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

Welcome to Italy! 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 Assisi. Enjoy a relaxing afternoon and then attend Mass at a local church, followed by a delicious Italian dinner and restful overnight.

Wake up in Assisi, home of St. Francis and St. Clare. You’ll be captivated how the atmosphere has not changed much since St. Francis first began his ministry, in the early 13th-century. Visit to the Santuario Della Spogliazione where Blessed Carlo Acutis’ tomb is placed. Carlo is the first millennial to be declared Blessed who loved the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. From there, you will continue on a walking tour through this picturesque town, to the Church that honors St. Clare, the foundress of the Poor Clare Sisters. This Saint followed the teachings of St. Francis very closely by also living a life of poverty and humility. Dinner and overnight in Assisi.

As you visit the birthplace of St. Francis, you will become captivated as the atmosphere has not changed since St. Francis began his ministry, in the early 13th-century. You will start your tour at the St. Francis Basilica, visit his tomb and view a series of frescoes depicting his life, along with a few of the saint’s possessions. After lunch, you will board the bus, which will take you outside of the walls of Assisi, to the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. This is where St. Francis spent most of life. This Basilica is made up of two structures, both of which you will visit. The first structure is the “Porziuncola”, which is where St. Francis founded his order of the Friar Minor (Franciscans). The second, is the “Capella del Transito”, which is the place of St. Francis’ death. During your time here, you will have the opportunity to visit the beautiful Rose Garden where St. Francis and other friars lived and pray. Included in your tour of Assisi will be the Eremo della Carceri and the Church of San Damiano. Return to the hotel for dinner and an overnight.

This morning the group will depart for La Verna. Here group will visit the Sanctuary of San Francesco, a site of constant pilgrimage over the centuries and a religious center known all over the world. Monte de La Verna was given by Count Orlando Cattani to St. Francis of Assisi in 1213 A.D. There he founded a small hermitage community and in 1224 he received from Christ the final seal of the stigmata. For the next decade, Francis himself would spend part of the year in quiet meditation in caves and huts on the mountaintop. Today, the sanctuary stands as a unique spiritual place, surrounded by rich woods, and is a reminder of the ancient relationship between man and nature. We visit the Stigmata Chapel as well as Sasso Spicco, the great overhanging rock under which Francis delighted to pray, and the beautiful Chapel of the Birds. After some time for prayer and reflection, return to Assisi for dinner and the evening.

Following breakfast, the group departs for Rome, with a stop in Greccio along the way. Upon arriving in the Eternal City, check-in to your hotel. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

This morning we attend the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square or at the Audience Hall. The Audience is celebrated each Wednesday by His Holiness, Pope Francis (pending the papal schedule). Enjoy some free time and lunch on your own. This afternoon, visit the Basilica of St. Mary Major, dedicated to Our Blessed Mother. The next stop is 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. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

You’ll begin the day at the Vatican Museums, where you can see the Tapestry Gallery, Raphael Rooms, and culminating in a visit to the Sistine Chapel. Then you will 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 and pray at the tombs of Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

After breakfast, you begin your full day tour of Rome, starting at the Catacombs and then visiting the fourth major Basilica of Rome, St. Paul’s Outside the Walls. Continue on to Piazza Navona and the famous Bernini fountain, then visit the Church of St. Monica, San Luigi Francesi, the Pantheon, and finish the tour at the Gesu. Enjoy your farewell dinner and overnight in Rome.

After an early breakfast and heartfelt farewells, your group will leave by motor coach and transfer to 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.