Day 1
Arrive in Rome where you will stay for the first 3 nights of your pilgrimage, including daily breakfast.
Day 2
Today you will enjoy a half day orientation tour of Rome with local guide: Basilica of St John Lateran & Holy Stairs, St Peter’s Basilica & Square, panoramic tour of ancient Rome – Colosseum, Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, Victor Emmanuel Monument and more.
Day 3
There will be some additional sightseeing today and free time to do your own exploring.
Day 4
Today you will depart for San Giovanni Rotondo where you will stay for 2 nights on a full board basis. Here you will visit the Friary, Padre Pio’s tomb, the cell where the Saint lived and died, the crucifix before which he received the stigmata, the old and new churches and the Way of the Cross. Celebrate masses at Padre Pio’s tomb or in the church of Our Lady of Grace. You will also visit Monte Sant’Angelo, the nearby shrine in the cave where the Archangel Michael appeared and St Matthew’s monastery in the nearby town of San Marco in Lamis to browse through the local markets.
Day 5
Enjoy time at leisure in San Giovanni Rotondo. You will have the option of a tour to Pietrelcina, birthplace of Padre Pio (approx 3 hours each way). A minimum of 20 people must travel in order to run this tour.
Day 6
Depart San Giovanni Rotondo for Loreto. Upon arrival in Loreto you will be transferred to your hotel for one night on a half board basis (dinner and breakfast).
Visit the Holy House of Loreto which, according to tradition, is the house in which Our Lady lived in Nazareth at the time of the Annunciation. A beautiful fifteenth century basilica now contains the house beneath its dome, encased in a marble shrine.
Day 7
We will sail overnight by ferry, crossing the Adriatic Sea .
Day 8, 9, 10
Upon arrival in Dubrovnik you will be met by your Joe Walsh Tours representative and transferred to Medjugorje where you will stay for 3 nights on a half board basis. Over the next three days spent in Medjugorje where you will climb Podbrdo, the hill of the Apparitions, and cross mountain to follow the Way of the cross. You will also get the opportunity to meet one of the visionaries. Each evening pilgrims gather in the chapel, the time of the Apparition is 6.40pm and it is usually marked with a silence. This is followed by mass, blessings, prayers for the healing and the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.
Day 11
Transfer to Dubrovnik to connect with your return flight to Dublin.
Please note that this tour will operate in reverse in October.
