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

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

This morning we’ll tour Taormina’s remarkably situated ancient Greek theater, which is still used today for open-air performances. Later you’ll be free to enjoy the sights, sounds, and aromas of this beautiful cliffside old-world town. Later, we’ll enjoy dinner together. Overnight Taormina.

We’ll depart Taormina and travel to Siracusa. We’ll visit this place which illustrates the ancient history of the Mediterranean and Europe. Its vast archeological site, on the edge of the modern city, is a rare treasure of temples, amphitheaters, and an ancient castle. Located near the southeastern corner of Sicily on the Ionian coast, Siracusa is built on an ancient Greek settlement founded by Corinthians in 734. We’ll continue to Agrigento for dinner and overnight. (Our tour of Agrigento may occur this afternoon or tomorrow morning.)

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 of Greece itself. We’ll depart Agrigento and travel to Palermo. On the way, we’ll make a stop in Menfi, located slightly back from the Sicilian coast. The landscape in this area is particularly breathtaking: large areas of grass and corn fields but also vineyards. Visit the ancient town and continue to Palermo for dinner and overnight.

Then we’ll greet our driver and hop aboard our coach bound for the hill-topping town of Monreale, renowned for its Arab-flavored 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.

After breakfast, spend a day exploring the best of Palermo. We’ll tour through Palermo’s colorful and bustling Ballaro 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. Dinner and overnight.

After breakfast transfer to the airport to catch your flight to Naples. Upon arrival at Naples airport, you will meet your tour escort who will accompany you throughout your tour. You’ll enjoy a short panoramic tour of Naples on the way to Sorrento (time permitting and based on time of arrival). Dinner and overnight in Sorrento.

After breakfast, board your motor coach to Pompeii, the famous ancient city buried by the ashes of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. You will walk through one of the most important and interesting archeological museums in the world. This is a preserved site full of the excavated ruins of streets and homes that pilgrims can freely explore. Visit the Shrine of the Rosary of Pompei “La Madonna Del Rosario”, one of the most visited Catholic Shrines. The painting of “Our Lady of the Rosary” with its bronze gilt frame is presented to the pilgrims on the high altar. The venerated painting depicts the Virgin Mary and Child Jesus presenting the Rosary to Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena. Inside the shrine there are also two very important relics belonging to the Passion of Christ; a thorn from the Crown of Thorns and a small piece of the Holy Cross. Enjoy some time to relax before dinner and overnight.

Today you will tour the Amalfi Coast, widely considered one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world; deemed a UNESCO World Heritage site as an outstanding example of a Mediterranean landscape. You’ll follow the 34 miles of winding roads, making a quick stop to view the breathtaking panoramic view of Positano. Continue through Praiano where you will drive by St. Gennaro Church, to Amalfi, one of the four maritime Republics of Italy, and view the beautiful Amalfi Cathedral consecrated to its patron, Saint Andrew. Some free time for lunch before your last stop on the Amalfi coast, Ravello. View its interesting Cathedral devoted to Saint Pantaleone, and the Villa Rufolo, a venue for many festivals throughout the year and magnificent gardens. View the Gulf of Salerno and its beautiful coastline. Enjoy the landscape on your return to Sorrento, where you will enjoy dinner and an overnight.

Departing Sorrento after breakfast, we will make a stop to ascend to the Sacro Monte della Santissima Trinità di Gaeta, offering silent reflection amidst breathtaking coastal views. Seek further solace at the historic cappella Maria SS Della Civita before continuing to Rome. Welcome to Rome, also known as “The Eternal City.” You will travel together for Mass before dinner. After dinner you have to opportunity to join in a walk to St. Peter’s Square for the Rosary (optional).

We begin 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, we will visit the Trevi Fountain, where you may enjoy some free time on your own for lunch. This afternoon, 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. Next, you will cross the street to visit the Holy Stairs. These Holy Stairs are the very steps leading up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem on which Jesus stepped on his way to trial during his Passion. The Stairs were brought to Rome by Saint Helena in the fourth century. Ascending these stairs on your knees, in memory of Christ’s agonizing Passion. We conclude our day, with a Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Church dedicated to Our Blessed Mother, St. Mary Major reigns as the only Basilica that has kept its original structure and is an authentic jewel in the crown of Roman Churches. This Basilica contains a relic from the Manger of the Infant Jesus. Return to the hotel for 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 view Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture, pray at the tombs of Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II. 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.

After an early breakfast and heartfelt farewells, your group will leave by motorcoach and transfer to the Rome Fiumicino airport for 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.