Portugal, France & Spain

Depart via scheduled air service to Lisbon, Portugal.

Arrive in Lisbon. Meet your Faith Journeys Tour Manager who will assist the group to awaiting chartered motorcoach for a panoramic tour of Lisbon. We will take a brief tour of this city rich in art, architecture, spirit, and home to many saints. Visit St. Anthony’s Church. St. Anthony is known in Portugal as a marriage saint, because legend has him as a conciliator of couples. Late afternoon check-in at the hotel. Evening Welcome. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Travel 45 miles north to Santarem (Portugal’s third largest city), site of many notable churches including the Church of the Holy Miracle, which contains a 13th century Eucharistic miracle on continuous display since 1269. Lunch, on own. Continue to Fatima, home of one of the most well-known Marian shrines in the world, the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Each year as many as 4 million people visit here because they are drawn by the reports of three local shepherd children who in 1917 saw the Virgin Mary. Evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Celebrate Mass and visit the Tombs of Francisco and Jacinta as well as other sites related to the miraculous appearances of Mary to the children. Lunch, on own
We will have time in Fatima for our own devotions and prayers at the Hungarian Stations of the Cross, consisting of fourteen small chapels along walkways leading to a marble monument of Christ on the cross. Enjoy dinner and show (show of the ancient kings and queens) at Ourém Castle originally built between 12th and 13th centuries situated at the top of the hill overlooking the city. The castle is also known as the “Castle of the Queen of the World” because the light that transported Our Lady to her apparitions at Fatima in 1917 was seen to form directly above the castle mount. Overnight at hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Travel to Salamanca in western Spain by way of Alba de Tormes, the burial place of St. Teresa of Avila. Many miracles have been associated with St. Teresa including the “odor of sanctity.” Lunch, on own. Enjoy time at leisure in Salamanca for additional sightseeing, reflection, or activities. Evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Tour Salamanca, also known as the Golden City and for its monumental sights and great University. Founded in 1218, it is the oldest university in Spain and fifth oldest in the western world. Celebrate Mass in the famous old Romanesque Cathedral. Lunch, on own. Travel to Avila, birth place of St. Teresa of Avila and known for its medieval city walls constructed of brown granite. Visit the church where St. Teresa had frequent visions and ecstatic experiences. We will also see the Convent of St. Teresa, one of the main destinations for Catholic pilgrims to this city. Continue to Burgos for evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. En route to Lourdes, we’ll stop in Loyola, the birthplace of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. We will visit the home of St. Ignatius and the 17th century Basilica dedicated to him. Lunch, on own. Continue to the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains to picturesque Lourdes, site of the largest Catholic pilgrimage destination in France. It is here that St. Bernadette to whom Our Lady appeared in 1858 near the Grotto of Massabielle, was born. Evening dinner. Return to the Sanctuary for the Rosary and Torchlight Procession (beginning at about 8:30pm depending on seasonal schedules). Overnight at hotel

Breakfast at the hotel. Begin the morning with Mass. After which, we will walk in the footsteps of Bernadette as we visit the Grotto of Massabielle, the site of St. Bernadette’s visions of the Virgin Mary, the home in which St. Bernadette and her family lived, the parish church, and other holy shrines related to these visions. Lunch, on own. Participate in the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessing of the Sick (depending on seasonal schedules). Evening dinner. Return to the Sanctuary for the Rosary and Torchlight Procession (beginning at about 8:30pm depending on seasonal schedules). Overnight at hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. This morning we will leave for Zaragoza, linked to the beginnings of Christianity in Spain. As we make our way through the area, we’ll see a variety of landscapes from desert to forest and meadows to mountains. Lunch, on own. Visit the Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar whose history stems from the dawn of Christianity in Spain attributing to the blessed virgin Mary appearing to St. James the apostle who brought Christianity to the country. Evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. This morning we will visit Montserrat, one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in Spain. We will journey to the Monastery, located near the top of the 4,000-foot mountain and home to about 80 monks. Visit the Basilica which houses the reverend La Moreneta, or Black Virgin, a small Romanesque statue made of wood, with the child Jesus on her lap. Lunch, on own. Continue to Barcelona, Spain’s second largest city, where we will have time at leisure for additional sightseeing, reflection, or other activities. Evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Begin the day by visiting the cutting-edge Art Nouveau Sagrada Familia Church, designed by Antoni Gaudí. Gaudí devoted his later years to Catholicism and his Sagrada Familia. Visit the Gothic Saint Eulalia Cathedral and its IV Century Roman Wall, see the Columbus Statue on the well-known Ramblas Blvd, and Cataluyna Square to the Enxample where we will admire the architecture styles of Catalan’s most famous architects, Batilò, Milá, and Gaudí. Lunch, on own. Celebrate Mass at the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar, a beautiful 14th century church dedicated to Our Lady. Visit Tibidabo Hill where a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with his extended arms overlooks Barcelona below. Enjoy the remainder of the afternoon at leisure for additional sightseeing, reflection, or other activities. Farewell Dinner and overnight.