Head to your local airport to board your flight to India.

Upon arrival, meet our staff in the Arrivals’ Hall and be transferred to your hotel. Attend Holy Mass before your welcome dinner and overnight in our hotel.

In the morning, we will visit the St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica / National Shrine of St. Thomas, which contains the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle. St. Thomas traveled to Parthia and India after the Great Commission and is considered the founder of the Syro-Malankara and Syro-Malabar Catholic Churches. After lunch, you will visit the site of St. Thomas’s martyrdom just outside the city. Next, we will visit Fort St. George, one of the best examples of military architecture in the city, originally built in 1639 as the first British coastal fortress in India. Then, we will stop at the Palavakkam Seashore St. Antony’s Shrine and pray in gratitude for the safe trip. St. Anthony is a patron of travelers, so many Catholics in Chennai stop by this site to offer thanks and ask for his intercession. After sightseeing, you’ll return to your hotel to relax before dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, you will attend morning Mass before proceeding on the drive to Pondicherry, the beautiful capital of Puducherry which is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal. Pondicherry was once the capital of the French colonies in India. There, you will have lunch and visit the beautiful Immaculate Conception Cathedral, the see of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. This beautiful French church was built in 1791 and is one of the oldest tourist destinations in the city. Next, we will board our bus for the transfer to Vailankanni, where, upon arrival, we will head to our hotel for check in. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

After breakfast, we will visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, called the “Lourdes of the East” and learn about the two Marian Apparitions which occurred in the area in 1570 and 1597. In the second of these two apparitions, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a young blind boy who was instructed to find a certain Catholic man and tell him to build a church at the site. The Basilica has been a major pilgrimage site for centuries, the largest in India, and the devotions were approved by the Vatican in 2024. After spending time at the sanctuary, you will drive from Vailankanni to Tiruchirappalli, with lunch en route. Later we will visit the Our Lady of Lourdes Church before we check-in at our hotel. This Church was built in the Gallo-Catholic style in 1895 and is administered by the Society of Jesus. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

After breakfast, we will check out from our hotel and visit the famous Tiruchirappalli Rock Fort, a historic fortification and temple complex built on a 3.8-billion-year-old rock formation. This site has seen numerous battles over the centuries due to its strategic location. Next, we will drive to Madurai. Group members will eat lunch en-route during the drive. Upon arrival, we will check into our hotel.  Later, we will visit St. Mary’s Cathedral, also known as the Church of Our Lady of Dolours, a unique church constructed in a mixture of European, Roman, and Continental Architectural styles, built in 1840 by the Jesuits.

After breakfast you will go on a tour of Madurai, including Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple and Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal, the palace which was the home of the Kings of Madurai, who ruled the kingdom from 1529-1815.  This palace was completed in 1636 and has been recently restored. Afterward, we will check out from our hotel and drive to Kanyakumari. On arrival, we will visit the Basilica of St. John de Britto, where you will learn about this missionary Saint often referred to as “The John the Baptist of India.” Afterward, you will check into our hotel. Dinner and overnight at hotel.

After breakfast at our hotel, we will drive to Thiruvanthapuram via Nagercoil, en route visiting St. Xavier’s Cathedral. This Cathedral was built on land given to St. Francis Xavier after he successfully helped defeat an attacking group of bandits by holding a crucifix aloft. In the Cathedral are the mortal remains of Saint Devasahayam Pillai, an 18th century martyr canonized in 2022. Later, we will drive to Thiruvanthapuram and proceed on an orientation tour, passing by Shree Padmanabha Swamy Temple and continuing with a visit to Chalai Market. After sightseeing, we will drive to our hotel for check-in. Dinner and overnight at your Hotel.

After breakfast, we will enjoy a day of rest along the beaches of the Malabar Coast. We will have Mass at a local Church.  Dinner and overnight at our hotel.

After breakfast, we will travel to the airport to board our flight to Goa. Upon arrival, we will transfer to our hotel for check-in. Afterward, we will visit the Sé Cathedral de Santa Catarina, the see of the Patriarch of the East Indies and one of the oldest Churches in the city. Se Cathedral is the most imposing of all the churches in Old Goa, its vaulted interior overwhelming visitors with its sheer grandeur. Se Cathedral is dedicated to St. Catherine, and was built to commemorate the victory of Afonso Albuquerque, which was won on the feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria. The day will end with a cruise on the Mandavi River with Goan Folk Dances. Afterward, we will return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast we will go on a tour of the old city of Goa. Once the capital of Portuguese colonial rule, Old Goa today is a serene locale dotted with majestic churches and imposing cathedrals. It has been granted World Heritage Status by UNESCO for its extraordinarily grandiose churches & convents. The tour will start with a visit to the Viceroys’ Arch, which was built in the memory of Vasco Da Gama in 1597 by his great-grand son Francisco da Gama after he became the viceroy. You will then proceed to Chapel of St. Catherine, considered to the oldest and first Chapel in old Goa. Your next stop will be St. Cajetan Church – which was originally dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Providence but is now dedicated to St. Cajetan, a contemporary of St. Francis Xavier and the founder of the Theatine Order. Next, we will visit the Basilica of Bom Jesus and the nearby church of St. Francis of Assisi. Herein you will visit the Archaeological Museum, which is located at the back of the Convent and Church. Afterward, we will be driven to the Ruins of the St. Augustine Tower, the only surviving tower of the four that were once a part of the Church of St. Augustine. In 1986, UNESCO declared the ruins to be a World Heritage Site. Dinner and Overnight at Hotel.

After breakfast, our next visit will be to the Convento de Santa Mónica – named after St. Monica; the mother of St. Augustine, it could once accommodate more than 250 inhabitants. It was a sanctuary not only for nuns, but also for widows willing to devote themselves to the service of God, and for the temporary protection of well-born ladies whose husbands had travelled to far off lands on military conquests or expeditions. You will also visit Museum of Christian art. Your final stop will be Our Lady of Rosary Church (Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário); standing atop the Monte Santo (Holy Hill) that keeps a benevolent watch over Old Goa. The church bears an inscription on the conquest of Goa by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510. Legend has it that Afonso de Albuquerque surveyed the attack of Adil Shah’s army from this hill and vowed to build a church there to give thanks for his victory. The church of Our Lady of Rosary is also revered for its connection to St. Francis Xavier, who often taught catechism here when it was first built. Dinner and overnight in our hotel.

After breakfast, we will head to the airport for your return flights home.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Occasionally local religious and national holidays, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of events or the missing of certain events/places. Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of events and places to be visited.