Make your way to your local airport, where you will board your overnight flight(s) to Rome. 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 Arrivals 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, this afternoon, your group will meet in the hotel lobby and depart for Mass. After 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).

This morning, we will attend the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square or at the Audience Hall. The Audience is celebrated each Wednesday by the Holy Father (pending the papal schedule). In the afternoon, enjoy a tour of the Spanish Quarter of Rome, including the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the churches of Sant’Agostino, Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, and San Luigi dei Francesi. Time permitting, there may also be an opportunity to visit the Chiesa del Gesù. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

Today we will attend the Ordination to the Diaconate of Reed Robinson, a seminarian for the Diocese of Nashville. We will tour St. Peter’s Basilica, where we’ll have the opportunity to view Michelangelo’s Pietá, Bernini’s baldacchino, and pray at the tombs of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope St. John Paul II. Afterwards we’ll continue down the Appian Way, one of the earliest roads built in ancient Rome, to the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Time permitting, we will also visit the site of St. Paul’s martyrdom, the Basilica of the Tre Fontane. Overnight in Rome.

Today we will attend the first preached Mass of the newly ordained Deacon Reed Robinson. Following Mass, we will visit the oldest of the four major Basilicas in Rome, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. We will then cross the street to visit the Holy Stairs, believed to be the very steps that led up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem which Jesus climbed during his Passion. We conclude our day with a visit to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, which contains a relic from the manger of the Infant Jesus and the Salus Populi Romani icon. Enjoy dinner at the hotel and a restful overnight.

Today we will explore Ancient Rome. Visit the Palatine Hill where Rome was founded, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum, among the most famed landmarks of the city (no interior tour). Afterwards, visit the Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli to view the chains which bound St. Peter during his Roman imprisonment and Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses. Our final tour of the day will be the excavations of the Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano which provides a fascinating glimpse into the archaeological layers of Roman history. Dinner and overnight.

This morning, we will board the bus and enjoy the scenic route to the Abbey of Monte Cassino, the principal monastery of the Benedictine Order, founded by St. Benedict around 530 A.D. On the way back, stop at Castel Gandolfo, which served as a summer residence and vacation retreat for many popes over the centuries. It is now open to the public as a museum. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

Today we will visit the Vatican Museum, where you can see the Tapestry Gallery, Raphael Rooms, and the Sistine Chapel.  Pending availability, we will explore the necropolis under St. Peter’s Basilica, which includes the tomb of St. Peter, as part of the Scavi Tour. We will then visit the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, home of the tombs of several early popes and martyrs, including St. Cecilia. Time permitting, we may also visit the Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme which houses many relics of Our Lord’s Passion. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

After breakfast we will depart for the Rome Fiumcino airport for a return flight 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.