otto2

Thinking of taking a 9:45 am flight from Toulouse to Paris late May. This would mean leaving Lourdes about 6:00 a.m.via rental car and depositing said car at airport. ( We will have had car for a week) The time does not bother us, but are concerned about the roads - traffic and visability at that time of day. Any problems -, will these be mountainous, therefore dangerous roads especially at that time of day?

We may also be able to get an early flight from Lourdes to paris 6:15 am... but not too many flights there.

Has anyone done this route?

Does anyone know how far ahead we would have to be at the Toulouse airport or the Lourdes airport?

Thanks

Carlux

If you check the route from Lourdes to Toulouse on http://www.viamichelin.fr/ they give you a little under 2 hours, most of which is on autoroute, and so not difficult. In fact I would allow more than two hours just in case.

Our experience at Toulouse airport is that you don't have to arrive much before 1 hour before your flight. We usually get there long before, heading to Frankfurt for international flights and find the desk is not open. But in case you have had any glitches on your drive there, I'd allow myself extra time i.e., I would leave before 6.

OF course I wouldn't be in Lourdes, which is my least favourite place in all of France.

flanneruk

I couldn't see anywhere on the N21 road down to the A64 that would create a likelihood of traffic congestion. It's not a "mountainous" road: just an ordinary road that happens to go uphill.

You need to check locally about problems during morning rush hour on the A620/624/621 ring road system around Toulouse, which isn't just a commuter route but a major hub for lorries between Spain and northern Europe. Certainly bits of it have looked horrible while driving round it occasionally.

Lourdes - virtually on the Greenwich meridian - is officially on Berlin time, so it's an hour ahead of God's time in winter, and two hours ahead in summer. At this time of the year, it'll still be dark at 0600. Only you can determine whether there'll be any other visibility problems - like fog - when you're driving, since only you know when you'll be driving. Only you know whether you'll be driving at a time - like the day the Tour de France passes by - there might be other road problems.

Equally, only you know how long it's going to take you to find your way from your hotel to the N21.

Anna_Galea

We drove from Lourdes to Toulouse airport 3 and a half years ago in September.

I do not remember encountering any problems driving to the airport, but your flight is quite early. If I remember well, our flight had been in the afternoon, so we were able to take it easy. I would allow 3 hours for travel, since you can never know whether you would find traffic at that time of day. If I remember well, we had deposited our car outside, at the entrance of airport, it was so easy and efficiently done, no problems whatsoever, but we always leave at least 1 and a half hours before departure of flight. So the very very least I would leave Lourdes at least 4 hours before flight departure. I do not remember the route being problematic, do not take any directions towards Andorra, as that is not an easy route at all. We mistaken took this route on our arrival in Toulouse to Spain (we did Lourdes on our last two days) and it took forever to reach a coastal village in Spain, we arrived late at night. But of course we loved the scenary and the uniqueness of Andorra. Preplan your route from sites like Google Maps, and follow the easiest and shortest one.

Lourdes is lovely in my opinion, we stayed for two nights, and it feels like heaven on earth. We also went to the night procession with the lighted candles and for the late evening mass. It is a unique experience. Prebook the hotel, as it might not be easy to find one with vacancies.

Enjoy your trip!

toastandbutter

Have you considered driving to Toulouse the day before your flight? Getting to Toulouse in daylight, and depositing the car, will leave you a little time to see the city and plenty of time to get out to the airport the next day.

Anna_Galea

That is a good suggestion toastand butter, we prefer to do that when we have an early flight, as 9.45am is quite early considering that you have to deposit the car, and allow time for the airport.

java_2012

Hi, I am going to Lourdes at the beginning of October. How hard it is to find a parking spot in Lourdes if drive there from Toulouse?

flanneruk

It's almost always a great deal tougher finding anywhere to park around the Grotto compound than close to many of the hotels. If you're able-bodied, most hotels are a comfortableish walk away, so if you're staying overnight it might be worth asking this question of your hotel. As in many European cities, don't just assume parking comes automatically with the hotel.

If you're not overnighting, even in midsummer our experience has been that parking around the Grotto is also like many European towns: just keep on driving round the compound boundary and eventually a space crops up. Pilgrimages generally peak during European holidays, around feast days of Our Lady, and the Easter-Whit cycle. October has none of these, so demand for parking spaces should be at its lowest.

I'd allow 30 mins on top of whatever Michelin or your satnav tells you for navigating from the N21 to the Grotto and finding somewhere to park.