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TOP 10 REASONS
TOP 10 REASONS
TOP 10 REASONS
Why travel to Lourdes: Find out the top 10 reasons to visit
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01
A SNEAK PEAK
A SNEAK PEAK
A SNEAK PEAK
A Sneak Peek into Lourdes
- The fortunes of Lourdes changed radically overnight when the Virgin Mary came to a young peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous in the mid-1800s.
- This tiny village in the Pyrenean foothills quickly became one of the world’s most frequented pilgrimage sites. Lourdes attracts around six million tourists seeking a physical cure and spiritual redemption every year.
- Lourdes, located in southwestern France, is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in the world.
- Millions of people visit its religious sites each year.
- Lourdes is best visited with family, whether for a pilgrimage or an enjoyable holiday.
- International Airport: Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport (LDE)
- Population: 15,000
- Currency: Euro
- Time: UTC/GMT +1 hour
- Driving side: Right
- Main Electricity: 230 V
- Official Language: French
- Religion: Roman Catholic
02
HIGHLIGHTS
HIGHLIGHTS
HIGHLIGHTS
Top Tourist Attractions in Lourdes
- Visit Lourdes’ greatest sacred site, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.
- From the Funiculaire du Pic du Jer, you may get the best view of Lourdes.
- At La Ferme du Bon’Air, say hello to the lovely animals.
- The Pyrenean Museum is a renowned attraction in Lourdes.
- The Château-Fort de Lourdes is a sight to behold.
03
SEASONS TO TRAVEL
SEASONS TO TRAVEL
SEASONS TO TRAVEL
Best Months to Visit Lourdes
- While Lourdes is a popular year-round destination, June-July is the best season to visit due to various reasons such as the weather, the cost of travel and accommodation, and avoiding peak holiday times.
- August is the warmest month in Lourdes, with an average temperature of roughly 23°C (74°F); however, temperatures can reach as high as 25°C (77°F) on the hottest days of summer.
- During the winter, around February, the temperature can drop to -13°C (9°F) at night.
- If you want to view the wonders of Lourdes during the day, July is the best month to do so.
- November has the rainiest days on average, making it the wettest month.
- Although it is the rainy season, it can often drizzle during the day or evening yet be sunny for the remainder of the day, so don’t be put off by this.
04
WORTH A VISIT
WORTH A VISIT
WORTH A VISIT
The Best Places to Visit in Lourdes
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes
- A trip to Lourdes would be incomplete without a stop at the site that sparked the town’s religious tourism.
- The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, popularly known as the grotto, is where young Miss Soubirous had her first of 18 visions of the Virgin Mary.
- Soubirous was allegedly told to bathe in the cave during her tenth meeting with the holy apparition, and now pilgrims queue to take a plunge in its icy waters.
- This is located in Lourdes, a lovely town in southwestern France amid the Pyrenees foothills.
- Because of the purported healing waters and visions of the Virgin Mary, this Sanctuary comprises multiple basilicas and is a famous pilgrimage destination.
Château Fort
- The Château Fort de Lourdes (Lourdes Fortress), built atop a rocky outcrop on the outskirts of town, is the area’s only major secular attraction.
- It has never been invaded and is home to the Musée Pyrénéen, a regional artefacts and art museum.
- View replicas of residential interiors and learn about regional holiday clothes and beliefs.
- The journey to the fort is a short but steep trek; the views over the city and beyond to the Pyrenees are spectacular.
- Those who find this a terrifying notion might take advantage of the free lift.
Pic du Jer
- This rugged mountain rises approximately 1,000m above Lourdes and provides spectacular views of the town and beyond.
- To reach the summit on foot, you’ll need about three hours — and plenty of bottled water. If that fails, the 120-year-old funicular provides a picturesque 15-minute ride.
- When you arrive at the summit, you’ll find a café and trails to numerous viewpoints and caverns.
- The Pic du Jer, adorned with its massive illuminated crucifix, is also a spectacular sight from below at night.
05
DISCOVER MORE
DISCOVER MORE
DISCOVER MORE
Lourdes Off the Beaten Track
Musee De Cire De Lourdes
- In the form of wax figurines, the Musee De Cire De Lourdes depicts the tales of Jesus Christ and St. Bernadette Soubirous.
- There are 18 scenes in total, with nearly 100 life-size wax figurines.
- The museum is a popular tourist destination, particularly for Catholics.
