A slow-paced walk on the cobbled streets of Lille’s old town is the best place to start your trip, says Blume, and I couldn’t agree more – for hidden boutiques and independent cafés, this is the area you want to explore.
“Try to identify elements from different phases in this city’s multilayered history,” Blume suggests. “It was successively Flemish, Burgundian, Spanish, Dutch, and French, before switching hands between France and Germany a couple times more.”
Address: Rue Saint-Jacques, 59000 Lille