A Pilgrimage To Western Europe Faith Based

Depart from home to Lisbon, Portugal.

Welcome to the glorious city of Lisbon, Portugal. En-route to your hotel, you will have a guided city tour featuring visits to Jeronimos Monastery and the Church of St. Anthony. You will have the rest of the afternoon to rest and get ready for your group Welcome dinner this evening. (D)

Accommodation: Sofitel Lisbon Liberdade (1 night)

After breakfast, you will travel to Fatima, 76 miles North of Lisbon to Fatima. En route you will stop and visit the Church of the Holy Miracle in Santarém; Once in Fatima, you will visit Our Lady of Fatima Shrine – where the Virgin Mary appeared to three children in 1917, the Chapel of the Apparitions, and the Spring. You can join the evening's rosary and candlelight procession. (BL)

Accommodation: Hotel Fatima (1 night)

After breakfast, we next travel to Spain to see the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, one of the top pilgrimage destinations during the Middle Ages along with Rome and Jerusalem. The cathedral is the reputed burial place of Saint James the Greater, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. (BD)

Accommodation: Costa Vella Boutique Hotel (1 night)

Travel along the ancient "Way of St. James” to Burgos, the historic capital of Old Castile and enjoy a guided visit to the cathedral (pictured below). Burgos was founded in the 880s as an outpost of this expanding Christian frontier, when Diego Rodríguez "Porcelos", count of Castile, governed this territory with orders to promote the increase of the Christian population. (BL)

Accommodation: Velada Burgos (2 nights)

Today after breakfast you will have free time to enjoy this town full of history and meaning. Places you may want to see are; Chapel of the Condestables de Castilla, the monastery of Las Huelgas and the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores. In addition to the collegiate churches of Lerma, Villadiego, Pampliega, Palenzuela, Covarrubias and others, there any quaint minor churches such as San Esteban, San Gil (Sancti Aegidii), San Pedro, San Cosme y San Damian, Santiago (Sancti Jacobi), San Lorenzo and San Lesmes (Adelelmi).

The Convento de la Merced, occupied by the Jesuits, and the Hospital del Rey are also worthy of mention. In the walls of the city are the famous gateway of Santa María, erected for the first entrance of Emperor Charles V, and the arch of Fernán González. (BD)

Today we will travel along the Basque coast and arrive in Lourdes, one of the world's most famous places of pilgrimage. You will visit the Grotto where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858, Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, and St. Bernadette's birthplace and family home. You may wish to bathe in the healing waters, attend the "Blessing of the Sick”, or join the evening's rosary and candlelight procession. (BL)

Accommodation: Grand Hôtel Gallia et Londres (1 night)

After a leisurely morning breakfast, you will continue on to Rocamadour. According to the founding legend, Rocamadour is named after the founder of the ancient sanctuary, Saint Amator, identified with the Biblical Zacheus, the tax collector of Jericho mentioned in Luke 19:1-10, and the husband of St. Veronica, who wiped Jesus' face on the way to Calvary. Driven out of Palestine by persecution, St. Amadour and Veronica embarked in a frail skiff and, guided by an angel, landed on the coast of Aquitaine, where they met Bishop St. Martial, another disciple of Christ who was preaching the Gospel in the south-west of Gaul.

After journeying to Rome, where he witnessed the martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Paul, Amadour, having returned to France, on the death of his spouse, withdrew to a wild spot in Quercy where he built a chapel in honour of the Blessed Virgin, near which he died a little later. You will have the rest of the day and evening free to explore this spiritually rich ancient city. (BD)

Accommodation: Best Western Beau Site (1 night)

After breakfast today you will travel to Le Puy-en-Velay. You will visit Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe Chapel, the 11-century Baptistery of St John and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, dating chiefly from the first half of the 12th century. The façade, striped in courses of white sandstone and black volcanic breccia, is reached by a flight of sixty steps and consists of three orders. (B)

Accommodation: Hotel Ibis Le Puy en Velay Centre (1 night)

Today after breakfast you will continue on to Paray-le-monial. Paray existed before the monks who gave it its surname of Le Monial, for when Count Lambert of Chalon, together with his wife Adelaide and his friend Mayeul de Cluny, founded there in 973 the celebrated Benedictine priory, the borough had already been constituted, with its ædiles and communal privileges. At that time an ancient temple was dedicated to the Mother of God (Charter of Paray). From 999-1789 the Cluny monks were lords of the town. You will have the rest of the day to explore this charming town. (BD)

Accommodation: Hotel De La Basilique (1 night)

After breakfast, you will visit a local dairy farm where things are still done the way they have been for generations. After your tour, you will be able to taste-test the local cheese it produces along with the local Burgundy wine the area is famous for. After your tour you will continue on to Nevers and check into your hotel. You will tour the famous Nevers Cathedral, dedicated to Saints Cyricus and Julitta, and a national monument of France.

The present cathedral is a combination of two buildings and possesses two apses. The apse and transept at the west end are the remains of a Romanesque church, while the nave and eastern apse are in the Gothic style and belong to the 14th century. There is no transept at the eastern end. The lateral portal on the south side belongs to the late 15th century; the massive and elaborately decorated tower which rises beside it to the early 16th century. Your evening is free to discover the history of this small town. (B)

Accommodation: Inter-Hotel Clos Sainte-Marie (1 night)

After breakfast, you will have the morning at leisure till your coach departs for Paris. Upon arrival in Paris, you will have the afternoon free till dinner up the Eiffel Tower at Altitude 95. After dinner, you have the option of continuing up the top. Welcome to Paris. (BD)

Accommodation: Villa Pantheon (3 Nights)

After breakfast, you will enjoy a city tour of Paris ending at Notre Dame de Paris (pictured below) including a tour up the bell tower. This afternoon you can have at leisure or you can take an optional half-day tour to the Palace of Versailles. (B)

Today after breakfast you will have at leisure to discover this city so full of history and culture. This evening you will enjoy an amazing Seine river farewell dinner cruise. (BD)

After breakfast you will be transferred to the airport for your return flight home. (B)