Lille Experience

Cross roads of Europe

Advantages: its a city
Disadvantages: its a city

...been wonderful. The history of Lille oouses out of the buildings and people. Every where you look are reminders of its past without ignoring its modern status of a metropolitan city. Depending on which mode of transport you use, the city comes alive the moment you arrive. I have driven here from Calais, from Paris and from Belgium. I have used the Eurostar, TGV and the mainline trains from Amiens. The old main line station used to be the main station ...
...of the town and suburbs. Lille Europe station is the 'new' intercity link for the Eurostar and TGV's. From Lille you can more or less go to any city in Europe. The motorways network is just as important (mind those radar traps!). Depending on the type of your visit, there is, like most cities, so much to visit and see. Lille offers a wonderful shopping centre (mall) called EuraLille which is situated between the two railway stations and is very hard ...

tazorii 27.01.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Lille (France)

Lille aux Trésors

Advantages: environment, people, heritage, access (train/road), transportation (subway/tramway)
Disadvantages: still has a bad reputation (weather ?)

...powers, from where many wars: Lille is in turn French, Spanish and Flemish. Conquered ultimate once by the king Louis XIV in 1667, it is definitively attached to France in 1713, following the Treaty of Utrecht (Peace of Utrecht). Many monuments go back to this time, like the Citadelle, for instance, built by the military architect Sébastien Le Presle, more known under the name of... Vauban ! The city develops considerably, its population grows, ...
...industries, primarily the textile. Lille is today a dynamic metropolis. The inner city counted 185,000 inhabitants in '99, at the time of the last national census (ranking #13 in the country). The Grand Lille (Greater Lille), the whole of the agglomeration, accounts for 1.1 million (#4), and even 1.7 by including the Belgian part. Because the city of the north of France presents this characteristic, that to be a transborder metropolis, in which ...

Rijsel.Spirit 08.05.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Lille (France)

Lille, C'est Fantastique!

Advantages: Varied culture, fab cuisine, nice people
Disadvantages: Some shops closed Sun and Mon

I lived in Lille for 1 year. I went there as part of my degree. And I must say that I fell in love with the city after just one day. I lived in the Old part of Lille (Vieux Lille) which is about 2 mins walk from the town centre. It has so much charm! the cobbled streets boast a large variety of boutiques, some of which are privately owned and some of which are widely known brand names such as Hermes, and Louis Vuitton. these can be found in rue ...
...£10 per head. Kebabs in Lille are good too if you don't fancy sitting down to dinner! you get a huge choice of sauces to go with your kebab, and it's served in a naan style pitta bread (so it's nice and thick) As for nightlife, I used to work in a bar in Old Lille called Cafe Oz, it's in Place Louise-de-Bettignies and it's an Aussie bar. It's actually filled with french people, and the atmosphere is usually amazing! look out for the staff dancing ...

PollyErrington 16.03.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Lille (France)

  "Lille De France" - Geddit?

Advantages: Near London by train, cosmopolitan feel, excellent transport connections, eating out, plenty to see
Disadvantages: Dog poo

I’ve now been to Lille three times in the past year or so, each previous time, merely for the day. Only over the last weekend did we stay overnight. Why Lille? Well, rather like the reason dogs lick their naughty bits, it’s because we can. Lille is the first main stop in France on the Eurostar/TGV route from the Channel Tunnel – yes, I know you could get a train that stops at Calais (Fréthun), but that’s like getting out at Bristol Parkway and ...
...train you’ll ever see. Lille is a hub for northern Europe’s fast rail routes, being on the border with Belgium – Brussels is an impressive 38 minutes away, and Paris is no slouch at one hour distant. Lille is a former European Capital of Culture, having just handed over the mantle to Cork last month. Outside of Paris, Lille is northern France’s centre for art and museums, and overall, France’s 4th-largest city. Most of all, Lille is a nice place; ...

BNibbles 07.12.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Lille (France)

Midsummer madness in Lille

Advantages: Atmospheric French town, easy to reach by train or car
Disadvantages: Very noisy on 21st June

Mon dieu! I could have chosen any of 51 other weekends for a short trip to Lille, but, in blissful ignorance, I chose this one, 20th & 21st June. We set out from London at 3.30 pm last Friday, leaving what we thought was plenty of time for the 110 mile journey to Dover, but, as usual, didn’t make sufficient allowance for the wretched M25. Sitting in an endless traffic jam is not the most relaxing way to start a mini-break and by the time we got ...
...but with only 20 minutes left to check-in, it became obvious that we wouldn’t make the sailing we were booked on. Now, I confess that we did, on those few miles of road where it was possible, exceed the speed limit perhaps by a teensy bit, but in most places it wasn’t an option. We finally drove into the port just 15 minutes before the boat was due to sail and so were checked in for the next boat, 45 minutes later than our intended departure. We ...

SuzanneW 23.06.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Lille (France)