Honestly, forget about the crowded streets of Paris or the tourist traps of the big cities on the French Riviera, Lille is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered. We’ve driven by Lille a few times and it was never really on our radar to visit but when we were looking for a quick weekend getaway from Amsterdam we figured why not? This charming city has everything you crave in a French escape, delicious food, stunning architecture, beautiful surroundings and amazing art without the overwhelming crowds.  Check out our video below to see for yourself!

The first thing that struck us in Lille was the incredible architecture.  Everywhere we looked each building seemed to be more stunning and interesting than the last. 

If you head to the historic center of Old Lille, you’ll be amazed at the narrow streets of tall buildings with colorful facades and ornate details.  As you continue to explore the city you’ll pass more beautiful sights such as the Grand Place, which is a beautiful public square, the hundred year old opera house, and the famous Porte de Paris, a historical city gate, which despite being under construction during our visit was still breathtaking.   

For the ultimate view of all of this beautiful architecture, you have to head to the belltower located in the Hotel de Ville, Lille’s city hall.  The building is famous for its art deco style, and its importance in the history of Lille.  It even housed the first television station in France!

You can get up to the belltower either by climbing up the 415 steps, which is quite a workout, or by walking about a quarter of the way up and then taking the elevator. 

When the elevator’s doors finally opened, I was treated to a spectacular view of the city below.  There are various look out areas where you can check out different parts of the city, and information describing what’s what.  Normally, the entrance fee to the belltower is 6 euros but it’s free on the first Wednesday of every month!

France undoubtedly has a reputation for its great food, and many think of Paris or Provence when thinking about the best French food, but let me tell you, there are amazing things happening here in Lille.  We ate some truly great meals here and its proximity to Belgium gives the food a unique twist. 

The first place we headed to was Estiment Chez La Vielle for some classic dishes in a cozy atmosphere filled with traditional decor.  One of the most famous dishes in Lille is the tarte au maroilles. Imagine a warm, flaky pastry overflowing with gooey pungent maroilles cheese, it’s basically comfort food to the max. One bite of this and you’ll be hooked!  BUT, its also not for the faint hearted because its very filling and the cheese is quite strong. 

To balance out our indulgent tarte, we also got a salad. But honestly, I’m always amazed at what passes for a salad in France. A very generous amount of warm goat cheese? Check. Crispy waffles? Believe it or not, check! And somewhere below all of that, there were some veggies, don’t be confused though, we’re certainly not complaining.

For dinner that night, we wanted to find a cozy spot to relax and refuel and came across La Petite Table, a charming little restaurant with a big reputation for delicious food. 

Mehmet went with a rump steak which was perfectly cooked to absolute perfection, super juicy and tender.  And after our heavy lunch, I opted for the vegetarian option, a millefeuille of aubergines, which is basically a vegetable and eggplant lasagna.  While both of these dishes were great, the true star of the show was the mountain of freshly cooked fries that came with both of our dishes. We had just been to Belgium, the land of the legendary frites, and is it blasphemous to say that these might actually have been better than the fries we had in Belgium!? 

Lille seriously spoiled us food lovers!  Speaking of spoiling yourselves, have you subscribed to our channel yet? We post travel vlogs like this once a week, taking you on adventures around the world. Hit that subscribe button if you want to come along for the ride!  Now, back to Lille…

Next up for us was a place aptly called 17:45, a self-described apero restaurant.  Here, you can basically design your own board of cheese, charcuterie and other goodies to snack on while you have a drink.  They give you a booklet filled with drool worthy cheeses, cured meats, jams, and spreads, it’s basically a choose your own adventure for your taste buds. 

We went with a few different varieties of cheeses, some duck sausage, a few varieties of jams and spreads and of course some bread and a nice bottle of wine.  Everything we chose was sooo delicious.  This place is definitely heaven for anyone who loves cheese and charcuterie. Talk about girl dinner, this is totally my type of place! And, Mehmet was pretty happy about it as well.

Lille also has a number of restaurants that celebrate fresh local seasonal ingredients. 

Restaurant Sebastopol is a beautiful spot that offers up a new menu every week focusing on the freshest seasonal ingredients.  

We started off with a beef tartare and a sea bream tartare, but what really stole the show here were our main dishes.  

I had an absolutely amazing cod dish that I think is going onto my list of the top ten best dishes I’ve ever eaten. This cod was so tender and flaky, that it practically melted in my mouth. It was surrounded by a delicious asparagus cream and pieces of perfectly cooked pork belly that added just the right amount of smokiness and fat to the dish. Complimented by slightly tart berries and poppingly fresh sweet peas.  Seriously, this was amazing.  

