Cat and Alex,

Yes, the trip went very well and your help was greatly appreciated. It was such a relief not to worry about logistics and then trying to figure out how to get the best knowledge from the area. David, our guide, did a nice job on that as well.

Thank you again for your help.

Kevin

Dear Rinda,

I hope you and your colleagues at 206 are doing well. I write to give you a brief summary of my recent pilgrimage to Portugal, Spain, and France. First, I want to again thank you for the opportunity to serve as a spiritual director. The places that we visited, the churches where Mass was celebrated, and the wonderful pilgrims who populated the tour were all terrific. In every respect, the pilgrimage was wonderful. I want to complement our guide, Javier, who was excellent. His expertise, knowledge, and friendliness were appreciated by all. Everything went very smoothly, largely because of his guidance.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to serve 206 and the pilgrims. For me these opportunities are very special and I treasure the time I have with the men and women with whom I travel, and certainly appreciate the beautiful and sacred spaces we visit.

Sincerely in Christ,

Father Rick Gribble, CSC

Milanka,

I guess the most journalistically accurate way of describing our 206 Pilgrimage, at least from our vantage point, and the feedback we’ve gotten, is: “enormously successful.”

Once more you and 206 showed why you have the reputation you do, and why you have succeeded for so many years — decades! — in a great ministry.

It was expertly done, and as you promised, Federica was totally excellent (so humble). Thank you again for putting together a most fruitful trip — and a great side trip to Sicily.

I prayed for you and 206 at our stops.

 God’s peace to you, your wonderful staff, and also to Judith for her assistance.

As always,

Michael and Lisa Brown

Thank you for reaching out to ask about the pilgrimage to Medjugorje! It was fantastic! Slavenka was our tour guide and Lucy Simao our group leader. They both did an outstanding job looking after all the pilgrims in the group. 

Hotel accommodations at Grace were great and the food delicious. On Friday, one of the pilgrims celebrated their birthday and Slavenka ordered a cake to celebrate with everyone. That was very thoughtful of her and 206 Tours. 

Thank you and everyone at 206 Tours for an excellent pilgrimage to Medjugorje! 

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Jason Brilhante 

It was great!

-David Sawyer

Hi Danielle,

I can’t thank you enough for your kindness and thoughtful preparations of the trip. I’m writing to let you know that we are all back home safe. 

Overall, it was wonderful pilgrimage, everyone had a great spiritual experience. Hats up to 206, yourself, and Leo Jimnes for you made this pilgrimage a huge success. Churches, hotels and places we visited all of them had been very fruitful and inspiring. Thank you for all your help and support. Looking forward to having few more pilgrimages in the near future.

Blessings 

Fr. John Peter Pragasam 

Hi Piernha, just wanted to let you know Marianne and I had a wonderful time. Father Tony, and Father Charles, of course, were the best spiritual leaders we could’ve had. Quico was amazing. He went above and beyond. So blessed to have been provided this opportunity to become closer to God thanks again for answering all my unlimited questions.

Gi

We had a wonderful experience on our recent pilgrimage and we are looking forward to our next trip with 206 Tours.

This was our first pilgrimage and it went over and above our expectations.

The tour guide, Leo was very knowledgeable.  Our bus driver, Jose, was very friendly and kept us safe during our bus rides.  Our spiritual leader, Fr. Leo was wonderful.  

Thank you for a wonderful experience.

Regards,

Manuel and Marili Dimatulac

Hello,

I wanted to write to express what a fantastic experience we had on our first 206 Tour in August. My mom and I went to Fatima, Spain, Lourdes, and Rome. The whole thing was well organized and informative. Our guides and spiritual director were amazing. We loved it!

Thank you again for everything.

Helen Mann

We are back home.

The pilgrimage was powerful; we look forward to another one in the future.

We want to thank 206 Tours and especially Piernha Marc and Sandra Lippold for the care that they took to smooth out our trip. We were especially impressed that Ms. Marc telephoned me in Rome to ask if there were any problems because our return flight to JFK had changed. I assured her that it was at our request since my wife was not feeling well.

Quico, the tour guide, was superb; he is an asset to the company. The bus driver was very cooperative too. Fathers Charles and Tony were excellent spiritual directors.

Respectfully,

Carmine and Estrella Crudele

My name is Jo Heller Orr and I was on the tour to Portugal, Spain and France during July 2-15. Father Jay Harrington was our Spiritual director and Leo Jimenez was our guide. The trip was amazing. Every facet of the tour was perfect from hotels, transportation, and meals. Leo was exceptional. His knowledge was outstanding. His presentations were personable as well as informative. What impressed me most was Leo’s ability to meet the individual needs of such a large group. He not only coordinated people coming in and leaving the group but was aware of the individual needs of each person. Leo made the tour!!! I selected the trip because of Fr. Jay. He served as a temporary pastor at my parish in 2021 and talked about his experiences with 206 Tours. Everyone in our group fell in love with him immediately. Fr. Jay and Leo made a perfect combination as leaders.
I loved being on a tour that was Catholic oriented. Attending Mass daily in the various cathedrals was the highlight of each day. The experiences I had on the trip have enhanced my worship now that I am home. Thank you. I am blessed to have been a part of this incredible tour.

Jo Heller Orr

I would like to extend my appreciation for the exceptional efforts put forth by Olga and the driver. Their dedication and creativity were instrumental in navigating the challenges posed by varying road conditions. Their adaptability and steadfast commitment to the journey ensured that we overcame any obstacles with grace and continued on our path. Olga’s remarkable organizational skills and her unwavering support for the group made her an outstanding guide, and I am grateful for her contributions.

The camaraderie among the pilgrims was heartwarming. Their harmonious interactions and cooperative spirit made this pilgrimage a truly blessed one. I was particularly delighted by the presence of Bishop William Medley from the Owensboro Diocese in Kentucky.

As a priest, I am consistently inspired by the profound faith and kindness exhibited by the pilgrims. Their unwavering devotion and compassion towards one another remind me of the goodness that exists within our Catholic faith community.

I wish to extend my thanks to 206 Tours for entrusting me with the role of Spiritual Director for this pilgrimage. It was a privilege and an honor to accompany this group on their spiritual journey. I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to serve in this capacity once more in the future.

May God’s blessings continue to shine upon us all.

With warm regards and heartfelt prayers,

Fr. Joe, C.P.

Thank you Milanka and staff of 206 Tours!  My pilgrimage (Tour #37CM081323) with Fr Charles Mangano and Fr Tony Stanganelli was just what I needed!  Our Tour guide Quico was outstanding! He was calm and patient with the over 48 anxious excited and at times demanding pilgrims! He joined in all our rosaries and chaplets as well as morning and evening prayer. He was most reverent at the churches we celebrated mass in…. The local guides, Mafalda (in Lisbon) were proud of their cities and eager to share the history of the locales.

Having known Fr Charles and Fr Tony for many years, I was eager to be with them on pilgrimage! Their holiness and zeal for Our Lord and Lady mixed with love for the Jesus in us all as well as their humor and patience helped all the pilgrims find the peace and graces necessary in our individual journeys. 

206 Tours is the only pilgrimage company I will ever travel with! Communication from your company (From your booking agent- Pierhna to Sandra) was always clear and should we have questions they were answered promptly and with the detail necessary to allay our traveling fears!  

God Bless and May Our Lady continue to bestow her graces upon 206 Tours!

Mary Ellen Fosso 

Thank you so much 206 tours. Medjugorje pilgrimage was wonderful, blessed, awesome, and enjoyable and I can keep on and on and on. I did not expect much since was my first time and did not know what I was going to face but definitely, it was more than anyone could imagine. The wonderful tour guide (Andrej) is very communicative, informative, friendly, and understandable. , magnificent hotel service and the employees were amazing. Everything was 10 plus from beginning to end. For my son and I, this was a wonderful experience and so much Blessing. Definitely will book again.

Thank you so much,

Aura Guerra & Marley DeLaRosa

Hello – I recently returned from Tour 103 – All Italian Shrines. It was AWESOME! Fredricka was our tour guide and she was fabulous! She even stayed with us for two hours at the airport in Venice as we struggled with Air Canada to get us on our flight.

Our daily agenda was clearly communicated. We were given ample free time to explore on our own. The hotels were good (although not air conditioned like we are used to in the States); but hey; that’s part of experiencing a different culture….right?? I traveled with my son; his wife and their 3 teenage children. I prayed for a great spiritual director who would relate well with the teenagers. Fr. Basil was our man!! While we did struggle to understand his English; especially during his homilies when we tended to be in rooms that echoed and he tended to speak faster; he was wonderful in relating to and including the kids. I only have one suggestion for improving our experience. There is one place in your What to know area under Bring Small Bills: It recommends US dollars for bathroom stops. I found that most bathroom stops we made required Euro coins……so I do recommend that change.

I’m not sure I have a favorite stop as each city and it’s story were amazing. The Eucharistic Miracle and Michaelagelo’s David were spectacular. We did do a side trip to the Colosseum which the kids loved so I recommend trying to include that in future itineraries. It was very educational to hear the history of Rome and see the ruins. I think it is important to have a well balanced itinerary between culture, history and spirituality.

I hope to travel again next year with another son and his family. We will definitely consider 206 Tours. Do you offer any deals for repeat customers? Thanks again for an amazing experience and hopefully the spiritual seeds that were planted in the teenagers will continue to be watered by their parents 😊

Blessings!

Linda Kuenning

Hey Natasha and Liz,

Hope all is well. Sorry for the craziness of the flight. Thank you for working things out. 206 is truly the best. I am truly loving Egypt and the Hotel that you all picked for us, I can’t wait for them to come and enjoy it as well. You guys always go above and beyond. Please be assured of my prayers for you all.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Fr. Dwayne

Hi Liz & Natasha,

This was my fourth pilgrimage with 206 tours, but my first experience as Pilgrimage group coordinator. My sincere thank you for your guidance and support!

Although we had a 5 hour departure delay due to weather, from the minute we landed in Tel-Aviv we had the best experience. Our group was met at the airport and supported through the process, George our tour guide met us just outside at arrival hall and our experience began. This experience went beyond our expectations, with every attention to detail from the moment we landed.

Expecting to have mass at the hotel, we were pleasantly surprised with a trip to Magdala where Father Jaime our Spiritual Director and Deacon Garcia celebrated private mass. George, our tour guide was outstanding! He was kind and gentle with exceptional knowledge making the Bible come alive. Nazeeh our driver was the perfect gentleman, engaging in the places to visit. George and Nazeeh make a great team making this a smooth and enjoyable experience.

Our hotels were centrally located allowing for leisurely walks reflecting on the days activities and opportunities for private prayer.

Our Spiritual Director Father Jaime and George our tour guide complemented each other perfectly giving our pilgrims an experience of a lifetime.

As we continued to Medjugorje, Slavenka was exceptional as well, allowing for flexibility to accommodate weather conditions with activities and experiences.

Thank you so much for your exceptional service and attention to detail.

Blessings,

Janie

We wanted to take a minute to say Thank You ! We L O V E D every minute of our tour. Obviously, it takes an entire team to pull off something that grand. We only know the face of the people that were with us and while we are grateful to all we are especially grateful for our tour guide Allessandro! He was fantastic. He was kind, fun, yet firm and he did a marvelous job of communicating and getting us where we needed to be. What a special Pilgrimage this was and we will cherish all of it for the rest of our lives. So very special and so very emotional. Sincerely we cannot say thank you enough. We hope to join you again sometime.

God Bless you in your efforts to educate us!

With great appreciate,

Paul and Janet Mabry

Hi Danielle:

Did the tour exceed my expectations, I’m not sure: I had lofty expectations. Was it worth it (time, money, effort…)? ABSOLUTELY!!

Our tour guide, Ivan, was ridiculously knowledgeable. Without him, so much would have been void.

It wasn’t “chamber of commerce” weather (rained every day I believe, and cold). It wasn’t obvious holiness. It was peace. Peacefulness and peace were present tangibly. It was a feeling even more than a destination.

People expected me to share more about the experience than I did. My brother joined me, and family kept saying he was telling them so much about the experience, and why wasn’t I saying more? I do not know how to share it. I don’t think it is meant to be shared; rather, it is meant to be evangelized. I didn’t realize it had touched me within significantly immediately. It is kindling still. I am thankful and grateful for the experience, for your 206 Tours, for the cohort I traveled with—every single one of them, for our guide and priest, and trying to give glory to God.

Pepper Mulherin

Hello there!

It’s been two weeks since we are back from the Shrines of Italy. What an amazing experience! Going on a Pilgrimage with Fr. Patrick Keane is a blessing itself. Federica, our guide, was incredible. She went the extra mile to make everybody comfortable, keeping with everyone who got distracted and got separated from the group. The same with the different guides we had in so many places, they new the material and keep it interesting. Thank you so much for another wonderful experience. As usual, with each Pilgrimage, I feel I am growing in my faith and learning so much about our religion. Visiting Padre Pio, San Benedict Saint Francis, St. Michael’s mountain…. The Vatican!, just to name few of the many shrines I was blessed to visit and learn about the lives of the Saints. We had a big group, about 44, which included kids. Seeing families together praying and sharing this experience was priceless.

Thank you so much! I’m looking forward to the next 🙂

Ana White

Hello, Jason and Series,

As you know, I traveled to France with 206Tours from July 7-18. This was my third time working with 206Tours.

I am so thankful to the company. All three pilgrimages have been great. This last one was outstanding. It even exceeded my expectations. We had so much “spiritual fun” that I created a summary document and sent it out to the pilgrims.

Our tour guide Alessandro did a great job. The local tour guides were very passionate about their roles also.

My own parishioners who went on the tour asked when we were going to do the next one!

Peace of Christ,

Fr. Michael Freihofer

Dear Jason,

Thank you for the email. Our pilgrimage was absolutely amazing and exceeded all expectations – which were already very high given our fantastic experience in the Holy Land in June 2022. The pilgrimage was very impactful for my spiritual life, and has borne fruit already: two of the special intentions that I prayed for throughout the pilgrimage and especially in Lourdes have had unanticipated positive news. One of the treating physicians has called the infant’s progress miraculous. God is so very good!

I cannot say enough positive things about our tour guide Alex. He was kind, helpful, and amazingly informative throughout the pilgrimage. I am very hopeful that our paths will cross again on a future 206 Tour.

I look forward to traveling on pilgrimage with 206 Tours again in the future, and have been daydreaming of organizing a parish or deanery trip in the future.

God Bless,

Karin Seubert

My 1st impression with our tour guide Sami Backleh is everlasting bec. of Sami’s concerns, ethical compassion, kindness to us (group). All our questions were answered appropriately with honest essence of love, willingness to elaborate & expand our stored biblical knowledge, provided the group super understanding towards all aspects of our daily travels (10 days). Sami has the very amazing, impressive, excellent, full of knowledge re: Our Lord Jesus life. Sami captured my undivided attention & if ever I will have another chance to renew my pilgrimage, I really want Sami as my tour guide again! Sami deserves a raise $$ & a plaque or certificate for a job well done!

Our dear Father Stephen Ozokoye (spiritual guide)is an extraordinary priest (love him dearly),plus his daily Homily- so easy to understand & so inspirational in our daily life being with us for days wishing can be longer together! Father Stephen deserves a raise & a certificate as well!!! Our great drivers especially Nor, Basel +1 Airport pick up who kept us all safe during our daily travels, I am thanking them All & pls.

Preserve them as well. Your company has excellent people promoting your pilgrimage!!!

Zita Habijan

Hi Cat,

I am not on Facebook and I don’t know how to do Google or Yelp but I wanted to share what a fabulous pilgrimage we had to Poland with Fr. Dawid. Can you help me out? I must say 206 Tours was the best. We loved Agnes, our guide and everything was perfect. But I would like to share somewhere that others may do the Pilgrimage to Poland.

Thank you and Alexandra for all you did. It was truly the best pilgrimage I have ever been on.

Debbie Domenico

Thank you so much!!!!

It was our first time to walk where Jesus walked. What a wonderful experience!! It went far beyond our expectations. We had an excellent Spiritual leader – Fr. Benedict Croell who led us through prayerful few days. Our tour guide, Sa’id did an excellent job! He is very informative and very helpful. We stayed very satisfied at our hotels. And the meals were great. We sometimes wonder if Tour 206’s expenses were more than what it cost us.

The members of our tour group became our family for 2 weeks.

We cannot imagine being in those places where we only hear at Church. It was an emotional, spiritual journey! Thanks, again to all of you!!♥️🙏

Sincerely,

Ricardo Morales & Nora Morales

of California

Thank you for reaching out. I have since returned and on holidays now.

I thank God for the blessings that we enjoyed on the tour. It was quite beautiful and enriching to share and deepen our faith together. It was a journey of renewal for me and recollection as well. I thank 206tours immensely for the opportunity given to me to lead and provide spiritual guidance on this tour to many families. You have been the best tour group and the future is even brighter as many pilgrims continue to rate your services as the best they have had. Not a single bad review from my years of association with 206tours. I am proud of you. On our last tour, the pilgrims were well behaved; Federica our tour guide was excellent as usual, the drivers too and the choice of sites to visit and the hotels. The logistics too was well coordinated.

Thank you immeasurably for the opportunity and thank you for the amount of work put into each tour project. May God bless you exceedingly.

Fr. Kenneth Odibu

Dear Jason

Thank you for reaching out. I have since returned and on holidays now.

I thank God for the blessings that we enjoyed on the tour. It was quite beautiful and enriching to share and deepen our faith together. It was a journey of renewal for me and recollection as well. I thank 206tours immensely for the opportunity given to me to lead and provide spiritual guidance on this tour to many families. You have been the best tour group and the future is even brighter as many pilgrims continue to rate your services as the best they have had. Not a single bad review from my years of association with 206tours. I am proud of you. On our last tour, the pilgrims were well behaved; Federica our tour guide was excellent as usual, the drivers too and the choice of sites to visit and the hotels. The logistics too was well coordinated.

Thank you immeasurably for the opportunity and thank you for the amount of work put into each tour project. May God bless you exceedingly.

Fr. Kenneth Odibu

Hello,

Yes everything exceeded our expectations. There is no way we could have seen and done all we did in the time allowed without expert guides and local drivers as provided by 206tours. The itinerary was expertly arranged so we could visit the maximum practical number of holy sites, emphasizing the most important. Food, hotels and airlines were expertly selected and arranged. I hope we can take another pilgrimage before our time runs out!

Thank you and God Bless us all!

Joe and Maureen Phillips

Danielle, this Pilgrimage was just incredible! The first part was wonderful, appreciating the history, the beauty and each other. We saw beautiful sites and celebrated Mass in just unbelievable places. But the last 2 big stops, Santiago and Fatima just strengthened my faith in the continued presence and work of the Holy Spirit through out the world. Celebrating the Pilgrims Mass with so many from all over the world that walked the Camino was just beautiful and saying the rosary together with so many people from different languages was most moving! I felt like we were doing exactly what our Blessed Mother asked of us!

Great job! And our guide was great!

Thank you,

Paula

Dear Friends at 206Tours,

Thank you once again for the privilege of accompany pilgrimage #40 traveling to Fatima, Lourdes, and Paris as well as other places. We were blessed with excellent escorts Leo and Vanessa and competent and safe bus divers including Miguel, George, and Katherine. The food was delicious and the accommodations very comfortable. More importantly, the pilgrims and I felt blessed to visit the various sacred sites. As one of the couples said, “This journey has been amazing”. God bless you in your important ministry of helping people nurture and strengthen their faith through engaging and beautiful pilgrimages.

Sincerely,

Fr. Jay Harrington, OP

Hi Jason,

Thank you for checking in and sorry for the late reply! My daughter and I had a wonderful pilgrimage experience with 206 Tours! We were thoroughly impressed with the quality of care and coordination of all the tour guides and bus drivers, from start to finish it was totally stress and hassle free, we always felt safe and well-cared for, all hotel accommodations, foods, and bus rides were excellent and the people serving us were so courteous and nice. Federica was so organized, responsible and kind, she always took care to ensure our comfort and enjoyment, as well as having our restroom need provided for. Ulysse was knowledgeable and entertaining; Mary and Maria were superb with their English and taught us so much info about Pompeii and Assisi. What a great group of people you have working for the company, I truly appreciate them.

This was our first trip to Italy and we were a little anxious about traveling abroad; however, I will not hesitate to go again with 206 Tours for all the pilgrimages to come and would wholeheartedly recommend your company to everyone else I know.

Warm regards,

Anh

Hi Jason and everyone at 206,

I had a terrific experience at Fatima, Lourdes, Loyola, Avila and everywhere else we went to!!!!

You did a terrific job taking care of all the details so that I could lead the pilgrims on a spiritual experience. Everything worked out terrific. I think everyone was extremely pleased with everything.

The tour guide was terrific offering many wonderful explanations of the sights we were visiting. The bus drivers were very nice and very careful in driving.

After the pilgrimage i stayed a few days in Paris, and the plane was delayed a day leavingPparis. American airlines was very helpful in getting me a hotel and providing me with two meals until the next day when my flight took place.

I am so grateful for the wonderful opportunity of leading the pilgrimage.

Sincerely,

Fr. Paul w. Cochran

Good morning Danielle,

This response to you at 206 Tours is far from a complaint!! This pilgrimage was the most wonderful trip I have ever taken. From the very beginning there was peace as we moved around Spain. The transportation was excellent, our bus driver Nelson is an accomplished bus driver as well as he has respect for how fast he drove. I really did not think I could do a bus tour because of the speed I saw these buses being driven at in the US. Nelson was just the opposite – I was never afraid while in the bus even on those winding drives up the mountain. Jesus was our guy! He is knowledgeable, clear with instructions and kept us safe. Every day he offered restaurant suggestions, cautioned us on ‘pickpockets’ and was available to help with food restrictions. Not just once but each time it came up. He is the BEST! A very kind hearted man that offered extra help to the older pilgrims. Our hotel accommodations exceeded my already high expectations, the food and the coffee were excellent. In all honesty, I can not find one thing about this trip that I did not truly enjoy. Whenever possible I will travel with 206 Tours and hopefully meet up with Jesus and Nelson on my next adventure.

