Make your way to your local airport, where you will board your overnight flight(s). Your meals will be served on board.

Welcome to Rome, also known as, “The Eternal City”. Upon arrival at Rome airport, collect your luggage in the baggage claim area, and continue to the arrival’s hall, where you will be greeted by a tour escort and/or driver. You will make your way to the bus and transfer to your hotel. Following check-in, you will have free time to unpack and relax, or explore Rome on your own. Your tour escort may suggest places to visit. Later in the afternoon, your group will meet in the hotel lobby for a “Meet and Greet” with your fellow pilgrims and depart for Mass. Following Mass, you will attend a welcome dinner. After dinner, you will have the opportunity to walk to St. Peter’s Square as a group, for the Rosary (optional).

After a nice breakfast at your hotel, your sightseeing day in Rome starts! The tour begins with the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square! The Audience is celebrated each Wednesday by His Holiness, Pope Francis (pending the papal schedule). Following the Audience there will be free time for lunch, or shop, or mail a postcard from the Vatican Post Office. This afternoon you will visit the oldest of the four major Basilicas in Rome, and the home to the relics of Peter and Paul, the Basilica of St. John the Lateran. This Basilica is where Pope Francis was installed as Bishop of Rome, and where he officiates as the Bishop of Rome. Next, we will cross the street to visit the Holy Staircase. Tradition states that this staircase is from Pontius Pilate’s palace of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus. It is also said that this Staircase was brought to Rome by St. Helen in the 4th century. If time permits, you may climb the steps on your knees, in memory of Christ’s agonizing Passion. To conclude your day, we will proceed to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. This Basilica contains a relic from the Manger of the Infant Jesus. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast we will visit the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere (Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere). This beautiful basilica is one of the oldest churches in Rome and offers a serene atmosphere for reflection.Continue to Piazzi Venezia square and it’s remarkable white monument honoring Italy’s first king Vittorio Emanuele II. Italians also call the Monument of Victor Emanuel II ‘Il Vittoriano’ and ‘Altare della Patria’, or altar of the fatherland. The monument commemorates the unification of Italy in 1861 and the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. Although this monument was built in his honor, he is not buried there. Instead, he is buried in the Pantheon. Next group will visit Basilica of Santa Marie del Popolo, a jewel of the Roman Renaissance and Baroque, that has reopened following extensive restoration works that began in 2022. Built in the late 15th century on the site of an earlier church, Santa Maria del Popolo contains works by masters including Bernini, Bramante, Caravaggio, Pinturicchio and Raphael. Conclude the day visiting Basilica of San Clemente. Dinner in Campo de’iori area and overnight in hotel.

After breakfast we will visit one of the world-famous landmarks of Ancient Rome – the Colosseum! The Amphitheater created to entertain ancient Roman citizens with bloody shows of gladiators, animals and cruel games, is now one of the most fascinating and well-preserved landmarks of the city. The Colosseum has seen countless spectacles. Besides Gladiators and animal fights even naval battles were held in a flooded arena. Romans from all walks of life would attend, from commoners to emperors. Walk in the same place as they did centuries ago and learn what their life was like! After lunch enjoy some free time to stroll streets of Rome – exploring and shopping. Later in the day meet up with your group for special experience of Pope’s Museums open their doors after dusk, allowing visitors to enjoy an evocative and unusual nocturnal atmosphere. During your tour you will view some of the finest ancient sculptures and Renaissance art in the world. Visit the Michelangelo’s famous frescos of the Sistine Chapel, the private chapel of the Pope with a major perk of minimal crowds! Head back to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

After a good breakfast, we will make our way to our Ancient Rome tour where we will see Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Access the Palatine Hill with no line and discover the hill where Rome was founded at the beginning. Following lunch, we will have a downtown walking tour of Rome including, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Via del Corso, Pantheon, Santa Maria Sopra. The Pantheon is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history. Since the 7th century, it has been a church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs known as “Santa Maria Rotonda”. End the day by visiting St. Peter in Chains Basilica for Mass. The Basilica was originally dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. Also called the Eudoxian Basilica because it was built by order of the Empress Eudoxia, mother of Ventinian III, in 422, for the veneration of the chains which bound St. Peter. Rebuilt by Sixtus IV in 1475. When the chains which, according to tradition, were used to bind St. Peter in the Mamertine Prison – Raphael depicted the deliverance of the saint by an angel in his famous stanze in the Vatican – were donated to Pope Leo the Great as a precious relic, St . Peter became the sole patron. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

After breakfast, we will make our way to Orvieto, a city situated on a cliff in the Umbria region. Arrive in Orvieto, a city known for its Duomo and considered one of the most architecturally important in Europe, for its Etruscan roots, and for the museums where one finds collections and displays that range over 2,500 years of history. During this tour, you will walk through Orvieto’s charming, narrow alleys, and small squares. Your tour will be a very memorable experience, perfect for reflecting over while you enjoy an Umbrian meal and a wine tasting in one of Orvietos fabulous wine cellars. After a wonderful afternoon, we will make our way back to Rome for dinner and overnight.

This morning after Mass we will continue down the Appian Way, one of the earliest roads built in ancient Rome to visit the Catacombs in Rome. The world’s largest underground burial of its ancient Christian community. After we will visit to the Basilica of St. Paul, outside the walls. Originally founded by Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century, this Basilica is the burial places of Saint Paul the Apostle. Stroll through the third largest public park containing many buildings, museums, attractions in Rome Villa Borghese. Whose landscapes and gardens are similar to those of an English manor. The rest of your day is free to explore. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

After an early breakfast and heartfelt farewells, your group will leave by motor coach and transfer to the Rome Fiumicino airport for return flights home. Arriverderci, Roma.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of places to be visited. Occasionally local religious holidays, national days, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of visits or the missing of certain visits.