Situated on the edge of the River Scarpe, the town of Douai has preserved much evidence of its rich historic past: the town hall and its belfry of Gothic style, the Saint-Pierre collegiate church, the Notre-Dame church, the Valenciennes gateway, the Dauphin mansion looking onto the Armes square, and the facade of the Palais de Justice (law courts) reflecting in the waters of the River Scarpe.

The magnificent belfry, UNESCO World Heritage Site, boasts a 62-bell carillon! From the top, a beautiful panoramic view of the roofs of the city and the surrounding countryside awaits visitors.

Also to discover, the Chartreuse museum, housed in the former convent of the Carthusian monks, which is home to collections of paintings, sculptures and objets d'art.

Boat tours on the River Scarpe, departing from the jetty of the Palais de Justice (law courts), are offered from May to September.

Set on the site of the former Delloye pit, the Mining History Centre of Lewarde is the biggest mining museum in France and takes in three centuries of coal-mining. Besides recreations and permanent exhibitions dedicated to the world of mining, there are guided tours by ex-miners. The visit takes in the miners' changing room, washroom and lamp store, followed by the underground galleries and 10 coalfaces.

Inaugurated in 2012, the Louvre Museum in Lens is located at the heart of a mining basin in northern france, on the former site of Lens mining pit no. 9, near the A1, A21 and A26 motorways, and the TGV train station. A resolutely contemporary and bright glass building, it stands at the heart of a 20-hectare landscaped park, covering an area of 28,000 m² including 7,000 m² of exhibition space.

The museum does not have its own collections but displays works from the collections of the Louvre Museum in Paris, as well as temporary exhibitions.

The centrepiece of the museum, the Great Gallery, is 120 metres long and covers 3,000 m². This vast space is devoted to the Louvre's semi-permanent collections, with the exhibits regularly updated. The elegant display and absence of walls separating the works contribute to a free-flowing visitor experience.

A place for more in-depth exploration, the Glass Pavilion has transparent walls and hosts annual themed exhibitions, with the park providing a lovely backdrop conducive to rest and reflection.

Guided tours, creative technique workshops for beginners, and workshop-tours for children are regularly organised at the Louvre Museum in Lens.

A place of relaxation and leisure, the museum park is free to enter every day, from 7 am to 9 pm between mid-May and mid-September, and from 8 am to 7 pm between mid-September and mid-May.

The third biggest city in Pas-de-Calais, Arras is famous for its two magnificent cobbled squares: Grand'Place and Place des Héros (Heroes Square). Surrounded by 155 Flemish Baroque-style houses, they are the pride of Arras residents and are greatly admired by visitors. Lined with covered galleries housing fine food shops and cafés, Place des Héros is dominated by the city hall's impressive belfry, a UNESCO listed site. From a height of 75 metres, the view it offers of the city and surrounding countryside is superb!

Another building worthy of your attention is the old Benedictine Abbey of St. Vedast, whose origins date back to the 7th century. In the 18th century, reconstruction and renovation work was undertaken, resulting in this extremely elegant style, like in the main courtyard. The former abbey church has been converted into a cathedral, whereas the abbey houses the Museum of Fine Arts, devoted to painting and sculpture.

You can also discover Arras from its depths. Located 12 metres underground, the boves are former chalk quarries dug in the 10th century to form a very extensive network of tunnels. They provided shelter for Allied soldiers in the First World War before they valiantly went to fight in the Battle of Arras in April 1917. Yet the boves are not the only reminder of that victorious battle. A system of tunnels dug by New Zealand miners, the Carrière Wellington was a hiding place for 24,000 English soldiers, making the place a first-rate remembrance site.

Continue your tour of the city via the citadel. Built by Vauban in the 17th century, today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you have brought the family, the Cité Nature is a great attraction for children with its exhibitions about the environment, food and agricultural history. They can take part in workshops and activities, too.

Before you leave Arras, above all remember to sample one of its delicious specialities: Arras hearts (cœurs d'Arras), little heart-shaped gingerbread biscuits. And if you are visiting in March, the carnival is an unmissable event.