God bless you and all those behind the scenes for making this an outstanding experience for me.

Until we meet again,

Phyllis

This was my first pilgrimage. I hadn’t been out of the country in over a decade and I had never been to Europe. I was so nervous, especially since I was traveling alone with my 15 year old daughter. From the moment we arrived at the airport, our guide, Deborah, made us feel safe and welcomed! She was so kind, patient and nurturing, always checking in with us to see if we needed anything or had any concerns.

Our trip was very well organized. All of the guides who were in charge of giving us tours of the many places we visited were very knowledgeable. I can’t imagine trying to organize visits to all the places we visited on our own!

We walked quite a bit everyday but Deborah, our bus driver and the other guides made every effort to get us as close as possible to the places we visited and even told us how many steps we would need to climb to view certain areas.

In regards to customer service, I had some questions before and after I booked the trip and each email was answered promptly. Overall, this pilgrimage was the experience of a lifetime and I highly recommend 206! I will absolutely use them again!

Rose F.

Dear 206 Tours Team!

We are still processing our Pilgrimage and how amazing our experience was. This has been a bucket list trip for a very long time, and started with us booking the trip in 2018! Then of course Covid delayed us two times and our 3rd time we were able to add two of our kids to the Pilgrimage, which we believe was God’s plan for us all along. With all that, 206 Tours was always very responsive and helpful as those difficult times and rescheduling must have been stressful on their side as well. On our Pilgrimage we were paired with a small group of 10 other amazing people and we got to be a “Holy Land Family”, and grew closer together each and every day. Our tour Guide George and driver Nazeeh were OUTSTANDING, our kids fell in love with them, and they were always so kind, gentle and patient with everyone in our group. The knowledge George had was impressive and we learned so much, and the Bible came alive for us. We have been praying and reading scripture since we have been back and we can now visualize where these events had taken place. We will highly recommend 206 Tours to anyone that wants to travel to the Holy Land (or any pilgrimage for that matter). I do not know how they did it, but everything ran so smoothly, we rarely had to wait for anything, it was like we were VIP and seemed to be first in line everywhere we went. In addition, the food and the hotel accommodations also exceeded our expectations, we can’t wait to plan another pilgrimage with 206 in another part of the world soon, and we hope to gather our Holy Land Family for a Reunion sometime in the future as well.

Thanks again for an amazing experience!

Matt

Dear Cat ~

Enjoyed a fabulous Tour and thank you so much for sending these 2 group pictures. Father Calloway is the best along with Alessandro’s, our tour guide. Super wonderful and I along with my daughter Kelly and niece Laura also enjoyed all the Shrines, Masses, Rosary and Divine Chaplet that Fr. Calloway said on the bus. Looking into booking another 206 tour soon…

Milanka and her husband were as dear as can be. She even wanted a picture of us to send to Fr. Calloway…

Thank you again Cat.

May Our Dear Lord Bless You…

xxx Lydia Parker

xxx Lee

The 206 tour was amazing and rewarding in ways I never expected! First of all, our tour guide, Jorge, was meticulous in explaining arrangements history and making sure we were all aware of them. He also kept track of each of us every day, was a charming host at meals, and was full of good and interesting information. He was surprised that we had only one male–it may have made for more bathroom stops! The priest, Fr. Corwin Low, said mass each day, and was a great hiker. He was animated and was a great addition to our group. The bus driver was quiet but very nice and he did a great job with the bus. The food and accommodations were very good.

The trail itself is lovely; the scenery amazing! It was a fabulous group and an altogether wonderful trip! A few days after my return I was approached by several women from my church who asked me to talk with them about the trip–I am looking forward to that!. I’m sure that, if they take the pilgrimage, they will enjoy it as much as I did.

I can’t emphasize enough how much richer the trip was because of Jorge and Father Low.

Ruth Connell

Hi Jason,

My France and Medjugorje Pilgrimage last month was excellent. The tour guides and drivers are all great!

Quiko our tour guide in France is very professional, knowledgeable, compassionate and understanding.

Quiko is excellent all around!! 👍🎉

Andrej, my tour guide in Medjugorje is great! He is professional, compassionate, helpful, knowledgeable, energetic and respectful. He worked long hours to help me without issues.

Andrej is awesome !!! 👍🎉

M. Parker

Danielle,

Just wanted to say that the pilgrimage far exceeded any expectations that I had. At times it was overwhelming with the sights and history from the guides each day.

The most important part of the trip was the attention to the pilgrims from Pablo and Jesus! I can not say enough that would do justice their dedication and attention throughout the trip. I know it can be like herding cats at times, but they were always patient and made sure the group stayed together.

I can’t say enough about the trip, but most importantly how lucky we were to have the 2 best tour guides that 206 has!

Mike

Jason,

My trip to the Holy Land was more than I expected. The hotels were wonderful; service, food, cleanliness, were exceptional. Our tour guide was the best. George was topnotch; the perfect guide. If only I could remember the interesting tidbits he told us about all the places we visited. Our driver, Nazeeh was the perfect gentleman. I went on a trip to Medjugorje with 206 tours in 2012 with Wayne Weible, and this was even better. I will recommend you to all my friends.
I have no complaints, only great memories.

Thank you,
Elizabeth McDowell

Dear Liz and Natasha,

Everything was fantastic. I don’t have a single bad thing to say about my experience. Everything was well plan and the tour were informative.

God Bless you!

Carmen

Thank you Cara for reaching out to me. The pilgrimage was amazing! I tell everyone that it was a trip of a life time. Our tour guide Demetrius was certainly the best of the best! Don’t know if I’ll ever meet anyone again with that much knowledge of a country, and everything about it. He was so kind and had the best personality. Our bus driver did an excellent job and was so kind and caring as well. Our priest as well as deacon were such wonderful spiritual directors. Now to Chris Stefanick. What a gift our Heavenly Father has given him as well as everyone he comes into contact with. He’s a guru of an evangelist! Lastly, you as well as everyone else at 206 tours do an amazing job! Everything in the pilgrimage is so well organized and ran thanks to all of you!!

Jo Ann

Hello Cara,

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to respond – it’s very hard to put into words what this trip meant to me. It was awesome and I’m still digesting the experience.

I do want to say thank you to you and the entire 206 Tours team for a flawlessly run trip — everything was seamless. The tour guides and drivers were all amazing — I can’t imagine any better. I appreciated so much the help we had at the airports to facilitate entrys/departures between countries. Fortunately I didn’t have any problems whatsoever bringing my medicines with me – that was one concern I had.

The main difficulty I felt was the airport at Istanbul — getting rom gate to gate was rough. I wish that there were either a shorter layover or one long enough to catch a quick peek into Istanbul itself. Egypt air was definitely not the same quality as Turkish Airlines.

Thank you again for putting this trip together in a way that felt effortless – so we could truly focus on the pilgrimage– yet I know that there were a lot of logistics and hard work behind the scenes.

God bless,

Moira

Danielle,

Just returned from our 206 Tour. It was excellent. I just wanted to thank you for all you did to make our trip so wonderful. I was a little nervous about all the different connections we needed to make on our own in Venice, but you executed every little detail with people meeting us. Our guide in Venice was excellent and everyone was very helpful in getting us where we needed to be next.

With much appreciation,

JoAnn & Dale

Dear Alexandra,

Peace be with you! I just want to sincerely thank the good Lord for you and for all the hard work you put in to accommodate our requests before and during our blessed pilgrimage. I studied in Rome and so I wanted to share with the group the city that I came to love not realizing how much some of the itinerary changes impacted you and your team. You all really went the extra mile to help us experience these two cities of grace–thank you, we will be ever grateful, and may the good Lord bless you for all your kindness and generosity!

Pax,
Father Michael Hendershott, S.T.L.

Dear 206 Tours staff,

I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to comment on my recent pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago with 206 Tours. I must say, it exceeded my wildest expectations in every possible way.

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to our Spiritual Director, Father Ivan Dawson.

His wisdom, guidance, and unwavering faith truly enriched our journey.

Father Dawson’s profound insights and compassionate presence made our pilgrimage an unforgettable spiritual experience.

His devotion to our group and his ability to foster a sense of community among us was truly remarkable.

I would also like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to our outstanding guide, Jorge.

His extensive knowledge of the Camino, its history, and its spiritual significance added a layer of depth to our journey.

Jorge’s infectious enthusiasm and genuine care for each and every one of us made our trek all the more memorable.

His leadership and constant support were invaluable, ensuring that we remained on the right path, both literally and figuratively.

As we embarked on this pilgrimage, I had certain expectations regarding the accommodations and meals. To my delight, both aspects exceeded all expectations.

The accommodations arranged by 206 Tours were of exceptional quality, providing us with comfortable and welcoming spaces to rest and rejuvenate after each day’s walk.

The thoughtfulness and attention to detail were evident, making us feel truly cared for throughout our journey.

Now, let’s talk about the food! I must confess, the culinary experiences along the Camino were nothing short of extraordinary.

From hearty regional dishes to delightful local delicacies, every meal was a feast for the senses. The flavors, the freshness, and the presentation were simply outstanding.

I indulged in each bite, savoring the remarkable gastronomic treasures the Camino had to offer.

In fact, despite our daily walking of 75 miles, I must admit that I gained a few pounds. But it was all worth it!

My pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago with 206 Tours was an extraordinary experience that surpassed all expectations.

The combination of Father Ivan Dawson’s spiritual guidance, Jorge’s exceptional leadership, the comfortable accommodations, and the outstanding culinary delights made this journey a truly transformative one.

The memories that were created and the lessons I learned will continue to inspire and guide me on my spiritual path.

In conclusion, I have taken 5 pilgrimages in the past, none were with 206 Tours. None of my previous pilgrimages equaled the quality of the tour with 206 Tours.

206 tours stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Buen Camino

Hi Alexandra,

It attests to our shared pilgrimage experience of appreciation for 206 Tours (which I voiced to all throughout and especially in my final remarks of acknowledgements on the bus to the airport prior to departure), for the experience of our communications/interactions (206, mainly via you with me) throughout this organizational process (an unexpected pandemic interfering with original years/plans!) and continuing to this year’s beautifully experienced reality throughout Greece and the cruise following, with the professionally and personally especially great tour guide, Nena not the least among the satisfaction of having planned this through 206 Tours.

I don’t recall a single complaint which in itself, is amazing!

THANK YOU for a WONDERFULLY BLESSED PILGRIMAGE experience!

Nena’s attention to detail and consideration of daily schedules around our voiced needs (Fr.’s talks, etc.) was superb! By far, she was the best I’ve experienced to date in the better part of a decade and I have been most pleased with 206 Tours!

More when I have time -and I will be looking for some quotes for our next considered pilgrimage very soon!

God bless!
Mary

Good morning Piernha! We are home after a very fulfilling trip to Italy. All our accommodations, tours, and travel plans were comfortable, knowledgeable, and timely. Our heads are exploding with all the knowledge shared with us. The weather contributed to an enjoyable vacation. We never encountered an issue throughout the next 2 weeks.

Thank you for all your efforts to provide us with a most enjoyable visit through Italy.

Kathleen McCaffrey

Our pilgrimage was absolutely amazing! We loved our guides, Frederica and George. They really went out of their way to make it a wonderful experience. They were knowledgeable, patient, and fun. We loved Assisi, Orvieto, and Norcia. Rome was a blast, very active, and an unforgettable experience. The food in Italy was delicious. Also, our local guide in Rome, Tatiana, was superb. The Holy land was so impactful and life changing. It really brought the Bible and rosary to life. Our whole group was so touched by visiting all the places Jesus had been. We all loved the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was a great surprise! Gethsemane was also incredible and being able to kneel at the rock Jesus prayed at was most memorable. George was the best! He was so touched by our group and we had a hard time saying good bye to him. He was so caring and stayed with us at the airport to make sure we got through security without any issues. Absolutely loved this unforgettable pilgrimage!

Christine

My husband and I went on pilgrimage with Father Ed Murphy and 206 Tours. Despite the fact that it was cold and rainy the whole time (unusual for May) it was an incredible experience. Father is so inspiring and giving of his time. He said Mass for us in a different church every day, prayed with us after dinner, led discussions, and went on virtually every excursion. We were so blessed to have him!

Slavenka was our tour guide and she was fabulous! Her knowledge of the history, not just Medjugorje but Bosnia/Herzegovina, was so impressive and helped to put a lot of things in context. She was always cheerful and pleasant and did everything she could to help make it an enjoyable experience. I had a medical situation while I was there and she jumped to assistance finding me the resources I needed and the transportation to get there. She did much more than just guide the tour. The drivers were great but we had different ones throughout the tour so it’s difficult to remember names.

We loved the Hotel Grace. The room was very comfortable and well-appointed and the hotel in general exceeded our expectations. The hotel staff bent over backwards to serve us and they were very nice as well. Our only reservation is that we felt the food could have been better.

I would definitely recommend 206 Tours and would happily travel with them again.

Thank you,

Eileen and George Boylen

Dear Natasha and Liz,

I pray this email finds you well.

I am writing on behalf of the entire group to express sincere appreciation and gratitude for the wonderful Holy Land Pilgrimage you arranged for us. The trip was truly an uplifting spiritual experience. We enjoyed the accommodations, the activities and the various sites that we visited. We had an amazing time and truly appreciated all the thought and effort you put into making it a memorable journey.

It was also an immense pleasure to work with the tour guide Rajai Manzo and the bus driver Nazeeh Sayed. They both are two wonderful men who impressed the entire group by their generosity, humility, patience, great sense of humor, communicative and organizational skills. I have attended various pilgrimages in my life, but I have never met such a great tour guide and bus driver, and I think everyone in the group would say the same. I hope they make other pilgrims happy, as they made us happy during those 8 days in the Holy Land.

Fr Willy

Dear Judith and Natasha,

Our Pilgrimage DID exceed our expectations!  Our sweet group never had a twisted ankle, got sick, were late, had a delayed flight, or any problem at all…except it rained EVERYDAY.

I believe everyone experienced the peace in Medjugorje and the huge bronze statue of the Risen Christ was weeping; they all took a turn to gather a drop or two of His right side while weeping. The healing Mass with Father Ed Murphy at the previous church of Father Jozo touched all of us.   SO many categories to complement you on that it seems only right to detail and number them:

1. Ivan is just a gem, always clear about our daily schedule, and a very knowledgeable historian, It didn’t rain all day our first day in Medjugorje so we got to climb Apparition Mountain…and several went back again, even in the rain.  Our day in Dubrovnik was our only sunny day and it was a perfect day trip, with our own Mass with Father James in St. Blaise Church and the exquisite small altar.  That local city guide covered a lot of ground in an hour or so and was excellent.  We had a total of about 3+ hours which was just about right for the Mass, guided tour, and free time.

2. Sabinia is absolutely delightful, also always welcoming with a huge warm smile…despite all the rain!  I think we were all dazzled by Poland and the years of Christianity with a Catholic church on almost every corner.  It’s impossible to rate these two guides because they each are not doing their job for the money…they love their country and the group they are in charge of…”shepherding” if you wish…for a very short period and they give 100% with very long days in a “brief sprint of time”.  All the local guides at each site did a great job with all the detail, each unique in their presentation…especially loved the little nun at St Faustina’s chapel and the older monk at the Jasna Gora Monastery.

3. What was in the daily Poland itinerary was incredible.  As a small group, we thought it was paced very well and never seemed rushed.  I was particularly amazed at each and every time we had a scheduled private Mass for Father James, the altar was ready…with candles lite, wine and water on the altar, etc.  Father could vest up and be ready in minutes to celebrate Mass.  That’s years of your organizational skills on display, Natasha!

4. Our one sunny day in Dubrovnik was a highlight…everyone in the group seemed delighted to visit this historic walled-in city on the Adriatic. The choice of the day fit perfectly into our Medjugorje schedule…not at the beginning and not the last day.  You kindly included my friend to join me that day without cost, Kathy Lauwers, who is a dear friend and was in Medjugorje that week with her husband…they have adopted a young boy in the Children’s Village and come frequently to see him.

5. Rosa “held court” at the very inviting Sulic Pansion!  Our rooms were so clean and well done, our corner table for 9 was always delightful with those platters of great homemade food.  Great location, charming hostess, and every effort to make us welcome was extended.  The huge coffee machine for lattes, etc. was appreciated by the group.  I left a very large room tip just for my cleaning gal and she was in tears.

6. The Warsaw “splurge” of the Mamaison was elegant and being very tight on time, a perfect location to start our “old town” tour right there!  The supper was as beautifully done as were the rooms.  The last hotel, Radisson Blu, was a 3-night stay and dazzled us with a written menu each night of gourmet suppers.  Wine and water being included each and every night was mentioned by several as “how nice it was to come down for supper and have no extra expense”.  Several told me that they had never had the quality of the food on this trip, compared to other world tours they had been on.

7. We were all impressed with both the Luthansa and the Austria Airlines.  Bathrooms were clean from the start of the flight to the finish.

8. Now that we are all home, glowing reports keep coming.  I see 5, sometimes 6, out of our 9 at daily Mass with Father James…the nice part about having our own parish group…the good rapport will be there forever.

In conclusion, so many thanks for walking me through all the beginning steps of our venture.  The “stamp of approval” comes from all of us for the exceptional planning and performance by 206 Tours.  When you say the guide will be there at the airport, the guide IS there!  I’m already thinking of next May ’24 parish pilgrimage…

In Christ and Mary,

Pat V.

Tour was fantastic. Our spiritual director, tour guide and driver were exceptional. The accommodations were great; the meals were very good ; and the entire pilgrimage ran perfectly. Daily Mass at so many different churches was spiritually uplifting and the final Mass in the Cathedral at Santiago will be one that we always remember. My wife and I were very impressed by 206 Tours.

Tim and June

Dear Liz,

Thank you Liz, for taking care of the Monday night ‘cancellation by the airline’ fees. (Transportation and hotel). Everyone at 206 Tours has been so helpful and kind. Especially when we called and woke Natasha at 3am – we were abandoned by the United Airlines but not 206 tours. Thank you, thank you!

This was our third pilgrimage with 206 tours, thank you for guiding us on our spiritual journey.

Linda and Dave D

What a wonderful trip I can not say enough about our guide Yoseph in the holy land he was so knowledgeable I am 84 years old he went out of his way to accommodate me and others I will never hear the gospel or say the rosary the same I now picture the different sites its made the time of Jesus so real and emotional I felt safe and well taken care of I would go anywhere with 206 tours thank you.

Nora

Hi Liz and Natasha,

The Pilgrimage was amazing! We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of it! 206 Tours did a great job…everything was very organized…we couldn’t have been more pleased!

I am getting ready to register for one of the 206 Tours to Medjugorje that takes place in September. I will be attending with a friend of mine. I told her I’d feel very comfortable with 206 Tours, after the wonderful experience I had in the Holy Land.

Thank you!

Kathy

Hi Team 206,

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to lead the group to Greece. I had a wonderful experience. The pilgrimage of footsteps of St. Paul was really educational. The tour was well arranged. We had a great tour Manager Maria and an excellent group. Thank you for everything.

God bless you and your families !!!

Fr. Robert Ambalathingal

It is with great pleasure for me to provide feedback on how the pilgrimage experience has changed my life and outlook on things.  First, I want to thank all parties involved with making this the most awesome experience of my life.  From the beginning till the end, it was truly First Class all the way.    I originally booked this tour in 2019 but due to the COVID restrictions had to postpone it numerous times, but I am glad I waited, it was remarkable.  Once I began the actual journey it was flawless, from the pick up at the airport in Tel-Aviv to the return to the airport, everything ran like clockwork.  Our guide Josef Kurt was extraordinary, his knowledge of the history of each place and his ability to make the Bible come alive and make sense by tying all of the Old Testament to the New Testament, shed a whole new light on my understanding and experience.  My scripture reading will never be the same now that my mind has been opened.  It was like Jesus explaining the scriptures to the travelers on the road to Emmaus.

I was so impressed with everything, I would rate it a 5 Star experience, the hotels and food were way beyond my expectations.  First Class all the way.   I actually kept a journal of everything and prepared a presentation to align with my pictures which is a 3-hour session.  I presented it to my church in Florida and it was extremely well received.  This accounts for my delay in responding sooner, it took a great deal of time to put all of the pieces of the trip together to align with the journal.

To share some of my feelings about the trip I am including an excerpt from my journal reflections:

“This trip has forever changed my life. I look at the Bible, Rosary, Stations of the Cross, and Mass and they have a whole new meaning for me since I actually walked where Jesus walked. It is now my time to preach the Fifth Gospel.  The Fifth Gospel is the sharing of this pilgrimage and the experiences I had while in the Holy Land.  It is the experience of walking where Jesus walked and contemplating the events that occurred at the sites that we visited.  It is the sharing of this experience, not unlike what the first disciples did after the resurrection; and continuing to preach the gospels through the way we live to the ends of the earth. “

 I would highly recommend this pilgrimage to anyone and would love to share my experience further if needed.  Thanks for a wonderful, life-changing experience and I look forward to the next pilgrimage I take with 206 Tours, Inc.

Kean Knerr

Dear Liz and Natasha,

Thanks so much with your help for this pilgrimage! I confess that I had worries before going that I had spent too much money, but that all went away when Dr. Hahn starting talking about the Our Father as we looked out over the Sea of Galilee and it just kept being great. Surely a life-changer for the better !

Blessings to you! Deacon Joe, Berta and Heather.

Joseph Calvert

Dear Danielle
My husband and I had a marvelous trip to Portugal, Spain and Lourdes
It was heaven on earth from the day we left to our arrival home.
We had the best guide Cristina she made us part of her family through out the whole trip.
We also had an excellent bus driver David through out the whole trip
We also had an extraordinary spiritual guide who was our pastor Stephen Banjare.
God bless your 206tours

Jose & Maria

Dear Liz and Natasha,

We have only positive feedback to give regarding the pilgrimage! It was incredibly well-organized, our tour guide Joseph was so knowledgeable and attentive, and the Biblical Feast at the end was both a wonderful experience in itself and also a wonderful way to end the week by having fun with all of our fellow pilgrims after getting to know each other all week!

