Lille and ____?

You can travel between Lille and London by direct Eurostar train in 1.5 hours. Book soon for the best ticket prices.

In Belgium, you can use Gent or Brugge as a smaller-town home base to visit both those towns, as well as Brussels and Antwerp. They're all quite close together.

Lille-Berlin takes 9-10 hours each way by train and I also don't see any direct flight from Lille, so you'd fly from Brussels, instead.

It was years ago, but when I went to Lille from Antwerp, it was three trains going, two (i.e. one change) returning, and around three hours. That was a daytrip, but you're planning to stay longer. I think Brugge isn't very direct from Lille, either. If you haven't been many places yet, I think London is a good idea, because of the excellent train connection.

Todd, you didn't say if you've ever been to Europe other than Paris before. It's hard to make a sensible recommendation without that information. Note that August is vacation month in Europe. That doesn't mean that the museums are closed or anything. But there will be peak tourism everywhere. And I like air conditioning. I want to see Louvre-Lens, but I doubt it's more than a one-day project. It's hard to like Brussels in August, so my next vote might be Gent, but there's much less there. How many days do you want in the one other city?

Why not Lyon? Just 3 hours on the TGV from Lille.

I'm with Laura: Gent is a interesting and lively city, and a good base for the attractions around. It even has a direct Intercity connection with Lille, taking 1h15.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Tim, I have been to Europe before including London, Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Nuremberg, Barcelona and Amsterdam. Berlin was a whirl a few years ago (we didn't have enough time, which is what tempts me to return). I didn't realize London was so easy -- even though I was there recently, that could be tempting.

I don't necessarily need to use Lille as a home base before the conference; I just need to wind up there by Sunday cocktail hour. So, I thought that it would be fun to tackle another city prior . My schedule before then is pretty flexible --I figured maybe 5 or 6 days early, plus a day for the flight over.

If you don't mind a flight, here's the list of nonstops from Lille airport: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lille_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations

If you don't mind taking a train from CDG after your flight, you can search for "flights" using the "airport code" XDB; this is the code for the Lille Europe train station (may only work on some websites; definitely works in Air France). This way, you would have a flight from, say, Berlin to Paris, then a train from Paris to Lille, all on one ticket; so, if there is a problem with your incoming flight, you will be put on the next train at no extra charge.

I like the suggestions of London, Ghent, and (most of all) Lyon.

To make the most of Lyon you might want a fine-dining budget. If you're not as well-off, Antwerp might suit. If you get bored with Antwerp, Gent, Bruges, and Leuven are very fast daytrips. If you're willing to fly, then return to Berlin. There's a lot to do there, and nearby.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the suggestions. After doing a little more research, I believe that I would like to spend a few days in Berlin (and possibly a day trip to Dresden) before heading to Lille, France for the conference.

Now the air / train puzzle. The choices are a little overwhelming. I'd like to fly one of the international carriers to Europe from LAX, prefer biz class, at least on the route over (if I don't sleep, I tend to get sick). Also, don't want a lot of stops or long layovesr.

Doing a little bit of research, if I flew into Paris CDG, I could then do a RT from Paris-Berlin on Air Berlin for about $96, then take the train from Paris to Lille the day before the conference. Other ideas would be fly into London or Amsterdam, again take Air Berlin to Berlin, and then Berlin to Paris, catching the train from Paris to Lille prior to the conference.

Would love your expert ideas on this.

Thanks!

Todd