France Guide
The north
Arrival
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. TGV and Eurostar services from London, Brussels and further afield stop at the modern Lille-Europe station, a few-minutes' walk further out from the centre, or one stop on the métro. If you arrive by air, a shuttle-bus service (hourly on the half hour; 
03.20.49.67.47; €5 one way) whisks you to Euralille, just by Gare Lille-Flandres, in twenty minutes from Lesquin airport ( 08.91.67.32.10, 
www.lille.aeroport.com ). 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 for La Piscine, you won't even need to use the city's efficient métro system (tickets €1.25 per trip; day pass €3.50).