Lisa Sengenberger

My wife Theresa and l were absolutely overjoyed at the great team at 206 Tours. They were knowledgeable and fantastic.

Another time we will use you again.

Again, thank you all and God bless.

Sincerely,

Tom and Theresa

This trip is the best ever for my husband and I! You were on top of your game on every aspect of our pilgrimage to Jordan/Holy Land (Tour 158)

Our flight was a little too long, New Orleans to Newark to Vienna, Austria to Amman, Jordan but the moment we got to Jordan everything was just smooth sailing. From the airport agent to the tour guide, Khader,to meeting the rest of the crew, to the hotel, to dinner, we were totally impressed. Fr. Jack, a young and vibrant priest from Australia was on fire! He exhibited some fire works to our already inflamed Spirit. He was chosen for our pilgrimage. He even made a song pamphlet for the beginning and end of the Holy Journey. We were blessed to have him!

As we get ready to cross over to the Promised Land it was bitter sweet. Sad to say goodbye to our friend Khader but joyful anticipation to see what God promised us which was indeed fulfilled. In the Promised Land we were greeted by our young vibrant Yoseph (Joseph). He knows the place like history book, took us everywhere. My husband and I and other couples in our group renewed our wedding vows at Canan and celebrated another mass, thanks to Fr Jack by the Sea of Galilee, at Magdala! If you leave me I’ll write a book narrative. Just know that I have sent your website to everyone I’ve talked to about my trip even strangers I met at the airport on our return flight from Newark to New Orleans. They felt something inside and asked where I was coming from. I did not hold back. Of course they asked for your info which I gladly collected their phone number and texted them your website.

May God continue to endow you with His graces for helping the world see God’s Word bestowed on Earth. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!

With love & appreciation,

Tonia & Chuka

Liz / Patrick / Natasha

Hey team, Susan and I had a most amazing trip to the Holy Land last week with Team 206 and Scott Hahn.

Not sure how things could have run any better.

Thanks

David & Susan

Hi Liz,

The pilgrimage was amazing! Everything was so organized and was all I hoped it would be. Thank you for the pictures!Our guide was Michel who was outstanding!

Thank you for everything!

Patricia Baloga

Liz and Natasha,

It was a great pilgrimage! Remy in Jordan and Michel in Israel were really good guides. However, the real hero’s were the drivers!

Thanks for all you do and for answering all of my questions. We met some new lifelong friends on the trip.

Such lovely people.

Blessings

Gerrie

Hello!

My mom and I have just returned from our pilgrimage to Poland, Prague and Medugorje. As I contemplate our journey and begin to reflect on the many fruits, I cannot help but think of the entire staff of 206 Tours. As we journeyed through a land filled with Catholic saints and martyrs and where Mary reigns as Queen, I felt like I was still missing something that was right in front of me. Then it hit me! It is the staff of 206 Tours. The staff responding to my emails, all of the drivers, the tour guides, the staff at Hotel Grace in Medjugorje…everyone was authentically living out their Catholic faith through 206 Tours.

I would highly recommend 206 Tours to anyone considering a pilgrimage. 206 cares about all of the details of your journey and that includes the people that they choose to surround you on your faith journey.

May God bless each one of you!

Jill

Good morning

After successfully completing Tour 40, I came back yesterday from Paris, France.

It was an excellent Pilgrimage. Everyone repeatedly praising Tour 206 for the best arrangements.

Everyone is so happy with the holy places we visited, hotels we stayed and the journey in between.

Thanks for all your excellent coordination, efforts and perfect planning.

We could feel God was guiding us on our way and everyday of Tour 206.

Thanks for providing me with the opportunity of serving as a Spiritual Guide. It was an excellent experience and holy moments of encounter with our pilgrims – many one-on-one meetings, counselling, confessions, spiritual direction, advice etc. Everyone liked this pilgrimage very well.

Best regards,

Fr.Chris

Good Morning,

The recent tour that we joined to Fatima, Lourdes and much more was well beyond my expectations. I had a wonderful time and will cherish this experience for years to come. Our tour guide, Francisco, was extremely knowledgeable, caring and friendly. The entire pilgrimage was well organized, spiritual and enlightening.

Thank you,

Virginia

Danielle

I just wanted to write a note to tell you that the trip COULD NOT have been better. It was an outstanding experience at every level of the way. Thank you so very much to taking care of every detail. And if you are able to contact our guide, HABIB, please let him know of his excellence. He was stellar.

Heartfelt thanks

Carmen

Dear Rinda and Danielle,

I am glad to inform you that our Prague-Salzburg-Vienna-Budapest pilgrimage was a great success. Even though the weather was sometimes rainy, we had a wonderful pilgrimage. All participants were very happy to share in this amazing time of grace. I must commend our guide, Viola Kaczmarczyk. She was extremely helpful, patient and articulate.

I thank you for the opportunity to share the gift of my priesthood with the people of God. I look forward to helping again in future. May God bless 206 Tours and the staff.

I pray for you and remember me in your prayers as well.

God bless.

Fr. Richard

Good morning Rinda,

I am back from Fatima and Lourdes, if the beginning of the pilgrimage was a bit chaotic with the flight Newark Lisbon cancelled (it is the third time I have a similar experience) everything else went smoothly, WE were in Fatima at the time of the anniversary of the apparitions and to be in a crowd evaluated by EWTN to 230.000 people is an experience unforgettable. In Lourdes when we arrived we were surprised to meet soldiers from many countries including Vatican Swiss guards and american marines participating in the international military pilgrimage,marching in the streets of Lourde, some of them with their own music. they were 14.000 military people I believe, it’s also a unique experience.

People expressed their satisfaction at the end of the pilgrimage.

David was a very good and helpful guide..

It was not my first pilgrimage in these two places and Everytime I go back, it’s a unique experience and I really enjoy it.

A great Thank you to 206 Pilgrimages

My prayers accompany the 206 people who make these pilgrimages possible..

Father Pierre Deglaire

Hello!

My mom and I have just returned from our pilgrimage to Poland, Prague and Medugorje. As I contemplate our journey and begin to reflect on the many fruits, I cannot help but think of the entire staff of 206 Tours. As we journeyed through a land filled with Catholic saints and martyrs and where Mary reigns as Queen, I felt like I was still missing something that was right in front of me. Then it hit me! It is the staff of 206 Tours. The staff responding to my emails, all of the drivers, the tour guides, the staff at Hotel Grace in Medjugorje…everyone was authentically living out their Catholic faith through 206 Tours.

I would highly recommend 206 Tours to anyone considering a pilgrimage. 206 cares about all of the details of your journey and that includes the people that they choose to surround you on your faith journey.

May God bless each one of you!

Jill Brien

Hi! All in all, it was a magnificent experience and Quico, our guide from Lisbon to Lourdes was wonderful! This was our third tour with your company and we tell everyone we know to use your company if they are looking for a great experience!

Thanks again

Mike

Thank you 206 for an amazing pilgrimage to Mexico City to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe. I made the trip with my daughter, and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I am so impressed with the care and details of the entire 206 staff. We especially loved Roberto, our guide. He was so attentive to the needs of the group and shared excellent historical stories of all the places we visited. I am looking forward to possibly booking another adventure to Spain next summer. Blessing for all you do.

Susie

It was a deeply profound Spiritual experience. Compliments and gratitude to our tour guide Slava and our spiritual director Fr Daniels. I would definately travel with 206 again!

Ed & Mary

It was a holy, fun and overall magnificent pilgrimage!

You selected an amazing Priest/Monk (Fr Greg) and Tour Guide (Quico).

Your itinerary was excellent and the hotels were great! You have an excellent company, I will definitely plan another pilgrimage with you in the future.

Thank you for making my 70th birthday gift to myself memorable!

Maria

Hello Danielle

Yes the tour of Ireland & Medjugorge was wonderful. Father Dominic was great. The weather held off much rain so that was good.I plan on going to Greece with 206 Tours next year God willing.Thanks for your email.

David

Just had to take the time to say how wonderful the pilgrimage was .. beautiful and faith filled experience.  Quico was a great tour guide.  I will book another pilgrimage in the future.  I was on another pilgrimage with 206 my parish used for the holy land and that was also a wonderful experience.

Blessings

Dina

Hello Danielle:

Yes the tour of Ireland & Medjugorge was wonderful. Father Dominic was great. The weather held off much rain so that was good.I plan on going to Greece with 206 Tours next year God willing.Thanks for your email.

David Jaminet

Aloha to all of you at 206 Tours,

Yes, all I have to say about my pilgrimage with 206 Tours is that it was 100% a Blessing.

From the time I first booked the Tour, to the very end, 206 took care of and took great interest in my satisfaction and my wellbeing on the entire trip. I was completely happy. Our Tour guide, Jeovanni, was a wealth of knowledge and support for everyone on our tour of 27 people. He was a very genuine individual. His heart was in his work! And our Spiritual Advisor, Father Peter was always there if you needed spiritual guidance or just a friend, he was amazing and also had a wealth of info regarding all of the spiritual sights.

Again, from the initial booking through all of the update and follow everything couldn’t have been better.

I thank you all for you guidance and hospitality and for all that you do as individuals and as a team. I look forward to my next pilgrimage with 206 Tours.

Kathy Catugal

Dear Piernha,

Just a quick note to thank you and 206 for an awesome Pilgrimage. Everything was perfect.

The guides were superior, accommodations outstanding and food was excellent.

I don’t know how it could have been made any better.

My group and I will be making a decision about a Pilgrimage we will want to make in May of 2024.

Once again, thanks for everything. Things couldn’t have been better.

God Bless,

Fr. Phil

It is so hard to process and describe the incredible experience, both spiritually and emotionally, on this pilgrimage.

Our Tour Guide, Yosef Kurk and our Spiritual Director, Fr. Joel were both outstanding,.

Yosef was a walking encyclopedia with his knowledge of the History of the Holy Land and presented it in a very informative and sequential manner. His knowledge of the Bible goes with out saying. Plus, he had a tremendous personality complete with patience for those of us who had “overload” with all the information he imparted.

Many of our friends and family have inquired about our trip and as my husband has said numerous times. “No adjectives could adequately described our journey.” Our reply every day was a blessing and brought us closer to God. Mass was celebrated by Fr. Joel, at the Main Altars in the Churches we visited. Especially moving was our private Mass in the Holy Sepulcher Church with the Franciscans, their choir and Fr. Joel participating the the Mass. It was a High Mass at 7:30am scheduled after our 4:30am Via Dolorosa walk. Fr. Joel involved us in the Mass, as members of our group were asked to plan the songs and he assigned readings. How special for my husband to do a reading in the Church of the Transfiguration and hold the chalice for Fr. Joel during communion. Another member of our group was given a reading during the Mass in the Holy Sepulcher. So moving and thoughtful for him to have us partake in these wonderful experiences.

It’s a wonder how anyone would doubt their faith after seeing, walking the path that Jesus walked, which was brought to life by the guidance of Yosef and Fr. Joel. The whole pilgrimage brought full circle the beauty of Israel, the peacefulness of the sites we saw and the Agony Jesus experienced so we could “live”.

206 Tours was first class in all aspects from arranging out Flights to the First Class Hotels and also the incredible meals. We were told by other travel agents, not to miss having dinner at the top of the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem . How fortunate was our tour to stay there and enjoy the exquisite meals 3 days. The hotel was so conveniently located right across from the New Gate into Old Jerusalem .

This pilgrimage changed our lives. We brought home with us a greater understanding of our faith and a peaceful heart. Thank you for making that happen.

Susan

Hello Rinda

Just want to say thank you for organizing such a great group and a beautiful pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes and all other places we visited. Our Tour Guide Vanessa was fantastic and it was a truly enriching experience to go to such Holy Sites with the 206.

Blessings for the Ascension week,

Fr. Maciej Zajac

Dear Cara,

The Pilgrimage was beyond my imaginable expectations! Sister Magdalit and Father Jacques were a wealth of Biblical knowledge and knew Israel like the back of their hands. The Hotels were perfect! They were in the perfect locations, and made it easy for us to dive into the moment as well as being close to the important places we wanted to embrace. This was a trip that needed the extra thought, and Sister Magdalit thought of everything! My husband and I learned so much from her, we are truly different people because of her. Father Jacques carried the Holy Spirit with him to everywhere we went. I physically felt the Holy Spirit’s presence the entire trip. There were different intensities of him with our whole group, and you could visually see it. I don’t have the words to describe the experiences we had, but I can tell you it was above and beyond! Not only did we go to the places mentioned, but we saw other added interests. Every door was opened that could be. Our bus driver, Humid was very considerate in all his actions. He would go the extra mile and make great suggestions along the way as well. I felt sadness when it was time to go. The Holy Land was like my home I didn’t know I had. We definitely want to return, God willing.

Gina Gangnier

Some people that you meet leave a special impression. I’d just like to take an opportunity to compliment our tour guide, Jorge, from our El Camino tour which just completed. Jorge was amazing in his ability to meet the needs of the large and varied group he led. He was always joyful, patient, kind, helpful, and organized. He also genuinely related to all his pilgrims in a personal way, and cared for the needs of some who needed special consideration. Jorge was considerate, interesting and knowledgeable. He definitely added an awesome quality to the pilgrimage. I am sure my whole tour group would agree.

Sue Ellen Castellan

Hi Natasha & Liz,

I wanted to be sure to let you know that our pilgrimage was a great success!

It was full of so many extra special blessing AND healings! Amazing healings that I’d love to share once I come off Cloud 9😇! The graces keep on coming!

Our tour guide, Cristina was awesome! She was full of knowledge and so much fun. She quickly became part of our family! Everyone was very happy! Our 102 year old did wonderfully too. There was an incredible amount of walking with inclines. Some had to get used to it, but overall everyone rallied and were just so happy for the experience!!

Thank you again for all your hard work and dedication to making sure things ran smoothly! Can’t wait to go on pilgrimage again soon!

Thanks and God bless!

Marge

A very huge thank you to both of you for letting us go on with this trip! Danielle, you are amazing when you reserved those 10 seats to Vienna and Amman for us! There were so many flights that were cancelled before we got into WA. The line at the customer center was so long and rebooking was a nightmare. Your foresight in reprotecting our flights early made it easier for us. Thank you to both of you for your patience, esp with me calling you at odd hours and on Sunday! Everybody had a wonderful time. Our guides are amazing! Laith was such a big help in getting my luggage back! And Nassif made sure everybody got taken cared of at the airport! Your staff is awesome!

Thank you, thank you, thank you again and again!

God bless!

Ellen

Dear Cara,

Thank you for your email and for ALL your help with this trip to the Holy Land.

It was a wonderful experience for me, we visited so many beautiful places!

The trip guide, George Filmon, did a fantastic job!!! He was a very pleasant person with a great deal of knowledge. He shared with us that he attended a Catholic school. I really enjoyed talking to him.

The bus driver, Shaddy was very pleasant as well. He was a careful driver and he kept us safe every day. We were very fortunate to have such a great team to help us.

Also, we met Andrea at the airport upon our arrival in Tel Aviv and she was very nice and helpful. She had lived in Brooklyn, New York.

You did a wonderful job organizing this trip for us Cara and I wish you many blessings. May God always bless you!!!

My sincere appreciation for all your help!!!

Warmest regards,

Arlete

Hi Piernha!

I have been asked many times since we came back home how the pilgrimage was and it is really hard to describe with words, the best I can say: It is a huge blessing in our lives!!!

My wife and I want to thank you and the whole 206 Tours team for making this pilgrimage the blessing it is for our lives and those related to us.

Having our great driver Farid taking us from place to place without any problems, having our guide Giovanni explaining many things and taking care of us and the logistics and of course, having Fr. Peter Dugandzic guiding us spiritually and offering Mass every day has been an excellent experience.

Thanks to God and the cooperation of the 206 Tours team, everything went smoothly even during a change of plans due to the two days of rain we experienced. The change or plans gave us the opportunity to visit a couple of extra places not originally included in the itinerary. Farid and Giovanni did an excellent job with the change of plans.

The itinerary is well planned, the instructions were clear and that helped to have a pleasant and smooth pilgrimage.

We are thankful for all this and for having met the other pilgrims, we felt as if we have known each other for long time.

We will certainly refer our friends to 206 Tours and will be using your services in the future.

We thank God for your services and please extend our recognition to the whole 206 Tours team for all you do.

God Bless!

Jorge and Mary Chapa

Cat,

Anna, our tour guide was absolutely delightful! What a Blessing and and an excellent guide. Robert was wonderful as well.

Thank you.

Miriam Kelly

This trip is one Sharon and I will remember forever. Our faith has been strengthened after visiting many of the holy places. We now have a deeper understanding of many of the works of the various Polish saints.

I was very impressed with how everything was organized Our guide, Anna, was excellent. She was knowledgeable about the sites we were to visit and very well versed in the history of Poland. Our driver, Robert did a great job maneuvering the bus over what looked to me to be very challenging roads.

It was a plus that Michael O’Neill was part of our group. He added a lot of information and gave a couple of talks while we were traveling through the countryside.

Stan Drosky

The pilgrimage to Poland was everything I could have imagined. 206 Tours did a wonderful job and our Tour Guide Anna was amazing! Everything was organized and her professional attitude as well as concern for us all as we traveled, was like a mother keeping track of her children. I learned so much from her about Poland and it’s history as well as it’s customs, foods and celebrations. Her knowledge of the saints and churches as we visited some of the most incredible and beautiful places was wonderful! So pleased we had her!

Thank You 206 Tours,

Jan Nudo

Hi Piernha!

Thank you and the whole team at 206 for the wonderful pilgrimage that you organized. Everyone on the trip had a great time.

Anna K. was a perfect Poland tour guide – she was extremely knowlegeable and courteous, and handled all things that came her way. Robert was an excellent driver and Alex did just fine as well in Lithuania.

I really enjoyed Fr. Vivacqua – he and I worked together very well. I gave a number of presentations and did Q&A on the bus and he handled prayers and Mass. The two groups merged together nicely and everyone seemed to get along really well.

Thank you again for all you did – it was well worth the wait!

God bless,

Michael

Dear Cara,

The trip was great. Federica is the best tour manager / guide I’ve ever worked with. She’s an amazing and holy woman, she cared for each of the pilgrims, and got us where we needed to go on-time and she kept us together in the craziest of circumstances including the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum. Y’all have a great pilgrimage company, that is for sure.

It was also a joy to work with you. It was my first time working with 206 and I am impressed!

In Christ,

Fr. Matt, TOR

Dear Cara,

I enjoyed the pilgrimage so much! While I had a few mobility issues, that did not stop the benefits of my time with the pilgrims. Each of our stops were great. I had been to all three sites before, but each came alive again in new and unexpected ways. The procession at Lourdes was truly amazing. Rome, well it was Rome! St. Peter’s Basilica was magnificent. Truly a joy. Medjugorje was so warm and peaceful. The pilgrims and the local villagers were just amazing. The countryside of Bosnia was inviting was beautiful and inspiring. This was a great spiritual and rest-filled time.

Thanks for making everything come together.

Fr. Tony

The trip was perfect. Everything was better than we expected. I have highly recommended to family and friends. The best part of the trip was the guide Sami Backleh. He had wonderful knowledge of both scripture and the history. I highly recommend him to your company. His love of the subject was infectious . Not to mention his wonderful personality. In fact if he was your guide again I would take the same tour again.

Tom Koustmer

Dear Danielle,

The Holy Land Pilgrimage was my favorite out of 4 pilgrimages I have attended.  Sami was the best tour manager.  Father Kwiatkowski was an excellent Spiritual Director.  Our bus drivers Hossein and Shadi were perfect.  All aspects of the trip were well executed!  Please congratulate the 206 team members for me.

I will always remember!

God bless you and 206 Tours!

Karen

Dear Danielle,

The Holy Land Pilgrimage was my favorite out of 4 pilgrimages I have attended. Sami Backleh was the best tour manager. Father Dawid Kwiatkowski was an excellent Spiritual Director. Our bus drivers Hossein and Shadi were perfect. All aspects of the trip were well executed! Please congratulate the 206 team members for me.

I will always remember!

God bless you and 206 Tours!

Karen Lewis

Thank you Danielle, the pilgrimage was all I had hoped for.  I wished I had not waited so long to go!  Our guide Yousef , gets 10+ rating for his knowledge, kindness, and patience with us.  My brother, sister-in-law, and my best friend joined me on this journey, and they are not Catholic, but enjoyed all that was provided with our day excursions, rooms, and meals.  The bus rides were comfortable and the driver did an excellent job getting us to all of our destinations safely.  I have used other companies in past pilgrimages.  This was my second one with 206 and I’m glad I chose your tour group for our trip to Israel.  To be where Jesus lived, taught, and died is a true blessing and I am so very grateful to have had the opportunity.  My faith and love of God is stronger having seen the promised land!  Thank you for providing such an excellent experience,

Jeri

WE WANTED TO EXPRESS OUR PLEASURE AND GREAT EXPERIENCE ON OUR WAY ! FR GERRY AND CHRUSTINA WERE WONDERFUL..WE WOULD POSSIBLY DO THE PORTUGUESE WAY WITH CHRISTINA ..SHE WENT OVER AND ABOVE TO ACCOMMODATE US ALL WITH EVERY DETAIL PERFECT …THANK YOU

LIZ AND MIKE

Yes, our Holy Land pilgrimage exceeded our expectations and we were blessed to be able to share the experience with all our fellow pilgrims.

Ned

Dear Liz & Natasha,

I was very blest to be on this past Pilgrimage, March 25 – April4, 2023. It was a most wonderful experience.

Fr. Michael was an outstanding Spiritual Director. His Masses and homilies were quite amazing, so reverent. His great love for the Eucharist touched us all and strengthened us.

Penny did a fantastic job in working so well with Fr. Michael and Mary, our Guide. It was great that we could celebrate her birthday on our final night. In her most loving way, she made sure that each one of us was doing well, always looking out for our wellbeing.

