Things to do in Nord-Pas de Calais

Q: What are the top things to do in Nord-Pas de Calais?

The top things to do in Nord-Pas de Calais are: Lille Old Town (Vieux Lille) Lille Museum of Fine Arts (Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille) Lille Town Hall and Belfry (Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Lille) Lille Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille) Wellington Quarry (Carrière Wellington)

Q: What are the top activities in Nord-Pas de Calais?

Top activities in Nord-Pas de Calais include: Entrance Ticket Nausicaa, the biggest aquarium in Europe Dunkirk Operation Dynamo Battlefield tour from Ypres,Arras, Bruges or Lille Unique Tour of Lille by Convertible 2CV - 1h00 Private Round Trip Transfer to Vimy Ridge from Arras or Lens Fromelles and Ypres Day Tour from Arras and Lille

Q: What are the top things to do near Nord-Pas de Calais?

Check out things to do near Nord-Pas de Calais: Lille Flanders Île-de-France South Holland Bruges

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Top 15 attractions in Nord-Pas de Calais

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Lille Old Town (Vieux Lille)

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Vieux-Lille—the city’s Old Town—is its most historic quarter, with notable Flemish-style architecture and major landmarks. The area, located just north of the city center, dates back centuries. Come for the history, architecture, and its gourmet food and drink offerings.More

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Lille Museum of Fine Arts (Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille)

With a collection spanning the centuries, the Palais des Beaux-Arts has something for everyone. Inside, you’ll find works from some of Europe’s most celebrated artists, including Raphael, Bosch, Goya, Monet, and many others.More

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Lille Town Hall and Belfry (Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Lille)

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As the highest municipal building of France at 104 meters high, the Lille belfry, attached to the town hall (Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Lille), is certainly a must when in the north of France. Both the belfry and town hall are reminiscent of Flemish architecture with their typical triangular gables and red bricks – understandably, so, considering the border to Belgium is just a few kilometers away. The belfry was built in 1932 as part of the reconstruction of the town hall, which was, unfortunately, torn to pieces during the First World War. And although it is not in use anymore, the belfry contains a headlight that was once used to inform the population of imminent municipal gatherings. Because of how it dominates the city, the belfry offers unobstructed and unparalleled 360-degree views of Lille, and even surrounding areas on clear days. The city hall and its belfry have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005.More

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Lille Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille)

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Notre Dame de la Treille Cathedral in Lille is a Roman Catholic church that took almost 150 years to complete. The building is known for its modern stained glass panels and impressive organ.More

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Wellington Quarry (Carrière Wellington)

The Wellington Quarry (Carrière Wellington) museum opened in March 2008 in Arras in the North of France, inside a quarry used during World War I. It commemorates those who built the tunnels and, subsequently, fought in the Battle of Arras during World War I. The Arras Tunnels formed an intricate network that ran from the town center to the German front lines, and housed over 20,000 soldiers of the British Empire and the Commonwealth. In fact, it was New Zealand soldiers who named the quarry after the city of the same name in their home country.Although they were used as air shelters during the Second World War, the tunnels remained essentially forgotten until their rediscovery in 1990. 350 meters of the quarry’s galleries, located approximately 22 meters underground, can be accessed today. The museum showcases historical artifacts to help visitors understand the context around the Battle of Arras, notably why the military strategy was so remarkable at the time and what life was like for the underground soldiers.More

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Hospice Comtesse Museum (Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse)

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The Hospice Comtesse Museum is the city museum of Lille, housed in an old hospital founded by Jeanne, Countess of Flanders, in the 13th century. You’ll find paintings, tapestries, wood sculptures, and porcelain, and rooms furnished to reflect convent life in centuries past.More

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Birthplace of Charles de Gaulle (Maison Natale de Charles de Gaulle)

Charles de Gaulle is one of the most celebrated Frenchmen of the past few centuries—and Lille’s Birthplace of Charles de Gaulle (Maison Natale de Charles de Gaulle) offers a glimpse into the early years of the French general and statesman. Visit his birthplace-turned-museum to see family keepsakes, documents, and other mementos.More

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Vimy

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Among history buffs, the historic French town of Vimy—located just southwest of Lille—is a popular day trip destination from Paris. This World War I battle site and its Canadian National Vimy Memorial honors the more than 10,000 Canadian soldiers who were killed and wounded during the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge.More