- It is advised that every Catholic family visit the wax museum.
Le Petit Lourdes
- It’s always intriguing to learn about the history of visiting a place.
- If you visit Le Petit Lourdes, you will travel back to Lourdes.
- Le Petit Lourdes, replete with buildings and rivers, is shown in a lovely setting, with flowers and trees encircling the historic area of Lourdes.
Moulin de Boly
- The Moulin de Boly, in the centre of Lourdes, was originally a water mill where Bernadette Soubirous spent her first ten years.
- There are informative excursions offered that provide more background on the modest lives followed by peasant families at the time. It gives a more intimate representation of Bernadette’s early life for pilgrims.
06
CULTURE & TRADITIONS
CULTURE & TRADITIONS
CULTURE & TRADITIONS
Lourdes Culture and Traditions
- Lourdes has about 6 million travellers each year from over 140 countries worldwide.
- The town is well-known worldwide for its proximity to some spectacular scenery and its historical and religious significance.
- Bernadette Soubirous, in particular, is responsible for Lourdes' fame.
- Bernadette was 14 years old when the Virgin Mary appeared to her at the Massabielle Grotto in 1858.
- With its history of “miraculous cures,” 68 of which are officially recognised by the Catholic Church, the Sanctuary of Our Lady is now a world-famous pilgrimage destination.
- The Hotel Majestic is located in Lourdes, 400 metres from the first sanctuaries and 800 metres from the Massabielle grotto.
07
FOOD FUN FASHION
FOOD FUN FASHION
FOOD FUN FASHION
Lourdes: Food, Fun & Fashion Guide
Tarte Tatin
#Food
- Let’s begin with a traditional French dessert. Fruit (typically apples) is caramelised before being baked in this upside-down pastry.
- It’s frequently served with ice cream or crème anglaise.
- This is a dish you learn to prepare in school. The teacher tells you about Stephanie Tatin unintentionally inventing it in 1898 while attempting to create a typical apple pie and leaving the apples in the sugar and butter for too long.
- She poured the pastry base over the browning fruits and pushed the pan into the oven in a frenzy to rescue the dessert.
- Even today, this is a mistake that is adored worldwide.
Boeuf Bourguignon
#Food
- This delectable red wine-based beef stew is a perennial favourite in our household.
- If potatoes Dauphinoise or Lyonnaise are on the menu, they go nicely with it.
- If you happen to be in Burgundy, you won’t be short on opportunities to try the region’s most famous dish, but be aware of some unusual variations.
- We had the worst (bland and served with spaghetti) and the very best (too many to mention) Bourguignon in Beaune at the same time.
Moules Marinières
#Food
- This famous lunch meal may be found at many cafés and brasseries.
- Mussels sautéed in white wine with shallots and parsley in a large dish or pot. Served with French fries or bread.
- The sauce in the French recipe isn’t made with cream (it doesn’t need it).
- A glass of Muscadet is the perfect match for most fish and seafood meals on a French menu, but beer is frequently seen being sipped alongside this dish, and it works.
Le Forum des Halles
#Fashion
- With approximately 40 million visitors each year, France’s second most popular shopping centre.
- It was first opened in 1979 and was extensively renovated in the 2010s.
- It now has 168 stores spread out over five levels.
- A massive glass canopy tops the ground floor.
Les 4 Temps
#Fashion
- With 260 businesses, the Quatre Temps is France’s most visited shopping mall, located in the business region of La Défense just outside of Paris (including the CNIT section).
- The mall is anticipated to be visited by 45.7 million people.
- ‘Quatre Temps’ is a French term that refers to the year’s four seasons.
Cité de l’Espace
#Fun
- You can marvel at the discoveries made by man’s voyages into space at this theme park oriented at space fans and sky dreamers.
- From a full-size copy of the Mir space station and an Ariane 5 rocket to the Soyuz spacecraft, an observation dome, IMAX theatre, and planetarium, not to mention the interactive exhibits in the exhibition centre, there’s something for everyone.
- The moonwalk simulator is the absolute highlight.
Parc Astérix
#Fun
- Astérix is France’s most famous comic book character, and you can see why he’s so fantastic.
- It’s one of France’s most well-known theme parks, with plenty of rollercoasters, ghost rides, dodgems, and meet-and-greets to keep you entertained for hours.
- It also caters to historical interests in Gaul, Vikings, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Egypt, and the 14th to 20th century France’s Travel Through Time universe.
