Day 01 - Departure
Depart from U.S.A. on your international flight to Rome, Italy.  Dinner and breakfast will be served on board.

Day 02 - Rome
Upon arrival in Rome, you will be met and transferred to hotel.  Dinner and lodging at hotel.

Day 03 - Rome
Breakfast.  Morning tour of the Vatican highlighted by a visit to the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s masterpiece, the Last Judgment.  Afternoon Rome tour including the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran.  Also, visit the catacombs where the early Christians gathered and buried their dead.  Dinner and lodging at hotel.

Day 04 - Rome-San Giovanni Rotondo
Breakfast.  Afterwards, leave for San Giovanni Rotondo where Saint Padre Pio lived from 1916 until his death in 1968.  It was at this Franciscan Monastery that he became the first priest to receive the Stigmata.  Dinner and lodging at hotel

Day 05 - San Giovanni Rotondo-Lanciano-Loreto-Assisi
Breakfast.  Depart San Giovanni Rotondo to Lanciano to see the Eucharistic Miracle and celebrate Mass.  Then, continue to the Shrine of Loreto to visit the Holy House of Nazareth and the beautiful Madonna. More than 50 popes have made a pilgrimage to the house transported by angels to this hill in central Italy in 1294. Tradition has it that this is the house in which Mary received the Announcement of our Lord’s birth from the Archangel Gabriel, in which Jesus grew to manhood, and in which the Holy Family lived.  Continue on to Assisi for dinner and lodging.

Day 05 - Assisi–Siena–Florence
Breakfast.   Morning visit to the birthplace of St. Francis, the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angel (where he died), the Basilica of San Francesco (where he is buried) and the Monastery of Santa Chiara.  Afterwards, head for Siena, the city of Saints Catherine and Bernardine.  Stroll in the Piazza del Campo and celebrate Mass at the Cathedral.  Then, head for Florence for dinner and lodging.  

Day 06 - Florence
Breakfast.  Today’s tour of Florence will include seeing Santa Maria del Fiore, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry, il Duomo, and Ponte Vecchio.  Dinner and lodging.

Day 07 - Florence–Pisa–Padua
Breakfast.  Depart for Pisa, view the Leaning Tower and then continue on to Padua, the city of Saint Anthony, the renowned Franciscan preacher and miracle worker.  We will visit the Basilica and celebrate mass in one of its many chapels.  Walking tour of Padua .  Dinner and lodging.

Day 08 – Padua–Venice–Padua
Breakfast.  Today there will be a full day excursion to Venice.  See the Grand Canal, St. Mark’s Square, the Basilica, the Palace of the Doges, and the Bridge of Sighs.  You will have time to take a gondola ride on your own.  Afternoon return to Padua for dinner and lodging.

Day 09 – Return Home Breakfast.  Transfer to Venice Airport for your flight home.