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La Madeleine

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La Madeleine church in Paris is one of the most striking buildings in the entire Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Designed as a tribute to Napoleon’s army and its glorious victories, the church is built in the neoclassical style of a lavish Greek temple and dominates the surrounding neighborhood with its 52 towering Corinthian columns.More

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Grand Place

Lille’s main public square, the Grand Place—which also goes by the Place du Général de Gaulle—is a top gathering point in this northerly city. Grand Palace is ringed by many of the city’s historic buildings and attractions, including the Vieille Bourse, and located in Lille’s atmospheric Old Town (Vieux-Lille).More

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Notre Dame de Lorette

Also known as the Ablain Saint-Nazaire French Military Cemetery, Notre Dame de Lorette is the world’s largest French military cemetery. Located in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the 60-acre (25-hectare site contains the remains of more than 40,000 soldiers and is a poignant reminder of the Great War’s devastation.More

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La Piscine Museum (Musée d'Art et d’Industrie André Diligent)

Far from being a museum dedicated to pools, La Piscine Museum (Musée d'Art et d'Industrie André Diligent) in Roubaix is in fact an arts museum houses in a former indoor, Olympic-sized swimming pool. This somehow peculiar location was chosen because it features an outstanding art deco interior, having been built in 1927. The swimming pool remained in use until 1985, and was given a second life as an arts museum in 2000. The museum holds items that date back from 1835, most of which were collected from a textile factory that once stood next door. Elements of literature, science and fine arts were added to enhance the collection of historic textiles and to form an extensive exhibition dedicated to the fruitful alliance between applied arts and industry. Some of the most famous paintings and sculptures found at La Piscine include works from Rodin, Picasso, Claudel, Gérôme, Stark, van Dongen and other contemporaries – which, of course, are complimented by the architectural marvel that is La Piscine Museum.More

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Lille Natural History Museum (Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille)

Opened in 1822, Lille's Natural History Museum (Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille) is one of Lille’s oldest and is the only of its kind in Nord / Pas-de-Calais. The fact that the museum still stands to this day is nothing short of a miracle, seeing as it overcame two World Wars and yet continued adding items to its ever-expanding collections – that now comprises of over 200,000 specimens. It now focuses on two main themes, mineralogical and zoological. The former has tens of thousands of minerals and paleontological items, some of which date back 400 million years. The latter, on the other hand, contains 1,500 mammals, 1,000 reptiles and 100,000 insects to name a few, including several now-extinct species from around the world like the Iguanodon dinosaur, the Tasmanian Tiger and the Passenger Pigeon. Throughout its exhibitions the museum present the history of earth and life with various interactive displays and informative posters, encouraging visitors to care for the rapidly disappearing species and preserve the planet’s precious legacy.More

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Museum of the Gunners in Lille (Musée des Canonniers Sédentaires de Lille)

A great museum for those interested in Lille’s military history, the Museum of the Gunners in Lille (Musée des Canonniers Sédentaires de Lille) explains the story of the Sainte Barbe Brotherhood (one of the oldest artillery units in Europe) and their implication in the defense of the city over the centuries. Indeed, Lille, because of its strategic and thus precarious position, required an effective militia as well as walled fortifications in order to survive – something that would later on be proved necessary, seeing as the city went from being Flemish, Bourguignone, Imperial and Spanish before becoming French, all in the matter of a few centuries. The museum’s exhibitions, presented in the former Urbanist convent, holds over 3,000 objects of various genres like artifacts, weapons like firearms and cannons (including the famous Gribeauval cannons that Napoleon Bonaparte offered to the canoneers himself), documents and equipment related to the city’s defense.More

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Bondues Museum of the Resistance (Musée de la Résistance)

Between March 17, 1943, and May 1, 1944, 68 antagonists were shot by Nazis at the Bondues Fort. It’s on the ruins (the fort was destroyed by the Germans before they evacuated the area in 1944) of this very fort that stands Bondues' Museum of the Resistance (Musée de la Résistance). The museum is a symbol of strength if there ever was one, honoring the memory of these gallant dead. Dedicated to the resistance movement in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region during World War II, the museum features exclusive artifacts, reconstitutions and knick-knacks related to Wold War II, organized in a noteworthy scenography throughout five different rooms named Memories, Refusal, Courage, Engagement and Sacrifice. A memorial to the memory of the 68 victims was erected in 1997.More

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