Béthune

A walkable town in northern France's Pas-de-Calais with a café-filled centre and a strong photographic profile, Béthune sits between the hills of Artois and the Lys plain. Half-destroyed in the First World War and rebuilt, the town carries a layered history that includes a medieval textile trade and a stint as regional capital of culture in 2011. The wider region is ringed by UNESCO World Heritage sites.

• Population31,568
• Nearest water0.7 km
• Nearest mountain28.3 km
• UNESCO within 50 km103