With 6 million pilgrims visiting Lourdes each year, there is no doubt that it is a place of enormous attraction for those seeking enlightenment through the footsteps of St. Bernadette. The itinerary can be either 3, 4, 5 or 7 nights.
With this full-day excursion to the Sanctuaire Notre Dame de Lourdes, enjoy included train travel from Paris, and a guide to whisk you to the sanctuary. Once you arrive, enjoy three hours at the sight, whether you're there to pray, or just experience the grotto.
Many miracles have been attributed to bathing in or drinking the water at Lourdes as well as to participating in the Eucharistic Procession and Adoration. Pilgrims may experience healing in body, mind or spirit and leave with a deeper sense of God's presence and love in their lives.
The best time to visit Lourdes runs from June to September, since it is the warmest and driest period of the year. May and October, though rainier, may be fine too, although it can sometimes get cold, especially in the first half of May and in the second half of October.
Uber prioritizes safety for every rider in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes. In a few taps, you can access customer support and share trip details with loved ones. View driver profiles, too, to see ratings and more to get to know your driver before the trip begins.
Spiritually, in the Bible, the Rock symbolises trust in God, the stone on which the Church is built, the solid word on which we lean. Although the current health crisis does currently allow us to touch the Rock, you can make this gesture in your heart at the feet of the Virgin Mary.
The Marian processionEvery evening, once night has fallen on the town, thousands of pilgrims gather to walk and sing, flaming torch in hand, from the Grotto of Apparitions to the esplanade of the Rosary Basilica. At the head of the procession, a statue of the Virgin is carried by the pilgrims.
Coming to the GrottoThis is where the Virgin Mary first appeared to the young Bernadette, on 11 February 1858. Pilgrims queue there in single file to touch the rock lightly with their fingertips, see the water from the spring and pray.
Like many pilgrimage sites, a chief lure of Lourdes is what many consider the healing power of its waters. Those waters come from a spring where Bernadette said she encountered the Virgin Mary.