From Lille to the cobbled sections of Paris-Roubaix

Start at Place du Général De Gaulle in Lille city centre.

(S/E) With your back to the La Voix du Nord building, cross the square and turn into Rue Esquermoise in Old Lille with its famous cobblestones.
After 200 m, turn right onto Rue Basse and follow this road to Place du Lion d’Or, then Place Louise de Bettignies, which you follow on the right to reach Rue de Gand. Continue and pass under the Porte de Gand.
At the junction, turn right onto Rue Ghandhi and follow it to the ring road. Before crossing, follow the cycle path on the right until you reach the junction with the main road coming from Roubaix.
Cross the ring road and continue in the same direction until you reach Lille Europe station.

(1) At the station, turn left onto Rue du Faubourg de Roubaix and follow it for several hundred metres until you reach the ring road. Cross the bridge and then turn right onto Rue Désiré Courcot.
Then turn left onto Place Alexandre Dumas to reach Rue Jean Macé and then Rue Louis Braille.

(2) Then turn left onto Rue Gutenberg, followed by Boulevard du Général Leclerc. At the^second roundabout, turn right onto Rue Laurent de Lavoisier, then left onto Rue Jacquart.
At the end of the street, turn right and then immediately left onto Rue du Docteur Huart.

(3) Cross Boulevard de l’Ouest and continue along Rue de Fives. Just before the^second roundabout, turn left onto Rue Alexandre Detroy.
At the bend, turn right onto Chemin du Change to reach Rue Charles le Bon, which you take to the right to reach Lac du Château.

(4) Take the path running alongside the lake on the right. When you reach the road, cross it and head towards the shores of Lac des Espagnols on the right.
Walk along the lake until you pass under the ring road through a tunnel and reach Lac Saint-Jean; continue for 50 m.

(5) Turn right over the small bridge 200 m further on, then turn left to enter the woods.
Continue for a few hundred metres before taking a beech-lined path on your left that leads to the archery range. Go round to the right, then join the road on the right, cross it and continue towards Lac du Héron, which you follow on your right.

(6) Follow the signs for ‘La Marque’ or ‘Forest-sur-Marque’.

(7) When you reach the bridge over the Marque, cross it and continue towards Forest-sur-Marque, not Fretin. Keep going straight on until you reach the roundabout.

(8) Continue straight on along the Petite Marque and Avenue Henri Delecroix.

(9) At the inn before the roundabout, take the path on the right opposite Avenue Henri Delecroix. Keep left at the junction, then left again to join Rue du Calvaire. Turn right and continue for a few metres.

(10) Turn right and join the cobbled section of Rue d’Hem. At the end of the cobbled section, continue straight on along Rue de France until the end.

(11) Turn right onto Rue de Chereng, then continue along Rue de Willems.
At the junction in town, turn left onto Rue du Général Leclerc and continue to Place du Général de Gaulle.

(12) Turn left onto Rue Clotaire Duquennoy. Cross the main road and continue along Rue Jean Ochin.
At the junction, turn left onto Rue Pasteur and go over the motorway.
When you reach the town, take the^third left onto Rue Calmette.

(13) Continue along this street until you reach the cobbled section on your left, which you should take. At the road, cross over to join Chemin de Bourghelles.

(14) Turn left onto the cobbled section at the Carrefour de l’Arbre. At the junction, keep right until you reach Rue de Cysoing in Camphin-en-Pévèle, which you take to the left. At the junction, turn right onto Rue Louis Carette, then right again onto Rue du Quennelet.

(15) Turn left onto the cobbled section. At the next junction, continue straight ahead and turn left at the next one. Continue along the cobbled section until you reach Rue de Camphin.

(16) Turn right and continue to Wannehain. Cross the village via the main road.

(17) In the next village, at the bend to the left, leave the road and take the cobbled section opposite. At the junction, turn left to rejoin the main road. Turn right and take the first right, Rue Louis Berthou.

(18) Follow this road and, at the end of it, continue straight ahead along the cobbled section. At the junction, turn left onto Rue de Tournai until you reach the town of Cysoing. Continue along Rue Roger Salengro.

(19) At the square, turn left onto Rue Gambetta, then Rue Jeanne d’Arc. Continue right onto Rue Waldeck Rousseau, then Rue de Peuville and Rue Louis Marga. At the junction, continue left along Rue Louis Marga.

(20) On reaching the village, leave Rue Marga and turn right onto Rue de la Couture. Further on, turn right onto Rue de Péronne. Continue along this road until you reach the Marque, which you cross.

(21) Follow the Marque, turning left until you reach Rue de Bonnance. Turn right, then immediately left, and continue to the Warlet marshes.

(22) Turn right, then follow the marshes on your left until you reach Rue Maréchal Foch. At the end, turn left, then 100 metres further on, turn right onto the footpath. At the junction, turn left and follow this path to Rue des Peupliers in Ennevelin. Turn right onto Rue Pierre et Marie Curie and continue to the junction with Rue Jean Jaurès, which you cross. Continue along Rue de la Reine until the^second street on the right on the cobbled section.

(23) Follow this cobbled section to the houses of Pont-Thibaut and the A917. Turn right and follow this road to the^second roundabout, where you continue straight on to reach Ennetieres and its cobbled section after passing under the railway line.

(24) Continue straight on and, at the^second left, by the statue of the Virgin Mary, take Rue du Petit Ennetieres. Turn left at the no-entry sign towards Rue Roille. Continue straight on for 1 km.

(25) At the four-way junction, turn right onto the cobbled section leading to the airport. At the junction, continue straight ahead and at the three-way junction, veer right to follow the track. At^{the third} junction, turn left, cross the bridge over the motorway and enter Vendeville. At the traffic lights, turn left and at the next set, turn right onto Rue de Wattignies and continue to the end of the street.

(26) Turn left to join the footpath, which runs along two lanes on the right: a footpath on the right and a cobbled section on the left. Continue along this path until you reach the houses of the village of Templemars.

(27) Turn right and, further on, you’ll come to the cobbled section again until you reach the road, which you cross. Take Chemin des Morts. At Rue Pasteur, turn left and go over the railway line. Take the second right onto a path that leads to Parc des Aubépines.

(28) Cross the park on the left and you’ll reach Rue d’Haubourdin. Cross the road and, after a right-left turn, take Rue Anatole France for 1 km.

(29) At the square, turn right onto Rue de la Résistance, then take Rue Sadi Carnot on the left for 300 m. At Rue Garibaldi, turn right onto Rue Victor Renard. At the end of the street, turn left onto Rue Abelard until you reach the main road, Rue du Faubourg d’Arras, and turn right.

(30) Cross the ring road via a bridge. Continue along Rue d’Arras and, at the end of the street, turn left onto Rue de Douai for a few metres, then immediately right onto Rue de Cambrai. After the park, turn left to follow Boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas.

(31) After the park, turn left then immediately right to reach the cobbled section of the Porte de Paris. Continue straight on along Rue Pierre Mauroy.

(32) Enter a cobbled section and continue straight on to Lille Opera House. Turn left and you will reach Place du Général de Gaulle (S/E).

A gravel bike is recommended for this route.

Lille city centre.
Lac du Héron
7 cobbled sections of Paris-Roubaix.
The Fretin Marshes.