Bars and cafés in Lille
Join us in celebrating the world’s greatest cycling race starting in the heart of Lille
Bars, Bars, Bars…
There are bars everywhere. Lille has a huge student population and the French continue with the national pastime of whiling away the hours with a coffee or wine or beer, reading a newspaper, chatting to friends, or just taking in the scene.
As you would expect, like any major city, you have everything from backstreet workingmen’s bars to hi-tech cocktail hangouts. You’ll find sports bars, traditional French bars, student hangouts, ‘authentic’ English/Scottish/Irish pubs. Wine bars. Bars where you can throw axes (!), karaoke bars, fussball bars. Expensive bars. Cheap bars…
Most open very late – but may not open early – and have a vast selection of beers! One warning, Flemish beer is absolutely fantastic, but very, very strong! It’s fairly competitive, so there are lots of happy hours (Le Happy Hour!)… expect to pay 5-7€ for a 50cl of very strong, famous beer.
My favourite is La Chouffe (8%). Jupiler is the popular ‘basic’ beer, but it’s still 5.2%. Beers with alcohol levels of 9% and 10% are not uncommon; Pais Dieu being a popular tipple. Beer is generally served in 25cl/33cl/50cl (une pint!) measures.
Expect to pay around 2€ for an espresso in the centre. A Perrier around 3.50€. To state the bleeding obvious, there’s usually a vast choice of wine and any other drinks you can think of!
And don’t worry if you’re not a drinker. Bar owners seem to be very, very tolerant of large groups of students nursing an espresso or Perrier or 25cl beer for hours on end as they chat incessantly!
Most bars will do food. Often very good and fairly priced. I’ll cover that in more detail in the restaurant section.
Smoking is not allowed inside, but is perfect acceptable, and practiced extensively, in any outdoor seated area, even when it’s fully enclosed; if that’s not an oxymoron.
There are quite a few bars in the Grand’Place/fan zone area. All pretty good and doubtless geared up for the Tour de France, Brasserie La Cloche (Place du Théâtre) is popular.
My favourite Lille bar, because it feels very ‘French bistro’, is Au Paon d’Or (Rue de Béthune). There are lots located around rue Solférino and rue Masséna, and rue Royale in the old town (Le Vieux Lille; a great area just to wander around). These three streets are where the city’s vast number of students go to blow their grants. The bars are often more like UK pubs, usually bar service rather than waiters. Plenty of screens/music/choice of beer! Often happy hours.
Also, classic French station bars around Gare Lille-Flandres, the 3 Brasseurs, Taverne Flamande and Le Napoleon are regular haunts of mine. Slightly more expensive. Around 8€ for a cinquante. L’Express, round the corner on rue Molinel is pretty good. One word of warning, if you are sitting outside the station bars there’s a fairly constant stream of homeless people who will hassle you; I’m not passing judgement.
If ‘posh’ is your thing, the bar at Mama Shelter (almost opposite Gare Lille-Flandres) and the next-door Nu restaurant/bar are your best bets! Le Barre in the highly-rated Clarance Hotel is also a favourite of friends of mine.
At the RWC the Scots had a big ‘night before’ their match party at The Black Lab, seemed to go well.
In the old town, L’Abbaye des Saveurs, rue des Vieux Murs, is a renowned beer-lovers institution. Over 200 beers on offer and they will doubtless show the Tour. La Capsule is another beer-lovers destination, rue des Trois Mollettes. Again a couple of hundred beers to choose from.
Honourable mention too for Le Délirium Café, 50 rue Masséna, which offers a choice of over 600 (yes you read that correctly) bottled beers and 42 on draft (pressions).
Box2Box, Rue Saint-Jacques, is the best known sports bar. Great atmosphere. Best option if you want to watch other sports whilst you’re here. Open until 2am on Saturdays. Le Monkey, rue Nicholas Leblanc, is another sports bar.There are actually a few UK ‘pub’ type bars along rue Solféreno: The Queen Victoria (yes, really!), L’Irlandais and O’Scotland. Plus, Irish pubs on rue Masséna, Temple’s Bar and Mac Allans.