Mehmet’s dish was no less impressive, a juicy duck breast surrounded by a vibrant array of perfectly cooked seasonal vegetables. 

We finished off the meal with a dessert that celebrated multiple preparations of apricots.  

Every bite we had at this restaurant felt like a celebration of fresh flavors, this place is a must visit when you’re in Lille.

L’assiette du marche is another beautiful spot focusing on fresh cuisine.  The location itself is historic, as it served as the house of the Lord of Lille in the 12th century, and the building  is classified as a historic monument.  

The food matches the beauty of the building.  We began our meal with starters of ravioli and white asparagus.  Followed by mains of fall off the bone lamb shank and amazingly tender shredded beef.  This is another restaurant that changes their menu to reflect the seasonality of the ingredients and the commitment to freshness really pays off.

And let’s not forget the bakeries, Lille is packed with amazing bakeries, so many that we’re actually going to do an entire video on bakeries in Lille because there are just so many good ones.  But for now, we’ll mention the city’s most famous bakery, Meert.  

Bakery might not even be the right word for this place, as it’s more like one of the luxurious coffee houses you’d find in Budapest or Vienna.  The moment you step inside, you’re transported to a world of ornate decorations and pure indulgence.

Here you can try the famous local pastry, the gaufre de Lille, which is a thin waffle like pastry filled with a sweet vanilla paste, pure heaven for people with a big sweet tooth like myself.  

Fun fact: rumor has it that this was the favorite treat of none other than Charles de Gaulle himself!  Speaking of the famous French figure, he was actually born in Lille and you can take a visit to his well-preserved former home.  

Not convinced yet that you should take a trip to Lille?  Well, there’s still more!  If shopping is your thing, then Lille has that covered too.  There are so many cute and interesting stores here selling everything from high end and French favorite clothing brands to unique home decor and gourmet food products.  We spent hours wandering through the streets and discovering all of these great little shops.

And let’s not forget about the art! Lille’s Palais des Beaux Arts is a fine art museum that we think is on par with some of the best in Europe. 

The building itself is an absolute stunner of a 19th century neoclassical masterpiece overlooking a beautiful garden. And inside, it gets even better. 

For only a 7 euro entrance fee this museum is an absolute steal.  Although smaller in size and with a smaller collection than some of Europe’s most famous art museums, it has a wide variety of highly curated pieces.  

My favorite was the Monet exhibition, featuring works on loan from the Musee D’orsay in Paris.  The museum’s permanent collection includes 2 Monets, but I felt very lucky to take a peek at these additional paintings as well. 

The museums collection is qute impressive, beyond the Monets you can see many other famous painters’ works, sculptures, Egyptian artifacts, ceramics and much more.

We ended our time in Lille with one last, incredible meal. On our last night, we ate at Le Fossile, here they focus on their meats, and it’s a carnivore’s dream come true.

We kicked things off with a giant ball of creamy burrata which came with a surprising twist.  When this first arrived at the table, we thought it was covered in beetroot, but then when we went to taste it we discovered that this was actually a rich and savory ribbon of tomato paste.  It was so unique and so delicious, we knew we were in for a treat and boy we were not disappointed.

For our meals, we both went with their famous onglets, which are seared to perfection then sliced tableside with a flourish. Served with a grilled tomato, a fresh salad, ratatouille and a mountain of incredible fries.  And let’s be honest can you ever have too many fries? 

The meat had a beautiful crust but was incredibly tender on the inside and so flavorful. This was definitely one of those meats that makes you close your eyes and savor every bite. Even Bindi got a small bite of meat from our friendly waiter. The meal ended strong with an interesting dessert of soft meringue floating in cream covered with bits of hazelnut and caramel.  It was like eating a sweet, soft cloud.  

As with most French cities, Lille is a haven for four legged companions like our little Bindi, who was treated like royalty here.  Restaurants welcomed her with open arms, even one with a “no dog” sign allowed her in once we asked nicely and they saw her adorable face, Bindi’s charm is pretty undeniable!

Lille also has lots of grassy areas, including the large Citadelle park which made for great dog walks. Bindi definitely enjoyed herself as much as we did!

We’ve rarely come across a city in France that we didn’t like, but Lille is really special.  It’s absolutely beautiful, packed with great restaurants, and full of warm people.  This place definitely stole our hearts.  We honestly didn’t expect to fall in love with Lille so much, but here we are, already planning our return trip!