Around Lens

20 km · 20 minutes

Arras, its squares and its belfry

Arras was shelled throughout the First World War, and its centre was rebuilt exactly as it had been. The result is striking: the Grand'Place and the Place des Héros are lined with 155 Flemish Baroque façades, resting on 345 sandstone columns. On Saturday mornings the big market spreads across the squares.

Above them rises the 75-metre belfry. Begun in the 15th century and completed in 1554, it was destroyed in October 1914 and rebuilt between 1927 and 1931. Since 2005 it has been a World Heritage Site, together with the other belfries of Belgium and France. A lift and a few steps take you to the top for a view over the whole town.

Beneath the cobbles lie the boves, old underground chalk quarries dug from the Middle Ages onwards. Tours start from the tourist office in the town hall. Their extension, Wellington Quarry, tells the story of the 1917 Battle of Arras.

Fireworks lighting up the Arras belfry — Fireworks at the Arras belfry in 2005, celebrating its World Heritage listing.

UNESCO 2008Free access

The Vauban citadel

Built between 1668 and 1672 in the shape of a five-pointed star, it is nicknamed “la Belle Inutile” (the Beautiful Useless one) because it was never besieged. Now demilitarised, it is open to wander freely. It also hosts the Main Square Festival in July and is home to the Wall of the Executed.

Historic centre

Strolling through Arras

Walk up rue Maximilien-de-Robespierre, formerly rue des Rapporteurs, to no. 9, where Robespierre lived from 1787 to 1789. Make a detour via the Abbey of Saint-Vaast and the cathedral. Finish in the Jardin du Gouverneur and the Jardin Minelle, with its spring-fed lake.

Closed until 2030

The Musée des Beaux-Arts

Housed in the vast Abbey of Saint-Vaast, the fine arts museum is closed for a complete renovation. It is due to reopen in 2030. The works can sometimes be visited during the European Heritage Days.

The Saturday market on the Place des Héros in Arras — Market day, Place des Héros. Photo: René Bellanger

The Grand'Place in Arras on market day — The Grand'Place. Photo: René Bellanger

The Arras belfry lit up at night — The belfry lit up at night.

Rue des Rapporteurs in Arras — In the streets of central Arras. Photo: René Bellanger

Robespierre's house in Arras — Robespierre's house. Photo: René Bellanger

Rue Méaulens and Saint-Vaast Cathedral — Rue Méaulens and the cathedral. Photo: René Bellanger

The bandstand in the Jardin du Gouverneur, Arras — The bandstand in the Jardin du Gouverneur. Photo: René Bellanger

The market on Place de la Vacquerie — Place de la Vacquerie. Photo: René Bellanger

Arras Tourist Office ↗

25 km · Nord

Douai and its giant

Begun in 1380, the Douai belfry is one of the finest in northern France: a Gothic tower some sixty metres high, bristling with turrets and housing a 62-bell carillon. In 2024 it came second in France's “Favourite Monument” TV contest, after beating… the Stade Bollaert. Guided tours every day.

Also worth seeing: the Musée de la Chartreuse, set in a former monastery, with paintings by Veronese, Rubens and Courbet.

In mid-July, from the Sunday after 5 July, the Gayant festivities parade the town's giant (more than 8 metres tall) and his family through the streets. They are on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, along with the other processional giants of Belgium and France.

≈ 60 mof Gothic belfry

62bells in the carillon

1530Monsieur Gayant's first outing

20 km · Pas-de-Calais

Béthune and its Art Deco Grand'Place

Béthune's centre was 90% destroyed in 1918. Only its 14th-century belfry, 47 metres tall and also UNESCO-listed, and a few houses survived. Around it, the Grand'Place was rebuilt in the 1920s with a remarkable variety of regional-style and Art Deco façades, each reconstruction architect leaving their own mark.

In the former Banque de France branch, Labanque shows contemporary art, making playful use of the old vaults. Entry is free for under-26s and on the first Sunday of the month.