In April 1917, Canadian troops attacked the German army in position on Vimy Ridge and won the battle. But this victory left more than 10,000 Canadians dead or wounded. To pay tribute to all these soldiers, a memorial was erected on the ridge, a colossal monument consisting of some twenty statues and two huge white towers standing 27 metres high, which took 11 years to complete. One features a maple leaf and the other a fleur-de-lis, symbolising the union between Canada and France.

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial in Pas-de-Calais is now Canada's largest national memorial on foreign soil. On site, you will notice that some of the underground passages and trenches are still there.

Vimy Ridge also offers a beautiful panoramic view of the mining basin and the Artois hills.

The "Beauty of Flanders" is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region and has made its mark as a buzzing city whose streets are alive with the local culture and lifestyle. Its recognition as a City of Art and History in 2004 reflects the outstanding heritage it's so famous for. The city's lively main square, the Grand'Place, is home to eight buildings listed as heritage sites (Monuments Historiques) including the Old Stock Exchange (Vieille Bourse). The stunning 12th century Flemish baroque building is made up of 24 identical houses surrounding a beautiful courtyard that sets the scene for fairs and events. Its perfect architecture makes it the city's crowning glory!

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry's belfry towers over Place du Théâtre, Lille's second biggest square. The UNESCO World Heritage monument rings every 15 minutes with popular Northern French songs and you can climb up its 400 steps for unique views of the city.

Wander the cobbled lanes in Lille's old town, Vieux Lille, gaze at its Flemish buildings, manors, art galleries and antique shops before stopping for a drink in a lively bar.

The former European Capital of Culture is jam-packed with monuments and landmarks to explore. Palais Rihour is a flamboyant Gothic 15th century palace that's now home to the tourist office. The Hospice Comtesse Museum lies in a 13th century hospital founded by Countess Jeanne de Flandre. Visitors can explore a Flemish house built in the 17th and 18th century, the hospital ward, chapel, kitchen and dormitory. The museum also displays furniture, paintings and religious art.

The Palais des Beaux-Arts is an art museum that everyone should put on their to-do list. Its collections come second only to the Louvre in France. It's a beautiful 19th century building home to countless European classical pieces, such as paintings by Rubens, Courbet and Delacroix alongside sculptures by Rodin and Claudel.

The 200 year old Natural History Museum plays host to 450,000 items in 4 themed collections: geology, zoology, science & technology and ethnography. It's closed for renovation work in 2024 and 2025 and is the only museum of its kind in the Hauts-de-France region. Another must-visit is Notre-Dame de la Treille Cathedral, with its unusual contemporary frontage whose clear marble sheds light inside the nave.

Nature has its place in the city too. There are lots of parks in the city, the biggest being La Citadelle outside Vauban's citadel. It's a golden opportunity to explore the impressive building known as the "Queen of Citadels" or go for a stroll along the nearby Deûle Canal. Families with children will love visiting the 350 animals at Lille Zoo next door to the citadel.

If there's one event you don't want to miss, it's the Lille Braderie! It's an institution here: up to 5300 traders set up their flea market stalls on over 100km of streets on the first weekend of September.

The LaM, Lille Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, Contemporary Art and Art Brut, is located in a sculpture park in the Lille suburb of Villeneuve-d'Ascq.

Founded in 1983 then re-opened in 2010 following large-scale renovation and extension works, it is the only museum in Europe to offer works of modern art, contemporary art and art brut, with the latter occupying the extension dedicated to the donation by the L'Aracine association.

You will find an extensive overview of the main artistic movements of the 20th and 21st centuries, with a total of around 4,500 works, displayed on an extremely well-planned trail covering all the themes, with the bonus of a different display every 4 to 6 months.

Thus, after Modigliani, Buffet, Braque, Léger, Picasso, Soulages and other first-class modern and contemporary artists, you can also discover a collection of around 400 works of art brut, including paintings, drawings and sculptures.

The LaM also leads the way in the field of contemporary architecture: take the time to admire the combination of brick and concrete, straight lines and curves, large bay windows and mashrabiya that bathe the inside of the structure in soft light. Don't forget to take a look at the park, which is also designed with the aim of showcasing works of art by Calder, Miró, Picasso, Deacon and more.