Mary our Guide: I can’t say enough about Mary. I wish the tour was a semester course taught by Mary. She is so extremely knowledgeable of the Holy Land, has such a wonderful demeanor, and totally unflappable. She even had to handle her son being hurt at school. She watched over us when other groups were around, making sure we were together and kept our place in line as a group. Even when she had to search out someone who was late getting back to the bus, she was always smiling and never got upset. She kept us all peaceful and calm. Her knowledge of every place we went to was quite outstanding. She never paused in sharing about a site, being totally capable of sharing the full picture. She often spoke of the words of a site and their etymology and meaning from or in Hebrew and/or Aramaic. I can’t imagine a better Guide.

It was a very blessed experience for me. What 206 provided materially was a big help, from the books, guide to the Holy Land, back pack, etc..

Thank you so very much,

and God bless your work.

Tom Scheuring

Hi Alexandra,

We wanted to take a moment to express our thanks and gratitude for an amazing pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  You were wonderful to work with and made our trip planning so easy.  Thank you for being attentive to our special requests and travel concerns.  All of our connections and accommodations were great.  I know there is so much more you did behind the scenes and we are grateful for all that you did.

Fr. Dawid Kwiatkowski was a great inspiration to us as we felt a deeper connection to Jesus and the Holy Land through his teachings and especially his daily gospels.  We are very thankful that Fr. Dawid was our spiritual director on this pilgrimage.  He kept us focused and mindful of the reason we were on this journey.  Thanks to Fr. Dawid our hearts are bursting with love for Jesus and the Catholic faith and all its teachings.

Words cannot express the gratitude we have for our guide, Sami Backleh.  Sami is a wealth of information when it comes to his country, the Holy Land, the Bible, walking with Jesus, and all the cultures surrounding this area.  Sami was always kind, cheerful, attentive, understanding, patient, joyful, and professional.  He was a magician when it came to getting our group to the right place at the right time. He seemed to be loved by fellow guides and students we’d run into along the way.  They would tell us how wonderful he was and what a great teacher and how lucky we were to have him.  We couldn’t agree more.  Sami truly made this pilgrimage amazing!  We feel so blessed to have had him as our guide through the Holy Land. He is the best and we would highly recommend Sami Backleh for any of your tours.

Thank you again for everything.

God Bless,

Mary Beth and Tom Wilson

Danielle,

Probably one final thank you for all you and 206 Tours did. It was hard to imagine how much we would appreciate this pilgrimage  as we started to plan for this trip nearly a year ago. w We we went through Advent and Easter time and  how much more our appreciation for the gospel became as we recognized locations sites and sounds of the Holy Land. At every opportunity we get we recommend 206 Tours and taking advantage of a trip to see where our faith began.

Mike and Eydie Fellows

Hi Cara,

The Pilgrimage was wonderful. Everything from the flights to the accommodations, the Mass celebrated by Father Mark and our guide and driver. Rami is truly a treasure. His knowledge of the land and the scriptures is astonishing!

We had a good fun group of Pilgrims too! Everyone seemed so upbeat. It’s left me with memories that will last forever. Just to think, we walked where our Lord walked!

Thank you for your hard work in making this happen.

God bless

Carol Mansfield

Dear Piernha,

Our recent pilgrimage to Mexico City for Our Lady of Guadalupe was very well organized and one of the tours that we had truly enjoyed.

From the very start of the planning and efficient work from your office and execution of the plan was well executed. Thanks to you, Dr. Moneta de Castro,

Father Pedro Martinez, our tour guide Roberto and Driver Cesar we all fulfilled our expectations.

My wife and I will highly recommend your tour office.

Once again, Thank You.

Dr. and Mrs. Rafael Chan

Hi Danielle,

First of all, we’d like to thank you for the help you provided us as we prepared for this adventure.  You were prompt in getting back to us and all the communication was much appreciated.  Kudos to you!

We want to let you know how very much we loved this pilgrimage! It was the most beautiful experience and a journey that we will always treasure.  We did come home exhausted, but that probably means the pilgrimage was a success.  We are finally feeling more rested and wanted to send a quick critique, (not in any particular order).

The guides and drivers were amazing, knowledgeable, respectful and sensitive to our needs.  We were a large group, but they managed everything so efficiently.  We wish we could have absorbed it better; it was truly so much to take in.

It felt like there were many thoughtful touches throughout the pilgrimage; specifically: there were special prayers at the various sites–and this may have been because of our spiritual guides–but it was wonderful to renew our baptismal promises at the Jordan River, to pray the Our Father in the prison cave, to renew our vows, complete with veils and roses at Cana.  The early time for the Way of the Cross was appreciated as well as the Holy Hour at the Church at Gethsemane and the High Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Sailing on the Sea of Galilee and having the crew raise the American flag and singing the National Anthem also meant a lot to us.

We loved the backpacks and all the extras too–the rosary and booklets etc.

Packing so much into the pilgrimage days was great and left us wanting more and also to learn more history now that we are home.  We always felt safe, probably due to our capable guides and drivers.

The food was amazing and it was much appreciated to have the lunches arranged.  We all felt we were eating too much, but looking back we felt it was needed nutrition for all the steps we took!  Interestingly, we did not gain weight either.

The hotels were very nice and staff helpful.

Thank you for all your attention to detail and for making this a once in a lifetime experience.

We will be forever grateful!!

God Bless you,

Jim & Mary

Thank you 206 for organizing this pilgrimage.

Mary Theresa and I enjoyed every moment and every single site.

Rami is an exceptional tour guide with a contagious deep Faith and conviction. We were in awe of his historic knowledge of the events that happened at every holy site and we appreciated his explanation of customs and traditions at the time of Jesus which enabled us to understand more fully the context and background of life in the days of Christ. We loved how well prepared he was every single day, informing us of what to expect, what to watch for, what to do and what not to do. He was spot on 100% all the time. 206 tours is lucky to have Rami. Mousse, our bus driver was simply amazing, caring making sure we were comfortable and hydrated everyday. He was kind, respectful and always lending a helping hand literally and May God bless him for maneuvering this big bus around those narrow windy roads. We were so blessed to have our beloved Pastor with us who guided us in prayer at the beginning of each day, and celebrated daily Masses in the most beautiful churches extracting the most beautiful meaningful lessons in his homilies bringing us closer to Jesus. Deacon John this humble faithful servant was also a blessing to all, he always had a listening ear and a lending hand to Father Mark and to each of us pilgrims. I personally enjoyed talking to the locals in my native tongue and was touched by their warmth kindness and resilience. This was a pilgrimage of a life time. I certainly have a new and deep appreciation of the mission of tours like this to help and uphold the presence of these Holy grounds for generations to come. I feel a deep sense of connectedness to my Lord and Savior and to the Land in which he grew up, lived and died to save me and all who want to be saved. Thank you and God bless you! Thank you for the goodie bag and for the pilgrim certificate.

Najat

Greetings Danielle,

We had an amazing faith filled experience and I hope everyone is given the same joy!

Thank you for all your hard work!

Patricia

Danielle – what a ride.  Really words aren’t enough to describe what I saw and felt.  Such beauty.  Sa ‘id was amazing!  So personable, knowledgeable, and patient.

I enjoyed working with you and I’m sure we will be doing it again!

May God bless your Lenten Journey!

Jean

Good Evening,

I want to thank you and 206 Tours for organizing a fantastic pilgrimage.  Both of the pilgrimages that I have been on with 206 went as flawlessly as possible.  Everything was handled very thoughtfully.  And people were able to enter into a prayerful and impactful pilgrimage.

Keep up the good work.  Yorgos and Sa’id were fantastic.

Sincerely,

Fr. Michael

Hello Danielle,

I want you to know what a wonderful time I had on my Pilgrimage. I was so impressed with 206 tours. Everything ran like clockwork and our guide Said was incredible. The trip was truly a blessing.

Thank you

Laurie

Danielle,

The entire 206 trip tour was majestic!! Poland and Rome was everything I hoped and prayed for. Our tour guides and bus drivers were awesome and worked so hard for us. Please be very proud of them and express my gratitude. I would repeat my exact tour again.

Maryann

Hello Danielle,

I just wanted to thank you for all that you did to ensure our large group of pilgrims (93) had a wonderful trip to the Holy Land. It was fantastic! I’m trying to burn through the jet lag but couldn’t let too much time go by without thanking you for the trip planning that took place prior to us departing. I’m an organizer and planner by nature and KNOW it was a HUGE job to put it all together, especially for such a big group, and I truly appreciate your efforts. I usually do all of the trip planning for our household so it was great to just sign up, pay up and get on the plane without much effort on my part.

I also wanted to say that our guides, Yorgos a.k.a. George, and Sa’id, were FANTASTIC! Their Biblical, historical, cultural and regional knowledge were exceptional. As I told many of my traveling companions, it was like drinking through a fire hose each day for me. I also told them that those two guys know more about what’s going on in the world than the collective “brain trust” at the US State Dept.! They were extremely patient with us; with such a large group it was often times like herding cats. I know they had long days and sometimes short nights to get us to all of our destinations and they deserve a bonus for guiding us so well. The drivers were great too! I wouldn’t want to be driving that long bus on those small, windy roads and switchbacks but they navigated it all with ease.

My husband and I traveled with a friend group of eight. (We were on the green bus with Yorgos). We all were impressed with the hotel accommodations and food. I especially liked the different restaurants located in the towns we were traveling in just to get a good feel for the culture in Israel. All of the food was good too. I don’t even want to know how much weight I gained along the way!

I don’t want to come off of this honeymoon high from my pilgrimage there as my faith was deepened and I feel closer to Christ than ever before, for which I was hoping. A truly beautiful experience that will be forever seared in my memory along with the numerous photos and notes I took along the way. Now I’m trusting in the Lord to answer my pilgrimage intention.

Thanks again for all you do and for 206 Tours. I’ve been spreading the word about your company so others can have a similar, wonderful experience.

Cori and Dan

Good Morning,

I hope both of you are doing well!

The reason for this email is to express my sincere thank you for the most glorious trip I could have ever experienced…..

The trip has deepened my faith in God tremendously!!!

I also want to acknowledge our Guide “ Habib”. There are no words to express the gratitude we all felt for his professionalism and his abundant Bible knowledge. As I would always say, he is a walking Bible!!!!

And for me, It all began with the first words he uttered welcoming the group by saying welcome brothers and sisters to Jerusalem and then said, ” welcome home”. Wow!!! that meant the world to me.

I would think you already know the treasure/gem he is to your company/ group and how I think he deserves the this heart felt acknowledgment.

Thank you all, for making the trip possible after 3 years. May you continue to help other pilgrims in their journey.

My prayers and blessings to all of you!

Warmly,

Vivian

This pilgrimage was fantastic!!!!! All went beautifully and our guide Giovanni was beyond spectacular. Nothing but praise for everyone’s hard work.

Many, many thanks,

Adair

To all at 206 Tours, Grace and blessing to you all.

The pilgrimage was a gift from Jesus to me.  He showed me the places where he lived, ate, preached, performed miracles, prayed  and suffered.  By all accounts, I should not have been on this pilgrimage, but Jesus said, “Let me help you experience everything you are able to.”  Both Giovanni and Joseph worked together to accomadate me and include me in most of the activities.  Their care and concern splilled over into the rest of the pilgrimage group.  Every single one of the pilgrims at some point walked with me, helped me walk up or down, navigate steep steps and generally encouraged me to continue. Even though I had to sit out several sites, I never felt alone or excluded. And of course, I can not forget the promptness with which the staff in Israel handled the cancellation of our Tues night flight, finding a hotel with late checkout, treating us to lunch on Wed. and once again getting to the airport.  I have a friend who experienced a similar situation, except she was on her own finding a hotel.  What a blessing your staff is!!  Also, I want you to know that all the 206 Tours guides, drivers, and staff are some of the most joyful Catholics I have encountered..

By all rights, I should not have gone on this pilgrimage–the hills alone were enough to kill me.  But somehow, Jesus meant for me to able to on this particular pilgrimage.  Thank you all for allowing me to have this experience.

God bless you all,

Janet Prouty

To all at 206 Tours, Grace and blessing to you all.

The pilgrimage was a gift from Jesus to me. He showed me the places where he lived, ate, preached, performed miracles, prayed and suffered. By all accounts, I should not have been on this pilgrimage, but Jesus said, “Let me help you experience everything you are able to.” Both Giovanni and Joseph worked together to accomadate me and include me in most of the activities. Their care and concern splilled over into the rest of the pilgrimage group. Every single one of the pilgrims at some point walked with me, helped me walk up or down, navigate steep steps and generally encouraged me to continue. Even though I had to sit out several sites, I never felt alone or excluded. And of course, I can not forget the promptness with which the staff in Israel handled the cancellation of our Tues night flight, finding a hotel with late checkout, treating us to lunch on Wed. and once again getting to the airport. I have a friend who experienced a similar situation, except she was on her own finding a hotel. What a blessing your staff is!! Also, I want you to know that all the 206 Tours guides, drivers, and staff are some of the most joyful Catholics I have encountered..

By all rights, I should not have gone on this pilgrimage–the hills alone were enough to kill me. But somehow, Jesus meant for me to able to on this particular pilgrimage. Thank you all for allowing me to have this experience.

Janet

Hello Milanka ,

Greetings from Holy land!

Before proceeding to Jordan and Greece with 206 Tours, I wanted to take a moment and appreciate Fr. Dawid and our tour guide Sami. Today we had our mass inside the Holy Sepulcher at Jesus’s Tomb; that was the high point of our tour. Fr Dawid’s homilies were very inspiring. He is a very interesting and holy priest. I can say this because of the many pilgrimages we have been on with 206 Tours.

We were pleasantly surprised by Sami; his deep knowledge of archaeology, geology, and theology of Holy Land is very much appreciated because of his teaching background at the university and also his educational background. Sami’s connection with people/security personnel really made our trip hassle free. I know you value our feedback. I thought our comments might aid in choosing good spiritual directors and tour guides helping future pilgrims with meaningful experiences.

You will get more feed back from us from Jordan and Greece.

Much Love

Nancy + Venkata

Hi Natasha

I made it home safely! Thank you so much for your extra help through the night and additional assistance for our group! Please pass along to the rest of the 206 Tours team! Giovanni and Joseph were amazing tour guides! And Farid and our bus drivers were the best I’ve ever seen! Looking forward to travel with you again.

Ann S.

Hi Danielle,

Thanks for the invitation to review my pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Rome. Did it exceed my expectations? Where do I begin?

I cannot possibly remember all of the wonderful, happy, blessed moments that occurred on this, my first pilgrimage. I am so glad I booked it through 206 Tours!

When I booked as a solo traveler who had never been overseas, I was a little nervous. So many worries!

Almost from the moment I collected my baggage and entered the arrivals hall at Ben Gurion airport, my worries disappeared. There was Habib, our guide, waiting for me and the others who had taken the same flight. We were bused to the hotel, and a short time later we met the rest of our group and Father Andrew at our first Mass together. With each shared meal, with each expedition from one holy site to the next, with each Mass that we celebrated as group, our bond of friendship became stronger. By the end of our time in the Holy Land, I felt like a kid leaving summer camp – leaving her new wonderful friends behind and hoping to see them again next summer.

Our Holy Land guide, Habib, is excellent. He could not have been more gracious, accommodating, and fun. What I learned from him and the holy sites we visited, I could not have learned through years of studying the Bible at home here in the U.S. If I had to grade Habib, I’d give him an A+++. We visited so many churches and other sites, it could have seemed like a big blur of sightseeing activity, but the trip was so well planned it didn’t seem like that at all. Habib’s lessons about each site were meaningful, well taught, and insightful. I cannot say emphatically enough how great it was to have the “Whisper” devices so that I didn’t miss a word. I love that we had prayerful moments and scripture readings at each of the churches. It was so meaningful to have Mass celebrated each day by Father Andrew. Having each liturgy so thoroughly match the location where we celebrated Mass was very, very special. I really felt as if I were growing closer to Our Lord Jesus day by day. A few of the activities that stand out most in my memory include: a) Singing the Ave Maria in the wonderfully rich acoustics at St. Anne’s b) Sitting behind the altar during Mass at the Church of the Transfiguration c) Gathering around and touching the rock of agony during Mass at the Church at Gethsemane d) visiting the Holy Sepulcher and having Mass inside the tomb and e) praying the Stations of the Cross on the Via De La Rosa. Two additional special highlights occurred at our Notre Dame hotel. Father David gave us a tour and explanation of the Shroud of Turin exhibit. That was very moving. We also had the great privilege of meeting the artist, Daniel Cariola, and being some of the first pilgrims to see his AMAZING, awe inspiring Pentacost project in progress.

The hotels at which we stayed were beautiful. My room at each was clean, comfortable, and restful. The lobby at each hotel was beautiful, welcoming, and comfortable. We were spoiled in so many ways, but mostly by the food! The buffets were splendid — more choices and more delicious food than imaginable. The bread was astonishingly great. Nowhere in America will you find bread as hearty, fresh and flavorful as the bread we had every morning and every evening at our hotels. The rooftop restaurant at the Notre Dame hotel was my favorite. We were spoiled by wonderful abundant meals and wine. And, we were spoiled by terrific wait staffs at each hotel. Even our lunches – out in local neighborhood restaurants throughout Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and elsewhere — were delicious, and the service was exemplary. Mufeed was our driver. He got us safely and so skillfully to all the sites we visited! He could not have been more pleasant and gracious. It was always good to come back to the bus to be greeted by his smile. The last day of our trip, Habib and Mufeed picked us up in the middle of the night to get us to the airport. That’s dedication. Everything about The Holy Land tour with 206 Tours absolutely exceeded my expectations!

About a dozen of us continued on to Rome with 206. Rome was spectacular. Hotel accommodations were very nice. Staff was very kind. Food was great! Wait staff was excellent. Our days were jam packed. It was great to explore four major basilicas and churches, the Vatican Museum, and the Pope. It was nice to have a little free time in the afternoon to shop, explore and experience some of the tastes of Italy. Mmm gelato! The art at the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica is incomparably, stunningly, beautiful. Every square inch of St Peter’s is dedicated to beauty. So splendid, it is indescribable. St John Lateran, St Mary Major, and St Paul Beyond The Walls are gorgeous, too. Climbing the Holy Stairs is an experience I won’t forget. Our 206 guide, Federica, was delightful, so kind, so friendly, and so helpful. Titiana, our official Roman guide, was very knowledgeable, patient, and kind. I learned a lot from her. Father Piotr is a wonderful priest and spiritual director — so intelligent, so learned, yet so easy to talk with. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Rome. However, it all went by too fast!

Initially, when I booked my pilgrimage, I’d asked for Tour 118, The Holy Land, Rome, and The Shrines of Italy. Due to lack of enough pilgrims having chosen the same, the third leg of the journey, The Shrines, was cancelled. At the time, I was offered the choice to do only the Holy Land and Rome on the originally chosen dates, or to choose a later date for the triple tour. I am so very glad I chose the first option! I met the most wonderful fellow pilgrims, whom I now call friends. Whenever I think of them, I smile. This whole experience has made me so happy, so full, and yet so yearning to learn more about our Catholic faith and to daily take one step closer to Jesus, closer to that elusive goal of holiness. I’m so glad I threw a coin (a sheckel) into Trevi Fountain! I was back home only one day when, just before Sunday Mass, I saw a flyer in the vestibule at my home parish. Our own pastor, Father Bing, is planning on taking a group of parishioners on a pilgrimage to The Shrines of Italy with 206 Tours. Italy, here I come again!

Carol Mazikowski

Good Morning Liz and Natasha

I have not words to express my gratitude for such an amazing time that the group and I experienced these past days. Everything was perfect, on time, with great quality, friendly and love. The hotels were fantastic. Our Tour Guide, Habibi an extraordinary and knowledgeable person. The food very tasty. Our driver. gentle and nice. Well, everything was perfect even the weather.

For this reason I know that more parishioners will be interested to do it next year. I will not be able to do it but I am copy Fr. Ruben, who is my Parochial Vicar, because I wish that he can have this unforgettable time in the Land of the Lord.

My group found this text from the Museum and I want for you to enjoy it in thanksgiving for your services and especially for the deep care that you and your company showed to us in this pilgrimage.

The Thanksgiving Scroll

1QHA 9-12

I am dust and ashes what can I plan if you do not wish it

What can I devise without your will

How can I be strong if you do not make me stand

How can I be learned if you do not mold me

What can I say if you do not open my mouth

How can I answer if you do not give me insight

See, you are the prince of God’s in the king of the glorious ones

Lord of every spirit

Ruler of every preacher

Apart from you nothing happens and nothing is known without your will

There is no one besides you

FREDY

Good Morning Liz and Natasha

I have not words to express my gratitude for such an amazing time that the group and I experienced these past days. Everything was perfect, on time, with great quality, friendly and love. The hotels were fantastic. Our Tour Guide, Habib an extraordinary and knowledgeable person. The food very tasty. Our driver. gentle and nice. Well, everything was perfect even the weather.

 For this reason I know that more parishioners will be interested to do it next year.

 My group found this text from the Museum and I want for you to enjoy it in thanksgiving for your services and especially for the deep care that you and your company showed to us in this pilgrimage.

The Thanksgiving Scroll

1QHA 9-12

I am dust and ashes what can I plan if you do not wish it

What can I devise without your will

How can I be strong if you do not make me stand

How can I be learned if you do not mold me

What can I say if you do not open my mouth

How can I answer if you do not give me insight

See, you are the prince of God’s in the king of the glorious ones

Lord of every spirit

Ruler of every preacher

Apart from you nothing happens and nothing is known without your will

There is no one besides you

Fr. Jhon

Dear Natasha and Alex,

I hope all is well!

We wanted to thank you for the wonderful pilgrimage!

We don’t have enough words to express our gratitude!

Everything was fantastic Our tour guide Wissam was amazing, knowledgeable he was very kind, he cared for us, also we had great drivers, we felt safe the whole group was very happy!

The Hotels were amazing as well as the food!

Our tour guide In Jordan was especially great too!

Everything was well planned. We really appreciate it what you did for us!

We really felt the presence and the love of God in every holy site that we visited, we feel very fortunate and privileged!

We can wait for our next pilgrimage to Turkey.

With gratitude

A and JC

Liz,

Wanted to give you some feedback on the tour. It was FANTASTIC!