Fresh air

Nature and leisure

The coalfield is greener than you might think: slag heaps, old railway embankments and subsidence ponds now form a “chain of parks” covering more than 4,000 hectares.

All over the Pas-de-Calais

Eden 62 nature sites

Eden 62 manages more than 6,000 hectares of protected natural areas in the department, including the Pinchonvalles slag heap. Its guided nature walks are free.

eden62.fr ↗

Bénifontaine · 8 km

Parc des Cytises

A 15-hectare animal park with more than 350 animals from around 80 species, play areas and walking paths. Ideal with children.

Olhain · 20 km

Olhain park

A woodland country park with treetop adventure courses, a swimming pool, golf and camping. You can cycle there from Liévin along EuroVelo 5.

Lens and around

By bike

EuroVelo 5 (Via Romea Francigena), the V32 Lille–Paris route and the Mining Basin cycle route (V31) meet around Lens. The local authority also offers circuits “around the Louvre-Lens”.

Liévin

Arena Stade Couvert

A giant indoor arena that hosts an international indoor athletics meeting every February, and big concerts all year round.

Nœux-les-Mines · 20 km

Loisinord

Skiing on a slag heap and cable wakeboarding on the lake next door. See Mining heritage.

At the table

Local specialities

No restaurant listings here: they change too quickly. Instead, here is what to try.

At the estaminet (a traditional Flemish pub-restaurant): carbonade flamande (beef braised in beer), potjevleesch (cold meats in jelly), welsh (cheddar melted with beer over bread and ham), coq à la bière (chicken in beer), all served with chips. Traditional pub games are often on hand.
Maroilles, the strong local cheese, and its tart, the flamiche.
Arras specialities: the cœur d'Arras, a gingerbread heart, and andouillette sausage.
Mining-themed treats: chocolate makers across the coalfield sell chocolate “gaillettes”, shaped like lumps of coal.
A beer from one of the region's many craft breweries.

Handmade chocolates at a food market in Artois. Photo: René Bellanger

1 h 30 via the A26

A trip to the sea

The site's old banner: Wissant beach facing Cap Blanc-Nez, with kitesurfers and the silhouette of a pithead frame — This site's banner for many years: Wissant beach and Cap Blanc-Nez, with a pithead frame in silhouette. From the mine to the sea.

There is more to the Pas-de-Calais than the coalfield. An hour and a half from Lens via the A26, the Opal Coast offers one of the finest coastlines in France, and one that is too often overlooked.

Between Calais and Boulogne, the Grand Site de France des Deux-Caps, awarded the label in 2011, protects 23 kilometres of coast:

Cap Blanc-Nez: 134-metre chalk cliffs, sisters to the White Cliffs of Dover opposite.
Cap Gris-Nez: the point in France closest to England, some thirty kilometres away. On a clear day you can see the English cliffs.
Wissant, between the two: a vast sandy beach, a paradise for kitesurfers and sand yachts.

Further south, Berck hosts its international kite festival in spring, and Le Touquet its famous motorbike and quad race on the beach, the Enduropale, in February.

Grand Site des Deux-Caps ↗

Wissant beach at low tide, facing the white cliffs of Cap Blanc-Nez — Wissant beach at low tide, and the white cliffs of Cap Blanc-Nez. May 2025.

A kitesurfer above Wissant beach, Cap Blanc-Nez in the background — A kitesurfer in front of Blanc-Nez, just like on the old banner.

Dunes and waves on Wissant beach — The dunes of Wissant.

The wide beach at Wissant at low tide under a blue sky — At low tide the beach stretches as far as the eye can see.

Sunset over Wissant bay, reflected in the wet sand — Sunset over Wissant bay.

Wissant bay in the evening, rocks in the foreground — The bay in the evening.

Dozens of giant kites above the beach at Berck — The giant kites of Berck. Photo: René Bellanger

Wissant photos: May 2025.