The best-kept secret in France also happens to be a short hop from Britain: a tango-dancing, festival-throwing city of unique architecture and a carnival atmosphere blending Flemish joviality and French elegance.
The people who already love Lille know that France's fourth city is also one of its most seductive and stylish – and quite possibly its summer festival capital.
An excellent time to visit is 14 July, Bastille Day, when Lille really lets down its hair with events citywide catering to everyone from partygoers to families.
Ever since Lille was named European culture capital in 2004, the city has truly come into its own. Vieux Lille, the old town around the Vieille Bourse stock exchange, was renovated and preserved, restoring the glory of the Flemish, Burgundian and Spanish influences that make Lille a truly European capital.
The courtyard of the Vieille Bourse has become a wonderful place to browse for secondhand books and postcards, play chess and, if you're feeling footloose, join in the displays of Argentinian tango that have become a Sunday summer-evening tradition.
Equally impressive are the nearby opera house and the Carlton Hotel, ground zero for the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal that captivated Europe. A core of narrow cobbled pedestrian streets also makes this northern France's most stylish place for popular French and luxury brands.
Lille's shopping favourite, however, is the Wazemmes Sunday market, crowded with antique dealers and florists' stalls, as well as a wonderful covered food market. The gastronomic influence of Belgium isn't hard to discern: you'll find main dishes cooked in beer, and plenty of moules-frites (mussels and chips). Such delicacies play a starring role during the Braderie de Lille, the completely unhinged flea market that explodes in the last weekend in August.
Browse, haggle and eat mussels: restaurants compete to accumulate the biggest pile of mussel shells. Stop for dessert at Meert, the cake shop famous for its waffles and a favourite of Charles de Gaulle, perhaps Lille's most famous son.
Lille also has France's highest proportion of young people, who ensure the party doesn't stop when the sun sets – but this being France, the real action is as likely to be on the cafe terraces as in the many nightclubs.
Next morning, brunch is a must at Tous les Jours Dimanche, the hippest little cafe in a city with more than a few of them. Fun-loving, outgoing and above all friendly, Lille's unofficial motto is "the more the merrier". What are you waiting for?
To find out more about this destination, visit gotofrancenow.com/northern-france-lille