Our guide, George was outstanding. He was extremely knowledgeable of all sites visited. His Catholic perspective was important. His comments were always additive and insightful. He never tried to outshine our spiritual guide, Fr. Gregory.

The bus driver, Rahed (sp?) was skilled and patient. I felt at ease to leave valuables on the bus when at locations.

The accommodations were somewhat spartan but befitting a pilgrimage. The hotel food was very good. Restaurant food was very good. I normally eat only two meals a day. On this trip I ate all three and still lost five pounds due to the activity level.

Your arrangements for wheelchair assistance worked perfectly at all airports.

Travelling with Type 2 diabetes never presented a concern. I felt my insulin supply was secure.

George provided distilled water for my CPAP at both locations. I needed 2 liters total due to the low humidity there.

Lizabeth and I want to thank you for your personalized attention for our trip. I usually get overwhelmed by apprehension, planning details and schedule execution. On this trip I didn’t need to get distracted and was able to concentrate on the spiritual aspects.

I definitely recommend your agency. What distinguishes 206 is attention to detail: name tags, backpacks and clutches, hats, certificates, plenty of water for hydration, religious reading materials, mass arrangements, etc. I was impressed how you took care

Thanks again!

Regards,

Chuck and Lizabeth

Dear Natasha and Liz,

We want to express our thanks and appreciation for all you did that made our St. Mary Help of Christians Holy Land Pilgrimage a truly blessed experience.

The hotel accommodations at Magdala and at Notre Dame were outstanding. All of our pilgrims, and especially Fr. Wilson and our two seminarians were thrilled with the beauty and availability of the chapels at each hotel. These added immeasurably to the richness of our entire spiritual experience. The service offered us at both hotels, and especially at Notre Dame was exceptional.

Our guide, George, was also excellent. All of our pilgrims expressed great satisfaction with his knowledgeable descriptions of all of the sites, and his Catholic and Biblical understanding also always put them in the proper spiritual context.

We particularly want to thank you for the extra effort you put forth in arranging for the expeditious return of one of our pilgrim couples following an extremely painful fall that was functionally debilitating. It was amazing to see that you were able to arrange all the aspects of their return, including doctor examinations, new and updated flight arrangements, and special assistance through the airports within just a few hours of our first call to you! That did wonders to provide comfort and quickly calm their anxious concerns. You certainly delivered an answer to our prayers in that circumstance.

May God bless you abundantly,

Pat and Bill Johnson

Good morning and blessed Ash Wednesday! I just wanted to let you know we got completely reimbursed from Travel Insured International for the delay in our trip to Israel. I had very exact receipts and details of the delay including emails from United about our cancelled flights, rental car, gas, meals, and hotel stay. 206 Tours also responded quickly with the
Costs of the missed tour. We were very pleased with the expediency and thoroughness with all parties. It was well worth the purchase price especially with how we ended up going to Detroit, etc…. All expenses covered! Thanks for your help and feel free to share our story. We are glad we took your advice and bought travel insurance. God Bless, Mary Siegel

Cara Camden

Hi Danielle,

I just wanted to Thank You for the great work you did to make our Pilgrimage to Mexico City so successful. My daughter Lisa and I appreciated all you did. The accommodations were great and our guide and bus driver were amazing. The hotel food was very good and the service was great too. The outside restaurants we ate at were wonderful and we so enjoyed them, especially our last night farewell dinner. So again 206 came shinning through for all of us from St. Joseph Marello Catholic Church in Granite Bay, CA. God’s Blessings.

Kathy Clark

Thank you, Jenny. You guys at 206 are great at what you do.

Only 16 days till we leave!! And I feel prepared.

Anne Marie

Hi Jenny,

The recent tour to Guadalupe was very well organized for 3 buses of pilgrims such as myself. The itinerary met and exceeded expectations, even with one day having to be shuffled because of international leaders meeting in Mexico City.

I made new friends from the other buses and made many good friends from the yellow bus. Father Calloway is the most humble, giving of his time to all that encountered him, including myself. I found time daily to get a few moments of his wisdom and wit, without taking up too much of his valuable time. Father Alexander was a wonderful addition to the tour and I found individual time with him on several occasions.

Yellow bus driver, Juan and guide Jose, accompanied by Sabrina were true professionals. Getting to and from the airport was very organized and much better than other travels through the years from various companies.

I hope to book another tour later this year in addition to the Footsteps of St Paul I booked today for June 2024. Thank you all for a faith filled, spiritual, renewal journey to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Blessings,

John S.

The Tour was super fantastic and very meaningful. Father Dave, Father Joe, Giovanni and Tim and Omar were outstanding. Giovanni had it just right. The accommodations were great. This tour was a home run for sure.

Thanks Cara 👍

Also the singing and guitar music by Mary and Anna really added a significant plus to the meaning of our tour . They added greatly to the tour’s success.

James Adair

Hi Cara,

I am writing to tell you how pleased I was with Frederica as our tour guide on our recent pilgrimage to Rome.

She was phenomenal and beyond all expectations. Her caring attitude was evident in every step we took. Always watching closely to insure our group was together and safe. With a group of almost 40 people this was no small task, especially with me being part of the group.

Frederica was very professional and attentive to all our needs. She answered all our questions and was not afraid to say when she did not know the answer immediately, but always checked into it and got back with us in a timely manner.

She provided great information as we rode to our destinations, but was careful to let each specific tour guide do their part, as to not steal their thunder, Which I thought was very respectful of her.

She was great at getting people in the group to be where they needed to be on time and always with a smile.

I felt very comfortable coming to her with any request. She was always very responsive, personable and approachable.

I really can’t say enough about how pleasant and personable she was. She helped to provide a memorable experience.

Thank you for your time.

Take care,

Greg Wurth

Danielle,

It was the most wonderful trip we have ever taken. Our tour guide, Joseph could not have been better. He was knowledgeable, helpful, and we always felt like our safety and well-being were his top priorities. The hotels were fabulous. We hope to take another 206 tour in the future.

Cindy Miller

Hi Natasha

We took the tandem Lourdes-Paris pilgrimage, and our group kept using the same word to describe the experience: Magical.

Lourdes was so enchanting, peaceful and transforming that after three days I could have boarded the plane home happy and contented. Thankfully, we instead went north to charming Normandy and found Lisieux and especially Mont St. Michel gratifying and delightful. The American Cemetery is not to be missed.

The biggest surprise was Chartres (Mary’s veil!!) and while Paris divided our group into love-it or don’t-love-it — count me among the latter — I wouldn’t have missed the Miraculous Medal Shrine for the world.

Big credit goes to our guide, Javier Valdivieso, who was knowledgeable, spiritual and joyful and who instilled a sense of comfort with his mastery of six (yes, 6) languages. I’d go back to Lourdes in a second and would consider traveling anywhere on the continent with Javi leading the way.

Thank you,
Tom Collins

Dear Rinda,

Compliment of the Season! I trust you are all doing well. Thank you for the Christmas wishes and prayers.

The year ended well with a beautiful tour (tour 37 to Portugal, Spain and France). Thank you immensely for the opportunity to be part of the tour. It was a beautiful experience; well organized and put together. The tour guide was excellent, the driver too and the pilgrims. Everything went well to the glory of God. thank you to all of you at 206tours for the wonderful work you do. May the new year be filled with abundant goodness for you and your families. I am grateful and I look forward to more opportunities in the new year.

Thank you and God bless.

Fr. Ken 

Hi Milanka,

I just wanted to let you know that the Pilgrimage last week was phenomenal! My husband and I brought our three adult children, ages 22, 19, & 17. We all had an AMAZING week. This was the second trip for me and my husband. We had a great experience in 2019 with a different tour group, however, this trip with 206 was even BETTER!

Here are some things we liked better…

1. Sophie Hotel in Tiberias was great! We loved that it was a little smaller than Olive Tree. (Olive Tree was good, but it is big, crowded, and loud. Not a deal breaker, but just not as quaint as Sophie.)

2. We appreciated that all the meals, including lunch, were included. Pete especially liked the wine with dinner.

3. The entire trip in the Holy Land went so smoothly. We were so impressed with that. As far as I could tell, not one single thing went wrong.

4. Habib, our tour guide, was off the charts amazing! He was everything you would want in a tour guide. It was super great that he is Catholic, so he was able to teach us about Catholic things. In addition, he is well versed in the Bible. He made connections from a variety of Bible passages and locations. He was good at keeping the group engaged by asking questions and answering questions. In addition, we had one pilgrim who was older and a little unstable. Habib was always checking on him and many times helping him up and down stairs, etc. He was always on time, friendly, organized, etc. I seriously cannot think of one single complaint about him.

Thank you so much for all the work you and your team put into making this an amazing trip! From now on, 206 will be the only tour group I use and recommend!

Kristine Bruce

Danielle,

Thank you and 206 Tours for by far the Best trip we have ever taken. The incredible organization, both before, during .. and even to the very end was far above par.

We had the privilege of having the best tour guide in existence!! Yuseff was the kindest, the most patient, the most organized and by far the most intelligent person we have ever had to guide us . He could answer any question with expertise and he went beyond the norm by quoting the Bible to show us the connection between the old testament and the new testament while visiting the particular historical spots. He also had the best smile in the world! From the bottom of our hearts , we thank him for helping to us to deepen our faith.

We were very fortunate to have a small group. We thoroughly enjoyed each orher and became good friends.

Father Brian, with his quiet presence and strong faith enhanced our visits to the incredible areas where Jesus walked . His daily Mass was something we will never forget. Thank you Father for sharing your faith with us. As you can see, we surely consider 206 Tours the very Best Company we have ever used.

Ed and Rita

To all the team members , coordinators of 206 Tours—I would like to express our sincere gratitude for the wonderful pilgrimage we had at Tour 8, Lourdes, France and Paris. This was our first pilgrimage and it was better than I expected. We felt safe and well taken cared of. Our drivers and tour guides especially Quico were very pleasant , professional and simply the best. We hope to plan more tours in the near future and even recommended your company to our friends. God bless!

Sincerely,

Arestel and Myra Dy

Thank you for such an inspiring and enriching tour. Our guide Youssef was amazing and a special asset for your company.Thank you for sharing him with us and have a blessed and wonderful Merry Christmas!!

Gratefully,

Ed and Rita Slattery

We are extremely grateful that we picked your tour over others, our first time to Holy Land! Firstly, the we only imagined the places we went to see and touched, it became so real, tears of joy, unbelievable experience, secondly our beloved tour guide , Josef; he is one of a kind; very passionate about his work, very professional, kind, highly educated, we noticed he is the only one reading from the Bible chapters directly related to the sites, it makes it more intense for me and my husband, Josef comes highly recommended, we are really blessed to have met him, enjoyed every moment with him, we pray that he will work with your company as long as he can, he is your biggest asset as far as me and my husband are concerned;  thirdly, we appreciate so much how you schedule the time to visit all the awesome,biblical places, even if we wake up at 2:30am once, was worth every second, we had the place to ourselves, none of the big group came, no lines to squeeze in , overall me and my husband, the tour exceeded our expectations, we are planning for another pilgrimage next year, so we hope it will equal if not exceed this experience we just had, we received the straps for the small bag that came with the backpack, 206 Tours is very reliable and also highly recommended to our relatives and friends, we appreciate all of you, God Bless you all, wish you a very blessed and safe Holidays, We will keep these memories forever, this was our ultimate vacation for lifetime 🙏❤️

Thank you all 206 Tours!

Federico and Estrella Dadag

There are no words to say about our trip, It was so beautiful and rewarding to be there, in all the places Jesus had been.

Father Eric and father Fernando’s were really helpful and they gave us the opportunity to practice our adoration under their care and guidance that we felt in many places the existence of our lord in our hearts and our souls. They were really great.

Our tour director Fadi Saba was also excellent, he really knew what to do, where to go, and all the places, he described the old events and the new events perfectly. He told us the true stories for each city we visited .  He made the trip for us, to get closer to god. He provided excellent  services to all pilgrims. We were so lucky to have him in our tour.
Bus driver was great also, do not know how he can drive that bus on so many narrow streets, but he did it and was good.

I am glad we went with your company. Can say enough about it.

Thank you again for all the nice goodies sent from your company for our trip love the hat, and the bag is the best for everything. Rosaries, and a nice olive wood cross made the trip so special.

Hotels were very nice, clean and comfortable. The food in every hotel was very good. All of the restaurants had such nice lunches for us. There was nothing I can say that would be a negative at all. Your tour company know it stuff. And we are thankful for such a nice one.

God be with you,

Yasra Adowar

It has been a few weeks since Karyn and I returned from our trip to France, Italy, and Medjugorje.  We could not have been more pleased with how things went.  Our tour guides were exceptional, hotels were wonderful, and the many places that we went will give us memories to cherish for many years to come.

Thanks for all your help in getting us scheduled for this trip through many challenging changes.  We really appreciate it.

Elaine Goth

Dear 206 Team,
I give thanks to God for your wonderful company. I experienced the Shrines of Italy tour for ten days and it is amazing to look back and see all that was covered.
Christina our tour guide was always available for any concern and was totally hospitable to everyone. Personally I felt very taken care of.
And daily Mass said at these sacred sites with Father Robert is why I travel with 206.
God bless all 206 employees who worked behind the scenes to make this tour possible for me. May God richly reward you.

Sincerely,
Patricia Lynch

Hi Danielle,

The pilgrimage was great!! Every part of our journey was fabulous. All travel arrangements were perfect. Hotels and food excellent. Food exceptional at all locations. And what can we say about Dr. Sammy? The best! So intelligent and a biblical scholar but he made all understandable. And that which was too deep, will catch it next time. The tour was packed, but at a steady pace. We just can’t stop raving about the pilgrimage. Our bus driver was so patient with us and tolerated our loudness and goofiness. Deacon Matt, Lisa, Father Dave all wonderful too. Beyond wonderful. Thankful for Clark and his daily Bible studies, just enough, but not too intense. Thank you too, Danielle for your patience in answering all our questions, concerns, fears. Lord-willing, there just may be another 206 Tour in our future. Not only a spiritual mountaintop experience but the fun and new found friendships, priceless.

Thanks so much and God Bless

Paul and Sherri Hernandez

Dear Cara,

Our Association of the Miraculous Medal Pilgrimage to Jordan and the Holy Land was a deeply spiritual experience.

Fadi Haddad is an amazing guide who opened my eyes and mind to the Biblical and Christian sites in Jordan. I should have realized that many important events happened across the Jordan River in Old Testament times, in New Testament times, and in the early Christian era. Celebrating Mass in Fadi’s parish church, the Church of the Martyrs of Jordan, was moving as we recalled the passion of St. John the Baptist and the birth into heaven of several early Christians who died for their faith in what is now Jordan. It was a privilege to celebrate Mass at the altar of this church, the same altar at which Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in 2009 when it moved to Amman International Stadium for the Holy Father’s Mass with the people of Jordan. We all loved the visit to Petra and learned that quite possibly St. Paul spent time in the city after his conversion on the road to Damascus. Mass at Mt. Nebo in the Basilica dedicated to St. Moses was also a rewarding experience, as was the visit to Jerash where we visited several of the excavated churches that were home to the many Christians who lived in this important city of the latter 1^st and early 2^nd centuries. Muhammed, our driver, was gracious and competent. Though not fluent in English, he made us feel very welcome. He provided us with a different local cookie each day. We came to realize that Jordan should also be considered part of the Holy Land.

Ater crossing into Israel, we met the rest of our fellow pilgrims in Tel Aviv. We also met Michel Farraj, another wonderful guide whose knowledge of the Holy Land and his ability to bring the Biblical places and events alive is extraordinary. Both Michel and Amer Kawasmi, our driver, made us feel that we were family members. Amer welcomed us on board with water and chocolate almost every time we boarded the coach. All of us experienced the wonder of the Biblical and early Christian sites, from Caesarea to Galilee to the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem and Judea, and the many places where Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the apostles and first disciples lived, traveled, and spread the Good News of the Kingdom. Each of us returned home with our own special memories and spiritual encounters. For me, the highlight of the pilgrimage was Mass at 6:00 AM in the tomb where Jesus’ body had been laid and from which he rose on the first Easter. Since there were only 18 of us, we could all fit in the antechamber of the tomb. There we celebrated the Liturgy of the Word before Fr. John Maher, Dn. John Davies, and I moved into the tomb to celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist on the altar immediately above the slab upon which Jesus’ body had been placed after he was taken down from the Cross. For communion, I brought the Eucharist into the antechamber. After each pilgrim received the consecrated host, they entered into the tomb itself to briefly venerate the place which could not contain our Risen Lord. My body tingles even as I type these reflections.

On a more mundane level, the hotels which 206 Tours arranged for our lodging were excellent—though it took a little getting used to the Kosher rules for meals at the hotels in Israel. From my hotel window where we spent 5 nights, I could watch the sun rise over the Old City and the Temple Mount—beautiful. The coaches in Jordan and Israel were comfortable. The restaurants where we enjoyed lunch were very good. The Magnificat Holy Land Companion is an excellent resource. The religious items provided by 206 Tours (cross, rosary, etc.) helped to remind us that first and foremost we were pilgrims. Both Fadi and Michel offered practical advice as to how best deal with the many people hawking religious articles and other tourist items.

My only previous visit to the Holy Land was a retreat for priests in 1992. That was a meaningful experience. This pilgrimage rekindled my experience of 30 years ago and helped me to deepen my understanding of the Scriptures and strengthen my faith in the salvation won for us by Jesus Christ.

I am grateful to all of the staff at 206 Tours and for the people in Jordan and Israel who brought the Holy Land alive for us.

Fr. Kevin McCracken, CM

Spiritual Director of the Association of the Miraculous Medal

Perryville, MO

Dear Cara,

Thanks for your note. I thoroughly enjoyed the 206 Tours Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The schedule, tour guide, and hotel stats were superb. Despite a rocky start on my end with some flight difficulties I managed to get there in time to enjoy the various places we visited. Overall the pilgrimage was a deeply moving experience one that I will look back upon with fondness and renewed faith. Thank you for all that you and your staff did to make this happen. And I am very thankful to the Association of the Miraculous Medal in Perryville, MO for their generous support and welcome to me as a fellow pilgrim.

Once again kudos to you and your staff for a well-planned event Keep up the great work, Cara!

Sincerely in St. Vincent,

Fr. John Maher, C.M.

Enjoyed very much!!  Alessandro was knowledgeable and caring of all of us. The your  pace was good, and arranging our post tour trip to lake Como was wonderful!

Thanks,

Dave

Hi Danielle,

Everything was great for our pilgrimage and we don’t have any complaints. The hotel was nice and we loved the hotel room that we had.

The food was great and so were the restaurants chosen for the pilgrimage.
Pilgrimage guides were great and the two day trips were very nice and we appreciated the spiritual guidance of Fr. Emmanuel.

Our flights were on time with no delays.

Both Bonnie and I would highly recommend this pilgrimage!

Thanks and God bless.

Greg

It was a wonderful and spiritually enriching experience. The beauty of nature in Croatia and Slovenia is exceptional. I am glad to be a chaplain of this tour and met wonderful people. Ver organized tour by 206tours. Thanks and God bless!

Fr Freddie Decal

Dear Daniel and 206 Tours,

What a pleasure it was to be a part of this pilgrimage. I was traveling with my sister, Becky Wahls, and I’m sure I can speak for her as well. We know we had the absolute best tour guide in Dr. Sammy. He went above and beyond what was expected in every way. There is no way we could tip him enough to repay him for what he added to our trip. Our bus driver(Rayett?) was amazing also.

We will forever be changed by experiencing the “The Life Of Jesus” and walking where He walked. It was a trip of a lifetime for sure. Our spiritual directors made each Mass so meaningful and special. From now on when I hear or read the Bible my understanding will be so much greater after meeting the people, seeing the land and learning so much. It only makes me want to experience more and travel to Italy next to continue this pilgrimage. I wouldn’t want to travel with anyone other than 206 Tours.

Thank You for your expert service and attention to detail. I loved every minute.

Beth Weeks

Holy Land Pilgrim

Accommodations were very good. Our 206 tour guide, Vanessa, was excellent.  Father Gribble was such a good spiritual guide. The only recommendation I would make is to give the pilgrims more down time to truly enjoy the sites, shrines and art.  Felt as we saw so much and it felt rushed.

This was our 2nd 206 tour and we were not disappointed for sure

Thank you,

Jackie & Jim Tomes

Danielle,

I loved every second of this pilgrimage. Upon arrival in Madrid, the driver picked me and another woman up and took us to our hotel. By the time we arrived, we were already friends. Then, we met our most amazing guide, Jorge. Jorge went above and beyond the duties of any normal tour guide. He took such good care of our group the entire time. He is a very intelligent individual and our group had many great conversations with him. Our driver, Juan was one of a kind. This man would stop and make sure we took the right turns. He would cheer us on as we approached the bus, and would hand us water – we never had to ask for it or go get it from the bus. We loved getting to know both Jorge and Juan.

The meals and accommodations exceeded my expectations, particularly Pazo de Brandeso. It was such a lovely place to rest and continue the bonding that had already happened within our group. I shared with Milanka that we were able to put together a surprise anniversary celebration for 2 of our fellow pilgrims at the lovely chapel on their grounds. Again, Jorge was instrumental in helping to plan that celebration.

I loved that 206 took care of every last detail, where we honestly only had to worry about walking each day and nothing else. 206 is truly the very best.

Our camino family continues the journey as we have been in daily contact with one another and are already planning a reunion in 2023. I am incredibly thankful for this most beautiful camino experience.

Thank you!

Nerissa Muniz

Hi 206 Team,

I would like to express my gratitude for giving me an opportunity as the spiritual director of all Italian shrines pilgrimage on October 31st to November 13th 2022. It was a great experience for me. The pilgrimage was well arranged. Thank you and God bless all your family members.

Fr. Robert

The trip was astounding in terms of content, guides and the group itself, who attended the pilgrimage. The subject matter experts at the specific locations which were part of the pilgrimage were well versed at their craft and had their own unique areas of focus. As an example at the Vatican Museum in Rome our guide was more focused on sculptures versus paintings. For me this was acceptable due to the fact, you cannot cover it all in the allotted time to visit a specific area.

