There are add-ons from regional cities, which can be booked via the main long-distance train companies. Packages are available from all leading city-break operators. Lille-Europe station is a 10-minute walk from the city centre.INSTANT BRIEFINGLille, the capital of French Flanders, situated near the Belgian border, is at the heart of the Paris-London-Brussels triangle. There’s a definite Flemish flair, a local patois, and the architecture ranges from Art Nouveau to traditional gabled style. The two main train stations are linked by “Euralille”, a Rem Koolhaas-designed complex of chain stores, offices and leisure facilities.
The centre of cultural Lille is the Palais des Beaux Arts, the second most important museum in France after the Louvre (closed during the Braderie). The main tourist office is in the Palais Rihour (00 33 3 20 21 94 21; ).REST ASSUREDThe most atmospheric hotel is the Alliance, 17, quai du Wault. The three-star Grand H? Bellevue, 5 rue Jean-Roisin (00 33 3 20 57 45 64; ) is a handsome building, recently renovated with some rooms overlooking the Grand’ Place. Rooms cost from €99 (£63), and breakfast is €10 (£6.40). For something cheaper, try the Nord H?, 48 rue du Faubourg d’Arras (00 33 3 20 53 53 40; ), which has rooms from €32 (£20), and breakfast for €6 (£3.80).MUST SEEHead for the quaint, cobblestoned streets of the Vieux Lille, and the Hospice Comtesse, founded in 1237 by Jeanne de Constantinople for the treatment of lepers, next door to her palace on rue de la Monnaie.
The museum, located between the Baroque chapel and the hospital wards, holds a fine collection of Flemish, Dutch and Northern French paintings, furniture and other decorative arts. In the same area, you’ll find the Opera House, the old Bourse, and the original walls of the Palais Rihour, once home to the Dukes of Burgundy. A statue in Square Daubenton commemorates the 12,000 pigeons that carried messages over enemy lines during the First World War.The Citadelle overlooking the town dates from 1667. Called “the Queen of Citadels”, it is a fine example of 17th-century military architecture, designed by the Marquis de Vauban.