Top choice in Lille
Famed for its gaufres (waffles) made with Madagascar vanilla, Meert has served kings, viceroys and generals since 1761. The sumptuous chocolate shop's coffered ceiling, painted wooden panels, wrought-iron balcony and mosaic floor date from 1839. Its salon de thé (tearoom) is a delightful spot for a morning arabica or a mid-afternoon tea. Also here is a French gourmet restaurant.
Restaurant dishes might include roast pigeon with potato mousse or spinach, kale and Brussels sprouts crumble.
14.53 MILES
Dominating Tournai’s skyline are the five spires of its remarkable cathedral, which survived WWII bombs only for a freak 1999 tornado to compromise its…
0.48 MILES
Inaugurated in 1892, Lille's illustrious Fine Arts Museum claims France's second-largest collection after Paris' Musée du Louvre. Its cache of sublime…
16.67 MILES
No museum gives a more balanced yet moving and user-friendly introduction to WWI history. It’s a multisensory experience combining soundscapes, videos,…
14.45 MILES
Tournai’s gorgeous triangular main square is ringed with cafes in fine gable-fronted guildhouses merrily flying guild banners. Kids play in ‘dare-you’…
21.17 MILES
This is an unusually light-hearted WWI attraction. Reverend Philip ‘Tubby’ Clayton set up the Everyman’s Club here in 1915 to offer rest and recreation…
17.81 MILES
Probably the most-visited Salient site, this is the world’s biggest British Commonwealth war cemetery, with 11,956 graves. A huge semicircular wall…
23.17 MILES
Started in 1785, this tiny affair is Belgium’s last traditional steam-operated brewery. This wonderfully authentic family enterprise is best known for its…
Langemark Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof
20.53 MILES
The Salient's largest German WWI cemetery is smaller than Tyne Cot but arguably more memorable, amid oak trees and trios of squat, mossy crosses. Some 44…
0.1 MILES
Designed by architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier and built between 1910 and 1921 in neo-Flemish style, Lille's landmark Chamber of Commerce building is…
0.11 MILES
Ornamented with caryatids and cornucopia, this Flemish Renaissance extravaganza was completed in 1653. It consists of 24 separate houses set around a…
0.14 MILES
Lille's Louis XVI-style opera house was built between 1907 and 1913 by French architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier, who was responsible for many of northern…
4. Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille
0.16 MILES
Construction on Lille's neoclassical cathedral began in 1854 but its western façade, built from white marble, wasn't completed until 1999.
5. Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse
0.24 MILES
Within a red-brick 15th- and 17th-century poorhouse, this absorbing museum features ceramics, earthenware wall tiles, religious art, 17th- and 18th…
0.47 MILES
Splashed with street art murals, this cavernous red-brick postal sorting centre was transformed into an arts centre in 2004, when Lille was the European…
0.48 MILES
Inaugurated in 1892, Lille's illustrious Fine Arts Museum claims France's second-largest collection after Paris' Musée du Louvre. Its cache of sublime…
8. Maison Natale de Charles de Gaulle
0.59 MILES
The upper-middle-class house in which Charles de Gaulle was born in 1890 is now a museum presenting the French general and president in the context of his…