Gloria & Avenue Hotel at the heart of Lourdes, close to the Sanctuaries

Lourdes

The Marian city of Lourdes is a major pilgrimage destination and attracts thousands of healthy and sick pilgrims who come in groups and individually.

To discover the delights of the city and its shops you can use the small train and stop whenever you wish to visit the following:

• The Castle Fortress and its Pyrenean museum of art and traditions
• The Museum of the Nativity
• The Grevin Museum
• ‘Petit Lourdes’
• The Pic du Jer with its funicular railway and superb views of the Pyrenean summits
• The ‘Lac de Lourdes’ and its nearby Golf Course are real havens of peace.

Close by

You can discover well-known places of interest such as Gavarnie and its cirque, listed by Unesco as a World Heritage Site, the Pont d'Espagne and Lac de Gaube in Cauterets, the col du Tourmalet and La Mongie, and take the cable-car from the Pic du Midi to look down over the highest Pyrenean summits.

If you’re a sports lover, you can hire a bike to ride up the slopes of the col de l’Aubisque, passing through the Val d’Azun, with its villages and churches, or those of the col d’Aspin from the Lac de Payolle. The Gaves ‘Voie Verte’ (cycle track) runs between Lourdes and Cauterets and is great for family cycling.

You can also hire a car for one day or more to take advantage of all the tourist attractions in the Hautes-Pyrénées.

Feel like a day out?

Visit Tarbes and its Stud Farm, the Massey gardens, Betharram and its caves, Bagnères de Bigorre with its Aquensis Fitness spa, the thermal spa at Luz Saint Sauveur, the fortified church, Cauterets, well known for its boiled sweets and the Raillère waterfall, the park and Casino in Argeles-Gazost, Pau with its famous Henri IV chateau... Let yourself be guided by the history of the Hautes-Pyrénées and visit its abbeys, village squares, washhouses and the famous Lourdes museum.

Feel like some exercise?

There are so many sporting activities on offer that you might have to choose between walking in the conservation areas such as the National Park (the cirques of Troumouse and Estaubé or the Néouvielle Nature Reserve with its many lakes, trout fishing, hang-gliding, white-water rafting or canyoning, mountain-biking, horse-riding...) or a Pilgrimage to the Sanctuaries, although accompanying pilgrims may also allow time to try some of these other activities

Children love to get close to marmots and bears in the Pyrenean Safari Park at Argelès, see the birds of prey in the ‘Donjon des Aigles’ and the underwater wildlife at the Pierrefitte Tropical Aquarium.