Day-by-day eating plans for Lille. weekend classics, family routes, vegan plans, on-a-budget editions.

Day-by-day plans

Lille weekend: the Flemish classics, done properly ★ 4.7

First-time visitor, two days2 days

A weekend built on the dishes Lille actually eats: carbonade in a Rue de Gand estaminet, moules-frites on Place Rihour, Sunday morning at Wazemmes, and a bistronomic room on Rue de la Monnaie.

  1. Day 1: Saturday: Vieux-Lille, estaminets and a bistronomic dinner

    Morning
    Start at Tamper! Espresso Bar on Rue des Vieux Murs at 09:00 for filter coffee, then walk the cobbles to Aux Merveilleux de Fred on Rue de la Monnaie for a merveilleux eaten standing up.
    Afternoon
    Lunch at Estaminet La Vieille France on Rue de Gand, carbonade flamande with a regional beer. Walk the rest of Rue de Gand afterwards to see how many estaminets share the street.
    Evening
    Dinner at Le Braque on Rue de la Monnaie from 19:00, where Damien Laforce cooks game from his own hunts and line-caught fish handled by the ikejime method.

  2. Day 2: Sunday: Wazemmes market, moules and a beer finish

    Morning
    Be at the Marché de Wazemmes on Place Nouvelle Aventure by 08:30, when the stalls are full and the crowd is not. Buy maroilles, then take coffee at La Brûlerie on the corner of the square.
    Afternoon
    Lunch at Aux Moules de Lille on Place Rihour. Order moules-frites and let the frites stay in their own dish.
    Evening
    Finish at Bierbuik on Rue Royale, frites sauce maroilles at the brewpub counter with whatever short-run beer is on the taps.

Lille on a budget: three days under 30 euros a day ★ 4.4

Student or budget traveller, three days3 days

Lille is a cheap city to eat well in if you stay on the friterie and estaminet side of the line. Three days of proper northern food for the price of one Paris dinner.

  1. Day 1: Thursday: tartines, a bakery breakfast and a five euro bowl

    Morning
    Breakfast at Boulangerie Mathieu on Rue du Molinel, a tarte au sucre and a coffee for the price of a croissant elsewhere.
    Afternoon
    Lunch at L'Arrière Pays on Rue Basse, where two sourdough tartines run 10.90 euros and three run 12.90. Order the tartine en boite, cured ham under melted camembert with walnuts and raisins.
    Evening
    Dinner at La Pépite on Place Sébastopol from 17:00, five euro bowls including the cornflake-crusted fried chicken.

  2. Day 2: Friday: market morning, welsh lunch, kebab night

    Morning
    Walk the Halles de Wazemmes on Place Nouvelle Aventure and buy lunch from the counters rather than sitting down.
    Afternoon
    Welsh at L'Estaminet du Welsh on Rue de Gand, where the lunch menu is 12.90 euros and the plat du jour starts at 9.90.
    Evening
    Aspendos on Rue des Sarrazins, kebab and frites for six euros, open until one in the morning.

  3. Day 3: Saturday: a cookie counter, banh mi and a Vieux-Lille sandwich

    Morning
    Coffee and a cookie at Emilie and the Cool Kids on Rue Jean Roisin, which opens at 08:30.
    Afternoon
    Sandwich Costaud at Costaud on Place du Vieux Marché aux Chevaux, 13 euros and enough for two if you add the garlic bread. The sandwich card runs in the daytime only.
    Evening
    Banh mi au porc at Smokey Banh Mi on Avenue du Peuple Belge for the Saturday dinner service from 19:00, with bread from the Degruson bakery.

Lille for vegetarians: two days without a compromise ★ 4.3

Vegetarian or vegan, two days2 days

Lille's traditional card runs on beef, pork and maroilles, but a small plant-forward scene has grown up around Gambetta and Vieux-Lille that is worth planning a trip around.

  1. Day 1: Saturday: plant kitchens and natural wine

    Morning
    Start at Hopen Source on Rue du Plat when the room opens at 10:00, an open-source plant kitchen with gluten-free and lactose-free versions on request.
    Afternoon
    Lunch at Pickles on Rue Solférino, a mostly vegetarian card that is rewritten every week, with natural wine by the glass.
    Evening
    Dinner at Albedo Kitchen on Rue Léon Gambetta, entirely vegan and organic, which took PETA's 2026 vegan flavour prize.

  2. Day 2: Sunday: a coffee counter, brunch and a vegetable-led dinner

    Morning
    Open with filter coffee at Tamper! Espresso Bar on Rue des Vieux Murs, which runs a Sunday counter from 09:00 and takes no reservations.
    Afternoon
    Sunday brunch at La Clairière on Boulevard de la Liberté, served 11:00 to 15:00: a hot drink, a cold drink, a savoury plate and a sweet one, all vegan.
    Evening
    Dinner at De Rode Koe on Rue des Trois-Mollettes, a kitchen built on vegetarian and vegan plates, with a Sunday evening service from 18:00.
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