Lille is a large indoor shopping centre, located near to the Eurostar train station. It includes over 140 shops on two levels. Enjoy the trendy shopping in the streets of lille. Lille the real paradise for shopping, It is Europe’s largest flea market, which have 10,000 stalls and more than 1 million visitors, which satisfy every budget. Each district has its own special features and has variety of shops.
Every Sunday morning Marché du Wazemmes street market takes place. The Braderie is a large street market in Old Lille, which held’s on the first weekend of September (all day on Saturday and Sunday, ending at midnight on Sunday)
Several markets take place in Lille:
1.Christmas Market:
In late November and late December Christmas market is held in Place Rihour in the center of the town, having about 80 different stalls and 3900 shops in the city which includes luxury stores, designer boutiques in Old Lille, international chain stores in the city center, the pedestrian areas and the futuristic Euralille shopping center. These are the very famous markets with special late night opening. The Lille Xmas market is popular with Brits due to its Eurostar links. The opening dates are from 24 nov to 30 dec 2010.
2.Food Market:
Here you’ll find flavors from all over the world with large and busy excellent food market, in Lille’s Old Town on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. On the Place de la Nouvelle Aventure, you will find a colorful market with vegetables, meat, fruit, herbs, flowers, clothes and all kind of other stuff. Many Arabs come here to buy cheap good food. The market can be found on the place la Nouvelle Aventure and in the halles on the same square: Les Halles de Wazemmes. There is open air market which opens for 3 days a week: on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, from 8:00 to 14:00 hours. The hall is open every day but closed on Monday.
3.Books market and Regional products:
The daily book market in the Vieille Bourse (Old Stock Exchange) courtyard discount shops in the Rue Gambetta district, gives you large variety of books and discount on them. There is a Tourist Office shop which offers you a large array of gifts, souvenirs and regional products including local handicrafts, specialties, DVDs, books, t-shirts, jewellery, postcards, collectible stamped coins, gift baskets, and more. This Tourist Office shop is open till, Monday to Saturday, from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm.
4.The Wazemmes Market:
The Wazemmes Market is the liveliest place in Lille on Sunday. The market splits out over numerous streets. This is the best place to buy your food and drink, fresh vegetables, cosmetics etc. The nice area is the indoor food hall where there are mouth-watering displays of food on offer. Marche Wazemmes is held every Tuesday, Thrusday and Sunday just off of Rue Gambetta. You can find anything there from yarn, to fruits, to puppies. Sunday is the most liveliest day but Tuesday and Thursday tend to be cheaper, it starts very early on Sunday and finishes by 1 to 2pm The place de la Nouvelle Aventure, here you will find good range of North African and Asian food. If you are into cosmetics you can really find a lot of famous brands at ridiculous prices. You can best bargains for flowers around the closing time, so be strategic with your purchases.
5.The Concert Market & The Art Markets
The 2 interesting markets: one is Place du Concert held on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, from 7.00 am to 2.00 pm and the other is Place des Archives held on Sunday from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm. This market is colorful, with a “Soho” atmosphere and you’ll often hear an accordion being played. As an extension to the Concert Market, professional and amateur artists display and sell their artwork (paintings, pottery, music, dance, jewellery, etc.).On Sunday, a flea market is set up around Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul church. With food, flowers, fabrics and exotic products, it’s one of the largest markets in France, and perhaps one of the liveliest (up to 50,000 visitors).