OCTOBER 9 – 29, 2023
ITINERARY: ROME / SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO / LANCIANO / ASSISI / FLORENCE / PISA / NICE / BARCELONA/ MONTSERRAT / ZARAGOZA / MADRID / AVILA / FATIMA / SALAMANCA / LOURDES / PARIS (train) / LISIEUX / PARIS
OCT 09 CHECK IN AT NAIA TERMINAL 3 AT 2000HRS / DEPARTURE FROM MANILA TO ROME, ITALY
OCT 10 ROME
Arrive in Rome in the afternoon. Proceed to hotel for check-in and take some rest after the long flight. Have dinner and overnight at the hotel.
OCT 11 ROME
Have a boxed breakfast from the hotel. Attend the General Papal Audience at the Vatican. Then have a half-day guided tour to visit the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. Visit also the St. Peter Basilica, destination of all Catholics coming from all over the world. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
OCT 12 ROME
Breakfast at the hotel. We will have a full-day guided tour to include visit to the Major Basilicas: Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica Basilica San Paul Outside the Walls, the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, and The Holy Steps. Have a photo stop of Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. Dinner at a local restaurant. Return to the hotel for overnight.
OCT 13 ROME / SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO
After breakfast and check-out, we will have a long distance drive to San Giovanni Rotondo. Upon arrival, have a half-day guided tour to visit the Shrine of St. Padre Pio, which centers on his tomb inside the Church of Our Lady of Grace (Santa Maria delle Grazie). Here you can also see his cell, his confessional, the crucifix from which he received the stigmata, and nearly everything he owned or touched, carefully preserved and labeled. Check-in, dinner and overnight at the hotel.
OCT 14 SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO / LANCIANO / ASSISI
After breakfast and check-out, have a long distance transfer to Lanciano to visit San Francesco Church at Lanciano where the Flesh and Blood of Christ is still miraculously preserved today in a monstrance that all can see and venerate. Then drive to Assisi. Transfer to the hotel for check-in, dinner and overnight.
OCT 15 ASSISI / FLORENCE
After breakfast and check-out, we will have a half-day guided tour of Assisi which includes visit to Santa Maria Degli Angeli Church, the Santa Chiara Church. the Lower (Inferiore), Upper (Superiore). Have private Mass at St. Francis Basilica. Visit also to San Damiano Monastery. Then continue for a long distance drive to Florence. Upon arrival, have a half-day guided tour which includes photo stops of the Florence Cathedral (Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore), Piazza Michelangelo, Giotto’s Bell Tower, Florence Baptistery and Duomo complex. Transfer to the hotel for check-in, dinner and overnight.
OCT 16 FLORENCE / PISA / NICE
After breakfast and check-out, we will have a short distance drive to Pisa. Have some photo stop of the Leaning Tower, Square of Miracles, The Baptistry, and The Duomo. Then continue driving to Nice. You will view Massena Square, Promenade del Anglais, Place Garibaldi. Check-in at the hotel for dinner and overnight stay.
OCT 17 NICE / BARCELONA
Breakfast and check-out. Then have a long distance drive to Barcelona. Transfer to hotel for check-in, dinner and overnight.
OCT 18 BARCELONA/ MONTSERRAT / BARCELONA
After breakfast, have a guided tour to visit the Basilica De La Sagrada Familia. View of the Plaza Espana, Plaza Reial, Plaza Cataluna, Olympic Stadium, Monument Christopher Columbus, Arch of Triumph. Then drive to Montserrat to see Monastir de Montserrat, a Benedictine abbey located on the mountain. Visit the Royal Basilica, one of Spain’s most important pilgrimage sites for hundreds of years, due to its famous 12th century Romanesque carving of the Virgen Moroneta, the Black Virgin. Return to Barcelona. Then have dinner at an international restaurant before returning to the hotel for overnight.
OCT 19 BARCELONA / ZARAGOZA / MADRID
After breakfast and check-out, celebrate private Mass. Have a long distance transfer to Madrid via Zaragoza. Celebrate private Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar in Zaragoza. Check-in, dinner and overnight at the hotel.
OCT 20 MADRID / AVILA / FATIMA
After breakfast and check-out, we will transfer to Avila to visit St. Theresa Convent. Then continue for a long distance drive to Fatima. Check-in, dinner and overnight at the hotel.
OCT 21 FATIMA
Breakfast at hotel. Have a half-day guided tour to visit the Our Lady of Fatima Basilica. See the house of Francisco and Jacinta, and the house of Lucia. Rest of the time is free on your own for your private devotions. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
OCT 22 FATIMA / SALAMANCA
After breakfast and check-out, have a long distance drive to Salamanca. Have a guided tour to visit the Salamanca Cathedral New & Old Cloister and Museum (UNESCO listed). Photo stops of University of Salamanca, Plaza Mayor, Old Cathedral (Catedral Vieja), New Cathedral (Catedral Nueva) and Palacio de Monterrey. Have dinner at a local restaurant. Transfer to the hotel for check-in and overnight.
OCT 23 SALAMANCA / LOURDES
After breakfast and check-out, have a long distance drive to Lourdes – one of the great pilgrimage shrines in the world, where in the Grotto of Massabielle, a beautiful lady revealed herself to a young sick child named Bernadette, that she is the Immaculate Concepcion. Check-in at the hotel for dinner and overnight.
OCT 24 LOURDES
Breakfast at hotel. Have a private Mass at Chapel Lourdes. Have a half-day guided tour on foot to visit the Sanctuaries in Lourdes. Afternoon is free for private devotion. You may bathe in the Healing Waters and witness the blessing of the sick. Walk the Way of the Cross. Back to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
OCT 25 LOURDES / PARIS (train) / LISIEUX
Breakfast and check-out at the hotel. Transfer to Lourdes train station to take a 2nd class TGV train going to Paris, the heart of Europe’s most romantic city. Then proceed to Lisieux. Transfer to the hotel for check-in, dinner and overnight.
OCT 26 LISIEUX / PARIS
Breakfast and check-out at the hotel. Have a half-day guided tour to visit the Holy sites of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, which includes St. Therese House (the Maison Buissonet) and the Chapelle de Sainte Therese in Lisieux. Drive to Paris. Have some free time at Champs Elysees for some shopping. Have dinner at a local restaurant. Check-in and overnight at the hotel.
OCT 27 PARIS
After breakfast, we will visit the Miraculous Medal Church at Rue de Bac where the incorruptible body of St. Catherine de Laboure lies and where the heart of St. Vincent de Paul is kept. We will also visit St. Vincent de Paul Church nearby. Afterwards, we will have a half-day sightseeing guided tour of Paris which includes view of the Place de la Concorde, the Avenue des Champs Elysees (view point), Arc du Triomphe Memorial, Les Invalides and Seine River banks. View also of the famous Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum. Then late in the afternoon, we will have a one-hour Bateaux Parisiens cruise. Have dinner at a local restaurant. Return to the hotel for overnight.
OCT 28 PARIS / MANILA
Breakfast and check-out at the hotel. Celebrate private Mass at one of the Catholic Churches. Then have a short visit to Sacre Coeur. Rest of the day is free at your own leisure for last minute shopping before transfer to Paris airport to catch your flight to Manila.
OCT 29 MANILA
“Home Sweet Home”!!!