The meals were different than what I expected however, this was not a disappointment. For the most part, we had buffets for breakfast and the meals for dinner were chosen in advance. To have a broader choice of options for the meals would be an improvement.

The transportation by bus and various shuttles from/to the airports were well chosen. Also, the guide did a very good job in advising on where to walk on our own. An area of improvement would be a little more organization on the matter of where to exactly go on exchanging US dollars to Euros.

Just a few thoughts. Thanks,

Kevin Smith

Everything was more than I expected. It was a wonderful experience with a lifetime of memories made in part by having such a dedicated, knowledgeable and kind tour escort. I was already planning my next 206 tour for the next year on my return flight home.

Blessings,

Jaydalia

We had a wonderful time with Fr Leonard, guide Deborah & our fellow pilgrims!!!

Susie Howard

Dear Milanka:

The pilgrimage has been outstanding, and I cannot overstate how exceptional Giovanni has been.  He has been the best tour guide I have ever had (and as you know, I have had many over the years!).

Please accept my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for you and your entire staff for the tireless effort you put into these journeys.  Your team makes it seem effortless, but I know how many details go into a pilgrimage like this.

Prayers remain with you.

Father Lee  

Danielle,

Thank you for all your help in making our dream come true. Hussam was amazing.  I threw a coin in the fountain 25 years ago. I guess the saying works because I made it back.

Mike and Eydie

Hello Rinda,

For a few days already I am back from the Jordan Holy Land pilgrimage 158.

Everything went really very well.

Superb organization.

Fadi and Joseph were really excellent guides.

The choice of hotels was very good.

According to what the participants shared on the last  evening, they were very satisfied.

It’s not difficult to imagine that there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes.

Thanks to all who participate in the organization of such a pilgrimage.

My prayer accompanies you.

Father Pierre

Milanka,

Back home and rested ready to take off again!  Lol
Here are a few pics from the last few days in Jerusalem. Can’t say enough about our guides both in Jordan and Israel, drivers and Fr. Pierre.  As always we exchange addresses from several other pilgrims to keep in touch.

Thank you for this incredible journey!

Al and Anita Karle

206 Tours organized our travel arrangements, transfers and hotels with great care and in a very timely manner.

The communication was exceptional! No waiting for answers for extended periods of time.

Medjugorje welcomed our large group with beautiful weather, a nice hotel, good food and the peace which can only be found there.

Our large group had a great guide in Slavenka.

Always patient, kind and humorous and making sure we could visit all the important holy places, listen to several talks, enjoy The Holy Mass daily with the Priests in our group concelebrating with our SD, Fr. Blount.

This was a not to be missed pilgrimage and I thank God I could go and bring my dear Priest friend from India.

So many graces, joys and precious memories.

Our Lady calls and never disappoints!

Our flight to Ireland was smooth and we were welcomed by Karen, our lovely guide, along with lots of Irish rain. One cannot go to the land of rainbows and not get wet!!

The staff at St. Mary’s house could not have been more welcoming and helpful and visiting Knock Shrine, Fr. Peyton’s Rosary Center, Ballintubber Abbey and surrounding areas was a very blessed and joyful experience.

Truly our cups overflowed!

The staff at the hotel in Kildare were equally as helpful and welcoming as the staff in Knock.

And the food…., oh, that delicious food was plentiful and delicious!

This pilgrimage has been a source of great joy to me and I have a lifetime of beautiful memories to cherish.

Keep up the great work, Judith and all at 206 Tours!

You excel in communications, courtesy, organizing transport, hotels and wonderful guides.

A huge, “Thank you” to all of you!

Many blessings from God and Holy Mother Mary to each and every one of you.

Mary Evans

This pilgrimage was such a blessing, many graces received.  I had been to Medjugorje before but each pilgrimage is lived with many different experiences, I really needed “a recharge of my spiritual batteries” and being in the presence of our Lady helped me love her so much more as well as our Lord Jesus.   Also, I was so happy to meet Father Blount in person, he is such joy to be around, his peace and his love for the Lord and our Blessed Mother was really contagious, and being in the presence of so many priests was also a blessing.

I loved how well organized this pilgrimage was and loved the place we stayed.  Thank you for all you do to make pilgrimages an experience that will never be forgotten and it does change lives, those who are open to receive the graces outpoured by our Loving Mother and our Lord Jesus.

Blessings

Ginna Garcia

This wonderful pilgrimage was so well organized by 206 Tours.

It was a blissful experience and a joyful memory in my life. I personally extend thanks to you Judith for send me all needed documents.

I am very impressed with the hard working guides, drivers and all 206 staff who helped make sure we were able to take part in so many beautiful Masses, Apparitions and other visits to the various Holy places.

The Apostolate for  Priestly Consecration  is truly a blessed gift to all priests and pilgrims and I offer heartfelt thanks and prayers for Janet and the Apostolate and for 206 Tours who organised so much to make our time in Medjugorje do special.

The highlight of my pilgrimage was Celebrating Holy Mass in the parish which Our Blessed Mother chose to leave her Messages for times for so long,

Then being present during two separate Apparitions of Our Blessed Mother and meeting some of  my priestly brothers and also good friends from across the globe during my stay.

Then meeting my dear friend Mary who sent the information about the pilgrimage, along with Janet Moore who founded this wonderful Apostolate  and 206 Tours who helped make my pilgrimage one of the most treasured memories of my life.

I am truly thankful and blessed beyond measure by 206 Tours and all whom I have mentioned.

I pray I will be able to travel with you again  and send you my heartfelt gratitude, thanks and blessings.

May God continue to bless all your pilgrimages and pilgrims.

My prayerful wishes and blessings to you and to all staff of 206 Tours.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Fr. Praveen. Nukathoti 

Hi Danielle!

Wow what an amazing trip I just got back from.  It was so amazing. I can’t thank you enough for all that you did to arrange everything perfectly! It was just perfect. I have not one complaint. I will always highly recommend 206 tours. I hope you followed me on Social Media b/c I posted a lot. Thanks again for everything you do and for making my trip truly amazing.

Aggy

Hi Patrick,

Thank you for your email.
This trip was amazing! it was such a spiritual experience on so many levels.
I am definitely interested in the next pilgrimage. I it’s ok, I’ll need a little time to decide if I’ll be extending
to go to other parts of Europe and if I’ll be rooming alone.

Stay well and God bless you,
Maria

Best guides I have ever had. I must not forget the bus driver. He performed all of the most difficult driving maneuvers so very well. He was also very helpful with some of the older people.

The hotel was excellent in every way. From the room accommodations – to the food for breakfast and dinner were excellent. At the sights we had very good lunches.

Having the Monsignors along gave us all a very special experience that will never be forgotten. All of us were moved by the Masses that the Monsignors presided over for us. They were private masses giving us a special closeness to our faith.

In conclusion, I will tell you to please express to the owners of 206 how much we all thank them for the high standards that make it such a special memory forever.

All the best to 206 and all of the staff that helped make this so great for all of us. And you Patrick for helping my wife.

Peter and Jane

Dear Rinda,

Thank you for entrusting me with a pilgrimage (Tour # 50) to Fatima, Spain, Lourdes and the Shrines of Italy (October 17 – November 2, 2022).

Tour guide in Italy Vanessa and Leo in Portugal, Spain and France have done a wonderful job. Each participant expressed appreciation for their leadership. The pilgrimage program was carried out very well. For my part, I have a lot of gratitude to them and also to the local guides. I express my appreciation to all participants, both older and younger, for their faithful following the ‘pilgrimage route’ that connects the spiritual life with admiring the sacred art and landscapes.

Thank you to everyone working for 206 Tours who made this pilgrimage possible.

With my gratitude

Fr. Piotr

The most amazing trip I have ever been on.
I am still totally overwhelmed by all we visited, and did.
I found great peace in the Holy Land sites we visited and I am so thankful I had this opportunity.
Your team does a wonderful job. The accommodations were superb and our tour guide Rami and driver, Nadim were welcoming, accommodating, and knowledgeable.

Thank you for all.
Jane

Our pilgrimage was the experience of a lifetime. We’re so thrilled we were able to have had the opportunity to participate.
Our spiritual directors were exceptional, leading us on a spiritual awakening and always available for us in every way.
What can we say about Rami, we were in awe of his knowledge of the history of the Holy Land.
He understands the politics and religious conflicts of the country.
He was also very protective of our group and went out of his way to ensure our safety.
Our Driver was also amazing going the extra mile for our group. Always polite and helpful to our pilgrims needing extra attention.

All in all, we feel very blessed to have the team we did.

Joanne

The trip to the Holy Land was amazing!

Msgr. DAVID and Msg Jamie were excellent spiritual directors. Their Masses and sermons were exceptional. They were attentive to our thoughts and questions.

Our Guide, Ramni, was very knowledgeable about the various areas in Israel. I enjoyed his talks. He was also very knowledgeable
about the Bible and our Catholic Faith.

The David Hotel was very nice, and the dinners were good.

To spend time in the places where Jesus lived and preached was deeply moving for me.

I would highly recommend this trip.

Margaret

In summary, the trip was a beautiful experience, and was something that I will not forget. The tour guide, Rami was incredible, so knowledgeable and personable – he was a gift to have as our tour guide. Having both Monsignors as our Spiritual Leaders was also a gift.

The hotel facility was perfect and situated in a great location- in relation to the Old City.

Our overall experience was one of complete satisfaction . We visited so many sites– which was amazing and having access to these sacred locations so easily was also a great part of our trip. The bus was comfortable, and the Driver was very skilled at navigating the various roads , etc.

We had a great trip!

Thank you for all the assistance up front getting us set up, as well- everything went smoothly from my perspective.

Kind regards,

Tom

Alexandra,

Thank you for the wonderful experience and being able to replenish and strengthen up my faith. It was the best experience I had even though I was tired of running but it’s worth every moment. Thanks to Andy for making sure the schedule is planned good and for keeping us safe. Out guide tours and drivers were great from Solomon and Asan and Giovanni and Omar such caring people. They are great assets to your company. They thoroughly explained each trip.

Again, thanks for the wonderful blessed experience.

Let me know if you have a Greece and Lima Peru tour planned.

God Bless,

Eloisa Sarol

Danielle,

We had a wonderful pilgrimage with our church group, our priest, Father Fernando, and our Tour Guide, Val. Val is a great Tour Guide and we are thankful that she was with us during our journey. She kept us moving so that the goals of the trip could be accomplished. We are blessed having been able to experience the many spiritual and supernatural occurrences where the saints encountered God sometimes through the Blessed Virgin at the many locations in Portugal, Spain and France.

I also want to thank you for making our flight return arrangements from Barcelona (BCN) which were different than the others. The flights were great, on time and Iberia Airlines treated as very well. We arrived at BCN early enough to take advantage of their business class lounge and our gate to Madrid (MAD) was just outside the lounge.

The only challenge was traversing the Madrid airport from our arrival gate in Terminal 4 to our departure gate in Terminal 4S. We had 60 minutes to walk through Terminal 4, locate and go down an elevator, board a subway train, go up an elevator, wind our way through the shops and duty free stores in Terminal 4S and finally get to our Gate S49 which was as far as you can go. We made it to our gate with a few minutes to spare.

I also found out that an earlier bus transfer from the cruise ship could have got us to BCN for a flight as early as 10:30 am. Good to know for our next trip.

Thank you for all that you did to make our pilgrimage a success and look forward to working with you again.

Jeffrey J. LaMarca

I thoroughly enjoyed my pilgrimage with 206 tours.  #39   September 2,  18 days was almost too long but I managed. All went well.  I am thankful for how well the experience was.
For traveling alone, I felt well taken care of.  Leo the tour guide was knowledgeable and concerned, thank-you. Four days in  Medjugorje was very nice, but could have been easily consolidated down to a two day visit rather than four days in Medjugorje.   I was not able to climb the mountains which seemed to be the highlight of the visit.  My tour guide Andrej was excellent for Medjugorje.  The Grace hotel was comfortable and safe, convenient to all locations, good food, and friendly staff.  Nice selection.

Thank-you for making it happen.

I  am grateful.

Mary Ursin

Dear Rinda

Greetings to you and the entire 206tours equipe. Our pilgrimage has ended in praise and thanksgiving.

I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity given to me to be part of the pilgrimage. Like always, this pilgrimage has offered me a great time of prayer, meditation and deepening of my faith.

Also, the pilgrimage offered me the grace of encounter. The sharing of life experiences with one another gave an additional taste to the pilgrimage.

I am back to Nazareth with renewed energies, blessings and graces. All I can say is “thank you” and may God bless you all for all you do.

Fr. Stephen

Nazareth.

Hi Danielle,

We had a wonderful time in Mexico. 206 Tours is really a good company to go with. I want to let you know our guide, Roberto, was simply the best.
He was calm, pleasant, and very knowledgeable about the sites. He saw us off at the airport and stayed with us until the last person was checked in.
I have been with other tour companies in the past and this is the first time I saw a tour guide with this courtesy.

Thank you and have a pleasant week.

Pacita Carabeo

Hello Piernha,

I want you to know what a wonderful trip to Italy our group had. Everything went off without a hitch. Alessandro was absolutely the perfect guide. He is extremely knowledgeable, attentive to every detail, a great companion and patient with every person’s particular needs. Every single person in our group was complimentary about his care for us.

The hotels also were good. Any “complaint” is so minor as to not deserve mentioning (e.g. small shower). Even our more seasoned travelers were more than satisfied.

The people in our group appreciated the sites we visited and the local guides. The personnel at the churches / shrines we visited were ready for us. We really enjoyed having Mass every day and time for prayer when we could. The Magnificats are especially helpful for morning prayer, readings and songs for Mass.

We had perfect weather virtually the whole time; only one day with a few sprinkles.

I don’t know how our pilgrimage could have gone any better. You and 206 Tours are to be commended for a fantastic job. Our trip left a more than favorable impression on 206 Tours. I know that some in our group made use of 206 in extending their trip. Another person was very complimentary of your help when he had to arrive late.

Thank you so very much for every way you worked to make our time in Italy truly a pilgrimage of faith, a wonderful time together and pleasurable in every detail.

Monsignor Gerald

Good morning,

I wanted to thank everyone who help my pilgrimage possible. I traveled on October 1; not knowing what to expect, I was absolutely amazed on how wonderful my experience was. I was picked up, at the airport I was explained what we were about to do. My luggage was taken care of right away, the coach was clean and comfortable, after a long flight this was a plus. The hotel rooms and meals were amazing, loved it. I realized that very much planning had to been done to get everything to its perfection, honestly I heard someone complain and I did not understand why. I guess some people just like to see to the bad instead of the good.

With that said I wanted to thank you for everything, but I do need to make you aware that I could not believe the time and dedication that was put in by our Tour guide Tony G. I mean he was on everything, incredible! I notice a lot a question going his way, I saw some impatient people, he usually had to repeat himself when he was always very clear. His patience was impeccable. My respects to him, having to deal with a lot of different people must be hard. He was always on the go making everything possible for everyone. And that is the reason for this email. I want to make sure you are aware that he made 206 tours look great along with everything else previously mentioned. He is a hard worker. Thank you so much, and I will be traveling again with 206 tours.

God Bless.

Socorro Hidalgo

Cara,

So sorry for the delay in response.  Got so busy at work, family coming over, and more trips.  Finally a little breather.

Our Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe and Mexico

Is a success.  Everyone were happy and feeling blessed.  Everyone were sad leaving Mexico and missing the camaraderie that developed the group.

Everyone just loved our Tour Guide, Robert. He spoiled us. He is informative and patient with us, just total good and caring person and knowledgeable guide. The BEST!

Thank you Cara, everyone only have kind words about you. Thank you for all the assistance you had extended to each of us. Till the next Pilgrimage….💕🙏👏.

Hope you enjoy these Pictures

God bless,

Kathy

Dear Cara,

Thank you for your email.

Thank you also for inviting me to this pilgrimage and I must admit it was a beautiful and blessed time.

I would like to say that I loved this pilgrimage. The guide had a lot of knowledge and taught me a lot. I liked his commitment to the Mass as he never said Mass has to be quick because we need to go to other places. The driver was also very good and drove well and safely. The pilgrims were wonderful! They had a beautiful faith, joy, they interacted between themselves very well, everybody was positive, happy. Nobody was late or complaining . The dinner time was always good because everybody talked to each other and had time for one another. But most of all I loved their deep faith, love for God, piety, and peace in their hearts. It built me up a lot and as I am still a young priest their faith inspired me personally. I enjoyed their company, I loved their positive attitude and openness for me and for one another. It was a wonderful, blessed time and I would go with this group everywhere.

Thank you.

God bless you,

Fr. Chris

Good Evening to you Alexandra.

I want to thank you, and all others involved for all that was necessary to coordinate our trip to Maryland and Washington DC, October 1-6. The hotels, restaurants, sites etc were all perfect.

It was a perfect trip of faith and friendship, and blessed to have Fathers Albert and Basil along. The itinerary was packed with so many beautiful churches, cathedrals and basilicas and other amazing historical places, that we were excited each day to see what new was in store for us to see and do.

We were also blessed to have Nathalie Phan as our tour guide and on site coordinator, and Amado as our tour driver. A perfect team to complete our epic and blessed trip!

Please pass this message of gratitude to any others involved as we appreciated the efforts to make it an enjoyable and memorable Pilgrimage.

Thank you!

In JOY and Gratitude,

Lyn Fry

“The more you surrender to the light,
to love, to your higher self
the faster your world will change.”
Joey Klein

Hi Natasha,

Thank you for all your prayers, support and patience.  We’re back safe and sound from a wonderful pilgrimage to MD/WA DC.  Nathalie was super.  She has all the traits of a wonderful guide, couldn’t ask for more.  Both her and Ahmadu, our coach operator, made a great team, though it was their first time to work together. Praise God!

Take care.  God bless!

Grace

Hi Liz,

We thought the pilgrimage went splendidly! We are so pleased with 206’s handling of all the details. Our accommodations and meals were excellent, only to be outdone by our wonderful tour guides. Leo was very personable and attended to every detail. Mirella was a gem, so knowledgeable about the history and message of Medjugorje.  You did an outstanding job for us. As you say, there were many obstacles to overcome, but the ultimate trip was five star!

Thank you so much for your efforts,

Jann Nicholls O’Neill 

Hi Liz, we thought the pilgrimage went splendidly! We are so pleased with 206’s handling of all the details. Our accommodations and meals were excellent, only to be outdone by our wonderful tour guides. Leo was very personable and attended to every detail. Mirella was a gem, so knowledgeable about the history and message of Medjugorje. You did an outstanding job for us. As you say, there were many obstacles to overcome, but the ultimate trip was five star!

Thank you so much for your efforts,

Jann Nicholls O’Neill

Danielle,

We were so impressed with how the whole trip was organized from the time of booking to the return home. Quico was exceptional as our tour leader, knowledgeable, a good communicator, and a great sense of humor. Our one day delay at the end was a blessing, and it was so nice to not worry about the flights and hotel as 206 handled everything to accommodate the change. Fatima and Lourdes were certainly the highlights of our trip, but we also really enjoyed the cities in Spain visiting the sites of several great Saints.

We tell everyone we know about what a great organization 206 is for catholic pilgrimages.

God Bless and Thank you,

Jerry DeShaw

Dear Alexandra and Natasha,

We had a fabulous time in Greece on our pilgrimage “In the Footsteps of St. Paul”! It was a life-changing experience and was well beyond my expectations.

Kalliopi was an exceptional guide who constantly went above and beyond! Every pilgrim was in awe of the knowledge she shared with us! We were so blessed to have Kalli as our guide! She truly could not have been a better guide! I rate her as a “10” on a scale of 1 to 10. I actually would rate her as 10 plus!

Our bus driver, Basilius, also went above and beyond! He, along with Kalli, kept thinking of ways to make our pilgrimage better. They made a great team! We were so blessed to have Kalli and Basilius!

Thank you for all your efforts in bringing this pilgrimage together for us!

Love,

Julie Zackrisson

Dear 206 Tours,

We would like to express our thanks and extreme gratitude for one of the most amazing experiences of our lives.  Just returning a couple weeks ago from our pilgrimage to Poland, Prague, and Austria… where we walked the holy ground of some of our greatest Saints.  The hotel accommodations, food, travel between sites EVERYTHING…was just amazing!  But was most impressed with the “pure gold” we had in our tour guide Sabina Balos.  She was exceptional in every detail of planning each day, her knowledge where ever we visited, her personal care for each one of group… in every detail, but most importantly was her beautiful example of her profound Catholic Faith.  We were brought to tears so many times witnessing her love of our Catholic Faith.   Still deciding if she might have really been an Angel in disguise!  Along with this amazing woman who lead us for 2 weeks was our equally amazing spiritual director Rev. Father John Devaney of the Dominican Order .  What a delight in every way!  Charming, quick witted, funny… but oh such insightful and beautiful spirituality.  He was able to offer Holy Mass for us each and every day of our pilgrimage in some of the most amazing Cathedrals in the world.  He was always available for personal time for Confession or just a chat.  He lead the Holy Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, or a special Novena where ever we were.  There was never a missed opportunity to grow and learn in our beautiful Catholic Faith.  Such a great joy to have him travel with us…  Hopefully these two will be our forever friends!!  Our tour group really became a family… and I believe it was because of the love and care of these two beautiful people.  I don’t want to forget our dear bus driver, Vlad who also cared for us too!  He was cheerful, kind, helpful and such a great example for your tour company.  He drove hours with us in pouring rain, sunshine and some heavy traffic… all with a peaceful smile and arriving safely to our destinations.  Our experiences each and every day were profound and we are still trying to process it all!

Thank you so very much for offering this amazing trip.

With so much gratitude, God bless you at 206 Tours,

Marty and Nancy Thouvenell

Upland, California, USA

Our last evening of the Tour together…  Saying Goodbye was hard!

https://images.marianweb.net/archives/flip/mhe/Fall_2022/28/

Hello Natasha and Alexandra,

Thanks in advance for a wonderful experience for the first time from 206 Tours!

