What's new in France's big cities in 2012

If your invite to Paris fashion week got lost in the post, there is another way to get up close and personal with designer style. La Vallée Village (lavalleevillage.com), a shopping outlet 35 minutes from Paris and France's answer to Bicester, is hosting an exhibition of backstage photographs from Paris fashion shows this spring. Check out the gritty, behind-the-scenes shots, unlike anything you'll see in a glossy fashion mag, before bagging a designer outfit for a bargain price. Too commercial for your boho tastes? Head to Le Bar Mode (courdescreateurs.com), a new venue in central Paris offering more than 80 fashion workshops, and knock up something made to measure of your own. From 1 May, stay at Le Marcel (+33 1 4439 2863, lemarcelhotel.com, doubles from €65), a cool new Proustian-themed hotel near Gare de l'Est. Clever tech-focused ideas have been spreading across the city since it ran its first Digital Week last March: thousands of QR codes around the city allow smartphone users to access tourist information, and there's free Wi-Fi in public squares and parks. Now the innovation is spreading to outdoor games, including an app that takes you back to 18th-century Bordeaux; a run-and-play mobile phone game that involves "hacking" the city and renaming the streets; and an origami box that is the key to discovering the city's secrets . France's second city, Lyon, has a brisk, efficient surface, but how do you get past that to the more interesting place beneath? One great option is to book a free two-hour walk with a "City Greeter". These volunteers will show you where the locals hang out, tailoring the walk to your specific areas of interest. For example, if food is your thing, Lyon's old town is said to have more restaurants per square metre than anywhere in the world. Your guide will point out the best. Alternatively, get another view of the city on a nocturnal canoe trip. You'll spend two hours paddling along the Saône past old Lyon and the new quayside district. Lille hasn't rested on its laurels since its tenure as European Capital of Culture in 2004. The city now organises a biennial cultural celebration, and the next one is happening later this year. Visitors will be befuddled and bewildered by "Fantastic 2012", when the city is transformed by art installations into a strange world overrun by the spooky and the supernatural. There will be more than 700 events including parades, performances, concerts and food festivals. Toulouse is the centre of the French aerospace industry. Sounds dull – but you'll think again if you visit Space City, a short bus ride from the city centre. New this summer is an interactive Mars exhibit, sure to fire kids' imaginations with 3D displays and simulated Martian gravity, temperature and wind. There are also rockets, an Imax theatre, a mock-up of the Mir space station and a planetarium. Or you could leave the children with the grandparents and treat yourself to a stay at Toulouse's Grand Hotel Garonne (grandhotelgaronne.fr) a boutique hotel opening in a 16th-century building this spring.