How to Take a Day Trip From Paris to Lille

Lille, FRANCE

Visiting Lille as a Day Trip from Paris

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is lille worth visiting?

Reason to Visit Lille, France

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why we visited lille

What Made Us Personally Plan a Trip to Lille

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how to get from paris to Lille

Taking the Train from Paris to Lille

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how much time you’ll need in Lille

A Day or Long Weekend in Lille

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things to do in lille

Sights to See, Places to Eat and Where to Explore in Lille

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where we stayed in lille

A Apart-Hotel Near the Train Station

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other things to do in lille

Things to Do in Lille Worth Considering

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Bonjour!

If this is your first time on The Weithouse - welcome! My name is Taylor and I’m the girl behind the screen and camera bringing you resources to help you plan the trip of your dreams.

In January of 2022, my husband and I left our home in Atlanta, packed our bags and moved to Paris! We lived in Paris for three years and every day we woke up in disbelief that we got to call this incredible city our home.

In this How to Day Trip Guide: Paris to Lille we will give you all the information you need to plan a day trip from Paris to the city of Lille, France.

Bon voyage!

Lille, france

Lille is one of France’s largest cities and is located in the Northern portion of the country. Bordering Belgium, the city has an incredible history influenced by many cultures, making it a wonderful city to explore. Despite being one of France’s larger cities, it maintains a village-like atmosphere and is bursting with unique architecture, delicious cuisine and plenty to explore for however long you want to spend there.

Is Lille Worth Visiting?

When there are so many amazing destinations at your fingertips, it can be hard to decide where to go and whether or not a destination is “worth visiting.” This is really a silly question in my mind, because every destination would have something of interest to offer, so really we’re asking if it’s worth visiting over doing something else.

So is Lille worth visiting over another part of France? Lille is absolutely worth visiting, but I wouldn’t place it at the top of my France priority list or even my Paris day trip list (you can find my favorite Paris day trips here).

However, if you’ve been to France many times or if you live in Paris and are needing a change of pace, then Lille is a great day trip from Paris. Especially since the train from Paris to Lille is only one hour and runs very frequently and the city is easily walkable.

why we visited lille?

Lille had always been on my list of day trips to take from Paris. It just looked so easy with a direct one-hour train and I was interested to see the architecture and explore this French city so close to the Belgian border.

Our opportunity to visit Lille arose in August of 2024, when I was 3 months post-partum and my husband and I were ready to test out taking the train with a 3-month old. The one-hour distance seemed like a feasible amount of time for her (and us) to handle the train so we booked the tickets.

Since we had a three-month old, we actually didn’t do this trip as a “day-trip” from Paris. We stayed in Lille for three-nights. Nonetheless, Lille can easily be visited as a day trip from Paris and is what we would have done prior to having a baby.

HOW TO GET from Paris to Lille

Lille is one of the easiest day trips from Paris due to its direct one-hour train that runs throughout the day. The train station in Lille is also right on the edge of the city, meaning you arrive in the heart of all the action.

To get from Paris to Lille, simply book your train tickets from Paris Gare du Nord - Lille-Flandes.

how much time you’ll need in lille

Lille can easily be seen in a day, so if you’re planning to visit Lille as a day trip from Paris you will have more than enough time. Just be sure to take a train before lunch and stay as long as you’d like to explore.

We spent three nights in Lille, which included a day trip to Ghent, Belgium. As mentioned above, we had our three-month old with us at the time so we had more time constraints than a normal traveler. Even with three nights in Lille we didn’t see everything we wanted to see, so you could easily spend a long weekend exploring all that Lille has to offer.

things to do in lille

The best way to see Lille on a day trip from France is by walking. You can easily walk from the train station to many of the little corners of Lille, while popping in for good coffee and bites to eat along the way.

If you’d like to take a guided walking tour to learn more about the history and culture of Lille, you can book one for your day trip to Lille, like this highly rated one on GetYourGuide.

Below are a few areas in Lille we loved exploring and things we did and ate that we would recommend.

