Easy to guess from its name, Nord covers the most northerly border in France, with Belgium.
It is also the most densely populated department in the country and also has the largest population: 2,661,293 people in 2021, according to state statistics agency Insee.
Most of the population is concentrated around the city of Lille and its extensive conurbation, which includes Roubaix and Tourcoing, right on the Belgian border.
There is a large student population, meaning demand for rental properties is high.
The factory town of Douai (famous for making Renault cars) and the port city of Dunkirk also have large populations in and around them.
It is part of France where some people speak Dutch as a first language – albeit a form of low Dutch which some people in The Netherlands have difficulty understanding.
For a cold, damp corner of France, Nord is a surprising hit with tourists, with some ratings listing it as the fifth most popular department for visitors.
Ad
Part of this is due to the work put into conserving old Lille, as well as a long tradition of quirky festivals and events.
These include the three-day Braderie de Lille, a sort of cross between a giant brocante, serious antique dealer meeting and riotous street party.
Other events include carnivals in spring., although these have more in common with UK West Country carnivals than the Rio variety.
The largest is in Dunkirk and has, among its many highlights, the spectacle of the mayor throwing buckets of smoked fish into the dressed up and mostly drunk crowd from the town hall balcony. Most tourism, however, is of the business variety.
Lille TGV station is well-known to many British travellers as it is possible to change here from Eurostar to the French SNCF network, avoiding Paris.
There are few holiday homes, with just 1.8% of properties registered as such in 2021, according to Insee.
Lille also has the French terminus of the A1 autoroute from Paris, and is full of conference centres, hotels and guest houses.
The airport has regular links with north Africa and Ryanair flights to Krakow in Poland, Porto in Portugal and Marseille.
Many of the houses are of red brick and grey roofs, and the area is relatively expensive, with few properties for under €50,000.
Under €200,000
This three-bedroomed house with 122m2 of living space, a double garage, heated conservatory and 1,020m2 garden at the back is for sale for €165,000. It is near the centre of the border town of Jeumont, not far from the Belgian city of Charleroi.
With gas central heating, it also has a rainwater collection system plumbed in so that rainwater can be used for the washing machine and garden taps, and a cellar.
The brick-built and cladded house is heated by piped gas and has a DPE rating of D.
It all looks in good order, and ready to move into straight away.
