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Best Way to get to Lourdes, France from SF

Posted by (SFO Bay Area) on

Hello!
I am thankful to be here and really appreciate Rick Steves and staff for helping out travelers like us.

We are two somewhat still active older adults (husband and wife) who want to visit some parts of Europe again and may be for the last time. I'm looking for suggestions to go to Lourdes, France from SFO.
Basically, we would like to visit Lourdes,France, Fatima in Portugal, Seville and Barcelona,

We plan to spend three weeks starting in July 18, 2025. Our first stop is Lourdes, France. I would appreciate
any suggestions/ recommendation on the best way to get there.
Thank you so much in advance.

Posted by
8317 posts

It might be wise to make sure, there are no high-traffic special events at the two shrines on the weeks you may visit.

You may want to check whether it's better to fly home from Madrid or from Barcelona. Cruises can quickly fill some Lisbon transatlantic dates.

Posted by
952 posts

Hi, as noted, there's TGV service from Paris. It's an approximate 6-hour journey. Lourdes is beautiful. It's in the foothills of the Pyrenees, so the town's terrain is hilly. The region's house shutters match the pale blue color of the fast flowing Gave de Pau (stuff that like that sticks in your memory!) When I went, I enjoyed the Chateau Fort and Pyrenean Museum in addition to the sanctuary. Good travels!

Posted by
7686 posts

If you won’t have a rental car, getting to Fátima might best be done as a tour from Lisbon. I said tour because there are two distinct areas to visit. One is the sanctuary and the other sites are a couple miles away (children’s’ houses, and where the Angel of Peace and Mary appeared). There is some walking involved for the non sanctuary sites.

Fátima is just over an hour from Lisbon’s airport.

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