Lille: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Lille is a city of 238,695 people in France (Hauts-de-France), 20 m (66 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Lille Airport (LIL), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre. It has 8 railway stations on record, including La Madeleine.
Key facts
Daylight in Lille runs from about 8 h 3 min a day in late December to 16 h 33 min in late June (computed for 50.63° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Lille is served by 2 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Lille Airport (LIL), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre, with a longest runway of 9,268 ft, which limits it to short and medium-haul aircraft. The alternatives are Ostend-Bruges International Airport (OST, 64 km).
Flights to Lille: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include La Madeleine, Mont-de-Terre, Lezennes, Gare de Lille-CHR, Gare de Lille-Porte-de-Douai, Gare of Lille-Saint-Sauveur. Trains to Lille
Buses to Lille · Driving and car hire
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille | 253,817 | 2017 |
| Tri Postal | 251,000 | 2004 |
| Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille | 122,297 | 2019 |
| Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse | 51,394 | 2016 |
| Departmental archives of Nord | 1,249 | 2022 |
The busiest is Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille at 253,817 visitors in 2017. Figures are the latest each site has published, so they are not all for the same year.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Lille
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- London, 243 km (United Kingdom) — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Paris, 204 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Birmingham, 399 km (United Kingdom) — flights
- Köln, 276 km (Germany) — flights · tours
- Brussels, 94 km (Belgium) — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Rotterdam, 174 km (The Netherlands) — trains · tours
- Amsterdam, 231 km (The Netherlands) — tours
- Düsseldorf, 269 km (Germany)
- Essen, 291 km (Germany)
- Dortmund, 323 km (Germany)
Twin towns and sister cities: Esch-sur-Alzette, Liège, Turin, Rotterdam, Cologne, Leeds, Erfurt, Buffalo, Nablus, Oujda, Safed, Kharkiv, Saint-Louis, Shanghai.
Common questions
Which airport serves Lille?
Lille Airport (LIL), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre, plus 1 other airport with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Lille?
About 238,695 people live in Lille, across 35 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Lille in?
Europe/Paris, currently UTC+2.
What currency is used in Lille?
The Euro (EUR). Traffic drives on the right.
Which cities are near Lille?
London (243 km), Paris (204 km), Birmingham (399 km), Köln (276 km), Brussels (94 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 14 September 2026. Hotel and hostel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.