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

Welcome to Rome, also known as “The Eternal City.” Upon landing at Rome airport, claim your baggage and proceed to the Arrivals Hall, where your tour guide and/or driver will greet you. Following check-in at the hotel, enjoy some free time to unpack, relax or explore Rome on your own. Your tour escort may suggest places to visit. Later this afternoon, your group will meet in the hotel lobby for a meet and greet and you will depart together for Mass. Following Mass, you will attend a welcome dinner. After dinner you have to opportunity to join in a walk to St. Peter’s Square for the Rosary (optional).

This morning we attend the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square. The Audience is celebrated each Wednesday by His Holiness, Pope Francis (pending the papal schedule). Next Trevi Fountain area for some free time and lunch (on own). This afternoon, visit the oldest of the four major Basilicas in Rome, the Archbasilica of St. John the Lateran, the cathedral church and seat of the Bishop of Rome. Cross the street to the very steps that lead up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem which Jesus climbed on His way to trial during his Passion. Holy Mass will be celebrated by our priest at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. This Basilica contains a relic from the manger of the infant Jesus. Dinner and overnight.

Today we tour St. Peter’s Basilica, built on the site where St. Peter the Apostle was martyred. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to pray at the tomb of St. John Paul II and view Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture. Next you will visit the Vatican Museum, where you can see the Tapestry Gallery, Raphael Rooms, and Sistine Chapel. After lunch, continue down the Appian Way, one of the earliest roads built in ancient Rome to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the Catacombs. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

This morning group will have a visit of North American College and celebrate Mass there. After lunch, we will visit urban settlements called Castelli Romani. Since ancient times and continuing during the Renaissance, the area was very famous for its healthy and breezy climate. Emperors, popes, and ecclesiastical dignitaries had luxurious residences still partially preserved between the lakes and the ancient volcanic craters that characterize them. The magnificent natural environment that characterizes the area is today the Regional Park of the Castelli Romani. It offers many historical-artistic itineraries but also hiking and landscape for everyone. Group will visit Castel Gandolfo, the town which has played host to Popes for 400 years as they escaped the hot Roman summers. We will have beautiful views of the lake and as we walk to the Apostolic Palace you will see small charming shops along the way. Return to Rome for dinner on your own and overnight.

After breakfast, you we leave for Loreto. On the way we stop in Lanciano for private Mass at the Church of St. Longinus- the site of a Eucharistic Miracle that occurred in the eighth century. At the time of the miracle, there was a Basilian monk, who struggled with the belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. During the time of Mass, the monk, with doubt in his voice, said the words of consecration and the bread and wine transformed into physical flesh and blood. Leave for Marian shrine of Loreto to visit the Holy House of Nazareth and the beautiful Madonna of Loreto. Tradition holds that this is the house in which Mary first prayed the Magnificat, in which Jesus grew to manhood, and in which the Holy Family lived, before it was transported several times by angels, to its current location. Dinner and overnight in Loreto.

After breakfast, you we leave for Assisi. On the way we stop in Cascia and discover Saint Rita of Cascia and her message of dialogue and peace. Today, pilgrims and devotees from all over the world come to visit this small town and experience moments of true spirituality. Cascia is located in the heart of the Valnerina, where the flavors of typical cuisine are complemented by the refinement of works of art. We will be immersed in the natural landscape characterized by mountain peaks, rivers and streams, closed valleys, and ancient villages waiting to be discovered. Continue to Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis and St. Clare, with dinner and overnight at your hotel.

Tour of the Basilica of St. Francis, where you will see the tomb of St. Francis, and have the opportunity to view a series of frescoes depicting his life, along with a few of the saint’s possessions. Next you will visit the Santuario Della Spogliazione where Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb is, the first millennial to be declared Blessed. Continue tour by walking through this picturesque town, where St. Francis and St. Clare both followed God’s call to rebuild his church. Enjoy some free time – for additional prayer, shop and lunch. After lunch, board the bus, which will take you outside of the walls of Assisi, to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. This Basilica is made up of two structures, both of which you will visit. The first structure is the “Porziuncola” and the second is the “Capella del Transito” which is the place where St. Francis died. Return to the hotel for dinner and a restful overnight.

This morning, you will ride through the beautiful Umbrian mountains to Orvieto. This incredible town sits on a volcanic high rock formation. Here we visit one of the most beautiful and most renowned Cathedrals in Italy. Because of its strategic location, it’s Christian history officially started in 1004, but Orvieto was built over preexisting Etruscan era cave tunnels dating back 2,500 years, which some historians believe Christians used to celebrate Mass when Christianity was forbidden. Return to Assisi for farewell dinner and overnight.

Following breakfast at your hotel transfer to Rome Airport for your return flights home.

*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.