A place of remembrance and contemplation but also the largest necropolis in France, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in Pas-de-Calais commemorates the battles that took place on this hill in 1915. Located in the municipality of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, the site consists of a Neo-Byzantine basilica, a 52-metre-high lantern tower and a huge military cemetery, the largest in France, where 40,058 bodies have been laid to rest.

In 2014, a ring of remembrance was erected, inscribed with the names of nearly 580,000 soldiers of all backgrounds who died on Nord-Pas-de-Calais soil between 1914 and 1918.

Two other buildings complete this site: the Living Museum of 14-18, located on Notre-Dame-de-Lorette hill, with more than 2,000 collection pieces, and the Memorial 14-18 History Centre in Souchez, an interpretation centre with displays of period objects, photos and films.

Near the city centre, at the foot of the Vauban citadel ramparts, stands Lille Zoo. Also known as the Bois de Boulogne zoological park, it is home to 450 animals of about a hundred species on 3.5 hectares. Its mission is not confined to displaying animals from every continent. It also makes a point of informing and educating the public about the protection of diversity and endangered species.

Visitors can discover 7 themed zones: the avenue of aviaries, the tropical house, the valley of monkeys, the island of Madagascar, American lands, African lands and the big South American aviary. Red panda, white rhinoceros, birds from all over the world, turtles, meerkats, tapirs, reptiles, as well as many other well-known and lesser-known species, will surprise and delight young visitors.

There are regular organised activities. Take part in the "animals' teatime" workshop to make a food game before watching the animals play with and eat your creation. In small groups, you can watch feeding sessions, handle a snake and see behind the scenes. Lille Zoo is also the ideal place to celebrate your child's birthday from ages 6 to 11, with activities such as treasure hunts, feeding an animal and fun activities that will leave them with unforgettable memories.

Situated in the Haut-Escaut valley, in Les Rues-des-Vignes, the Vaucelles Cistercian abbey was founded in the 12th century by saint Bernard. This abbey is unusual in that it features the biggest Cistercian chapter house in Europe. Besides this treasure, the visitors can also discover the monks room, the auditorium, the sacred passage and the garden of the abbey featuring a vegetable garden, an orchard, and a rose garden.

Nicknamed Athens of the Nord, the town of Valenciennes saw the birth of a number of famous artists, such as Antoine Watteau, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and Henri Harpignies. Numerous works of the painters and sculptors of Valenciennes can be admired at the Fine art museum.

Based in an old Art Deco swimming pool built between 1927 and 1932 in Roubaix by the Lille architect Albert Baert, "La Piscine", or André Diligent Museum of Art and Industry, is an amazing example of the conversion of a public building, an unusual one to say the least, into an exceptional art venue.

Since its opening in 2001, visitors have been flocking to this remarkably well-presented site, to see its collections of applied and fine arts, including fabrics, decorative art pieces, sculptures, paintings and drawings.

Arranged around a water feature reminiscent of the old pool, a sculpture garden regularly hosts events, exhibitions and fashion shows. Upstairs there are original booths containing drawings, ceramics, jewellery and fabrics.

The large, restored stained glass windows, the polychrome sandstone portico, made for the World's Fair in Ghent in 1913, and the garden design that makes reference to the textile industry in Roubaix all help to create a magical place.

For young visitors, there are themed trails to complete with the "walking notebook", special activities and workshops (on textiles, comic strips, etc.).

Founded by the artist himself in 1952, since 1982 the Matisse Museum has been based in the former Fénelon Palace in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, where the famous painter, draughtsman, engraver and sculptor Henri Matisse was born.

Entirely renovated and re-opened in 2002 after several years of building work, the museum houses 17 exhibition rooms bathed in soft light and overlooking a beautiful French-style park. A large portion of it illustrates the exceptional career of Matisse, one of the major artists of the 20th century, with over 170 of his works. As well as the Matisse collection, there are paintings by Auguste Herbin and works by Marc Chagall, Fernand Léger, Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró.

The Matisse Museum also arranges guided tours, conferences and workshops for children and adults, as well as temporary exhibitions.