Whether you decide on a Sunday-night tango with stranger in a Renaissance cloister, or order a bowl of onion soup at dawn, should you explore France's best art collection outside Paris or head for the discount designer stores of the legendary flea-markets, if you share a sandwich with artists in an old post office building or discover the Michelin-starred chefs of tomorrow, a decade since Lille was first chosen as European Capital of Culture the city has not stopped partying since.

Just as the city continues to re-invent itself with ever more exciting places to eat, to explore to relax and to stay, so the latest edition of the award-winning Bradt Guide keeps up with the changes and continues to share the secrets of the past, present and future of a capital of Culture, of Flanders and of Life.