Need to Plan a Trip? Honeymoon? Call the Gurus: 337-453-1932
Need to Plan a Trip? Honeymoon? Call the Gurus: 337-453-1932
Hotel Half Board Dinner Supplement $190
For a carefree stay in Rome, you can opt to add 4 dinners to your trip, enhancing your stay at the hotel to a half-board arrangement. The additional dinners will be 3-course meals including water and a choice of wine or beer.
Hotel – St Martin Rome $130 (If you choose to come a day early or day late)
About this Tour:
The centuries-old jubilar tradition continues with you making a pilgrimage to Rome during the Holy Year 2025.
Discover why Italy is a bastion of Catholicism as you visit Rome’s Seven Pilgrim Churches and the Catacombs. Attend the weekly Papal audience and receive the blessing given by the Pope. Spend time at the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, the beloved saint’s hometown.
Discover Michelangelo’s Last Judgment mural and explore St. Peter’s Basilica. See the world’s most inspirational sites and relics in Rome and Assisi amid the Roman Catholic Church’s Year of Jubilee.
9 Days – 8 Nights
Pricing
Double – $4,229 pp
Deposit – $698 pp
Air – Included
Travel Protection $449
Your tour package includes
Highlights
Must-See Inclusions:
Cultural Experiences:
Overnight Flight 1 night
Day 1: Travel day
Become “Pilgrims of Hope” during the Holy Year 2025. Join a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, experiencing some of the most fascinating religious sites and relics in the world. Take part in the Jubilee, a tradition with biblical roots and re-established in AD 1300. Renew your Faith and join the multitudes of pilgrims who have been traveling to Rome for centuries for the chance to receive the plenary indulgence.
Day 2: Rome, Italy – Tour Begins
Included meal: Welcome dinner
Your tour opens in Rome, the spiritual center of the Catholic faith during the Holy Year. This evening, join your fellow travelers for a welcome dinner at your hotel, featuring regional delicacies and Italian wine.
Day 3: Rome
Included Meals: Breakfast
This morning, begin your pilgrimage of the Seven Jubilee Churches with a visit to Rome’s cathedral: the Basilica of St. John Lateran – the former residence of the popes. Continue to the Scala Sancta, the Holy Stairs which tradition believes are the steps that Christ climbed when he appeared before Pontius Pilate. This afternoon, enter the Marian Basilica of St. Mary Major, where art and spirituality meet. Celebrate Mass before returning to the hotel for an evening at leisure. Or opt to enhance your Roman sojourn with a half-board dinner supplement at your hotel.
Day 4: Rome
Included Meals Breakfast
Today, venture beyond ancient Rome’s city limits, though still within the modern city center.
Visit the Basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls, built over the shrine of Saint Lawrence, one of the earliest martyrs of the Catholic Church.
Continue to St. Paul Outside the Walls and pause in reverence at the tomb of the Apostle. This afternoon, celebrate Mass at the church of St. Sabastian Outside the Walls.
Then, follow the steps down to the catacombs underneath the basilica, for a touching visit to the tombs of early Christians, martyrs, and saints.
Day 5: Papal Blessing & Prayer
Included Meals Breakfast
This morning, celebrate Mass at the Shrine of the Divine Mercy. Afterward, walk on to St. Peter’s Square to await the Papal Blessing.** Every Sunday when in residence, His Holiness pronounces a brief reflection on the Gospel of the day before reciting the Angelus prayer from his window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
This afternoon, visit the Shine of our Lady of Divine Love, added to the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome by Saint John Paul II during the Jubilee of AD 2000.
Day 6: Assisi – Rome
Included Meals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Early this morning, travel north to Assisi, where St. Francis spent most of his life.
Visit St. Mary of the Angels Basilica, built on the founding site of the Franciscan Order. Pause at the Chapel of the Porziuncola, the rose bush, and the cave where the Saint prayed.
After an included lunch, join a local expert on a tour of the 13th-century basilica of St. Francis, where you can see many of St. Francis’ possessions and a series of frescoes. Celebrate Mass in the basilica before returning to Rome in the evening for a late dinner at your hotel.
Day 7: Vatican City – Rome
Included Meals Breakfast
This morning explore the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel where the Pope is elected and where Michelangelo’s famous Last Judgment mural is located.
End your visit of the Vatican City in St. Peter’s Basilica, the world’s largest church. Feel the grace around you as you meander along towering marble columns and stand in awe before La Pietà, Michelangelo’s renowned sculpture.
This afternoon, visit the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, another of the seven pilgrimage churches of the Jubilee and where you celebrate Mass.
Day 8: Papal Audience
Included Meals Breakfast, Dinner
Early this morning attend the weekly Papal audience at the Vatican City to receive the blessing given by His Holiness the Pope.
The afternoon is yours to do as you wish. You may choose to cross the Holy Door of St. Peter’s to seek jubilar absolution if you have not done so yet.
