Region

Museums, galleries and heritage in Hauts-de-France

313 places to discover across Hauts-de-France.

148 museums114 galleries15 castles32 religious sites4 heritage

Including Château de Chantilly, Cathédrale d'Amiens and Château de Pierrefonds.

60 of 134 places, sorted by distance from the center

Religious site

Cathédrale Saint-Vaast d'Arras

Arras

Museum

Musée Jean et Denise Letaille

Bullecourt

Heritage

Funerary and Memorial Sites of the First World War (Western Front)

Thiepval

Museum

Musée Somme 1916

Albert

Religious site

Basilique Notre-Dame-de-Brebières

Albert

Religious site

Collégiale Saint-Pierre de Douai

Douai

Heritage

Belfries of Belgium and France

Douai

Museum

Musée d'Histoire et d'Archéologie - Harnes

Harnes

Heritage

Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin

Lewarde

Museum

Centre Historique Minier de Lewarde

Lewarde

Museum

Musée Militaire de Cambrai

Cambrai

Museum

Musée de Cambrai

Cambrai

Religious site

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Cambrai

Cambrai

Museum

Musée Lombart

Doullens

Museum

Musée-historial de la Grande Guerre

Péronne

Museum

Musée Danicourt

Péronne

Castle

Château de Péronne

Péronne

Religious site

Abbaye de Vaucelles

Les Rues-des-Vignes

Museum

Musée d'ethnologie régionale

Béthune

Museum

Musée de l'Ostrevant

Bouchain

Museum

Musée de la Mine

Auchel

Museum

Musée municipal d'histoire locale

Marchiennes

Museum

Centre Sir John Monash

Fouilloy

Museum

Fort de Seclin

Seclin

Museum

Musée Franco-Australien

Villers-Bretonneux

Museum

Musée de la Bataille de Fromelles

Fromelles

Museum

Musée de la Résistance en Zone interdite Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Denain

Museum

Musée Du Vermandois

Vermand

Museum

Musée Vignacourt 14-18 - Collection photographique Louis et Antoinette Thuillier

Vignacourt

Museum

Musée de l'Institut Pasteur de Lille

Lille

Museum

Musée des Écoles de Lille

Lille

Heritage

Amiens Cathedral

Amiens

Religious site

Cathédrale d'Amiens

Amiens

Museum

Musée de l'hôtel de Berny

Amiens

Castle

Citadelle de Lille

Lille

Museum

Maison de Jules Verne

Amiens

Religious site

Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille

Lille

Museum

Musée de l'illusion de Lille

Lille

Museum

Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse

Lille

Museum

Musée des Canonniers de Lille

Lille

Museum

Maison Natale Charles de Gaulle

Lille

Museum

Musée de La Cité D’Ercan

Erquinghem-Lys

Religious site

Abbaye de Saint-Amand-les-Eaux

Saint-Amand-les-Eaux

Museum

Mémorial Ascq 1944

Villeneuve-d'Ascq

Museum

Musée du Terroir

Villeneuve-d'Ascq

Museum

Maison Louise de Bettignies

Saint-Amand-les-Eaux

Museum

Musée du Château de Flers

Villeneuve-d'Ascq

Museum

Musée de Plein Air

Villeneuve-d'Ascq

Museum

Maison familiale d'Henri Matisse

Bohain-en-Vermandois

Museum

La Ferme des Orgues

Steenwerck

Religious site

Basilique Saint-Quentin

Saint-Quentin

Religious site

Collégiale Saint-Pierre d'Aire-sur-la-Lys

Aire-sur-la-Lys

Museum

Centre Azincourt 1415

Azincourt

Museum

Musée de la Poupée et du Jouet Ancien

Wambrechies

Museum

Musée de la Résistance

Bondues

Museum

Musée Benoît-De-Puydt de Bailleul

Bailleul

Museum

Musée néo-zélandais de la Libération - Te Arawhata

Le Quesnoy

Museum

Musée de Leers

Leers

Museum

Maison de l'Archéologie

Thérouanne

Museum

Musée du 5 juin 1944

Tourcoing

04About

A Region Shaped by Coal, Cathedrals and Conflict

Hauts-de-France stretches from the English Channel coast to the Belgian border, and its museum landscape reflects that geography as much as its history. The Musée du Louvre-Lens brought a branch of the Paris institution to a former coal-mining town, placing paintings, sculpture and photography collections in a building surrounded by the very landscape that once defined the local economy.

