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

Upon arrival at Palermo airport, you will meet your tour escort who will accompany you throughout your tour. We’ll transfer to our hotel in Palermo for dinner and overnight.

Spend a day exploring the best of Palermo. We’ll tour through Palermo’s colorful and bustling Ballaró street market – all spiced with an evocative whiff of Africa. See the top attractions in the old town of the Sicilian capital of Palermo, including the Teatro Massimo, Cathedral, and Politeama Theater. We will visit the Santuario of Santa Rosalia where the St. Rosalia’s relics are kept. Born into a wealthy family, Rosalia felt a strong calling to a life of solitude and prayer. She fled to the mountains near Palermo, where she lived as a hermit and performed miracles. Rosalia’s holiness spread throughout Sicily, and people from all walks of life sought her intercession. Dinner and overnight in Palermo.

Following breakfast enjoy a scenic drive along the western coast of Sicily to the town of Erice, “the city of 100 churches,” located atop Mount Erice. We will stop here to embrace the breathtaking views overlooking all of Trapani. The day will be spent touring this wonderfully preserved medieval village, wandering down its cobbled alleys, visiting the Norman castle, and stopping in several of the over sixty Catholic churches in the historic town. You will have free time in the afternoon to explore before continuing to the hill-top town of Monreale, renowned for its Arab-influenced Monreale Cathedral, blending Byzantine, Arab, Jewish, Gothic, and Norman traditions, heritage, and art. We’ll tour the Cathedral’s interior of glittering, golden mosaics, as well as the story-telling columns of the cloister. Return to Palermo for dinner and overnight.

This morning we’ll enjoy the ruins of Agrigento, one of the richest of the Greek colonies and a thriving democracy 2,500 years ago. We’ll focus on Agrigento’s ‘Valley of the Temples’ – the largest, best-preserved collection of ancient Greek buildings outside Greece. Dinner and overnight.

Today, we will drive to Siracusa, known for its rich Greek and Roman history. In fact, during your guided tour, you will visit the Neapolis Archaeological Site and the Greek Theatre. These sites illustrate the ancient history of the Mediterranean and Europe. Syracuse’s real attraction is the Neapolis Archaeological Park, home to the pearly Teatro Greco. Constructed in the 5th century BC and rebuilt in the 3rd century, the 16,000-capacity amphitheater staged the last tragedies of Aeschylus (including The Persians), first performed here in his presence. It serves as a model for the theaters across the Classical world where early Christians preached to their communities. Visit the Cathedral, Basilica, and catacombs dedicated to St. Lucy the patroness of this city. We’ll also visit the Ortigia, dotted with impressive church facades, outdoor restaurants, elegant piazzas, and surrounded by a crystalline sea. Continue to Catania for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, enjoy a city walking tour including the gorgeous Cathedral of St. Agata of Catania. St. Agata was a young Christian virgin from Catania who was martyred around the year 251 for refusing to renounce her faith and marry the Roman proconsul Quintianus. She is known for her courage and devotion, and her relics are kept in a silver sarcophagus within the Cathedral of Sant’Agata. Explore the Via Etnea and the Via Crociferi, the very heart of baroque Catania. Dinner and overnight.

Today, there will be an excursion to Mt. Etna. Mt. Etna is Europe’s highest and among the most active volcanoes. It is a third Sicilian World Heritage Site. Eruptions and lava flows have created a very fertile agricultural region suited for viticulture and fruit plantations. In the afternoon we will visit a winery and enjoy some wine tasting with lunch. Continue to Taormina for dinner and overnight.

Taormina is spectacularly located on the terrace of Monte Tauro between the Ionian Sea and Mt. Etna. It started as a Greek settlement, then became a Roman colony, was destroyed and rebuilt by Arabs and next conquered by Normans. The town center remains well preserved, built in the 9th-century Byzantine style. Our morning walking tour along Corso Umberto from Porta Messina to Porta Catania will show its harmonious beauty. We will visit a fantastic Greek theater, rebuilt by the Romans and still serves as a film festival venue. Dinner and overnight in Taormina.

This morning, we leave Taormina for Messina. Its history dates to the 8th century B.C. Messina was sacked, seized, or conquered by Carthaginians, Memertines, Goths, Arabs, Normans, and English, to name a few, but their spirit was never defeated. In more recent times, the city was almost destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 1908, which killed over 60,000 people and destroyed most of the ancient architecture. Visit Messina’s main street, the Via Garibaldi. You will see the Vittorio Emanuele Theater, the Town Hall, the Church of Catalani, the Court, and the university. Continue to Pizzo and Sanctuary of St. Francis of Paola. Along the way we drive through forests of pine, oak, and beech and we can stop to take photos of the stunning coastal views.

We arrive at the Sanctuary of Paola, built in the 15th century by Saint Francis of Paola, the Patron Saint of Calabria. The Sanctuary holds some of the remains of the saint (the rest are found in Tours in France) and attracts pilgrims from all over the world. You will learn more about the history of St. Francis and the Sanctuary by following an easy self-guided walking itinerary. Continue to Cosenza for dinner and overnight.

Following breakfast, we will board the bus to Mugnano del Cardinale to visit the Shrine of Saint Philomena. When her remains were brought to the village church at Mugnano from Rome, graces, favors, and miracles began to occur among the village people. Miracles continued year after year and in 1837, Philomena was elevated to Sainthood. Continue to San Giovanni Rotondo, where St. Pio of Pietrelcina (St. Padre Pio) lived for many decades and thousands of people have flocked in to be closer to this great saint and Our Lord. Dinner and overnight in San Giovanni Rotondo.

Visit the Old Church of Our Lady of Grace and see the confessional from where St. Pio spent innumerable hours listening to confessions. Next, you will board the bus and travel along the beautiful Gargano Peninsula to the Grotto of St. Michael the Archangel. Return for dinner and overnight in San Giovanni Rotondo. *Candlelight Procession – Between May and October, attend the weekly candlelight procession at the Sanctuary of St. Pio after dinner, at 9:00 pm.

Following breakfast spend a free day in San Giovanni Rotondo dedicated to prayer, reflection, and personal devotion. Dinner and overnight in San Giovanni Rotondo.

Following breakfast transfer to Bari airport for your return flights home.

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