Things to do in  Lourdes

There are many sites to interest religious tourists, or anyone interested in Catholicism, including the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes and Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. It’s also in the Pyrenees foothills, so the hiking and mountain biking are excellent, and daredevils can try extreme sports like bungee jumping.

Lourdes catapulted to fame in 1858, when a young peasant girl claimed to see an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Bernadette Soubirous was later canonized, and Lourdes became one of the most popular sites for religious pilgrimages for Catholics. Previously, the town was best known for its fortified castle.

The length of your stay depends on your interests. Religious tourists should set aside at least two full days to explore sites like the town’s cathedral and the home of Bernadette Soubirous, the peasant girl who claimed to see the Virgin Mary. And active travelers have the Pyrenees and world-class hiking at their doorstep, so they could easily spend up to 3–5 days here.

In 1858, the Virgin Mary appeared in 18 apparitions to a 14-year-old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous. She was instructed by the apparition to dig at the corner of a nearby cave. Soubirous unearthed a spring, the water of which is drunk by the inhabitants of Lourdes and pilgrims today.

Mountains—the Pyrenees, a mountain range spanning 270 miles (435 kilometers), straddles the France and Spain border. Lourdes sits in the foothills with a funicular to link it to nearby Pic du Jer. You’re also less than an hour from Pau, birthplace of former French monarch Henri IV.

The spring in the Lourdes cave was discovered by peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous in the mid-19th century. In Soubirous’ visions, the Virgin Mary instructed her to dig in the cave at Massabielle. Now, thousands of pilgrims visit each year to drink and bathe in the water of the hidden spring.