That mining past is documented in depth at the Centre Historique Minier de Lewarde, an open-air museum built inside the former Delloye pit, and it is recognized internationally through the Bassin minier du Nord-Pas de Calais, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012.

Further south in the Somme, the Cathédrale d'Amiens represents one of the largest Gothic buildings in France, while the region's WWI history is preserved at the Sites funéraires et mémoriels de la Première Guerre mondiale (Front Ouest) in Thiepval, and at museums such as Musée Somme 1916 in Albert and Musée du Mur de l'Atlantique - Batterie Todt near Cap Gris-Nez.

05Neighborhoods

Lille: The Region's Museum Hub

Most of the region's fine art collections concentrate in Lille, starting with the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, one of the largest fine arts museums in France outside Paris, and the Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse, housed in a medieval hospice founded in 1237.

The city also holds more personal or unusual collections: the Maison Natale Charles de Gaulle on rue Princesse, the Musée de l'illusion de Lille with its perspective rooms and interactive installations, and the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille on rue Gosselet, with its zoology and geology collections.

Beyond the museums, Lille supports a dense network of contemporary art spaces, including Le Tripostal, Lasécu and artconnexion - centre d'art, alongside commercial galleries such as Galerie Bacqueville and YellowKorner.

Just outside the city center, Villeneuve-d'Ascq hosts the Musée de Plein Air, an open-air reconstruction of a rural village assembled from around twenty buildings rescued from demolition across the region, spanning the 17th to 19th centuries.

05Artists

Roubaix, Amiens and the Region's Artistic Figures

In Roubaix, La Piscine - Musée d'art et d'industrie André Diligent de Roubaix occupies a former Art Deco swimming pool converted into a museum of sculpture, painting, ceramics and textile design, reflecting the city's industrial textile heritage.

The Matisse family connection to the region is honored at the Musée Henri Matisse, while Amiens celebrates its most famous resident writer at the Maison de Jules Verne, the house where Jules Verne lived for thirty-four years between 1871 and 1905.

Amiens also holds the Musée de Picardie, a key institution for the region's art collections and cultural life, while Arras contributes its own fine arts collection at the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Arras.

09FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How many days do you need to see the main sites in Hauts-de-France?

Three to four days allow time for Lille's museums, a day trip to the Louvre-Lens, and a visit to either the Somme battlefields or the Somme bay coastline.

Is the Louvre-Lens easy to reach without a car?

Yes, Lens has a direct train connection to Lille (around 40 minutes) and the museum is a short walk from the station.

What is the best time of year to visit the Somme bay?

Spring and early autumn offer migratory bird activity and milder weather for walking the bay at low tide; summer is busiest along the coast.

Are the WWI memorial sites suitable for a family visit?

The Thiepval memorial and the Musée Somme 1916 in Albert present the history clearly and are widely visited by families, though the subject matter is serious and best suited to older children.

Which Lille museum is best for a short visit of one or two hours?

The Musée de l'Hospice Comtesse and the Musée de l'illusion de Lille are both compact enough to see thoroughly in under two hours.

Is the Bassin minier heritage site a single location or spread across the region?

It is a vast UNESCO-listed area covering former mining towns, slag heaps and workers' housing across the Nord and Pas-de-Calais départements, best explored with the Centre Historique Minier de Lewarde as a starting point.