- Stories about a Gaulish spy attempting to infiltrate a Roman camp are a feature of the entertaining live acts.
Vulcania
#Fun
- Vulcania is a unique theme park in that it is situated deep in the Auvergne, in a strange cone-shaped structure with the majority of the attractions hidden beneath.
- The park investigates the local volcanoes that shaped the beautiful terrain thousands of years ago, with unexpected elements like geysers and many water sports.
- It’s entertaining, but it’s also quietly instructive, with interactive exhibits that will help you better comprehend the planet and its unique dynamics.
- This features rides like the Magma Explorer, which transports you to the centre of molten lava and a “Magical Odyssee” with Martin and Titania.
08
NATURE & SAFARI
NATURE & SAFARI
NATURE & SAFARI
Lourdes: Natural Beauty & Safari Adventures
- It is one of the most majestic summits in the Hautes-Pyrénées, known for the beauty of its surroundings and its astronomical observatory.
- The Pic du Midi cable car takes passengers on a breathtaking journey to the peak at 2,877 metres, where 600 m2 of manicured terraces provide a 360-degree panorama of the Pyrenees range, the broad plains of the South West, and the buttresses of the Massif Central.
- The view is one-of-a-kind, and the panoramic is breathtaking.
- But the Pic du Midi also has a scientifically significant observatory and Europe’s highest geographical space, which retraces the human tale of the site’s extraordinary site with zeal.
- River and glacier erosion carved a series of unusual natural cirques into the Pyrenees over fifty million years ago.
- The most well-known, as well as the most stunning, is Gavarnie.
- This natural colossus, ringed by sixteen 3,000-meter peaks and home to Europe’s highest cascade, is breathtakingly beautiful. The view is enthralling, and you’re sure to feel something.
- The “Pyrénées Mont-Perdu, country of cirques and canyons,” a UNESCO world heritage site and a landscape of ecological and cultural importance, includes these immense arenas leaning into the Spanish gorges of Anisclo and Pineta and over the mythological Ordesa.
- The Bridge of Spain, located in the centre of the Pyrenees National Park, is in an amazing natural environment and provides access to the Cayan Plateau and the Marcadau Valley.
- It’s possible to get there by foot, cable car, or chairlift. Several trails lead tourists to breathtaking landscapes, where lush and deep forests vie with gushing torrents, waterfalls, lakes, and mountaintop grasslands carpeted with wildflowers.
- The bridge, located far from the Spanish border, gets its name because it was once part of a mule driver’s route to Spain.
- It is a prestigious natural beauty spot and one of the most frequented places in the Pyrenees.
09
EVENTS & FIESTAS
EVENTS & FIESTAS
EVENTS & FIESTAS
Lourdes Must-Attend Festivals and Events
- At the Berck-sur-Mer International Kite Festival, giant pigs may genuinely fly. Above half a million people have witnessed the beautiful show of kites flying over the seaside village of Berck-sur-Mer for over two decades.
- The celebration, in March or April, features gigantic dragons, whales, octopuses, and numerous cartoon figures flying over the sandy beach.
- Every two years, the festival hosts the International Kite Championships of the World.
- Experts from all around the world compete against the wind — and each other – throughout this period.
- The Fête du Citron (Lemon Festival), which takes place in Menton for two weeks in February, celebrates all things citrus.
- More than 200,000 people gather to see the brightly coloured floats and sculptures made of lemons and oranges.
- During the day, parades of fruit-covered floats pass through the streets, entertaining the spectators with wind musicians, acrobats, and drummers.
- By nighttime, the Biovès Gardens are filled with 10-meter-high fanciful figures and models fashioned of citrus.
- Film fans will undoubtedly want to attend the Cannes Film Festival, the world’s most recognised film festival.
- A French Minister of Education and Fine Arts organised the red-carpet event.
- He aspired to create a cultural event in France that would match the Venice Film Festival.
- And it’s safe to assume that he was successful. The annual festival attracts over 30,000 experts from all around the world.
- This contains several actors and filmmakers who have visited to promote their most recent films.
- They’re also hoping to compete for the coveted Palme d’Or. The festival is both a social and a professional gathering.
- While most screenings are by invitation only, there are still plenty of chances to glimpse your favourite A-list stars.
FAQs to Plan Your Best Lourdes Holiday
Places similar to Lourdes to visit
Places similar to Lourdes to visit
Places similar to Lourdes to visit