Self-Guided Tours in Lille

Vieux Lille's Flemish gables set the tone for the old town: narrow step-gabled houses and the Grand'Place with the Flemish Renaissance arcades of the Vieille Bourse, and the belfry marking the skyline from most angles. One of the games threads through the Îlot Comtesse, once the old hospice quarter, and the narrow Place aux Oignons, tight enough to feel like a set-piece stop on its own.

A pair of games cover that same Flemish centre from different angles. The World City Trail walk covers about two hours across ten-plus stops, from the Beffroi de Lille and Porte de Paris to the Grand Place and the Vieille Bourse, a code buying entry and the app plotting the route, a Merveilleux pastry stop built into the plan. Explorial's version covers similar ground in roughly the same time, riddles racking up points between players, adding a stop at the Colonne de la Déesse on the Grand Place that the other route passes without naming.

Practical. French Flanders runs cooler and greyer than most of France — July afternoons top out in the low-to-mid 20s at about 23-24C, while winter hovers near 8C and brings plenty of drizzle, so a coat matters more here than sun protection. Vieux Lille's cobbles are uneven underfoot, worth flat shoes rather than anything with a heel. Lille's Braderie flea market, held the first weekend of every September, packs the old town tighter than any other date on the calendar.