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Trip Includes

• A Catholic priest will be with the group to celebrate daily Mass.
• Round-trip airfare from your hometown connecting in a major city to fly overseas is included.
• Airport taxes, security fees, and fuel surcharges!
• Exclusively 4 or 5 star hotels in downtown areas.
• All breakfasts and all dinners. Wine is included with all dinners.
• Transportation with luxury bus.
• All entrance fees to all the sites.
• All tips to everyone involved in the tour.
• The tour fees for our guides. Our tour guides are well educated, caring, and professional. Most of them have their PhDs in Church history, archeology, philosophy, languages, or Theology.
• Luggage handling. Please pack light, one piece of luggage and one carry-on.
• Dress casually throughout the whole trip. Shoulders and knees should be covered when visiting basilicas or churches.
• If you are traveling alone and you allow us to find you a roommate, you don't pay the single supplement. If you wish to have your own room and you are not open to rooming with another passenger, then the single supplement fee is $1,300.
• Wheelchair can be provided for those passengers who cannot walk, with prior notice at registration for $150. A traveling companion has to push the wheelchair throughout the trip.
• NOTE: If you wish to deepen your knowledge of the Catholic Faith as a preparation for this pilgrimage, we recommend the following book as it is faithful to the teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church (Imprimatur by ARCHBISHOP FELIPE AGUIRRE FRANCO): The Catholic Faith in Easy Terms. Introduction, Nihil Obstat, and Imprimatur by Archbishop Felipe Aguirre Franco.
• At the time of registration, as a part of the total balance, a non-refundable $500 deposit is due in the form of a credit card. For example, if your trip costs $3,700, when you sign up, you pay a $500 deposit, then your balance would be $3,200. Final balance is due 4 months before departure date.
• One month after registration, a $1,000 additional deposit is due only in the form of cash, personal check, cashiers check, or money order.
• If you sign up after the final payment due date or at the last minute, you pay the entire cost of the trip at registration only in the form of cash, personal check, cashiers check, or money order.

Trip Does Not Include

• Lunch
• Insurance ~ The total trip cost is non-refundable, we recommend trip insurance to protect your investment.

Trip Itinerary

Day 1: Departure from USA.

Day 2: Arrival. Visit the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Wall where the body of St. Paul is buried. It is the 2nd largest basilica in Rome and the 5th in the world. Check in the hotel and rest for a few hours, if time permits. In the afternoon, we will be visiting St. Mary Major, the main Basilica dedicated to Mary in Rome. We will see the remains of Jesus' manger, the tomb of Bernini, the remains of St. Matthew the Evangelist, the tomb of St. Jerome, and the oldest icon in the world of the Virgin Mary painted by St. Luke: the famous Salus Populi Romani. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

Day 3: Start around 9:00am. Tour the Catacombs where 500,000 early Christians were buried and then celebrate Mass. Tour of the Colosseum from the outside, the symbol of the city of Rome; a great building that has been standing since 80 A.D. Proceed to St. John Lateran, the first Basilica ever to be built in the Roman Empire and the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. Visit the Scala Santa, the stairs on which Jesus walked in the residence of Pontius Pilate on Good Friday. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

Day 4: Start the day around 9:30 am, by visiting the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel (the Pope's private chapel). Proceed to St. Peter's in the Vatican, the largest Basilica in the world. There will be time for private devotion, lunch and shopping for religious items that will be blessed by the Pope next day during the Audience. Long pants, capris, or skirts below the knee will be required and shoulders covered. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

Day 5: We will have an early start as our private bus takes us to the Vatican to experience the Audience with the Pope. There will be time for lunch in the Vatican area. After lunch we will visit the Spanish Steps known for the area where the Romans gathered to meet followed by a walk to the Trevi Fountain. We will continue on from there to the Pantheon, the oldest functional building in the world. We will conclude by visiting the great artistic Piazza Navona. Dinner and overnight in Rome.

Day 6: On the way to Sorrento we will visit of the archeological area of Pompeii and Positano in the Amalfi Coast. Dinner and overnight in Sorrento or Pompei.

Day 7: The Island of Capri is the greatest place for many people. Optional: visit the extraordinary beautiful Blue Grotto with its shining bottom, tour the Island, swim or go shopping. Casual Dress throughout the day. Dinner and overnight in Sorrento or Pompei.

Day 8: Depart to Reggio Calabria. Dinner and overnight in Reggio Calabria.

Day 9: Tour of Reggio Calabria. In the morning visit of Bronzi di Riace. Lunch on the sea promenade in Reggio. In the afternoon visit Tropea. Dinner in Tropea and then overnight in Reggio Calabria.

Day 10: Take the ferry from Reggio Calabria to Messina and drive to Catania. Check into hotel and brief rest. In the afternoon visit Catania. Some sights to enjoy are the Piazza Duomo ~ Elephant Fountain, The Cathedral with the Chapel of Sant'Agata containing the saint's treasures. Choose to walk the famous Via Crociferi where you can see some wonderful examples of 18th century Baroque buildings: Jesuits' Church, Church of San Giuliani and the Benedictine Monastery, and walk on the Via Etnea, an elegant street lined with Baroque-style buildings and shops that crosses the city from Piazza Duomo to Piazza Stesicoro where you can see the Vincenzo Bellini Monument, the imposing Roman Amphitheater, and the Church of Sant'Agata alla Fornace. Dinner and overnight in Catania, Sicily.

Day 11: Visit the incredible city of Taormina and enjoy the famous volcano of Mount Etna. It is considered by many the most beautiful city of Italy. Dinner and overnight in Catania.

Day 12: Drive to Syracuse. We will visit the archaeological area and the famous Greek theater. We will visit the Duomo (Cathedral), the building contains influences from various cultures within its walls: Greek, Byzantine, Arabic, and the Norman Church of Santa Lucia. The church stands on the site where, so the legend goes, Syracuse's patron saint was martyred. Dinner and overnight in Catania.

Day 13: Fly back home.

Please note: We do our best to ensure that all sites listed in this itinerary will be seen. However, due to scheduling conflicts, or other circumstances beyond our control, sites may be visited on a different day than listed. If this happens it will also necessitate a change in the restaurant for dinner. However, we will never sacrifice the quality of the meal, all restaurants will meet Proximo Travel's very high standards. Since we have several different trip configurations touring at the same time, it is likely that groups on different tours will be combined when their itineraries overlap in certain areas.

General Trip Information