Lourdes Travel Guide: Sanctuary, Grotto & Day Trips

DepartmentHautes-Pyrénées
AirportTarbes–Lourdes (LDE)
Best forPilgrimage, valley base
Stay1–3 nights

In 1858 a local girl, Bernadette Soubirous, reported a series of visions of the Virgin Mary in a grotto beside the River Gave. Lourdes has since become one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world, with several million visitors a year and more hotels than almost any French city outside Paris.

The Sanctuary

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes covers a large riverside site with the Grotto of Massabielle, the baths, three basilicas built on top of each other and a vast underground basilica. The evening torchlight procession runs nightly from spring to autumn and is a moving sight even for non-believers.

Beyond the Sanctuary

The Château Fort on its rock above town holds a museum of Pyrenean life.
The Pic du Jer funicular climbs to a viewpoint over the town and the high peaks.
The Lac de Lourdes, a short drive away, has a lakeside path and a golf course.
Bernadette's family home, the Cachot, can be visited in the old town.

Day trips

Lourdes is the gateway to the Gave valleys: Cauterets and the Pont d'Espagne (about 45 minutes), Gavarnie (about 1 hour), the Pic du Midi via La Mongie (about 1 hour 15) and the Bétharram caves (20 minutes).

Getting there

Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées airport (LDE) is about 10 km away. Lourdes has a mainline station with trains from Toulouse, Pau, Bordeaux and direct TGVs from Paris in around 6 hours.