Rome • Lanciano • Manoppello • San Giovanni Rotondo • Sicily • Mount Etna • Syracuse • Taormina • Catania • Cefalu • Palermo • Trapani • Agrigento • Selinunte
12 days- Our prices include airfare from your hometown and exclusively 4 or 5 star hotels everywhere
Scroll down to view the itinerary; click on the trip date to book your trip online.
There are no trip dates scheduled at this time.
Trip Includes
- A Catholic priest will be with the group to celebrate daily Mass.
- Round-trip airfare from your hometown connecting in a major city to fly overseas is included.
- Airport Taxes, Security Fees, and Fuel Surcharges!
- Exclusively 4 or 5 star hotels in downtown areas.
- All breakfasts and all dinners. Wine is included with all dinners.
- Transportation with luxury bus.
- All entrance fees to all the sites.
- All tips to everyone involved in the tour.
- The tour fees for our guides. Our tour guides are well educated, caring, and professional. Most of them have their PhD's in Church history, archeology, philosophy, languages, or Theology.
- Luggage handling includes 1 checked bag, 1 carry on bag and 1 personal item such as purse, tote, etc.
- Dress casually throughout the whole trip. Shoulders and knees should be covered when visiting Basilicas or churches.
- If you are traveling alone and you allow us to find you a roommate, you don't pay the $900 single supplement. If you wish to have your own room and you are not open to rooming with another passenger, then the single supplement fee is $900.
- Wheelchair can be provided for those passengers who cannot walk, with prior notice at registration for $150. A traveling companion has to push the wheelchair throughout the trip.
- At the time of registration, as a part of the total balance, a non-refundable $500 is due in the form of a credit card. For example, if your trip costs $3,700, when you sign up, you pay a $500 deposit, then your balance would be $3,200 and is due 4 months before departure date in the form of cash, personal check, cashiers check, or money order. If you sign up after the final payment due date or at the last minute, you pay the entire cost of the trip at registration.
- 1 month after registration, a $1,000 additional deposit is due only in the form of cash, personal check, cashiers check, or money order.
Trip Does Not Include
- Lunch
- Covid Testing Costs (time for required Covid tests will be built into the tour).
- Insurance ~ The total trip cost is non-refundable, we recommend trip insurance to protect your investment.
Trip Itinerary
Monday October 2 - Day 1: Depart USA for Rome
Tuesday October 3 - Day 2: Arrive in Rome. Depending upon your arrival time, we may visit the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Wall where the body of St. Paul is buried. It is the 2nd largest basilica in Rome and the 5th in the world. Check in the hotel and rest for a few hours if time permits. In the afternoon, we will be visiting St. Mary Major, the main Basilica dedicated to Mary in Rome. We will see the remains of Jesus' manger, the tomb of Bernini, the remains of St. Matthew the Evangelist, the tomb of St. Jerome, and the oldest icon in the world of the Virgin Mary painted by St. Luke: the famous Salus Populi Romani. We may immerse ourselves in the local culture by attending an Italian mass at St. Mary Major as well. Casual dress. Shop for bulk religious articles at Comandini to bring to the papal audience the next day and to relax. Dinner and overnight in Rome.
Wednesday October 4 - Day 3: We will have an early start as our private bus leaves around 7:00 am to the Vatican to experience the 10:00 am Audience with the Pope. We will see the Pope very closely; sometimes we even shake his hand. Visit Castle Gondolfo,a little village which is also the Pope's summer residence. Long pants, capris,or skirts below the knee, shoulders covered. Time to rest before dinner in the area of the hotel. Overnight in Rome.
Thursday October 5 - Day 4: Visit the Vatican Museums and Sistene Chapel, the Pope's Private chapel. Tour of St. Peter's in the Vatican, the largest Basilica in the world. Stop at St John Lateran on our way up the Adriatic Coast to Lanciano where we will visit St Francis’ church and the sanctuary of the Eucharistic Miracle., then to the Holy Face Sanctuary in Manoppello. Mass and Overnight in area of Manoppello.
Friday October 6 - Day 5: En route to San Giovanni Rotondo visit St Michel’s Cave in Monte Gargan. After lunch we will visit the nearby Shrine of Monte Sant’Angelo, where St. Michael the Archangel appeared in 490, 492, and 1656. Dinner and overnight in San Giovanni Rotondo.
Saturday October 7 - Day 6: Tour San Giovanni Rotondo with visits to the old church, Santa Maria delle Grazie, the Friary of Padre Pio, his tomb, cell, confessional, and we end the morning with the new church, the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church. Attend Saturday Evening Mass there.
Sunday October 8 - Day 7: Travel to Sicily, dinner and overnight.
Monday October 9 - Day 8: Eat at a winery near Mt Etna – Lunch or dinner. The Cathedral with the Chapel of Sant'Agata containing the saint's treasures. Walk on the Via Etnea, an elegant street lined with Baroque-style buildings and shops that crosses the city from Piazza Duomo to Piazza Stesicoro where you can see the Vincenzo Bellini Monument, the imposing Roman Amphitheater, and the Church of Sant'Agata alla Fornace. It is considered by many the most beautiful city of Italy. Drive to Syracuse, visit the Duomo (Cathedral). The building contains influences from various cultures within its wall: Greek, Byzantine, Arabic, and the Norman Church of Santa Lucia. The church stands on the site where, so the legend goes, Syracuse's patron saint was martyred. Visit the incredible city of Taormina and enjoy the famous volcano of Mount Etna. Return to Catania for dinner and overnight stay.
Tuesday October 10 - Day 9: Today we will get an early start so we can enjoy a full day in the beautiful town of Cefalu. Your tour will include the cathedral and abbey; the ruins of the Temple of Diana; the charming medieval streets and buildings; and quaint restaurants. After lunch Get acquainted with the ancient city of Palermo, including Monreale. by taking a bus tour that includes a Phoenician-Carthaginian cemetery, Roman houses, Norman palaces, and Baroque churches. Calatafimi Antichi Granai to eat dinner and perhaps overnight.
Wednesday October 11 - Day 10: Drive to Hotel in Trapani Provence where we will visit Trapani where the famous Basilica/Sanctuary of Santa Maria Santissima Annunziata is located, home of the Madonna of Trapani. Visit Erice, Segesta, and Madonna di Giubino. Stop in Marsala for a vineyard tour and wine tasting. Dinner and overnight in Trapani.
Thursday October 12 - Day 11: Tour of Selinunte and Agrigento. Dinner and overnight in Taormina.
Fridday October 13 - Day 12: Our private bus brings us to the airport to fly back to USA.
Please note: We do our best to ensure that all sites in this itinerary will be seen. However, due to scheduling conflicts, or other circumstances beyond our control, sites may be visited on a different day than listed. Since we have several different trip configurations touring at the same time, it is likely that groups on different tours will be combined when their itineraries overlap in certain areas.