Lille Lesquin Airport is not much help to the travelling Brit, as there are no flights from the UK direct to Lille. The airport is relatively small and largely only deals with internal connections within France - from the likes of Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux further south.
An alternative to flying to Lille is to head to either nearby Brussels or Paris, from where there are good rail connections or relatively short driving distances involved.
By Train
This is the route most people will take into Lille from the UK, owing to the direct services from London on the Eurostar, and the lack of a major airport. Journey times from St Pancras International are around 90 minutes, and full details can be found on the Eurostar website.
A lot of people flying to get there (typically via Paris or Brussels) will also use train connections to get to Lille. From Brussels the journey time is around 30 minutes, whereas from Paris it's more like an hour. To check out train times and prices on the continent, we suggest Rail Europe as the best starting point.
By Bus
Eurolines run direct services from London, starting from around £50 return, with a journey time of approximately 6 hours. For more details, visit their website.
By Car
Lille's location in north-east France means it's perfect for all those budding Dennis Bergkamp's who are afraid of flying, or perhaps who just prefer the more sedate life. Calais, Dunkerque and Boulougne are all around an hour or so's drive from Lille, so it's easily reachable by ferry from south east England. Indeed, Le Harve is only around 150 miles away, so provides yet more potential options for those crossing the briny deep.
Companies that operate on the various routes include LD Lines, P&O, Speed Ferries and Sea France.
Don't forget, too, that you can use Le Shuttle from Folkestone as another means of getting your car across to the continent. Journey times are quick and if you're booking in advance then costs can be pretty low. They're also not susceptible to poor weather like the ferries, which may be a bonus for a choppy day in winter!
