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Why should I go? Why, indeed? Isn’t this the Pyrenean town renowned for chiming Virgin Mary pendulum clocks, barmy religio-superstitious fanaticism, miracles and a world-beating assembly of ailing people?

Well, yes. But it’s also Europe’s most extraordinary travel phenomenon, and celebrating a 150th jubilee this year. On February 11, 1858, the Virgin appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in a muddy grotto by the River Gave. She would appear a further 17 times to the illiterate 14-year-old through to July.

The Lourdes phenomenon was under way, and it hasn’t slowed since. These days, about 6m visitors and pilgrims show up each year. With 230 hotels, Lourdes provides more accommodation than anywhere else in France bar Paris. The faithful and inquisitive of all continents throng to processions, Masses and shops, jostling the narrow streets like funfair stalls.

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Also to bars, of which there is a surprising and jolly abundance. No place on earth generates more cynicism – but, frankly, it’s difficult to sustain.

After half a day, you’ll notice that something strange is happening here. The crowds – Italian, French, British, Brazilian, Filipino, you name it – don’t shuffle like tourists. They have the bustle of purpose. Young visitors, of an age and aspect to be chucking bricks, push invalid carriages and are otherwise devoted to the sick and disabled – who, in turn, almost certainly won’t get cured.

There have been but 67 confirmed miracles. What they get is peace and, remarkably, precedence. Tens of thousands of able-bodied people give up holidays and pay their own way to help. You may hate me for saying so, but the town has an atmosphere of goodness, of people in the grip of something greater than themselves.

As a chap from Plymouth once told me: “The ability to show compassion gets submerged in daily reality at home. Lourdes releases people to be good.” Certainly, I’ve never seen so many smiles, witnessed so much off-the-cuff kindness – or been bought so many drinks by strangers. It can become excessive. There’s occasionally one Hail Mary too many for an unbeliever like me.

There are many special events this year (see www.lourdes2008.com), but the real reason you go is simply to witness humanity with its best sides out. I defy you, after a couple of days, not to feel optimistic.

What should I do? Start at the riverside Sanctuary, flanking the grotto. Its 125 acres of parkland and esplanades open like a sigh at the bottom of the town. Commerce-free and calm, this is the heart of the place. Here are the churches (one like a vast underground car park, three others stacked up in a Byzantine club sandwich), the concrete bathhouse, where one dips naked, the taps for filling thetuary

Virgin-shaped plastic bottles, and the gatherings. Nightly at 9pm, thousands process with candles. It is a spectacle serious, subdued and awesome. On a nearby hill, Lourdes castle is floodlit. Further, one senses the outlines of the mountains. Cynicism really is a struggle.

It’s less so in the zillions of shops bursting into the streets down to the Sanctuary. Undoubtedly, these afford intriguing entertainment. But if they are all selling Virgin shake’n’snow scenes, egg cups and devotional cigarette lighters, then thousands must feel they need them. Of the several spots round town linked to Bernadette’s life, restrict yourselves to the Cachot, on Rue des Petits Fossés. The tiny former prison cell where the Soubirous family lived tells you all you need to know about their abject poverty. You might also trek up to the castle, for terrific views and a reasonable regional museum. Then consider an excursion.

As Lourdes exists essentially beyond geography, one forgets that it’s at the foot of some of the most stirring mountain sites in France. The Pic du Midi cable car and Cirque de Gavarnie are to hand. Rentacar (Avenue Alexandre Marqui; 00 33-5 59 40 16 77, www.rentacar.fr) has cars from £57 a day. But be back for evening. Nightlife can be livelier in Lourdes (pop: 16,000) than in any other small French town.

I favour the bar in the Hotel Astoria-Vatican, 95 Rue de la Grotte. Last time I was there, an Irish lady took a pull on her vodka, patted her ample frame and told me: “I came to Lourdes to get down to a size 16. As you see, sweetheart, the miracle’s not happened yet.”

Where do I stay? The four-star Grand Hôtel Moderne (21 Avenue Bernadette Soubirous; 5 62 94 12 32, www.grandhotel moderne.com; doubles from £90) reopens on March 20 after work to freshen up the bedrooms. The baroque style remains intact.

The Grand Hôtel de la Grotte (66 Rue de la Grotte; 5 62 94 58 87, www. hotel-grotte.com; doubles from £60, but go for those from £88) is of a similar four-star standard. Among the three-stars, the Hôtel Saint-Sauveur (9 Rue Sainte-Marie; 5 62 94 25 03, www.hotelsaint sauveur.com; doubles from £50) is bright and busy.

Where do I eat? Gastronomy isn’t a key Lourdes characteristic. Most pilgrims are on full-board, with fixed menus ranging from the ropey to the reasonable. The restaurants in the four-star hotels mentioned above are at the classier end of the scale. The Hôtel de la Grotte also boasts a decent brasserie.

Breaking away from hotels, try Le Magret (10 Rue des Quatre Frères Soulas; 5 62 94 20 55, www.lemagret.com; menus from £20) for southwest specialities. Or take a taxi a couple of miles out of town to Au Bon Accueil at Bartrès (Rue de l’Eglise; 5 62 94 01 67; menus from £15), to eat on the terrace overlooking the lovely village.

How do I get there? Tangney Tours (0800 917 3572, www.tangney-tours.com) runs regular Lourdes jaunts. A three-night trip costs from £385pp, including charter flights from Stansted to Tarbes (seven miles from Lourdes), transfers and full-board in a three-star hotel.

Or try Leisure Times Travel (0151 287 8000, www.lourdes-pilgrim.com) or Mancunia Travel (0161 790 6838, www.mancunia.com). Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com) flies from Stansted and Bristol to Pau (38 miles away).

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