Lumbres brings together a range of travel interests: a tourist railway, a Neo-Gothic church, a greenway, and activities involving swimming, horse riding and puzzles. When planning your trip, it helps to distinguish these options by what they offer. This makes it easier to focus your stay on architectural history, outdoor activities or water-based activities, without turning everything into a fixed itinerary.
Tourist railway and routes through nature
The Chemin de Fer Touristique de la Vallée de l’Aa tourist railway runs for 15 km between Arques and Lumbres. This makes it a distinct attraction for anyone interested in railways. The 5.5 km Lumbres–Remilly-Wirquin greenway offers a different way to get around. It passes through nature and can be explored on foot, by bicycle or on horseback.
The two options differ not only in length, but above all in the kind of activity they offer: the greenway is for walking, cycling or horse riding, while the other is a tourist railway line. If you are looking for outdoor activities, the greenway gives you a clear choice of three ways to get around. The railway and the nature trail may therefore appeal to different interests, rather than being activities of the same kind.
Saint-Sulpice and its architectural history
Saint-Sulpice Church in Lumbres was built between 1854 and 1863 in the Neo-Gothic style, to plans by the architect Alexandre Grigny. Local limestone from the La Montagne quarry was used to build it. The architecture, construction period and source of the material together offer a clear way to explore the building’s history: its Neo-Gothic style can be connected with the specific local quarry from which the stone came.
The later restoration is also part of this history. A restoration project was launched in 2010 to stabilise the tower, restore its spire and renovate the nave. This gives you two distinct periods to consider: the building’s construction in the mid-19th century and the later work on it. Anyone interested in church architecture will find details here about the named architect and style, as well as the materials and restoration.
Swimming, horse riding and puzzles
Centre Aquatique L’Aa Piscine is a family and sports swimming complex with two swimming pools, a leisure area for children, a fitness area and an outdoor area with a sunbathing lawn. It also offers aquabiking, aquajump and aqua aerobics, swimming lessons, advanced courses for adults and children, and baby swimming. The complex brings together a range of water-based and fitness activities, which you can choose from depending on your interest in swimming, lessons or the fitness area.
The HĂ´tel de la Gare Escape Game offers a different kind of shared experience. It is set in the atmosphere of a railway hotel from the 1920s. Ferme Ă©questre Les Ardents offers horse riding for people of all ages, on horses or ponies. There is a clear difference between the escape game and horse riding: one centres on a puzzle in a railway hotel setting, while the other is an activity involving horses or ponies.
Practical facilities for cyclists
The Base VTT is located at the tourist office. It has a washing, inflation and repair station, as well as showers, toilets, lockers and a changing room. The washing station is closed from October to March; the other facilities listed are available during the tourist office’s opening hours. If you are planning to use these facilities on your cycling trip, the seasonal closure is particularly relevant to the washing station.
Lumbres therefore offers several clearly distinct highlights: the architectural history of Saint-Sulpice, a tourist railway, outdoor activities on the greenway, and activities at the swimming complex and on horseback. When choosing where to stay, you can consider which of these themes matters most for your trip.
Discover more destinations: Tigny-Noyelle, Lens, Blessy, Ytres, Clairmarais, Conchil-Le-Temple, Houlle, Acquin-Westbécourt.
For the overview of the wider area: Pas-De-Calais.
