As the capital of the Nord Pas de Calais region of northern France, the city of Lille is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the country, next to Paris, Lyon and Marseille, respectively. Situated on the Deule River near the border to Belgium, the city annexed the town of Lomme in 2000, and the metropolitan area has also grown to encompass the suburban communities of Tourcoing and Roubaix.

Lille boasts a wide variety of architectural styles, including a strong Flemish influence that incorporates an array of browns and red brick. The neighborhoods here consist of attached row houses that feature narrow gardens in the back – an architectural attribute that is uncommon in France but found throughout the nearby Netherlands and England. Also of interest, the Jardin botanique de la Faculte de Pharmacie, the Jardin des Plantes de Lille, the Jardin botanique Nicolas Boulay and the Citadel of Lille are magnificent and not to be missed.