Arras announces itself through two broad squares, lined with Flemish-style façades and arcades, but the city is not a single postcard view. Its history also runs below the paving in chalk quarries and through the former abbey of Saint-Vaast, now a cultural centre, while the twentieth century left a network of tunnels and memorial sites. Today the same compact centre is a regional service hub, with shops, restaurants, a railway station, public institutions and cultural venues within walking distance. The most rewarding visit connects these layers: the market squares, the underground Boves, the abbey and art museum, and the greener perimeter of the Vauban citadel.

A city-sized community and the role of Artois

INSEE counted 42,875 municipal residents in Arras in 2023. That is the population of the commune, distinct from the much larger Arras urban area. The city also recorded 34,263 jobs located within its boundaries that year. Nearly half of those workplace jobs were in public administration, education, health and social services, with another 40.2 per cent in commerce, transport and other services. The figures help explain Arras’s daily role: it is the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais and a centre where people from surrounding communities come for administration, study, medical care, shopping and culture, as well as a destination for visitors.

For a first orientation, begin in the Place des Héros beneath the town hall and belfry, then cross to the larger Grand’Place. Since the Middle Ages these spaces have been places of trade, civic life and celebration. Their Flemish-inspired fronts stand close together, many with gables and repeated columns beneath covered walkways. The town hall’s exterior recalls its late-medieval form, while its interior includes a striking Art Deco layer from the rebuilding after the First World War. The city announced a new improvement project for the Grand’Place in 2026; check local access before visiting, since public works can affect routes and events.

From Nemetacum to a medieval trading city

The ancient settlement of Nemetacum grew as a Roman urban centre associated with the Atrebates. Archaeological remains and the city’s historical record place Arras within a much older story than its surviving façades suggest. Through the Middle Ages it became the capital of Artois and an episcopal seat. From the tenth century the town developed a strong cloth trade; by the fourteenth century its merchants were active in the tapestry trade. The name Arras travelled with those prestigious woven hangings, a reminder that the city’s early importance rested on production and commerce as much as on monuments.

The places show how that commercial life worked. Merchants and craftspeople gathered around the squares, where markets and civic ceremonies shared the same public ground. Beneath them, the Boves preserve another side of urban trade. These underground limestone and chalk galleries were cut over centuries, used first for building stone and later as cellars and storage rooms for merchants. A guided route now leads through a small part of that extensive subterranean network. It is a striking change of scale: above, façades frame the sky; below, the city’s older construction and storage spaces continue under the streets. Tours are guided, and the galleries are not wheelchair accessible, so visitors should check arrangements before booking.

Rebuilding above ground, refuge below it

Arras was devastated during the First World War. The decision to reconstruct its two central squares with close attention to their earlier appearance gives them their present coherence: 155 protected façades and 345 columns form a long architectural ensemble rather than a collection of isolated monuments. The town hall and belfry were rebuilt as part of this civic recovery. The belfry offers a view over rooftops and the surrounding Artois plain; it is also recognized within the international heritage listing of the belfries of Belgium and France.

The war’s history is not confined to memorials at the surface. Beginning in 1916, New Zealand tunnellers connected old chalk quarries south of the city into a military network now known as the Wellington Tunnels. On 9 April 1917, thousands of Commonwealth soldiers emerged from underground galleries as the Battle of Arras began. The site’s guided visit follows the tunnels and explains the engineering, preparation and human cost behind the surprise attack. It is a sombre, carefully interpreted experience, and should be distinguished from the Boves beneath the central squares: both are underground, but Wellington is a separate First World War memorial site.

The Boves themselves were also used as shelter during later bombardments. Taken together, the old quarries, the Wellington galleries and the town’s rebuilt streets make Arras unusually legible as a place where the ground has repeatedly served different needs: quarry, cellar, military route, refuge and, now, a way to encounter history.

Saint-Vaast Abbey, art and the citadel’s green paths

To the east of the central squares, the former abbey of Saint-Vaast forms a monumental cultural quarter. Its classical buildings house the Musée des Beaux-Arts and the municipal media library. The museum’s collections range from medieval sculpture and religious objects to paintings from the former Low Countries and France. The architecture is part of the visit: cloister galleries and large former monastic rooms give the works a different setting from a purpose-built museum. Opening times and exhibitions change, so allow time to check the current programme.

At the opposite side of the centre, the Vauban citadel offers a change from galleries and stone façades. Built in the seventeenth century as part of Louis XIV’s defensive system, it was nicknamed the “beautiful useless one” because it was never besieged. Demilitarized in 2010, it has become a large public green space with paths around bastions, woodland and former military buildings. The fortification is part of the World Heritage listing for Vauban’s fortifications, but the present-day appeal is also very local: residents walk, cycle and run there, and its lawns and wooded edges give the city breathing space.

Food, services and a practical base for the region

Arras is easy to explore on foot once you reach the centre. The main squares hold cafés and restaurants beneath the arcades; nearby streets add independent shops, markets and everyday services. Regional specialities, including local beer and the city’s andouillette, are part of the food culture, while the town’s museums, media library and visitor office make it more than a day-trip backdrop. The mix of administrative, health, education and commercial work shown in the employment data is visible in the steady weekday activity around the centre and station.

The railway station connects Arras with Lille, Amiens and Paris through regional services and high-speed trains. Direct services and journey times vary by date, so check the operator’s current timetable rather than planning around a fixed duration. Arras also makes a practical base for exploring the wider memory landscape of Artois: the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette and Bullecourt are outside the city but reachable as separate excursions. Within Arras, the Wellington site can be visited without a car, while local buses and taxis help with longer distances.

One day can be built around the central squares, the belfry and a guided Boves visit, followed by the Saint-Vaast museum. A second can take in Wellington and the citadel’s walking paths. Leave enough time to move between sites and verify opening calendars, ticket reservations and rail works before departure. Arras’s strongest quality is the way its grand architecture, ordinary city life and difficult history sit together without being separated into a museum zone: commerce continues under the arcades, people cross the squares on daily errands, and just below them the older city remains visible in the chalk.

Useful links for your visit