France is an extremely popular travel destination with many famous places to visit, especially their many beautiful Catholic Shrines. Here is our list of the best Shrines in France:

In 1858 St. Bernadette first saw the apparitions of Our Lady near the Grotto of Massabielle. Our Lady prayed the Rosary with Bernadette and emphasized God’s love for us and the necessity of the acts of penance for our sinners.

In Lourdes you can celebrate Mass at the Grotto, experience the story of Lourdes via video presentation, drink water from the miraculous spring that has healed many, and even submerge yourself into the healing baths.

This magnificent Shrine also includes a “life-size” Stations of the Cross overlooking the Grotto of Massabielle.  Each year, about 350,000 pilgrims come to worship in this Holy place.

This Shrine is also known to be a site of miraculous healing and is comprised of numerous religious structures and chapels, centered around a statue of the Virgin Mary and the tomb of Zaccheus. Zaccheus was an early Christian hermit of Jericho who conversed with Jesus and the husband of St. Veronica’s who famously wiped the face of Jesus as He climbed to Cavalry.

The Chapel of the Visitation in Paray Le Monial is the site where Jesus exposed His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the seventeenth century, allowing her to rest on His Heart and to experience the unconditional love for humanity. At this Shrine you can find relics of the beloved Saint beneath a wax figure of her.

Chartes is home to the massive Cathedral Notre Dame which is a World Heritage site known for its incredible stained-glass windows. Created in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, UNESCO called the Cathedral “the high point of French Gothic art.”

This Monastery built in 709 is known for its absolutely breathtaking views as it is surrounded by a magnificent bay which has one of the greatest tidal ranges in all of Europe. The Abbey was consecrated by Aubert, Bishop of Arvanches at the request of Michael the Archangel.

Lisieux was home to the life of whom Pope Pius X called the “greatest Saint of modern times”, St. Therese. The Basilica of St. Therese is home to beautiful mosaics and stained glass. You can see relics, clothing, and personal objects, and even tour her childhood home and Carmelite Convent where she studied in Lisieux.

In Paris, the Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal holds the incorrupt body of St. Catherine Labourne. St. Catherine’s guardian angel lead her to the chapel where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her and instructed the making and purpose of the Miraculous Medal.

These Shrines of France will not disappoint. Visit France to see the magnificent Holy sites on our tour!