Is Lourdes a nice place to go on holiday ?

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Rillifane

Only if you want an object lesson in the shoddiest sort of tent revival hucksterism and the rank exploitation of the pitiable and unfortunate.

Religion can raise man to the heights or sink him to the depths and Lourdes is an example of the latter.

The notion that a genuine believer must go to some specific shrine to receive God's grace is theological nonsense in direct contradiction of the teachings of Christ.

That Lourdes has been turned into the religious version of a call center mingled with equal parts carnival side show and Walmart should be offensive to everyone, whether believer or not.

kew

its a big tourist attraction. there are gift shops everywhere selling statues of saint ummmm is it bernadette? sorry ive forgotten but anyway there are lots of statues. it is interesting but be warned. its not the lordly place you would expect. the surrounding countryside is nice and there are other places to visit. i love france and i always have a nice time. so im sure you will too.

matinyoupi

It's probably a must-see if you're around. However, Lourdes is very disappointing. I've hated the styles of both churches and hated the atmosphere too.
The area is pretty though. I would recommend ArgelÃ¨s, BagnÃ¨res de bigorre, Pau, Oloron, instead.

zafir

I've visited Lourdes twice in the last four years, and will be going again in September. It's a town you either love or hate.

Just remember it is a pilgrimage town and will be crowded - 6 million people visit Lourdes each year. Yes, the main street to the Sanctuaries is full of souvenier/religious shops. But many pilgrims spend their life savings to visit Lourdes. They come from every country in the world and all want to take souveniers of their visit home to family, friends and their church. Hence the 'tacky' souvenier shops.

Apart from the religious side of Lourdes there are some great hiking tracks; you can visit the Fort Chateau; there is a lake and parklands four kms from the town; the Pic de Jer mountain has a funicular railway, restaurant at the top, and if you feel energetic you can take the train up and walk down or vice versa; and there are caves nearby at Betherram.

stickyfingeredurchin

I went for a day years back and it was one of ,if not the most depressing place I've ever been to.

Let me first say I am not having a go at any religion or the hopes of people that go there,each to their own and I respect peoples beliefs and religions.

We parked up a hill and walked about half a mile to see the shrine.
The street we went down was lines with about 50 tiny little shop units stacked to the ceiling with 'souvenirs' of the most questionable taste.

There a lots of plastic water bottles shaped like the virgin Mary and also virgin Mary snow shakes and cuckoo clocks.

The main river was full of rubbish and the whole place was grey and grimy.

I just felt so sorry for the hundreds of people who were being taken round in wheelchairs, there must be hundreds of better places to be and the whole place just reeked of exploitation.

Again I must say that I'm not suggesting that the genuine religious folk are to blame ,they're being exploited too.

I'm not religious myself but any god would hear a genuine prayer for help anywhere on earth.

I hope you have a better experience than me and I'm sure I just saw the bad bits!

WENDEL HOMES

Not unless you are unwell and believe in all these so called 'miracles', i'd sooner take a winter holiday to Lithuania in a leaky boat.

Ù©à¹Í¡Ì¯à¹)Ù© IshMARIE. :)

Up Lourdes ****? Ew, what's Madonna gonna say?

sinndho

Not really, but the back-country is pleasant.

Have a nice day!

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