I can see the difference between the other group tour that I joined before.

Father C Rodrigues is excellent priest and his homilies are easy to absorbed and straight to the point.

Having Sr Loretta with us makes big difference – she is great and group is having lots of fun.

It’s been raining in Munich, Oberammergau and Poland, but that was not a hindrance to even attended october fest.

Marta tour guide for 8 days was excellent we bonded with her easily. Hotels in Poland are the best.

Villa Grace must be new since we saw another hotel Grace right by the door of the church.

All the buses are on time and we had free unlimited water in Germany and Poland.

Overall experience with 206 is great and we’ll do it again. I will send some pictures when we get home.

God Bless

Tessie

Dear Danielle,

I have just returned from my Greece Pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Paul with the Greek Isles Cruise (tour 161 from September 10 to 19).  It was another amazing

experience for me with 206 tours.  Thank you and the team for good admin and accounts support from start to finish.  The tour guide Kalliope and the Spiritual leader Fr. Samuel provided us with some very interesting and wonderful insights into the historical, cultural and spiritual significance of the many sights that we visited.  The weather was quite sunny and hot on most days but tour driver Pereclese ensured a good supply of refreshing cool water and managed some breathtaking driving feats up hills and dales and through narrow streets and lanes.  The 3 night Celestyal Cruise was a dream come true and though the rooms on level two were a little cramped, the food and Cruise decks, Lounges, Entertainment and Management of excursions was almost perfect.  Overall excellent value and a memorable Pilgrimage and I returned having met some really nice friendly tour mates and friends all along the way.  The long flights from Sydney to Athens were well worth it.

Blessings and Much Appreciation.

Maria Selma Coutinho

Hi Everyone,

Last week I returned back home after leading as a Spiritual Director for an Amazing pilgrimage to Jordan and Holy Land. I had an interesting group of men and women who were spiritually inspired and biblically enriched during this trip from Sept.15th to 27th.

I would like to thank all the staff of 206 Tour for their hard work in arranging this pilgrimage for us and running everything smoothly from the time we left the US and returned back to our country. The guides and drivers were marvelous in helping us every step of this trip. We had wonderful accommodation, delicious food and visited every place as per our itinerary on time. Everyone of the pilgrims admired the way you ran these trips.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to lead this group as a Spiritual Director and looking forward to doing more with you! I also would like to appreciate your gift of the mass kit sets and the stipend. I pray that you and your family be blessed with God’s abundant grace so that you may have good health and enjoy peace in your lives. May God bless you all!

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Gerry

Hi Natasha,

I’m taking a moment to say ‘thank you’ for all that you and 206Tours team did to make our Oberammergau pilgrimage a memorable experience! Your team’s responsiveness was unsurpassed, and we were kept well informed along the way. Our trip was enhanced by Danielle Guttilla, who joined our tour and served as a 206Tours ambassador each day. Cathy and I appreciated her valuable input every day—she represented 206Tours in an outstanding manner!

Thank you!

Rod Kusch

Just returned from our Jordan / Holy Land trip .

I just want to reach out for the excellence of our guides / drive: In Jordan, Soleiman and Ibrahim and in Holy Land Habib and Ashore.

They were all so good and covered all the sites .

The whole trip was beyond my expectations.

Thank you for the experience !!!!

Lorrinne Pinlac

Greetings of peace and love from the Eternal City of Rome. I write to express my sentiments of profound gratitude for the opportunity granted to me to accompany the Tour 96 pilgrim group here in Rome, Italy. It was a remarkable, faith enriching and spirit filled experience, for this I remain eternally grateful. Special thanks to our Tour guide Federica and indeed all the members of the tour who made the whole exercise seamless and worthwhile. God Bless in abundance the entire 206 pilgrims tours team for the good work you are doing. This is in keeping with the mandate of our Lord Jesus to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations and bring the Good News to the ends of the earth.’ May God continue to bless your effort in planting and enriching the faith in the hearts of many. Looking forward to having another of such faith lifting experience with you in the near future. Thanks and God bless you all.

Fr. Emmanuel
(Spiritual Director, Tour 96).

I would like to take the time to say how impressed I was with 206 tours!!!  The accommodations at the Norte Dame Center were beautiful. The staff at the center were amazing and always so helpful. All of our meals including off property were terrific. Great healthy food and great service.  The last night dinner at the Wine and Cheese was incrediable!!!!  Such great quality.

Our guided tour was so amazing. Thank you so much to our wonderful tour guide Joseph Asmar and our indrediable bus driver Shadi.   Joseph was incredibly knowledgeable and explained everything at such a wonderful pace.

The weekly schedule was perfect and allowed to see so many different sacred places in the Holy Land.

I can’t praise Joseph and Shadi enough!!!! Both assisted the whole week with pushing a wheel chair bound women and getting her off and on the bus. What gentleman!!!!! They were both extremely accommodating.  We were truly blessed to have both of them accommodate us during the whole week. Joseph really made for such an enjoyable week with his friendly personality and professionalism. What an asset  both of them are to 206 tours.  Please thank them again!!

I would also like to acknowledge Chris. He has always returned phone calls; very precise, accommodating and helpful.

I used to work in the travel industry and I have to say I was solely impressed with my trip.

I will definitely do further tours with 206.

God Bless,

Suzanne Castro 

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers, as well as, the Harry & David basket and the Marian Helpers enrollment! She had surgery last Weds to repair fractured upper arm and recovery has been slow and very painful…hopefully she will get over the hump soon. Truly appreciate all that 206 Tours has done throughout this ordeal and I will be in contact to help me navigate the insurance claim process and expenses once I get things settled with her recovery.

Chris Wright was exceptional and very prompt in providing us a pathway home…as was a United Terminal Gen Mgr in Madrid (Pedro Gonzalez-Perez) who personally got us on other flights that day when our flight to DC was cancelled just prior to departure.
We are so disappointed that trip came to this conclusion but we plan on trying again in the future. We were having such a great time with a fun group of people who were so caring and helpful when the accident happened, especially Jorge (Tour Guide) and Juan (Bus Driver) who were so hands-on that day and continued to support us afterwards and check in on Lori’s condition. We are thankful to all that helped us during this very difficult time. Nothing but praise and thanks to 206 Tours! God Bless All!!!

Nick Joseph

Danielle-

I just returned from the Holy Land Pilgrimage, led by Mark Forrest and Fr. Jack Peterson.

Quite often, all one hears is “what went wrong” with anything.  I feel the need to tell you just how beautiful it was. It was beyond anything I could imagine. The only complaint I have (and you could not control that) is the oppressive heat.  Why I decide to go places that are notoriously hot is beyond me.

The actual reason for this email is to tell you, as a representative of 206 Tours, what a treasure you have in Israel, specifically our guide Iskander (I believe his last name is Kando), and our bus driver – we called him Moses.

I have been on trips before and never had this high of a caliber of tour guides.  Iskander is an encyclopedia of knowledge. I was totally amazed each and every day with the backstory of the places we went. He is awe inspiring. I cannot begin to touch on how much he made this trip experience what it was. If I didn’t know better, I would say he lived in the time of Christ and experienced everything first-hand.

Now onto our bus driver. Moses is an incredible driver (and I do mean incredible).  Places are so tight and streets are extremely narrow.  He maneuvered that bus in places only a fly could fit. Traffic was beyond nuts at times. He never lost his cool. To take this beyond his driving skills, he was impeccably dressed, always greeted us with a smile, a good morning and goodbye. Each time we disembarked the bus, he was at the bottom of the stairs helping people off the bus. We started the day by getting to our seats, only to find a fresh bottle of water on each seat. When we were off seeing the sights, he would put another bottle of water on our seat.  That bus was in absolute perfect condition.  Cleaned every night (inside AND out).  I would see other buses with dust coating the windows, etc.  Not ours.  Again, 206 Tours is so fortunate to have him as an employee.

If you would be so kind, would you PLEASE let the offices who hire your employees in Israel what a gold mine they have in these two men?  We can only thank them enough in person (and believe me, we did).  I really want their direct supervisor to know how valuable they are. They may already know, but I feel it is important to let them know how highly the pilgrims feel about them.  I would appreciate you doing this for me.  We can always thank people here, but knowing who to talk to over there is impossible.

It goes without saying that both Fr. Jack Peterson and Mark Forrest were outstanding.  You chose well.

Thank you again for putting all of this together.  It was the trip of a lifetime; one I will never forget.

Jeannette Lienhart

Hello All,

It has been an active time since I returned from being the Spiritual Guide for our Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe and Mexico City in May. My special thanks to Rinda, Danielle, Judith, and Jon as well as our Tour Guide Salvador and Bus Driver, Antonio. Without the blessings would not have been possible.

Our Pilgrimage has helped me in keeping a balanced life in the midst of some good, but very active times.

Again, I cannot thank you enough. If you need anything from me please feel free to ask.

May God continue to bless you and all the pilgrims you serve.

Now off to my long delayed social media post.

Gratefully,

Fr. Gary

Dear 206 Tours Team,

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve as a Spiritual Director on the 206 Tours pilgrimage to Tour # 40: Fatima, Spain, Lourdes, Lisieux and Paris (August 7-20, 2022) and I would like to provide you with some feedback.

I’m happy to share with you that this Pilgrimage was again a beautiful, pastoral and spiritual experience for me.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to visit and pray in so many sanctuaries. Most of them I visited for the first time.

In my opinion the planning of the program was excellent and our guide Quico Prado did a great job in adjusting it to our needs, when it was necessary. I must admit that he was the best guide I worked with so far. I appreciate his dedication, faith and participation in our prayers. I’m sure he contributed immensely to creating a prayerful atmosphere among pilgrims.

It was a blessing for me to accompany these wonderful pilgrims. Despite the changes of groups, we always managed to build a committed community that was united during Mass, rosaries and other prayers, as well as on the bus, during visits, or over the meals. I enjoyed their faith, kindness and friendship.

Overall, this pilgrimage with 206Tours was a beautiful and enriching experience for me. Therefore I look forward to leading another pilgrimage if you needed me again.

I keep all 206 Tours Team in my prayers!

In Christ,
Fr. Piotr

My wife, Virginia, daughter, Kathleen and I recently completed the tour (Aug 14-23, 2022) to Fatima, Spain, and Lourdes.  We want to express our satisfaction with tour guide Leopoldo Jimenez and spiritual director Fr. Kenneth Cienik.  Mr. Jimenez was very organized and fulfilled every request that was made of him.  He was always well prepared so that we stayed on time and was very knowledgeable about the sites we visited.  Fr. Cienik was also well prepared and mixed very well with all the participants on the tour.  He was always available to meet our spiritual needs.

Overall, the tour was very enjoyable and did not miss any important sites.

Thank you

Brain and Virginia Almon

PS – This was our second tour with 206.  We participated in an Ireland tour several years ago and we always tell our friends to use 206 Tours for any pilgrimage.

Hello,

Just wanted to send a quick note and tell you about the Pilgrimage we took to St. John Paul ll, Shrine of Divine Mercy, and other places in Poland and  Auschwitz plus Vienna and Salzburg and Oberammergau and Munich we’re absolutely wonderful. Such holy and fun memories!!!

It was jam packed with so much it is still filling me with so many emotions. It was a great pilgrimage and well worth everything we experienced.

I must compliment and commemorate our guide Agnes (Agnuska? not sure how to spell her Polish name). She was exceptionally good at her job knowledge and help during the whole trip.  You could tell she loved her Poland!!!  She was kind and generous with her time as well.  She’s a keeper for sure!!

We also were very pleased with Fr. Sean Connally.  He also knew a lot of church history to go right along with what we saw.

Thank you for a great pilgrimage and I will sure look to using 206 Tours on my next pilgrimage wherever that may take me.

I have attached a few photos of our trip.

Thank you again for a time well spent!!

God Bless,

Cindy Jansen

Leopold, Mo.

To 206 tours staff:

Just writing a short note of appreciation from one of my friends, Yvette Lobo and family, whom I recommended to 206 tours on a recent pilgrimage to Fatima, Spain and Lourdes. They just came back from their pilgrimage and are very happy with your services. The tour, service( from booking to the end of their pilgrimage) and staff were above and  beyond their expectations. She is looking forward for more pilgrimages with 206 Tours.

I am very grateful and happy that my friend and family enjoyed their pilgrimage with 206 Tours.

Thank you for your wonderful and excellent service,

Jocelyn and John Ybarra.

This was a trip of a lifetime. We were so blessed and everything was fantastic! Our driver, Isaam was fantastic and such a wonderful person. Habib, our guide was also spectacular, with so much knowledge and so much kindness. Lorine, Fred and Father Pat Kibby are so inspiring. Father Kibby gives the best homilies that are so practical and life changing. Everyone went out of their way to make it an awesome experience. This definitely strengthened my faith and created memories forever. Thanks-your organization is fantastic!

Take care.

Tracey Doering

It was a lifetime experience. The service 206 provided  us was excellent. Everything was perfect, our guides was the best in both places. The best was the free or included lunch that was a big “Plus” God Bless. Danielle, you’re doing a great job, like you know exactly what our spiritual leader would wants. I give you a 10/10  for making people feel safe with your agency’s services.

Thank you!

Justine Saint Fort

Dear Rinda Kanidinc and 206 Staff,

I would like to let you know that our Pilgrimage was excellent. It was really a spiritual awakening call. The pilgrims were very spiritual and all enjoyed each other‘s company. Our tour guide, Slavica was great. She was willing to do anything for us. Same with our bus driver and other local guides. Here with I am attaching some group pictures.

Thank you so much for all the hard work you do. Everything was well organized. Thank you for giving me this opportunity, especially to watch the Oberammergau Passion Play. It was a unique experience that I can hold dear to my heart. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

I assure you all my prayers.

May God Bless you all.
Fr. Michael, cmi

Dear Rinda,

Its been a couple weeks since we returned from our tour.  I wanted to let you know that this was a trip of a lifetime. It could not have gone any better. There are a lot of words to describe the trip…but one that comes to my mind first is: Abundance

There was an abundance of food, walking, prayer, fellowship, sunshine and memories.  There is nothing on the tour that I would change.

A huge part of this trip’s success was due to our guide and driver, Quico and Alvero. In my opinion, they are the perfect team to support this trip.

Quico is an absolute delight.  He ensured, coordinated, and organized everything down to the Nth degree. You (206 Tours) have certainly teamed with an outstanding person who represents 206 Tours in spectacular fashion. Many in our group are looking for additional tours that Quico may be hosting. He was outstanding.

Alvero is genuine and kind. He is a bit more reserved and less comfortable with English, but his kindness shows through in all he does to support the tour. It was a great site to see him at our checkpoints each day! He too was outstanding.

We will always remember Quico and Alvero. They are forever tied to our memories of 206 Tours. We think of them often and remember them in our prayers.

We have many friends and family who continue to ask us questions about our trip…pilgrimage. They are fascinated by how well the trip is organized and how complete, inclusive the trip was.  We already have friends looking into an El Camino trip for next June.

Best Regards and God Bless
Brett & Patty Coleman ……and Fr. John

Dear Rinda,

This is my sixth pilgrimage with 206Tours and they all have been a blessing. Given it is a pilgrimage, the pilgrims are marvelous people. They have a common interest in working together and realizing it is a spiritual and fraternal journey simultaneously. The itinerary was as always well planned as expected.

The pilgrims on this pilgrimage were a delightful group and had a good relationship with each other and enjoyed themselves. The 206Tours Guide, Viola, was amazing and dealt with some practical issues very well. The bus driver, Andrea, was also particularly good and went the extra mile literally to get us as close to our drop-off destination as possible. The food as always was exceptionally good and given the area we were in; the beer was excellent!

I have attached a picture of the pilgrims and me at the Shrine of the Infant of Prague. After celebrating the Eucharist in the Church, we posed as a group with the statue of the Infant of Prague. Though the group was small we were great together and fun to be with.

For those of us who joined us for the Passion Play in Oberammergau, we were both moved and touched by the performance. It would be hard to imagine if not having been there. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a memory that will be treasured for years to come.

As a chaplain, I want to thank 206Tours for the opportunity to be a part of this ministry. It is a gift to be able to travel and celebrate the Eucharist at these various places of worship with such good people.

My prayers for the continued success of the mission of 206Tours.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Joe

Milanka,

It was so nice to meet you and visit with you on our pilgrimage. Our pilgrimage exceeded our expectations, from the spiritual experience itself, to the knowledgeable guides, Rami, Sa’id and Usama and of course our drivers, Fr. Mike and Fr. Joe, Chris and Natalie, accommodations and food, and last but not least the wonderful companions on our journey that we now consider friends.

Celebrating mass each day was a highlight, along with following the Magnificat Holy Land Companion. We have been back a week now and are still processing where we went, what we did, and now discerning what our next steps are as we live out the sixth gospel Fr. Mike referred to at our final mass. We are so appreciate of the support Chris continues to offer at Real Life Catholic.I wish you all the best in your beautiful ministry.

Forever Grateful,
Beth Harris

Mikanka!

Yes, we got back with no problems and now back in our routine. But we cherish our memories of our pilgrimage in the Holy Land! We will never forget it and the way you took care of us! We have told many friends and family about our great experience and will continue to do so! May God continue to bless you and your business. You do such a great job at it!

Talk soon!
Blessings,
Bea

Enjoyed are tour so much that we are planning the next one.
My daughter Sarah, being blind since birth, enjoyed the sounds, aromas, friendships and the history of each and all locations.
We’re booking another trip soon!!!!!!
Hope you like her picture.

Blessings and a big “thank you ” for this wonderful experience. Sarah and I are hooked for life.

Ana Badillo

Dear Milanka,

It’s only the second day that we have been home as we reflect on what we were doing a week ago.  Then it will be two weeks ago, then three!
Oh how we love to reflect on our beautiful time in Israel!  Definitely worth waiting for!
On Sunday we plan to have our neighbors over who were such a wonderful help in watching over things while we were gone.
We’ll be serving them “A Taste Israel” which we will do our best to try and duplicate!

Milanka,  you and your team have been absolutely amazing to us!
We will continue to pray for your mission as we look forward to booking another pilgrimage with 206 Tours!

God’s blessings on you!

Russell and Bonnie Yount

Dear Cara and Milanka,

How can I begin to thank you!?

Cara – from the start, you answered every question I had without delay, and you paired me with Mary as my roommate, who is now a great friend!!

Milanka – your graceful and generous spirit permeated the pilgrimage. Knowing that we were all able to experience the Holy Land and encounter Christ there because of your “yes” to the Lord is so inspiring.

As an administrative assistant, I know that there were many many details that I will never know about that were done on our behalf for our pilgrimage. Thank you to Tamara, Simon, our guides and drivers, and everyone on the team for taking care of everything.

I felt before I left home that I had not done enough to prepare, and was then consoled to realize that you had done all of my preparation for me. Again, as someone who normally handles logistics for others, it was an immense gift to receive the fruit of your expertise, careful planning, and prayers for us. Thank you so much!

God bless you all!

Sarah Jimenez
Real Life Catholic Holy Land pilgrim

Hey Cara,

You all at 206 did a FANTASTIC job this past week and a half (and the year-s leading up to the trip)!  We had to worry about NOTHING, and focused solely on the pilgrimage.  The topper was the return home flight issue.  You guys got us on another flight, extended our hotel, and got us to the airport.  It provided for our last day in Jerusalem to be amazing, so many blessings

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

Blessings to you and everyone there.

Eric Gardner

Good afternoon!

My name is Jesus Jayward W. Chan, and I took a pilgrimage tour to Italy with Father Rick on 12-20 June 2022.  I am a life-long parishioner of Saint Bartholomew.  This was my 4th trip with 206 Tours.

I would like to commend our tour guide, Federica, for her caring, efficiency, patience, and professionalism throughout the tour.  Many of the pilgrims were elderly, and walking long distances have become a daily ordeal for them, but Federica made sure of their comfort (e.g. by escorting them to the next destination by taking a taxi if they were unable to walk any further). Though many were lagging behind, she was always at the end of the group to make sure everyone was accounted for.  During meals, she made her presence known and saw to the comfort and meal needs of the passengers.  She was truly wonderful in all aspects.  She is a great asset to 206 Tours.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Jesus Jayward W. Chan

Just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our Pilgrimage. Our tour guide, Ivan was so professional, knowledgeable, helpful and joyful. An Exceptional tour guide and he’s the reason it was such a success!!! If we go on another pilgrimage we would request his services.

Again thank you so much for a job well done 🙏

Louise

Sent from my iPhone

Dear 206 Tours,

We write today to share how much we enjoyed our recent pilgrimage. We appreciate your efforts to make the experience meaningful and fulfilling. We would also like to acknowledge how our tour guide, Habib, made our trip outstanding. His knowledge, humor, professionalism, and gracious manner helped us learn, laugh, reflect, and admire the passion he has for his work.

Kind regards,

Regina and Charles Mistretta

Dear Rinda,

It has been a wonderful pilgrimage of Fatima, Lourdes and Oberammergau. We have a marvelous group of pilgrims that share our bond faith and enjoy the journey together. I want say thanks to you and your team that has put this into place. God bless your work and look forward to provide spiritual direction for the next pilgrimage.

Blessed Corpus Christi,

Fr. Hung

Dear all,

I want to offer our sincere thanks for organizing the dinner and the opera for us, especially as it was a surprise birthday gift for Virgil!  The evening was a complete success.  Dinner was awesome, and the opera music was just glorious!  We especially want to thank Rinda for her help in organizing Saturday evening for us, especially the front row seats!

Again, thank you from

Pamela and Virgil

Dear Milanka,

We have just finished the Jordan and Holy Land parts of our tour (Ober152). I want to express our sincere and deep appreciation for the arrangements made for us, especially given the Jordan leg was only for us and Fr Terry O’Connell.

Fr Terry greatly enriched our pilgrimage experience in so many ways with deep spiritual knowledge and formation. His warmth and generosity of spirit provides him the ability to connect with people quickly and in a very special way.  His masses were always relevant to both where we were celebrating mass and how we could apply the lessons from the New Testament to our ordinary life.

