What's the night life like in Lille? I lived in Rennes for a year and the how place closed at like 1am!
I'm arriving in Lille via Eurostar at 9am on match day, and taking the first train home on the Friday at like 8:30am. Plan was to just to stay up all night and just head the station to catch the return.
It's dead easy to explore on foot once you're in the centre, but here's a few things I know.
The biggest bars are open til around 2 and some are 3am I think, definitely midnight everywhere. It's midweek so might be earlier than a weekend.
The Old Town bars shut at 1, sometimes 2. Then there's clubs open til 4 or even 5 I think (mostly on Rue Solférino - which is a bit dodgy at night, so go in groups!).
There's a restaurant which stays open till 4:30 as well, 6am on weekends.
The food is actually decent, so you can go get a proper steak and chips or anything you want at 4am - this is always fun. It's in Place Rihour, right at the top of the steps of Rihour metro station, just off the Grand Place.
http://chicoree.restaurantsdelille.com/plan-acces-restaurant-lille-brasserie-la-chicoree.html
In the streetview on that site, the yellow buildings on the left are in the Grand Place, and you can see the metro steps on the right.
If you can't get a ticket then there are lots of bars which show live football, especially Lille matches. There's one in the old town (The Australian Bar, or Café Oz) which is the biggest and has the biggest screens, and all the staff speak English (although most of Lille speaks English to be fair).
I watched the PSG v Lille cup final here and there were hundreds of people, rammed inside and the same amount stood outside looking in, cos there's a big screen at the far end of the place, and another hanging from the ceiling half way down it.
On Rue Solférino there's 2 big Irish pubs and a Scottish Pub (no, really) and all these show live sport too I think. Then the rest of the street is all bars and clubs too.
This street is a 10-15 minute walk down Rue Nationale from the Grand Place (the corner where MacDonalds is) or the metro stop République-Beaux Arts is near the bottom end of it (Yellow line).
The only thing I'd say is that if there is going to be any violence that night, this is where it will kick off, so watch yourselves on that street. It's fine in the daytime though.
If you're on your own or a small group then I'd stick to the Old Town (Vieux Lille) or around the Grand Place/Place Rihour/Place de l'Opéra after the game.
Most of this info is 2 years old, so some things might have changed, but the general gist will be the same.
