Break to Lille - Paris an option?

KatieDee

Hello everybody!

My partner has booked a lovely three day break to Lille in May. Having read about it, it seems like a lovely place but I'm a bit worried we won't have three days worth of things to do there!

I had a look at nearby places and found Paris is only one hour away on the train - it will cost around £100 for a day return. I do understand that we couldn't possibly do everything there is to do in Paris in one day, but our hotel in Lille is already booked so we couldn't stay overnight. We could get in for around 11am and leave at 7pm, giving us an afternoon there. There is a much earlier train (5.47am) but I fear this is a little too early!

Do you think it's worth looking into this, or will there be enough for us to do in Lille for the entire three days?

callum9999

KatieDee wrote: »

Hello everybody!

My partner has booked a lovely three day break to Lille in May. Having read about it, it seems like a lovely place but I'm a bit worried we won't have three days worth of things to do there!

I had a look at nearby places and found Paris is only one hour away on the train - it will cost around £100 for a day return. I do understand that we couldn't possibly do everything there is to do in Paris in one day, but our hotel in Lille is already booked so we couldn't stay overnight. We could get in for around 11am and leave at 7pm, giving us an afternoon there. There is a much earlier train (5.47am) but I fear this is a little too early!

Do you think it's worth looking into this, or will there be enough for us to do in Lille for the entire three days?

While I've never been to Lille, if you aren't planning to go to Paris any time soon then a day trip there can be plenty of time.

Obviously you won't see everything, but when I was there I didn't really have any desire to go inside any of the art galleries/museums so a day wondering around was good enough.

What day are you looking to go? £100 return seems a bit steep, and there are plenty of trains before 11am but after 5am.

EDIT: I thought you meant £100 each for some reason - though it can get cheaper, a random day I chose had it for £48 return between you.

Grumpelstiltskin

Depends what you want to do in Lille, have you checked out flea markets if they interest you?


Why not do Brussels instead of Paris? Much shorter train journey and much cheaper fares.
http://uk.voyages-sncf.com/choose-your-outbound-journey


Don't forget to use the metro to get around Lille.

callum9999

Grumpelstiltskin wrote: »

Depends what you want to do in Lille, have you checked out flea markets if they interest you?


Why not do Brussels instead of Paris? Much shorter train journey and much cheaper fares.
http://uk.voyages-sncf.com/choose-your-outbound-journey


Don't forget to use the metro to get around Lille.

The fares to Brussels don't look much/any cheaper than Paris to me? This would also come down to taste, but I'd much prefer to spend a day in Paris than Brussels - it seemed way too concrete and dreary to me.

littlereddevil

Lille is a lovely place to wander around

richardw

Enjoy Lille and do a separate trip to Paris at a future date.

w211

Ask the hotel or look around in the lobby/reception area for leaflets/info for one day tours by coach/train about an hour or so away, which you could do in your middle day.

martindow

I found there was plenty to do in Lille for a long weekend. If you do run out of things to do Bergues is a very pretty town to the north. Get a train towards Dunkerque. It is popular because a well known French film was shot there but it is well worth a visit in its own right.

bylromarha

Why not do a day return to Paris on another day out of London/Ashford? You can get £69 returns on the Eurostar at different points in the year.