Place du Général-de-Gaulle Lille

A great starting point once you’re off the train and out of the Lille-Flandes train station is to head to Place du Général-de-Gaulle. Place du Général-de-Gaulle is a public square and a short 6-minute walk from the train station. Within the square you will begin to discover some of Lille’s wonderful architecture.

Vieille Bourse - book market lille

Steps off of the Place du Général-de-Gaulle is Lille’s old book market or Vieulle Bourse. The book market is set within Lille’s old stock exchange building, and the market is made up of a handful of antique book sellers. In the summers (and during our visit in August) you can find tango dancers in the evenings.

vieux lille

After exploring Place du Général-de-Gaulle and the Vieulle Bourse, continue your explorations of Lille by routing yourself to Vieux Lille (or old Lille). You can use the Lille Cathedral as a destination point if needed. The walk between the two is only 6-minutes.

On your walk to Vieux Lille you will pass the impressive Beffroi de Lille which deserves its own photo-op. As you continue walking, you’ll discover Lille’s boutiques and shops which are worth popping in as your curiosity leads you. If you arrive in time for breakfast or brunch, grab a bite to eat at Paddo Cafe, on the square outside of the Lille Cathedral.

Rue de Gand Lille

To continue your walking tour and day trip to Lille, route yourself to Rue de Gand Lille, where you’ll discover a charming cobblestone street lined with all of the restaurant options for your lunch or dinner needs. We ate one evening at Tigermilk, which is worth visiting if just to check out the lovely facade of the building.

best coffee shops in lille

When I travel, I love to find good coffee shops to pop into. I feel like they help give me a good idea of the overall vibe of the city and they’re my favorite way to take a break (or feed a newborn). Lille has no shortage of great coffee shops to try, and below are the ones we had time to discover.

• Coffee Makers: Close to the train station, a good spot to hang out if you have time to spare before your train back to Paris.

• Tamper: In old Lille near the Lille Cathedral, we had breakfast here one morning and good coffee.

• La Wilderie: An adorable plant shop / coffee shop with a large open room that’s laptop friendly.

MEERT - best dessert in lille

A day trip to Lille isn’t complete without a visit to Meert. Truthfully, I had no idea what Meert was before researching our trip to Lille and I was a little skeptical that I could fall in love with these thin waffles. Man was I wrong.

So what is Meert?

From Meert’s website: The Méert waffle, an icon since 1849, is a brioche style pastry filled with Madagascar vanilla cream that indulges your taste buds with sweetness and bliss.

And indulge it does. The box of little waffles is pricey but worth it. It was love at first bite.

day trip to ghent, belgium

If you’re planning a day trip to Lille from Paris, you obviously aren’t going to day a day trip within a day trip and head to Ghent. But since we stayed in Lille longer than the day, we figured out the logistics and wanted to take our daughter to a new country! The day trip from Lille to Ghent is one connecting train and overall takes about an hour.

where we stayed in lille

If you plan to turn your day trip into an overnight trip to Lille, there are plenty of lovely options to book for your stay in Lille. We opted to stay at a location convenient to the train station, which normally I wouldn’t recommend. However, the property had such good reviews we risked it, as we wanted the proximity for our day trip to Ghent.

Edgar Suites - Lille

Directly across from the train station - we booked the three-bedroom apartment (which seems excessive for just the three of us, but was affordably priced). The apartment is great for a traveling family, or anyone traveling with a baby as it had a kitchen.

Photo is from booking.com and not my own.

other things to do in lille

We didn’t have the time or flexibility to do all there is in Lille, but below are a few other items to check out during your day trip to Lille from Paris.

• Palais des Beaux Arts: One of the largest art museums in France.

• Braderie de Lille: A yearly antique market the first weekend of September with other 10,000 exhibitors and 300 professional antique dealers.

STICK AROUND FOR A WHILE

Looking for other Paris day trip inspiration?

If you need more Paris day trip inspiration, you can find a roundup of our favorite day trip destinations in this Easy Day Trips from Paris by Train guide, or check out our day trip guides to Chantilly, France or Fontainebleau, France.

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