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Avenue Mathias Delobel

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 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

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), 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.

Rue du Jardin des Plantes

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.

The Botanical Garden is open daily from 7:30 am to 9:00 pm from April to September, and from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm from October to March.
The Tropical Greenhouse is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Tel : +33 (0)3 28 36 13 50

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.

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.

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.

Opened in July 2009, 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, the garden extends over about 2 hectares and has more than 45 000 types of plants.

Original and surprising architectural techniques will brighten up your walks, with gigantic heads of plaited wicker and dressed up in plants distinguishing the giants.

A greenhouse and water games enrich the site still further. A café and a picnic area also give visitors the opportunity to relax and to have something to eat.