Things to do in Lourdes
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Lourdes
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Pilgrimage season: daily torchlight and Eucharistic processions run, baths keep full hours, almost everything is open.
Best balance: processions running, mountains snow free, hotels and restaurants open, crowds human.
Peak crowds and prices, with the Assumption pilgrimage of 12 to 16 August the busiest days of the year.
Winter: the Sanctuary stays open with daily Mass but processions stop and many hotels and restaurants close; best for solitude and low prices.
What's on
- Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes 11 February
Anniversary of the first apparition in 1858, with a full winter pilgrimage and an exceptional torchlight procession.
- International Military Pilgrimage mid May
Tens of thousands of uniformed service personnel from dozens of countries gather for a weekend of ceremony and prayer.
- Tour de France Pyrenees stages July, dates vary by year
Mountain stages in the surrounding valleys most years, with Hautacam and the Tourmalet the local hero climbs.
- National Pilgrimage for the Assumption 12 to 16 August
France's national pilgrimage, 20,000 to 30,000 pilgrims, the great open air Mass on the Prairie and the baths at full stretch.
Best things to do in Lourdes
Grotte de Massabielle
The rock cavity where Bernadette reported the apparitions in 1858, with the spring, the altar and Lourdes in one view.
Torchlight Marian Procession
Thousands of candle bearing pilgrims process from the Grotto each evening in season, singing as the light fills the esplanade.
Basilique de l'Immaculée Conception
The neo Gothic upper basilica above the Grotto, intimate and luminous, its stained glass telling the apparitions story.
Basilique Notre-Dame du Rosaire
The lower basilica at the foot of the ramps, wrapped in Venetian mosaics of the Rosary mysteries across 15 chapels.
Basilique Saint-Pie X
A vast underground concrete nave for 25,000 people, a landmark of modern sacred architecture hidden beneath the esplanade.
Piscines du Sanctuaire de Lourdes
The Sanctuary baths, where pilgrims immerse in the cold Grotto spring water helped by volunteers, or make the water gesture.
Chemin de Croix
A steep wooded climb past 115 life size bronze figures to a hilltop calvary, the quietest viewpoint inside the Sanctuary.
Château Fort de Lourdes
The never taken fortress above the town, home to the Pyrenean Museum and the definitive panorama over Lourdes.
Where to stay in Lourdes
Sanctuary Quarter
pilgrims and first visits, closest to the Grotto
Minutes from the gates and both processions, but it is the souvenir strip, with crowds, neon and the weakest doorstep restaurants.
Riverside
grand hotels, calm and mobility needs
Large, handsome hotels along the Gave facing the Sanctuary meadow, a flat short walk to the gates, quieter than the strip.
Upper Town
secular travellers, train arrivals and Pyrenees touring
The real market town of Les Halles, cafés and the station, calmer and cheaper, with no true luxury hotel and a 10 to 15 minute walk to the Grotto.
Think twice about
- Rue de la Grotte souvenir strip as a base
Not unsafe, but crowds, neon and mediocre doorstep restaurants wear on light sleepers, secular travellers and stays over two nights.
- Lac de Lourdes and Tarbes road outskirts as a base
Nothing is walkable from there, so without a car you will drive to everything, including dinner.
Best restaurants in Lourdes
Le B - Restaurant & Bar
The modern fine dining address on the riverside row, a short seasonal menu cooked with big city precision.
Le Bodegon
A gastronomic brasserie with southwestern depth, generous portions and a serious wine list for the town.
Le Parc
The Beauséjour dining room by the station, white cloths and a Pyrenees view terrace, classical and local.
Restaurant Alexandra by Le Bon Sens
The Grand Hôtel Moderne dining room, generous French classics and set menus loved by returning pilgrims.
O Piment Rouge
An owner run Basque dining room on the Grotto street, duck confit and Espelette pepper cooking done to order.
Sur la Tête des Canards
The upper town word of mouth table for Pyrenean classics, small, warm and full of Lourdes residents.
Les 100 Culottes
Where Lourdes itself goes out, tapas and local plates on a big terrace, with late music nights at weekends.
Pizzeria le Basilic
The strip's pizza institution, inventive wood fired pizzas including Pyrenean riffs, the default family dinner.
