Lille Flandres (Lille)

Lille Flandres is a typical terminus train station so it is comparatively easy to use.
The voies (platforms/tracks) have step free access to/from the departure concourse, which is at street level.

Though worth knowing is that voies (platforms/tracks) 10 -16 are located off of voie 9, so are more distant from the departure concourse than voies (platforms/tracks) 2 -9.

Voies (platforms/tracks) 0 - 1 are located off of voie 2, so again these are more distant from the concourse.

Heading to Belgium:

Something to be aware is that the French names for cities in Flanders are used on the departure screens.
So Anvers - Antwerpen/Antwep and Gand = Gent/Ghent.

Lille has two main train stations:.

(1) Lille Flandres - THIS station
It is the city’s older and more central train station and is used by most (but not all) TGV trains between Lille and Paris
(However, some TGVs from Lille to Paris also depart from Lille Europe - though they're now slower than the TGVs to the capital that depart from Lille Flandres
So if you're departing from Lille by TGV, check whether your train will be departing from Lille Flandres or Lille Europe before setting off to the station).

Lille Flandres is now also used by the low-cost Ouigo services to destinations to the south of Paris.

Trains from Lille to Amiens, Rouen and cities in Belgium including Ghent/Gent and Antwerp/Anvers also depart from Lille Flandres station

(2) Lille Europe station - which is the station that MOST of the high speed trains from Lille depart from and arrive at.
Lille Europe is the only station in the city used by Eurostar and the TGV France/Bruxelles trains.
Also the majority of (but not all) the TGV InOui services from Lille to cities in France other than Paris depart from there.
The main exceptions are the InOui services from Lille to Bordeaux via Poitiers as these trains do depart from Lille Flandres.

ShowMeTheJourney has anticipated what questions are most often asked about taking trains to and from Lille-Flandres and answered them below.
Though note that some of this info may be temporarily subject to change, due to the ongoing building work which will transform the station.

If you can't find the information you are seeking, you can ask a question by using the Travel Planning Service.

Yes, Lille-Flandres is a terminus station, so travellers simply have to walk to and from the trains, most of which can be boarded merely steps away from the main concourse.

The Grand Place is the heart of Lille and it is located less than a 10 min walk from Lille-Flandres station.

The access to the public transport in Lille is by a tap in and out system using travel cards, you purchase a card and then load tickets on to it.
There is a 'point of sale' for these cards at Lille-Flandres station.

There are two restaurants in the station and along with multiple coffee, sandwich and fast-food outlets.
Though there are also multiple dining establishments within a five minute walk of Lille-Flandres station and the Westfield Euralille mall is beside the station.

Not within the station building so SNCF recommends using Nannybag, a facility at which luggage space can be pre-booked - it is located within a two minute walk of Lille-Flandres.

Yes, the station has a Grand Voyageur lounge, which can be accessed by those who will be travelling with Business Premiere tickets, on the TGV InOui services.
It is located opposite voies (platforms / tracks) 2 - 3.

When planning a trip, finding convenient accommodation can be trickier than working out which train to take.
Hence ShowMeTheJourney has partnered with the innovative accommodation portal, Stay 22, to offer three options for discovering your optimum accommodation:

1: Use the map above to see which hotel rooms and Vrbo rentals, with easy access to Lille-Europe, are available.

2: Or click on these cherry-picked properties, offered by Stay 22 partner Booking.com, which are by Lille-Europe and have been selected on the basis of high guest ratings:

Novotel Suites Lille Europe

Hôtel Barrière Lille

Hotel Lille Europe

Citadines City Centre Lille

Mama Shelter Lille

3: Or see what's available with Stay 22's accommodation partners; which include, Expedia, Hotels.com and Trivago - by clicking here.
Stay 22 will 'shuffle' the booking services so that you can be automatically directed to its partner that currently has the optimum availability at this location.

The train services which depart from / arrive at Lille Flandres include:

• by TGV In Oui trains** to and from Paris Gare du Nord*, Aeroport CDG*, Aix-en-Provence TGV, Angers, Bordeaux, Marne La Vallée*, Nantes, and Poitiers
• Ougio Grande Vitesse trains to and from Aeroport CDG, Aix-en-Provence TGV, Avignon TGV, Marseille-St Charles and Valence TGV Rhône-Alpes Sud
• TER trains to and from Amiens, Arras, Calais, Dunkerque, Kortrijk - for Gent and Antwerpen, Lens, Rouen, Tournai - for Mons and Namur

*= other trains to these destinations depart from Lille-Europe
**= TGV InOui services travel to other destinations south and east of Paris from Lille-Europe.

There are detailed travel guides available for many of these journeys.

Note that there are no overnight train services to and from Lille.

In common with all other French stations, the specific voie/platform that TGVs will be departing from, isn’t shown on the electronic departure screens until around 15 mins before departure.

However, at Lille Flandres there is usually only one TGV train in the station at any time, so it will be fairly obvious which platform/voie your TGV train will be departing from.
TGVs to Paris commence their journeys at Lille Flandres.

If you see other passengers moving on to the platform to wait by the doors to the TGV you can follow suit, particularly if you have luggage.
If you do have luggage there’s a benefit to being among the first to board, as luggage space is fairly limited on TGVs, particularly in 2nd class.

There are no left luggage facilities in Lille Flandres station, but there is a left luggage office at Lille Europe station (in Departure Hall 1).

A big plus of Lille Flandres station is its city centre location.
The Place Charles De Gaulle in the heart of Lille, is a 5 – 8 min walk along Rue Faidherbe, which is the street that heads away from the station, immediately opposite the main exit.

Both the Metro and tram stations are located directly beneath Lille Flandres station and can be accessed by escalators in the main departure hall.
As you walk away from the trains, this departure hall will be directly in front of you, on the other side of the concourse.

The full details including images of the route are HERE.

Lille Europe station is a 5 - 8 min walk away, but the route from Lille Flandres station is well signposted – though exit Lille Flandres through the entrance to the right of the departure concourse (and not through the main exit).

When you step out of the station the street entrance to the Metro will be over to the left, and Lille Europe station will be ahead of you - head for the flags that you will see in the distance.

Walk passed the entrance to the Euraile shopping centre, which will be on your right, and you'll come to a slope, which will lead down to the Place Francois Mitterrand - the square in front of Lille Europe station.

The entrance to Lille Europe is over to the right, it's under the archways supporting the road deck, here you will find escalators and lifts up to the station’s main concourse.

If you will be connecting to the Eurostar you need to head for check-in which is located at the far end of Departure Hall 4, turn left once you have entered Lille Europe’s station building.

Allow at least 10 mins from stepping off the train at Lille Flandres to arriving at the Eurostar check-in queue.

However, the walk between Lille Flandres and Lille Europe stations is in the open air, so in bad weather an option is to take the Metro, it’s only a one station hop on Line 2 (direction C.H. Dron).