This evening, join your fellow travelers for a farewell dinner at a local restaurant celebrating the end of a memorable pilgrimage to Italy.
Day 9: Rome – Tour Ends
Included Meals Breakfast
Your spiritual journey to Rome and Assisi comes to a close. Return home with renewed faith as a Pilgrim of Hope.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
BOOK NOW RATES – Book Now rates valid until Nov 01, 2024, valid on air inclusive packages only.
AIR – Economy air rate and schedule are applicable for groups of 10 or more traveling on the same flights and dates.
To complete your tour, we include roundtrip airport-to-hotel transfers when purchasing our airfare with your tour. If you have arranged for your own air, we are pleased to provide you the option of purchasing these transfers. Please note that all transfers will leave at pre-scheduled times.
PRIEST – If you are traveling in a group without a priest, we cannot guarantee daily Mass. However, you’ll be able to attend Mass on most days, but the Masses will be in public churches and with rare exceptions, will be presented in Italian.
VATICAN – ***Vatican Museums are not available on most Sundays and Catholic holidays. Dates and times are all subject to change based on availability of reservations.
PAPAL BLESSING – **The Papal Blessing and Papal Audience are, at times, unavailable due to the Pope’s travel schedule. Both the Blessing and Audience take place in Italian, at times with brief salutations in English and other languages.
DRESS – Modest dress (covering your knees and shoulders for women and long trousers for men) is required when visiting religious sites, sanctuaries, basilicas, etc.
ACCOMODATIONS – Single accommodations are limited and are available on a first come, first served basis.
SHOPS – Most shops and businesses in Italy are closed on Sundays and on national/religious holidays.
ADDITIONAL DINNER ARRANGEMENTS – *For a carefree stay in Rome, you can opt to add 4 dinners to your trip, enhancing your stay at the hotel to a half-board arrangement. The additional dinners will be 3-course meals including water and a choice of wine or beer. This optional supplement can be booked up to 30 days prior to your trip.
AIR – Please be advised many airlines do not provide advance seat assignments until check-in at the airport. Advance seating will be subject to the airline’s terms and conditions.
For air-inclusive reservations, the name provided at time of booking must match your government-issued ID that will be used during travel. Name changes are subject to penalties.
IDENTIFICATION – Passports are required for this tour at your expense. Certain countries require that your passport be valid at least 6 months beyond the dates of your travel. You are strongly urged to contact the appropriate consulate for details. Visit www.travel.state.gov for the U.S. State Department for the latest details about passports and visa requirements.
IMPORTANT: We recommend that travelers take a photocopy of their passport and applicable visas. It should be packed separately from your actual passport and visa. We also recommend leaving a copy at home with your emergency contact.
VISA – Effective for travel in 2024, all visitors who do not need a visa to enter Europe will be expected to apply for an ETIAS visa waiver, for a fee, when visiting a Schengen Area Country. To identify Schengen Area Countries and to complete the ETIAS application, please visit https://www.etiasvisa.com/
ACTIVITY LEVEL – The overall activity level of this tour is a level 3., This means you’re an on-the-go traveler.
You don’t want to miss a thing, so walking and standing for longer periods of time (2-3 hours) isn’t a big deal. A moderately paced two-and-a-half-hour walking tour, covering several miles, hills, and uneven surfaces, is no problem for you. Walking four miles over the course of a day is very doable, as is climbing into and out of various modes of transportation (tuk-tuk, cable car, zodiac, etc.).
You can climb three flights of stairs easily and handle altitudes between 6,000 and 9,000 feet. Expect some longer days with early mornings or late nights balanced with free time to recharge or set out on your own adventure. Some of the most unique sightseeing require accessing locations that restrict motor coach access, especially in historic areas such as Assisi, Rome, and the Vatican City.
For your comfort, we recommend bringing walking shoes. In particular, the visits to the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica require climbing 2-3 flights of tall stairs and walking over cobblestoned streets for a distance of a minimum 4 miles.
Large crowds are expected at all churches and religious sites during the Holy Year. The crowds may induce the city government of Rome to introduce additional limits to motor coach circulation determining the need to use public transportation. In addition, long lines are expected for the crossing of all Holy Doors. The program allows time for the crossing of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica but you must be prepared to stand in line for 2 to 4 hours.
This level is not a fit for travelers who require mobility assistance devices.
WORRY FREE CANCELLATION – Our industry-leading cancellation waiver offers travellers a full cash refund for the price of the tour, right up to the day prior to departure, minus the small cost of the waiver. Travel worry-free knowing if anything changes, you’re protected.
YOU ARE COVERED ON TOUR – Our travel protection plan covers you on tour. If you have to stop your trip or return home early, need medical assistance or evacuation, suffer a baggage loss or delay; or are delayed on tour for 12 hours or more, you’re covered. Travel Protection is just $449 per person.
