Lourdes, Rome & Medjugorje
OUR TRIP INCLUDES:
Round-trip air from New York (special Add-on Airfares from all other US gateways) 10 nights at centrally located three and four-star hotels as follows: (or similar) 3 nights: Hotel Padoue or Gallia Londres, in Lourdes 3 nights: Hotel Cicerone or Quirinale, Rome 4 nights: A modern home/hotel with private baths, Medjugorje Transfers as per itinerary Breakfast and dinner daily Assistance of local guide, sightseeing
Catholic Priest, Mass daily & spiritual activities
Papal Audience (if availible) Luggage handling Flight bag & portfolio of all travel documents
Not Included: Lunches, Beverages with dinners, Airport tax (approx. $200-$380 depending on departure city and routing, when inter-itinerary flights occur taxes can be higher). Travel Insurance optional at $99-$219. Tips to your guide & driver ($6 per day). Items of a personal nature.
Sample Day-by-Day Itinerary:
Day 1 – Depart USA
Depart from New York, JFK or from your hometown for the overnight flight to France.
Day 2 – Lourdes
Upon your arrival in Lourdes transfer to your hotel. Relax or explore before dinner, followed by a candlelight procession before retiring. Dinner and overnight.
Days 3 & 4 – Lourdes
Mass at the Grotto, enjoy a video presentation telling the story of Lourdes, and walk in the footsteps of St Bernadette. See Boly Mill where St Bernadette was born and the "Cachot," an abandoned prison where Bernadette’s impoverished family. Join your prayers with those of pilgrims from around the world as you pray for the sick, drink water from the miraculous spring or submerge yourself in the healing baths. Experience Christ’s love as you walk the life-sized Stations of the Cross overlooking the holy Grotto. Kneel in the chapel built on the very rock of the Grotto, in obedience to the request of the "Immaculate Conception." Evenings are for Blessed Sacrament Procession before dinner. Your role in the universal church will have new meaning as you join the candlelight procession and group rosary.
Day 5 – Lourdes – Rome
Travel by flight(s) to Rome. Upon arrival your escort will warmly greet you this morning and welcome you to Italy. Transfer to your hotel and enjoy a free afternoon for rest, relaxation, or exploration. You tour escort can suggest sights or walks for you to enjoy
Day 6 – Rome (Papal Audience and Vatican Museum Tour) Wake up in Eternal City, one of the greatest centers of Western Civilization and the first truly cosmopolitan city on earth! It is also spiritual capital for all the Catholics around the world. Today is truly a day we will have in our minds for many years to come. This morning we go to Vatican City to attend the weekly Papal Audience or Blessing given by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (pending papal schedule). Following the audience visit of the Vatican Museums, a group of most impressive edifices with hundreds of galleries filled with art treasures. See awe-inspiring relics and works of art donated throughout centuries as tributes of faith. We’ll cover The Tapestry Gallery, The Raphael Rooms and the most overwhelming Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s Masterpiece, restored mural of the Last Judgment. Later, enter the largest church in Christendom St Peter’s Basilica, built on the site where St Peter was martyred. Unsurpassed in beauty, a monument to the long history of the Catholic Church, to which pilgrims come from around the world, St Peter’s is the grandest of the world’s churches. Marvel Pieta and Bernini’s amazing bronze canopy. We will also visit the grave of Pope John Paul II located at the Vatican (time permitting). Before dinner, we’ll have some time at leisure, to explore your own paths, to shop, or just to sit in one of the outside cafes and watch the world go by.
Day 7 – Rome This morning we depart for a sightseeing tour entitled "Christian Rome"
which includes: the Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of the oldest shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, a shrine that contains a relic from the manger of the infant Jesus; the Holy Stairs, the Basilica of St. John the Lateran, The Basilica of the St John in Lateran, is the former residence of the popes prior to their return to Rome in 1377; St Paul Outside the Walls, which houses the remains of St Paul under its main altar; and the Appian Way—the oldest road from Roman times—plus the famous Domino Quo Vadis Chapel; see the ancient Baths of Caracalla, Arch of Drusus; Tomb of Celilia Metella, and the catacombs of St Callixtus where the early Christians hid themselves to escape persecution. We will also enjoy a visit to the Trevi fountain. Dinner and overnight for your last evening in Rome.
