HOME \ DISCOVER LILLE \ Parks and Gardens

The Citadelle Park and the zoo

This park, Lille's largest (60 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. There are some remarkable trees there, such as a Montpellier Maple, a Corsican pine and even a Giant Sequoia.The Lille Zoo is free and houses about 400 animals representing 70 different species: monkeys, zebras, panthers, rare birds, etc.


	Avenue Mathias Delobel Tel.: +33 (0)3 28 52 07 00 The zoo is open daily: April - October: 9 am - 6 pm (week ends and bankholidays until 7 pm), November - March: 10 am - 5 pm Closed from 2nd Sunday of December to 2nd Sunday of February.

The Vauban Garden

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), its 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.


	Boulevard Vauban - Rue d'Armentières - Rue Desmazières Tel.: +33 (0)3 28 36 13 50

The Botanical garden and greenhouse

In 1596, Lille became the second French city to possess a botanical garden. Over the centuries, the collections have been 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.


	Rue du Jardin des Plantes Tel.: +33 (0)3 28 36 13 50 The garden is open daily: From April to September: 7.30 am - 9 pm From October to March: 8 am - 6.30 pm The greenhouse is open: Tuesday - Saturday: 9 am - 12 pm / 1 pm - 5 pm

The Henri Matisse park

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 centre of the park, on a 7 metres high foundation, lies an inaccessible 2500 m² island which is left to the whims of Nature.

This park never closes.

The Jean-Baptiste Lebas Park

Opened in June 2006, the Jean-Baptiste Lebas Park, which occupies a space 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.


	Boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas Tel.: +33 (0)3 28 36 13 50 Open daily: April - September: 7.30 am - 10 pm October - March: 7.30 am - 9 pm

The Garden of Giants

The Garden of Giants, situated in the centre of a dense urban environment, is a place for walking and for relaxing. The creation of the garden was entrusted to landscape gardeners from the Mutabilis workshop and to the architect Duncan Lewis. The garden is made up of three different areas: the "Parvis des Nuages", the "Herbe des Géants" and the "Jardin des Sources". In total, it extends over about 2 hectares and has more than 45 000 types of plants.


	Avenue Foubert - Boulevard Victor Basch - Rue du Ballon Open daily: 9 am - nightfall (summer: 9 pm)