Lille; Saturday, 29 April, 2017

After a hearty breakfast I headed out of the hotel into the centre of town and over to the Tourist Information Centre to buy a 3 day Lille City Card that would give free access to most of the museums and attractions both in Lille and in the neighbouring region, as well as unlimited travel. The very helpful man in the tourist office also offered to book me a place on the city bus tour that was included in the pass price, and was filling up rapidly.

With my tour seat booked for about 2 hours later I went for a wander through the heart of the city taking in the main squares before wandering up to the old Citadel on the edge of the city centre, which is still an active army base, but also an attractive city park.

I was back by the Tourist Information Centre just before boarding of the tour buses started so I was able to get a good seat for the tour.

Tour completed, and an idea of several places I wanted to visit in the city, I had a quick look in the remains of the palace building that the TIC is based in, before wandering over to the Town Hall to go up the clock tower.

The 1920’s tower has stunning views over the city centre, and a convenient lift that does most of the climbing for you – though it doesn’t start until the 4th floor so there was still around 100 steps to climb to get to it.

From the town hall I wandered over to the Place de la République as it was one of the interesting areas I’d seen from the bus tour and had a bit of a wander around that area before heading back over to the main square where I’d seen a number of good looking restaurants earlier in the day.

I had a very nice meal in a restaurant just off the main square before heading back to the hotel.