Italy

Depart via scheduled air service. The destination is Palermo, Italy.

Arrive in Palermo. Meet your Faith Journeys Tour Manager who will assist the group to awaiting chartered motorcoach for a transfer to the hotel for check-in. Afternoon at leisure for relaxation, sightseeing, shopping, or other activities. Evening Welcome Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Palermo is Sicily’s cultural capital is a city rich in history, spirit, art, and diversity. Our tour this morning will include San Giovanni delgi Eremiti, Quattro Canti, Palatine Chapel, and the Cathedral. Lunch, on own. Drive to the small town of Monreale. There we will explore the Benedictine Abbey with its mosaics depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Return to Palermo for evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. This morning, we will transfer to Agrigento, an ancient city on the southern coast of Sicily. Here we visit the Valle dei Templi, where seven monumental Greek temples were constructed during the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. Visit the largest Doric temple in the world, the Temple of Jupiter. Lunch, on own. Explore Santa Maria della Catena. The interior includes a canvas of Nativity with Adoration of the Shepherds (17th century) from an unknown master. Evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. We will drive along the Mediterranean coast and transfer to Taormina. Lunch, on own. Visit the ancient Greek Theatre. From the still existing fragments, we learn that this theatre was of the Corinthian order and richly ornamented. Enjoy time at leisure for additional sightseeing, shopping, or other activities. Evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. We will begin the day by taking a ferry between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of Calabria called the Strait of Messina. The coast of Calabria rivaled Athens as a cosmopolitan center in 8 BC. Lunch, on own. We will enjoy magnificent vistas as we journey north along the Tyrrhenian Sea en route to Naples. Evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. This morning we will transfer to Rome via Pompeii to witness the ruins of one of the most devastating volcanic eruptions in the history of the region. What is left of the city, including beautiful frescoes and mosaic floors, will give us a glimpse into that era and an idea of what was going on in the lives of Pompeii’s inhabitants moments before that catastrophic eruption. Lunch, on own. Continue to Rome for evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. Our day will start with Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major. We will also visit the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the oldest of the major basilicas in Rome and ranks first as the actual “parish church” of the Pope (Bishop of Rome) and see the Santa Scala or the Holy Steps which reputedly are the steps that Christ climbed to meet Pontius Pilate. Lunch, on own. Visit the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which was founded by Roman Emperor Constantine I over the burial place of Saint Paul. Other sites we will see include the Appian Way, the Baths of Caracalla, the Arch of Drusus, and the ancient catacombs of Rome. Evening dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel. We will begin the day by visiting Vatican City to attend an audience/blessing with our Holy Father (schedule permitting) then tour the Vatican Museum. Highlights include the Tapestry Gallery, the Raphael Rooms, and the Sistine Chapel where we will gaze on Michelangelo’s incredible masterpiece. We will also enter St. Peter’s Basilica which has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world. Lunch, on own. Afternoon at leisure for sightseeing, shopping, reflection or other activities. Evening dinner and overnight.