How to reach Lourdes
Flight time: Flights to Juillan from London are just shy of 2 hours.
Transfer time: Lourdes’ town centre is within a 15–25-minute drive of Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Airport.
Price: The shuttle bus from the airport to Lourdes costs around €3 one way; a ballpark figure for a taxi would be €30–€60.
Best time to visit Lourdes
Finding the right time for your Lourdes holidays depends on your reasons for coming: something spiritual or less lofty outdoor adventuring.
High season
Lourdes’ high season runs roughly from April to October. These are the best months for pilgrimages, especially if you want to participate in the religious processions at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. The spring months tend to be fickle, swinging from cool to chilly with quick showers. If weather is a priority, June to October is drier and warmer, with average high temperatures around 22–24°C until September, dipping to 18°C in October.
Less crowded times
To avoid crowds, visit between November and March (February is a bit of an outlier on the busy scale due to the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes). This is Lourdes' cool season, with high temperatures between 13 and 10°C. The likelihood of rain is pretty high these months (in all honesty, a degree of rain is part and parcel of holidaying in the Pyrenees whenever you go), so make sure to have a few rainy-day activities lined up. The sanctuary is open year-round for pilgrimages, but there will be reduced services.
Practical information
Spoken languages: French is the official language, but English, Spanish, Italian, German and Dutch are also spoken at the sanctuary to accommodate non-French-speaking visitors. A translation will likely come in handy if you plan to explore the Hautes-Pyrénées more broadly.
Currency: France is in the eurozone.
Getting around: A few steep hills and streets notwithstanding, Lourdes is easy enough to navigate on foot, but there’s also a comprehensive and inexpensive urban bus network.
Electricity and plug types: Standard mains electricity is 220–240V, 50Hz. Plugs are two-pin Type C and E.
Time zone: France keeps Central European Time (GMT+ 1 hour) but switches to Central European Summer Time (GMT+ 2 hours, British Summer Time + 1 hour) from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.
Required travel documentation: UK citizens need a valid passport (issued less than 10 years before the entry date and valid for at least 3 months after the departure date) but don’t need a visa for stays up to 90 days in a rolling 180-day period.