as well, but unlike belfry’s, good cocktails always impress us.

Final Thoughts

Lille is a compact city and we explored quite a bit of it while we were there. If you find yourself here, there’s enough to see and do in a couple of days. However, if you are contemplating a visit to Lille versus other cities in France or Europe, it may not be the best choice.

I hope my unvarnished opinion is helpful for those would-be tourists who want to know the real deal about Lille!

Have you been here? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear about your experience!