Outdoor things to do in Lourdes
Funiculaire du Pic du Jer
The 1900 funicular to Lourdes' own summit, for the region defining panorama, summit caves and downhill bike tracks.
Cirque de Gavarnie
A glacial amphitheatre of 1,500 metre walls and the tallest waterfall in mainland France, an easy walk from the village.
Pont d'Espagne
A stone bridge over colliding waterfalls and the trailhead for Lac de Gaube under the Vignemale, the classic easy hike.
Pic du Midi de Bigorre
Two cable cars to a 2,877 metre observatory summit with a museum, planetarium and glass pontoon over the void.
Grottes de Bétharram
Five levels of caves with an underground river crossed by boat and a little train back, the classic family excursion.
Parc Animalier des Pyrénées
Bears, wolves, lynx and walk through marmots on a shaded hillside, the best family half day out from Lourdes.
Golf de Lourdes
A narrow, tree lined municipal 18 holes on the wooded shore of the glacial lake, technical and affordable.
Voie Verte des Gaves
A flat former railway greenway riding south up the Gave valley to Argelès-Gazost, villages and river beaches all the way.
Best hotels in Lourdes
Belfry & Spa by Ligne St Barth
Lourdes' only five star, a boutique spa hotel on the Grotto street with a pool, hot tub and Sanctuary view suites.
Hôtel Padoue
The dependable family run four star near the gates, with free parking, a garden terrace and a practised welcome.
Hôtel Angelic
A small, spotless family hotel on the Calvaire slope, paying for position and kindness rather than thread count.
Grand Hôtel Moderne
The historic grand hotel of Lourdes, 106 rooms and a proper dining room, luxury in the classic provincial sense.
Hôtel Eliseo
A renovated four star 75 metres from the gates, known for its panoramic rooftop terrace facing the Château.
Hôtel Sainte Marie
A small family villa hotel from Bernadette's lifetime at the foot of the Château, 75 metres from the Sanctuary.
Best Western Hôtel Beauséjour Lourdes
The upper town's reliable top end by the station, with a garden, a pool, parking and one of the town's best dining rooms.
B&B HOTEL Lourdes Centre Gare
The honest budget chain option by the station, modern and reliable, and open when seasonal independents close.
Is Lourdes expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €65 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €120 a person |
| Splurge | €260 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Pic du Midi de Bigorre: weeks ahead
- Grottes de Bétharram: a few days ahead
- Golf de Lourdes: a few days ahead
- Rafting on the Gave de Pau: a few days ahead
- Belfry & Spa by Ligne St Barth: weeks ahead
- Grand Hôtel Moderne: weeks ahead
- Le B - Restaurant & Bar: a few days ahead
- Le Bodegon: a few days ahead
- Book hotels weeks to months ahead for 11 February, May military pilgrimage weekends and 12 to 16 August.
- Reserve Le B, Alexandra, O Piment Rouge and Le Bodegon for summer weekends.
- Pic du Midi timed tickets need days ahead in season, and a summit night needs months.
- Book Bétharram timed entry the day before in August.
Is Lourdes safe?
- Watch bags in procession crowds and at the station, the standard big crowd discipline.
- The esplanade has little shade in August; the Grotto taps water is drinkable and free.
- Mountain weather changes faster than valley forecasts on every excursion; check the Pic du Midi webcam.
- Emergency number in France is 112.
Lourdes travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Treat the souvenir strip as a sight, not shopping: identical stock at pilgrimage week prices.
- Buy candles at Sanctuary stands and fill bottles free at the Grotto taps instead of buying branded bottles.
- Avoid strip set menus with a photograph of every dish; walk five minutes to eat well.
- Entry to the Sanctuary is free, so skip the line offers for it are selling nothing.
Getting around Lourdes: public transport and more
- Walk: the Sanctuary gates are 10 to 15 flat minutes from the station and the upper town, and the grounds are step free by design.
- Town buses link the station, centre, Sanctuary gates and Pic du Jer funicular for about 1 euro a ride.
- A car is a liability inside Lourdes and an asset for Gavarnie, Pont d'Espagne, Bétharram and the Pic du Midi.
- Trains run to Pau in about 35 minutes and towards Toulouse, Bordeaux, Paris and the Basque coast.
Who Lourdes suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Lourdes your trip
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