Day 8 – Rome – Medjugorje
Afternoon departure from Rome for your flights to Medjugorje. Upon arrival, you’ll be greeted by a tour guide and/or driver who will then take you on the 2 1/2 hour drive by private coach to the village of Medjugorje. Guide will be with your throughout your stay. Once there, you’ll meet your fellow pilgrims and your spiritual leader and be introduced to your host family in whose modern and comfortable house you will be staying for the next four nights.
Days 9 to 11 – Medjugorje
The balance of your trip in Medjugorje is meant to provide you with time for a personal retreat. As such, your time in Medjugorje is not designed to be a “tour”, but rather to provide you with time to pray, reflect, and explore on your own as you feel called. On arrival, you will have an orientation tour after which a representative of 206 Tours will be available should you have any questions or requests, however, you will not have a guide with you through out your stay. Daily Mass in English, as well as English confessions are available at St. James Church. During your stay in Medjugorje you will have full discretion over how your time is spent, in order to have the fullest spiritual experience possible. If you would prefer our traditional pilgrimage/tour of Medjugorje, we would recommend you consider our Tour #1 (www.206tours.com/tour1) which provides a tour escort and spiritual leader through out your stay.
Experience the beauty and peace of this simple village. During your stay in Medjugorje you will have the opportunity to share faith with pilgrims from all over the world. Our local guide will accompany us throughout your stay.
Here are some of the activities you’ll be sharing with our fellow pilgrims: Each morning at 10am we assemble at St James Church for the English-language Mass (Feast days and Sundays English Mass is at Noon). Follow the path up Apparition Hill where the visionaries first encountered Our Lady. Touch and pray before the cross that commemorates the spot where Mary first appeared to the visionaries.
Each evening at 5pm or 6pm daylight savings time, we will join the villagers and pilgrims to pray the rosary. The apparition takes place at 5:40pm or 6:40 daylight savings time, and then stay on for Croatian Mass. Don’t miss on Tuesdays and Saturdays Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and on Fridays Veneration of the Cross in the Church. Each evening during Croatian Mass, there is the Blessing of the Sick and blessing of the items you have with you.
Our guide will arrange meetings with the visionaries at their own homes provided that they are in Medjugorje during your trip, and pending their availability. We will have the opportunity to climb Krizevac Mountain, where in 1933 the villagers built a 30’ high cross on the anniversary of Jesus’ crucifixion. Visit and pray at "Blue Cross", which is a place of great healings and graces- a very special place at the base of Apparition Hill.
We will visit the Oasis of Peace, which has an incredible 24-hour Adoration Chapel.
Day 12 – Medjugorje – USA
After an early breakfast and heartfelt farewells, we leave by motor coach for Dubrovnik Airport (Spilt or Sarajevo) for return flights home
*2009 Travel Dates:
Feb 06 – 17 Mar 06 – 17 Mar 20 – 31 Apr 03 -14 Apr 17 – 28 May 01 – 12 May 15 – 26 May 29 – Jun 09 Jun 12 – 23 Jul 24 – Aug 04 Aug 21 – Sep 01 Sep 04 – 15 Sep 18 – 29 Oct 02 – 13 Oct 16 – 27 Nov 06 – 17
2010 Travel Dates:
Feb 05 – 16 Mar 05 – 16 Mar 19 – 30 Apr 02 – 13 Apr 16 – 27 Apr 30 – May 11 May 14 – 25 May 28 – Jun 08 Jun 11 – 22 Jul 23 – Aug 03 Aug 20 – 31 Sep 03 – 14 Sep 17 – 28 Oct 01 – 12 Oct 15 – 26 Nov 05 – 16
In categories: Tours for Groups
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