La Piscine Roubaix Review: Art & Industry Museum Guide
La Piscine Roubaix Review: An Art Deco Masterpiece Worth the Detour from Lille
When exploring northern France, Lille serves as a fantastic cultural base with plenty of museums, historic belfries, and easy regional train connections. While looking for interesting spots nearby, one museum consistently caught my attention: La Piscine – Musée d'art et d'industrie André Diligent in Roubaix.
To be completely honest, Roubaix itself wasn't really my vibe, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend spending much time wandering around the town.
The museum itself, however, is a completely different story. Housed inside a converted 1930s Art Deco municipal swimming bath, it is one of the most visually striking and thoughtfully curated exhibition spaces I've visited in France.
Here is my honest review of visiting La Piscine, what to expect inside, and practical tips for making the short trip from Lille.
This post contains affiliate links (such as GetYourGuide and Klook) and display ads. If you book a tour or purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
The Setting: An Art Deco Bathhouse & Golden Hour Reflections
The absolute centrepiece of the museum is the former indoor swimming pool hall. Built between 1927 and 1932 in an elegant Art Deco style, the space has been preserved with incredible care.
Instead of paving over the basin, the architects retained a long, narrow reflecting pool down the centre, flanked by original poolside shower stalls, changing cubicles, and tiled walkways.
What caught me completely off guard was the light. At both ends of the hall, monumental semicircular stained-glass windows represent the rising and setting sun. If you visit late in the afternoon towards sunset, the warm, golden light streams through the glass, casting rich amber reflections across the water and the marble statues lining the pool. It turns the entire hall into a glowing architectural showpiece.
The Collections: A Staggering Amount of Art & Industry
Beyond the dramatic pool room, the sheer volume and variety of artwork on display is genuinely impressive. You can comfortably spend 2 hours or more wandering through the wings without running out of things to see:
The Sculpture Walkways
Lining the borders of the reflecting pool and the former bathing cabins are 19th- and 20th-century marble, plaster, and bronze sculptures. Walking directly alongside works by artists such as Auguste Rodin, Camille Claudel, and Antoine Bourdelle right by the water creates an intimate atmosphere you rarely get in traditional gallery rooms.
Textiles & Industrial Heritage
Roubaix was once the textile capital of northern France, and the museum honors that craft with a deep archive of fashion, woven fabrics, and design samples dating from antiquity through to modern haute couture.
Fine Art & Ceramic Galleries
The adjacent wings house an extensive collection of modern paintings, decorative ceramics (including pieces by Pablo Picasso), and design objects. Every gallery leads naturally into the next, making the scale of the collection feel expansive yet easy to navigate.
Practical Info: Getting There & Visiting Tips
Getting There from Lille (Effortless): You don't need a car. Just hop on Metro Line 2 (Red Line) from central Lille (Gare Lille Flandres) towards CH Dron and get off at Gare Jean Lebas Roubaix. From the station, it is an easy 5-minute signposted walk straight to the museum entrance.
Visit Timing: Budget at least 2 to 2.5 hours inside to explore the pool hall, sculpture bays, and upper textile and fine-art galleries properly.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Thursday 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM; Friday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM; Saturday and Sunday 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Closed Mondays).
Admission: General adult admission is typically around €9 to €11 (depending on whether major temporary exhibitions are running).
Final Verdict: Is It Worth It?
Even if the rest of the town is not a destination in itself, La Piscine is 100% worth the quick metro ride out of Lille. The contrast of grand Art Deco architecture, peaceful water reflections at sunset, and world-class sculpture makes it one of the most memorable museum spaces in northern France.
Have you visited La Piscine in Roubaix or explored the museums around Lille? What did you think of the pool hall? Let me know in the comments below!
I hope life is treating you well.
Take care