L’Imaginaire in the old town has a very large outdoor area with great views of the cathedral. There are a few popular bars around the Notre-Dame cathedral, Place Gilleson, Beer Square Lille is good.
The area around Place Rihour, off Grand’Place (beside the Fan Zones) is also good for bars/brasseries. Here there is also a very fine restaurant, Brasserie La Chicorée, where you can get all the usual suspects, plus fantastic seafood platters, like you find on the coast; not cheap. Also Café Meo, a good coffee spot.
Most of the Tabacs are also basic bars. Can be atmospheric. They are often also PMU (betting) locations, so always showing sport. Popular with the ‘Ch’ti’, a slightly derogatory term for northern working-class people, who speak a slightly strange dialect. [The very funny film Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis portrays it well]. Clearly, I’ve focused on beer, but other drinks are available! Slightly oddly, even large bars tend to have very small toilets! And often unisex. Be warned.
Obviously all the bars do teas, coffee, soft drinks, etc. There are a few Starbucks dotted around the city if you must! (Westfield Shopping Centre, gare Lille-Flandres, Old Lille, rue Faidherbe…
With waiter service expect to pay for each drink/round when it arrives at your table. The days of racking up a final bill over a few hours seem to have vanished. I’ve never encounterd a bar where it’s either card or cash only.
Discover Lille
Lille, the vibrant capital of Flanders, is known for its stunning architecture, rich history, and welcoming atmosphere. Explore the charming old town, indulge in delicious French cuisine, and experience a unique mix of French and Flemish cultures.
Culture and History
Bars and Cafes
Dining
Shopping
Vieux Lille
Safety and Security
Plan your visit
How to Get Here?
Getting to and from Lille. Obviously, you’ll have booked what you’ve booked. Just some general observations. Gare Lille-Europe (Eurostar) is fairly central and on the Metro (line M2/red), about a three-minute walk/one Metro stop, from Gare Lille-Flandres, the regional hub. If you’re heading back on Eurostar, the actual international part of the station is quite small, so expect to queue. UK (and French) passport checks are done there. Once through, the lounge is small with a tiny ‘Relay’ shop: basic sandwiches, drinks, confectionary and cigarettes. No Duty Free.
If you’re travelling by bus (Flixbus, etc.) they stop and pick-up outside Lille-Europe.
By Road
If you’re arriving by ferry or Eurotunnel, it’s all fairly obvious. However, be aware that the major roads that approach and go through the city often have variable and/or constantly changing speed limits. So, you can quickly go from 130kph to 110 to 90 to 70. And there are lots of cameras which are quite hard to spot (Waze is pretty good). As stated earlier street parking in Lille is mostly paid for in the centre. And there are quite a few, very central, underground car parks, for example underneath Grand’Place.
Crit Air sticker. If you are bringing your car in the city you will need a Crit Air Vignette (pollution). You can purchase them online here: https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/
And remember post-Brexit the rules on passport validity are being enforced. Your passport must:
- have a ‘date of issue’ less than 10 years before the date you arrive
- have an ‘expiry date’ at least 3 months after the date you plan to leave the Schengen (France) area
And at French border control, you may need to:
- show proof of your accommodation
- show proof of your travel insurance
- show a return or onward ticket
- prove that you have enough money for your stay
The new ETIAS/EAS visa system keeps being delayed. There is talk of some roll out starting in November, so no issue for Tour de France visitors.
Airports
Lille-Lesquin is the city’s airport. Not a major hub. The closest major airport are Brussel and Paris-CDG.
Where to stay ?
Hotels in the city center, budget options, and nearby accommodations
What to Bring ?
Comfortable walking shoes, event tickets, and your excitement!
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