Lourdes is a small Pyrenean town of some 15,000 people that attracts five million pilgrims and tourists from 150 countries each year, making it the second most important hotel city in France after Paris, with over 270 hotels and 13 campsites.
The reason is a single event. In 1858, a 14-year-old local girl named Bernadette Soubirous reported 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary at a grotto beside the Gave de Pau river. The Virgin instructed her to drink from a spring she found there; the spring still flows, and millions believe its waters have healing properties. Lourdes has been one of the world's great Catholic pilgrimage sites ever since.
Apart from its religious significance, the town itself is worth a look. The Château Fort perches on a rocky outcrop above the town, having served as a fortress, a state prison, and a residence of the Counts of Bigorre over the centuries, and now houses a good Pyrenean museum. The Funiculaire du Pic du Jer rises from the edge of town to panoramic mountain views. The surrounding Pyrenean landscape is spectacular — the mountains rise sharply just beyond the town, and the region offers excellent hiking and day trips into the high mountains.
The best time to visit is spring or autumn, when the pilgrimage crowds are smaller. Summer can be overwhelming, but even then the atmosphere is unlike anywhere else in France — candlelit processions, people of all nationalities, and a sincerity of faith that is genuinely moving whether you share it or not.