The central Grand' Place is just a few minutes' walk from Gare Lille-Flandres (originally Paris's Gare du Nord, but brought here brick by brick in 1865), served by regional trains plus the hourly shuttle service to Paris, one hour away. TGV and Eurostar services from London, Brussels and further afield stop at the modern Lille-Europe station, five minutes' walk farther out from the centre (check which one your train uses). Despite being the fifth-largest city in France, Lille's centre is small enough to walk round and, unless you choose to visit the modern art museum at Villeneuve-d'Ascq or to travel to Roubaix, you won't even need to use the city's efficient métro system (tickets €1.15 per trip). A shuttle bus service (tel 03.20.90.79.79; €4.60) whisks you to Euralille in the city centre in twenty minutes from Lesquin airport.The excellent tourist office is in place Rihour (Mon–Sat 9.30am–6.30pm, Sun & public hols 10am–noon & 2–5pm; tel 03.208.04.50.50, www.lilletourisme.com), ten minutes' walk from the station along rue Faidherbe and through place du Théâtre and the Grand' Place. You should have few problems finding a cheap place to stay if you don't mind the slightly seedy station area but accommodation is available in all categories.
Pages in section ‘Arrival’: Hostel and campsite.
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