8-day pilgrimage to Italy with Rome in the footsteps of St. Padre Pio

Arrival to Rome, Italian passport control and security. Visit to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love, then transfer to a hotel in the vicinity of Rome, check-in, dinner and overnight stay.

After breakfast, drive to Rome for a city-tour: St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica, later a walk along the Road of the Conciliation to the Castle of the Holy Angel. Then: Navona Square, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. Towards the end: Venice Square, the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
Return to the hotel, dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast and drive to the south of Italy. Visit to the Monte Cassino Monastery, dating back to the 6th century, and the war cemetery there. Holy mass. Drive to Pietrelcina – the birthplace of Padre Pio. Then drive across Italy to the Gargano Peninsula – on the way a short visit to the San Matteo Monastery in Serracapriola, where Pio studied Theology 1907-1908. Arrival to a hotel in San Giovanni Rotondo, dinner and a restful stay overnight.

Breakfast, then visiting various places related to the life of St. Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo: the Old Church with his confessional, his cell, crucifix, small museum. Walk to the New Church with the tomb of the saint in the crypt. Holy mass in San Giovanni Rotondo. Later, drive to Monte Sant’Angelo – visit the Sanctuary of St. Michael the Archangel and grotto carved in the rock. In the evening, visit to a regional shop – local wine, cheese and sausage. Dinner and overnight stay in San Giovanni Rotondo.

After breakfast, drive to Lanciano – the Sanctuary of the Eucharistic Miracle. Then a short drive to Manoppello – Basilica of the Holy Face.
Drive through the Apennines to a hotel in Umbra for dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast and drive to Assisi – the town of St. Francis. City-tour: the Basilica with the tomb of the saint and famous frescos. Then a walk along the cobbled streets of Assisi to the Church of Our Lady above Minerva, and later to the place where the saint’s family home used to stand. Lastly – the Basilica of St. Clare. In the afternoon, drive to Cascia – the town of St. Rita. Return to the hotel, dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast and drive to Orvieto – the city of a Eucharistic Miracle, where the Corpus Christi feast day was inaugurated. Visit to the Cathedral with the famous Chapel of the Corporal, holy mass. A short panoramic drive to Bolsena, to the Basilica of St. Christina (the Sanctuary of the Eucharistic Miracle), climb down to the catacombs.
Return to the hotel, dinner and overnight stay.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport in Rome, check-in and flight back home.