Lourdes is a sleepy market town in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Made famous for apparitions of "Our Lady of Lourdes," the city of Lourdes hosts five million tourists and pilgrims to the Sanctuary of Lourdes every year, but has a population only 15,000 residents. The spring water from the grotto is said to possess healing powers. Of course, some visitors come to Lourdes for another famous attraction-the Rugby Union team FC Lourdes. The city of Tarbes neighbors Lourdes. Tarbes, a frequent stop on the Tour de France, has a modest population of just over 100,000 residents. However, it touts its own rugby team-Tarbes Pyrenees Rugby-as well as the Tarbesd Gespe Bigorre, a female basketball team famous in Europe.

The Tarbes Ossun Lourdes Airport serves both Lourdes and Tarbes and is located between the two. The airport uses only three airlines: Air France, Jet Air, and Ryanair, two of which provide consistently cheap fares. These airlines provide service to a handful of locations in England and France. Popular routes include Paris and London. Most travelers who come through the Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport are actually serviced by various European charter flights as part of pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Lourdes.

Airports Serving Tarbes-Lourdes

The Tarbes Ossun Lourdes Airport (LDE) is somewhat small, but easy to navigate. The airlines it sponsors make it easy and cost-effective to hop to Paris or London for the weekend; in fact, most travelers find that the airfare is actually cheaper than driving.