We're wanting to tour the Pyrenees and http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/reviews.asp?revid=8166 looks a good option but is very close to Lourdes. It doesn't sound as if the campsite is full of god-botherers but are they a problem when you're travelling around the area? We've had traffic and other problems near similar shrines and it sounds as if Lourdes is the mother of them all?
PS has anyone been to Camping du Lac recently?
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We stayed at La Natura which is fairly nearby and drove through Lourdes to get there and then went to Lourdes to meet some friends who were cycling through it. Although Lourdes itself was busy (late July), no problems with traffic at all. Lourdes is something of a strange place and I don't think we would have visited if our friends hadn't been staying there the night on their cycling trip. But I wouldn't worry about Lourdes having any effect on your trip.
------------- lizzie
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We also stayed at Natura this year (lovely site) in August and went into Lourdes. Busy but not heaving and got parked easily enough. I'm glad I went (just to say I had) but wouldn't go out of my way to go into Lourdes again - not for any real negative reasons - just not a particularly pretty town. There is much, much, nicer to see in the Pyrenees...................and make sure you drive up the Col D'Abisque - stunning scenery! Oh - and the Cirque du Gavarnie wow.......................
We actually stayed in Lourdes itself, at Camping Domec. If you want to visit the town, it's within walking distance to the churches, shrine etc, and there are great views of the mountains. Lourdes was an interesting place, like Blackpool with religion. Shops full of "tat", but the religious sites are all free entry, and the water is actually free too, if you take you own bottle! Some impressive places to visit, and close to a cycle track (voie vert) and for train ride up a mountain.
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