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Avenue Mathias Delobel

This park, Lille's largest (50 hectares = 123 acres) and most visited, brings a breath of fresh air to the city.
Encircled by the Deûle canal, the park includes the Bois de Boulogne Woods (which surround the ramparts of Vauban's Citadel) and the zoo.

The Bois de Boulogne Woods are always open to visitors. They hold some remarkable trees, such as a Montpellier Maple, a Corsican pine and even a Giant Sequoia.

The Lille Zoo is free and houses about 400 animals representing 80 different species: monkeys, zebras, panthers, rare birds, etc.
It is open daily from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM in the summer (until 7:00 PM on weekends) and from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM in the winter. It closes annually from the second Sunday of December to the second Sunday of February.
Tel: +33 (0)3 28 52 07 00

Located next to the zoo, the "Cub Corner" is a permanent playground for children. For more information, click here !

Boulevard Vauban

Created in 1863 by Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps, the head gardener of Paris, the Vauban Garden (3 hectares) has been listed on the register of historic places since 1990.
It is a typical example of an English-style country garden, characterised by a romantic imitation of nature.
With its rolling lawns and meandering brooks, its grotto (a cavelike summerhouse) and waterfall, and its hundred-year-old trees and numerous flowerbeds, the Vauban Garden is the perfect place for a pleasurable stroll.
Monuments paying tribute to distinguished Lille residents Albert Samain, Edouard Lalo and Charles de Gaulle add to the charm.
Mr. Rameau's old goat house now houses a marionette theatre much appreciated by children.

This park never closes.

Rue du Jardin des Plantes

In 1596, Lille became the second French city to possess a botanical garden. Over the centuries, the collections were cultivated in different areas.
Since 1948, the Botanical Garden has occupied 11 hectares of the city's former fortifications located on the southeast side of town. Here, shrubs of various shapes and sizes as well as thousands of roses and dahlias surrounding a large pond dazzle the eye. 

The Tropical Greenhouse displays vegetation native to tropical regions.

The Botanical Garden is open daily from 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM from May to September, and from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM from October to April.
The Tropical Greenhouse is open Monday to Saturday, from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM and from 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, and on Sunday from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM and from 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM.
Tel : +33 (0)3 20 52 06 83

Avenue Le Corbusier (Euralille)

This 8-hectare park, designed by Gilles Clément, leads to the Roubaix Gate (1620).
It was designed to be a garden in constant evolution, changing with each season. At the center of the park, on a 7 metres high foundation, lies an inaccessible 2500 m² island, that is left to the whims of Nature.

Boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas

Inaugurated in June 2006, Jean-Baptiste Lebas Park, which occupies a space that was once used for illegal parking and marred by 11 lanes of traffic, is surrounded by the boulevard of the same name.
This 3-hectare (7-acre) urban park contains a large lawn with flowerbeds, play areas for children and places for playing "boules".
Its unique red fence with eight gates is the work of the landscapers of West 8, a Dutch firm.

Open daily from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM, from May to September, and from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, from October to April.