Eat, drink & shop
Shopping in Lille – Best Shops and Markets
Lille is no Oxford Street, and thank goodness for that. What it does brilliantly is the good stuff: cheese that could clear a train carriage, chocolate shops on every corner, colourful tinned sardines people give as presents, French knitwear, and a few genuinely odd little shops I keep going back to. Here is where I spend my euros, and where I would tell you to spend yours.
Shop Until You Drop
There’s a very good Printemps department store (Rue Nationale). And a medium-sized Westfield shopping centre, beside Gare Lille-Flandres. I don’t think anything is particularly cheaper.
In Roubaix, which is part of the MEL (Métropole Européenne de Lille) zone, there’s a MacArthurGlen discount shopping retail park. And l’Usine discount centre with over 200 retailers selling at outlet prices.
Shopping Tips for Visitors
Prices in France, like the UK, seem to be rising gradually. So don’t expect too many bargains unless you come for the Lille Braderie.
Sweet Treats and Gourmet Food Shopping
Chocolate is a bit of a thing here. There are lots of chocolate shops, from the chains such as Leonidas, Jeff de Bruges, and Maison Georges Larnicol (Rue Esquermoise). Plus plenty of independents.
Large Printemps department store
Westfield Euralille
Tinned Seafood Specialty Shops
Relatively recently, lots of tinned seafood (!) shops have appeared. Packaged in very colourful cans. People seem to like to give them as gifts. There are a few, including la belle-iloise on Rue Esquermoise.
Cycling and Sports-Related Shopping
If you'd like to take home a quirky cycling product reminder of your visit, head to Vera in Roubaix, 36 rue du Général Sarrail, for Céline's locally manufactured funky cycling caps, bags, socks, etc. Also in Roubaix you will find La Vie est Belt, manufacturers of belts, socks, bracelets, etc., using upcycled old bike tyres. Great gifts (or for you!). A friend Andreas is the last operating frame-builder in Roubaix if you fancy a Roubaix-made new bike, LaFraise Cycles.
Fashion, Knitwear, and Cheese!
Some other shops. If you fancy returning with a fine bit of French knitwear (in particular), Saint James in the old town (Rue Esquermoise) is your destination! For cheese, Fromagerie Philippe Olivier (Rue du Cure Saint-Etienne/Rue Basse) is part of a small chain. And very, very good!
There's also one next door to Calais Vins, if you're stopping for Duty Free; and a very good patisserie.
Lots of other cheese shop (of course).
Note: at the time of writing, the UK Government has introduced a ban on importing dairy products because of the risk of Foot and Mouth disease.
There are loads of fine food shops – epiceries – dotted around the old town.
Main Pic: Philippe Olivier. Above Merveilleux de Fred.
Epicerie Madame in Vieux Lille
Maison Caffet Chocolate Shop
French Bastards Boulangerie
Specialty Shops and Unique Finds
Books and stuff: Furet du Nord, Place General de Gaulle (who incidentally was born in Lille, but the birthplace museum is deeply average!).
Music, Science, and Knife Shops
Quirky shops: H Huret (guns/knives/etc), Loisirs Scientifique (models). Coutellerie a La Cloche d'or has the most amazing collection of kitchen knives, and other knives, I've ever seen!
The official Lille souvenir shop is at La Vieille Bourse. Lots of other interesting gift shops dotted around Vieux Lille.
Best kitchen knife shop I've ever found.
Paul Marius bag shop
French Fashion Stores and Local Brands
If you want to pretend you're French, forget the berets and onion strings, and buy yourself a JOTT lightweight puffa jacket! One shop in Westfield another in old Lille. Everyone seems to have one, including me!
The K-Way waterproof jackets are currently ubiquitous. They are another northern France success story. There's a shop on rue Basse in the old town.
High-End Shopping and Duty-Free Opportunities
Most of the big French brands have a presence here. So if you feel like blowing your life savings on a Louis Vuitton bag, there's a shop.
For electronics head to FNAC or Boulanger. Fancy a posh watch? Check out Le Page on rue de la Bourse. The Printemps Department Store has a luxury section, perfume section, men's and women's fashion, homewares…
Second-Hand Books and Posters at La Vieille Bourse
The old stock exchange (La Vieille Bourse) now houses a well-known second-hand books/posters/magazines/postcards/etc market and currently features an art installation that's part of the Lille3000 festival; good for old Miroir de Cyclisme magazines!
It's a great spot to browse old magazines. Nothing seems to be over priced.
At the weekend speed chess players set up inside the building.
Bike Shops
There are a number of bike shops in Lille, including an absolutely enormous Decathlon cycle shop just outside the city centre, B-Twin Village in the Fives area.
Grocery Shopping and Supermarket Tips
Supermarkets. You'll find plenty of Carrefour/Auchan/etc dotted around the centre. Smaller versions of the big ones further out. There are a couple (that I know of) of very large supermarkets in the centre: Carrefour, at the back of the Westfield mall, by Lille-Flandres. And Match on Rue Solférino. Beer (on promotion) is often very cheap in supermarkets.
Do not be tempted by French supermarket sandwiches, uniformly inedible. Ditto in the main ready meals. Supermarkets tend to be closed by around 10pm at the latest.
No 24-hour ones that I know of.
Opening Hours
Lots of French shops don't open on Sundays. And in Lille most of the smaller and medium-sized retailers don't open on Mondays. And closing for lunch is still a thing over here!
Great belts and more from La Vie est Belt
Louis Vuitton in an old oyster shop!
Ministry of Beer. No shortage of beer shops!
Vera in Roubaix for funky and fun cycling gear!
Decathlon's huge B-Twin Village
Speed Chess, art installations and secondhand books at La Vieille Bourse
Plenty of old cycling magazines to be found if that's your thing!