Our guide in Jordan, Suleiman was knowledgeable and most helpful. He certainly provided a solid grounding for what was to come in Israel.

I would particularly like to praise your Israeli guide Habib Boutros. His knowledge of scripture was unbelievable, his ability to connect places, events and geography and communicate this concisely and clearly, using memorized Bible references, was stunning. Habib is a humble, holy and deeply caring person. The oppression of Christians in Israel is most and we will continue to pray for Habib, his family and all Christians in Israel. I strongly urge 206Tours to engage Habib as much as you can. Habib would be embarrassed if he knew I was sending this message and I would not send it if my experience was not heartfelt.

Tonight we attend the Oberammergau Passion Play – we are looking forward to this as we booked our pilgrimage in December 2017.

Thank you once again for a wonderful Pilgrimage experience (our second 206 pilgrimage). Celebrating Mass inside the empty tomb of the Holy Sepulchre with Fr Terry was such a privilege.

Yours in Christ, God bless

Warwick and Donna

Hi, just want to thank all the staff in the USA, Jordan and the Holy Land, wow the guides were once again excellent and the drivers .I want to especially want to highlight Suleiman the guide in Jordan for his kindness and his driver a very kind man not for getting Laith in Jordan, I want to also acknowledge the owner of the shop in Petra called PICK AND MOVE for his kindness to me .In Israel wow what a guide he was a literal encyclopedia on the Bible and also very kind patent ,he is a credit to 206 ,I EVEN TOLD Tatamara in Israel that he is a gem and a credit to 206 people on the group only want him they told me if they return what else can I say is DONT LOOSE HIM HE IS ONE IN A BILLION. I also want to thank Moses he was very patient and very cheerful no matter what time of day Habib and Moses were great team and hopefully when I return I have no problem with them there 2N TO NONE WELL DONE MEN.

Again thanks 206 for the pleasure on been a Spiritual Guide to the pilgrims who were so impressed with Suleiman and his drive sorry can’t recall his name and Laith in Jordan. The one and only Habib, Moses and Tatamara well done.

Fr. Terry

Dear 206 tours,

I wanted to let you know that we had an awesome trip with no problem getting between the countries. Additionally, I wanted to provide feedback on Ivan and the phenomenal job he did as our tour guide. He was very attentive to the whole group, very engaged, personable and professional and was the main reason we had a great trip. We especially appreciated his knowledge of all of the sites we visited. I would like to thank you again for our wonderful faith filled experience.

God Bless You,

Mark. Maria, and Joseph

Dear Piernha,

Thank you so much for all your work and your team! It was really an amazing pilgrimage and I am so grateful to have been able to go. The way things were structured allowed for myself and no doubt the others to participate and simply receive the peace and calm that God’s love and grace gives as we journeyed from saint and holy site, to hotels and bus stops making for fun and good memories. Melchor and Vanessa were most instrumental in making for such an awesome experience.

With heartfelt gratitude and prayers – cheers and God bless!

Conor Edmund

Chris,

My pilgrimage was FANTASTIC. Of course the Passion Play was the highlight but I had such a wonderful time traveling through Europe with my new Friends in the Faith. Thank you and 206 for a wonderful trip. I am eagerly looking forward to my next trip in January.

Mary

Hi Rinda and 206 tours

The pilgrimage come to an end but want to thank you for all your patience & help prior to our pilgrimage. All the questions been answered by you.

The pilgrimage was awesome. I cant complained anything from Prague to Budapest to Oberammergau . Our guide named Viola is very nice and accommodating. Its good to travel with with an experienced and knowledgeable tour guide with an outstanding spiritual leader Father Ferrucio and a reliable driver.

Watching the Passion play in actual was so amazing. I can feel the pain of Jesus. I was teary eyed while watching the play. It was really a good play. I hope to watch again after 10 years. Thru this pilgrimage i have meet some good friends.

Again, thank you 206 tours for everything & to Viola our tour guide.

God Bless us all 🙏🙏🙏

Rosie Lao

Sent from my iPhone

Hi Milanka-

I am currently on your 111 tour in Jerusalem. This is my third visit to the Holy Land and have never experienced such a wonderful tour guide and spiritual leader. Habib’s knowledge is incredible and has a great personality to go along with it. He is so exceptional that I did not want to wait til the end of my tour to compliment him. We are all so amazed with his talent.

Also, Fr. Terry is such a fun loving spiritual person. We are all loving him with us. He makes you feel so at ease that you can approach him about anything. He makes you feel your questions are not only valid but important. I don’t think I have ever met a priest as warm and knowledgeable of his Catholic faith. Wish I could bring him back to my parish!

Thank you for choosing such an amazing team!

Sincerely-
Sandra Cannon

Sent from my iPhone

Dear 206 TOURS STAFF:

Thanks for welcoming us back home. and thank you also for arranging a very well planned and guided tour/pilgrimage. Our tour escort Jorge was so energetic and concerned for our welfare throughout the pilgrimage. He  always made sure that all of us were OK. Alvaro our driver was so helpful and went out of his way to help Jorge locate or search for our co pilgrims that were walking far behind us just to make sure they will reach to our meeting points. Most of all I was moved by the persistence and perseverance of our Spiritual adviser Father Pierre Deglaire who at his age of 80 was still able to walk with us. There are times that I got tired and felt all the aches and pains in my body but I always thought of Father Pierre and I kept my spirit going. Our accommodations were good enough and I thought I would lose weight after the pilgrimage but how can I since wherever we eat even along the way our meals were all more than I can take and mostly were delicious. I posted some pictures in FB and some people were asking me already about this trip.

This pilgrimage is very significant to me  since I made a request to have my petitions granted and also in  thanksgiving for all the graces that God gave us. I considered us very lucky and blessed to have walked 100 kms to Santiago that only few of us were able to do in our lifetime. We had been to some Pilgrimage sites but as my daughter said that this is a REAL PILGRIMAGE . I’m very thankful that I was able to make this journey with my family (with my husband and child). This is our JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME.

All the trials and joys of our lives were reflected in this pilgrimage. We had walk trough hills and valleys with rough roads/pathways amidst the heat of the sun and the pouring rain but we still had the time to appreciate the beauty of nature along the way.  This is LIFE after all.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH AGAIN from me and my family and we hope that you will continue bringing people to places that could enrich our Catholic Faith.

Sincerely,

Rosemarie

(May 9-19, 2022-St James way)

Rinda,

While I know we have a few days to go on the tour, I wanted to take the time to thank you and 206 tours for the wonderful experience. The visits were interesting, engaging and informative, the food was wonderful and the whole experience was a joy. It’s like being in a story book and getting to actually experience things as the story unfolds. Most important was our tour guide. She’s the best. She is kind, helpful and very organized. She made sure we were safe, that our needs were met and all our questions were answered. This can’t be an easy job for her and I commend her for it. Currently, I’m sitting in Belvedere park next to the fountain enjoying the evening. Once again, Thank you so Much.

Sarah Badillo

Sent from my iPhone

Just finished our despedida dinner with our guide Val (Valvanera). The group would like to thank you very much for arranging our trip (pilgrimage) with 206. We are very happy & satisfied with all the arrangements, food, hotel accommodations & itinerary. Our trip was made especially successful & enjoyable mostly because of our guide Val (Valvanera).she was very intelligent, caring & friendly& courteous. Please let 206 know about this gem that they have in their company. also drivers were very helpful, courteous & very safe. For me personally thank you for the scooter I was able to enjoy the sights & be with the group. Val & driver set up scooter daily for me. Again what a pleasant, beautiful rewarding trip for everyone, because of you & 206 & our guide Val.

Albert Medenilla on behalf of Jose Nebres

Greetings, 206 Team! My husband and I enjoyed an excellent pilgrimage! We could not have seen all the sites we were able to visit should we have ventured on our own, plus traveling with such an experienced and knowledgeable tour guide along with an outstanding spiritual director enriched the trip and deepened our faith. Thank you for all your hard work to make the trip such a success.

I do have one question….we have an unused tote bag, belt bag and a sleeve of not read books that we would like to return to you so you can use them for other travelers. Would you please provide an address where we could send these?

Thank you!

Warmly,

Christine Barber

Thank you. This trip was filled with blessings and your team was amazing! I will certainly recommend your company to all.

God bless!!

Peg Lias

We were fortunate to have been part of this pilgrimage!  Our Spiritual Director, Father Lou Phillips, provided inspiring homilies to a dynamic and diverse group of pilgrims coming from different parts of the country.  An addition to this mix was our patient and accommodating Tour Guide, Nena, who was amazing!  Her knowledge of the places and the holy sites we visited in Greece and the Greek Isle was remarkable.  At departure, she made sure that each pilgrim checked-in at the airline counter for his or her correct return flight.  Like our six previous pilgrimages with 206 Tours, this trip has provided spiritual and personal enlightening experiences.

We continued to Medjugore and Dubrovnik for another six days.  Slavenka, our Tour Guide, was equally super-great.  Her vibrant personality and expertise – as a seasoned Tour Guide – were in full display as she guided us in and around Medjugorje.  Of particular note was our invigorating climb to Apparition Hill, with stops, praying each decade of the Joyful Mystery.  Our personal time in praying the Stations of the Cross culminated at the veneration of the Statue of the Risen Christ as we experienced, wiping with our handkerchiefs, some oil-like liquid oozing from the knee of the Statue.

In Dubrovnik, we visited the famed Church of St. Blaise, where Father Gabriel Cillo, MIC (Spiritual Director), celebrated Holy Mass and gave us throat blessings.  St. Blaise is the patron saint of throat ailments.  And finally, I consider this incident as a “personal miracle” and the highlight of my entire trip: From afar…while taking a picture of St. Blaise, outside at the upper wall, a white dove – from nowhere – swooped into my camera lens, which was captured in the picture on top of St. Blaise.  We learned later that white doves occasionally appear in Dobrovnik only in February.

Meeting our expectations, we accomplished all the activities included in the pilgrimage itinerary.  Nevertheless, we still found time to do some “touristy stuff” in Athens, Meteora, Mykonos, Santorini, Mostar, and Dubrovnik.  Thank you 206 Tours for another well-organized pilgrimage!

Ammie Laguilles

Hi 206 Tours Staff,

Overall, I would give this trip a 5-star rating. Would prefer to give the 6-pointed “Star of David” if I could.

1. Communications are awesome: emails are responded promptly, phone calls and live chat are manned continuously – staff are very professional and helpful.; however, emergency calls are routed by an operator and had to leave a message; call was, however, returned after a few minutes.

2. Trip was well-organized, even have veils for the spouses renewing their vows at Cana and had cake and roses for Mother’s Day

3. Hotel accommodations are awesome, except the shower room at Olive Tree Hotel is small and half open – glass covering is half open and nothing to protect water from overspilling. Unable to enjoy my daily shower.

4. Food/buffet in the hotel was awesome! Lunch at the local restaurants was also special.
Heard from another pilgrim on a different tour (not 206) that their lunch was not included. On top of that they never rec’d any backpack, belt bag, purses, etc. She took 206 Tours info from me.

5. United Airlines flight to Newark was 1-hour delayed; after getting through the customs and TSA, we had to literally run in order to catch our next flight. Otherwise, we would had missed it.

6. Our guide, Said Mriebe is knowledgeable, patient and very helpful.

7. In participating this pilgrimage, I learned about the local culture which helped me understand Bible stories better and what Jesus meant in so many of his parables. Glad that you assisted me to Walk where Jesus & Mother Mary Walked.

8. I would recommend 206 Tours for sure. Even started encouraging my neighbor to go and visit Holy Land.

God Bless,

Jack

Hi Rinda!

I would like to express gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to serve as chaplain for the pilgrimage “Shrines of Italy.” I can say based on my experience and observations  that the pilgrimage. was a deeply enriching spiritual experience for me and the members of our group. I consider it my Annual Retreat. Our tour guide Vanessa was very helpful and knowledgeable. I pray that 206tours continue to resume the pilgrimages and that we ultimately overcome this Covid pandemic. I heard that some of my Morgan City parishioners and some friends really enjoyed their pilgrimage to Egypt. You offer a first class service to your pilgrims. I try in my little way to recommend 206tours whenever some friends and former parishioners ask me for a referral. If I can be of service, let me know and I am willing as long as my schedule allows me.

Warm regards and best wishes!

Sincerely,

Fr. Wilfredo

Hello,

Once again 206 Tours did a phenomenal job. I’m not only speaking for myself but for my entire Boston group. It exceeded our expectations. From the moment we landed in Cairo, it was 12midnight, the 206 Tours representative (Ahmed Khalil) was right there as we were coming down from the escalator holding up the 206 Tour sign what a pretty sight for weary travelers so relieved to see him. All through out Ahmed Khalil (aka Antonio Banderas to us) went above and beyond his duty.

The tour began on April 23rd and met our tour director Khaled Nabil Osman. Omg everyone that I know in our entire group was so impressed by him. He to went above and beyond his duties he was there every step of the way to help us, answer any questions we have and even helped us when we bought stuff he was there bargaining for us. He wanted to make sure we got our money’s worth and not be taken in.

Mr. Osman was like an open book. He wasn’t just smart but the word intelligent applies to him. If before I was fascinated with Egypt, I am much more now with Mr. Osman’s influence. He opened our eyes to the beauty & historical importance and contribution of Egypt to the world. He left a big impact on me and because of that I want to immerse myself, read as many books as I can get about this beautiful ancient world. So rich in history, culture, engineering, arts, you name it.

This trip was truly a trip of a lifetime made possible by 206 Tours. I want to thank Rinda Kanidinc in particular for helping me organize this trip for my group, the never ending questions, sometime repetitive yet so patient & very professional and courteous. Helped arranged our Dubai trip which was amazing to say the least. Rinda is an asset to 206 Tours. Thanks to Danielle Guttilla for our last minute change of itinerary to include the Miracle Garden a must see when in Dubai.

Our accommodations, the hotels and River Cruise line are absolutely wonderful. Milanka is a very classy woman whose goal is not just to make sure the pilgrims can learn from their tour by hiring top notch tour directors but also to be comfortable after a long days walk and lectures.

I can’t say anything negative about 206 Tours. You are the “BEST”. More power to 206 Tours.

Till our next travel/adventure.

Angie

Piernha,

Thanks!  The trip was wonderful and our guide (Yousef) and driver were incredible.  Yousef went above and beyond every single day and was very good, very accommodating, and made the trip great.  We could not have asked for a better guide, he far exceeded expectations.  Of course Fr. Clement as well.

One issue we just realized is that when we gave Yousef and our driver their tips, we made a mistake in calculating the currency conversion and feel like we did not give as much as they deserved.  Is it possible to send more after the fact?  Please let us know as we would like to fix this.

Matt Bonyak

This was a wonderful pilgrimage, thanks be to God and the most congenial group that I have ever encountered and a most professional, patient, and competent guide, Nena Papadopoulou.  It was a delight to work with Nena. She is, perhaps, the best guide you can possibly imagine.  The pilgrims absolutely loved her, and she was incredibly kind and patient with each and every one of them. Nena is an absolute gem.

This pilgrimage exceeded my expectations. We’ll done, and I was happy and privileged to be a part of this pilgrimage

I hope that our fellow pilgrims felt the same.

Fr. Lou

Good morning Milanka,

I cannot thank you and your staff enough for everything that you did for us on our Egypt/Dubai trip. Your staff here in the states and Egypt are phenomenal.

We are indeed very fortunate to have Mr Khaled Nabil Osman as our tour director. He went above and beyond his duties, he was there every step of the way, helping us attending to our needs .He is our protector, teacher, guide. If before I’m fascinated about Egypt so much more now after having visited this great country and having a very knowledgeable tour director we are in awe of his intelligence to know all the names, dates etc I know through experience and his also a teacher but not all teachers are good, he is Excellent. Now I can’t wait to read everything about Egypt. I’m looking forward to see all those movies of course you have to separate the facts from fiction. I would like to let you know we are also greatful to Ahmed Khalid he was there at Cairo airport holding the 206 Tour sign for us to see at 12:00 midnight. He too went above and beyond his duties didn’t leave us until we are all set at the airport. Mr. Osman and Khalid spoiled us. They are truly the best.

Anyway thank you from the bottom of my heart and I am also speaking in behalf of my Boston group. We are a happy contented batch.

Many thanks to your great and wonderful amazing company so well organized. So proud to always have the opportunity to travel with 206 Tours there is no other pilgrimage company like yours.

God Bless and more power to 206 Tours

Angie Rodriguez

206 exceeded my expectations!!! Our Israeli guide was super knowledgeable and Father gave beautiful homilies. Thank you.

Kathleen Barone

Dear Series Tour Team (aka Rinda, Judith, Danielle, and Cara — I hope I haven’t left anyone out inadvertently),

I have been meaning to write since I returned home just before Holy Week. But all the liturgical events of Holy Week have kept me very busy. So while we are still in the Octave of Easter let me drop you and line to thank you for this unique experience that I enjoyed in Spain on the Camino. What a beautiful preparation for the Paschal mystery this year.

Let me first complement you on the impeccable organization of the pilgrimage, from the preparatory information to the booklet The Way, Walking Toward God day book. Everything was organized to the letter. I so much appreciated the opportunity to celebrate the Eucharist in the historical churches along the way and the chance to concelebrate at the Pilgrims’ Mass in the Cathedral of Santiago which I will never forget. I recognize that this just doesn’t happen but requires major planning and superb execution on the part of 206 Tours.

I would like to add a word to complement our guide Cristina Calvo. Her wit and personality served us so well. We all loved her wonderful sense of humor which kept thinks lights and the group buoyed up along the way. I can’t think of any tensions that developed at any time, particularly on the long 18 mile days. Whatever you need to do, please keep her in your employ since she is invaluable.

The food and lodging was really tremendous. I had hoped to drop a few pounds from such long hikes, but that was not the case. Everyplace where we stayed or ate we were treated royally. Cristina even got us to try foods like « pulpo » (octapus) and « presebe » (goose neck or feet barnacles) which looked scary but were absolutely delicious. We were also treated to some fine Spanish and Portuguese wines. Thanks for all these things.

I had such a good experience that I would love to offer my services for future pilgrimages. Let me say a few words about my educational and ministerial background which might be useful. I lived and studied in Florence, Italy, my junior year of university, and returned to Rome for five years of seminary study. For doctoral studies I went to Paris where I studied at the Sorbonne and the Institut Catholique for four years. Needless to say I speak Italian and French fluently having studies in these languages and having written my doctoral dissertation in French. During my 25+ years teaching at the University of Notre Dame I benefited from many trips abroad, most memorably a three-year fellowship in Jerusalem at the École Biblique. Looking at your website and all the various places you visit, my experience may be of use to you.

I hope that the pilgrims in the group I accompanied had an opportunity to submit their evaluations. In my opinion, we got along famously and the time for spiritual formation and guidance abounded. One of our group members lost her husband and mother to COVID in a short period of time. You can imagine the grief that she is experiencing. But she shared that with the group and we prayed in a fervent way with her at the Eucharist and Morning and Evening Prayer and give her space to talk about it freely. I believe that she benefited from this greatly. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed meeting and getting to know rather well our pilgrims. On the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory I am an off-the-chart extrovert. So meeting new people brings me great enjoyment. Since our return on April 4 we have stayed in contact and I am confident that this will be the case for the future.

If ever given the opportunity I would love to travel again with Cristina. She is truly an exceptional person with deep faith and wonderful human skills. So again, Happy Octave of Easter. Like all the Easter Prefaces for the Eucharistic Prayers declare, we are « overcome with paschal joy. »

Christos aneste,

Fr. Michael

Dear 206 Tours Team,

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve as a Spiritual Director on the 206 Tours pilgrimage to Rome (Tour 97, Apr 11 – 15, 2022) and I’d like to provide you with some feedback.

As previously with 206 Tours, it was again a beautiful pastoral and spiritual experience for me.
I was impressed how well and thoughtfully the pilgrimage was organized in this liturgically intensive time of Holy Week.
I enjoyed cooperating with our guide Luigi, who was very respectful and supportive of my role as a spiritual director, especially when we had to find time for prayers and rosary. I also appreciate the comprehensive information provided by our local guide Guerrina and her excellent expertise in art history.
Finally, it was a blessing for me to accompany and guide this committed group of pilgrims on their spiritual journey in Rome. I’m grateful that they shared their faith, kindness and trust with me.

All in all, the pilgrimage with 206 Tours was, as always, a beautiful and enriching experience for me.

Therefore, I look forward to leading Tour # 40: Fatima, Spain, Lourdes, Lisieux and Paris (August 7-20, 2022).
I hope the preparations for this departure go as planned and I’ll be able to set out for the next pilgrimage with you.

I keep all 206 Tours Team in my prayers!

In Christ,
Fr. Piotr

Hi Liz and Natasha,

Sorry for the late reply. I just want to let you know that this trip more than met my expectations and that I will be highly recommending 206 Tours to others. This was my first time going to the Holy Land (and on an overseas tour for that matter), so I really can’t compare it to another time, but I got the sense that we had some divine assistance along the way based on how everything just fell into place for us given all that is going on in the Holy Land and the World right now (I mean we had time to sing Silent Night at the spot where Jesus was born with no one else around. I could see that even Giovanni couldn’t believe it!) And to this last point, Giovanni is the absolute best!!

Thank you again for a life-changing experience and God Bless you all!

Sincerely in Christ,
Deacon Peter

p.s. did I mention that Giovanni is the absolute best!!

Hi Cara,
Better late than never! I am sorry it has taken such a long time to respond to you regarding our trip. It was UNBELIEVABLE!! Probably not an hour goes by without my thinking of the experience. On so many levels it was excellence. 206 Tours and your command of our trip was remarkable. Everything was excellence!
We had an outstanding group-so compatible in every way. Your organization and selection of hotels, the guides, stupendous, our schedule, restaurants – just everything!
May I call you tomorrow morning? Would love to have a personal conversation to relay my thanks,

Patty

Good Morning Liz,

The entire pilgrimage was a superb experience! Great pilgrimage leaders (Deacon John Hunt, Deacon Peter Richardson and Bishop Robert Hennessey) and an absolutely outstanding tour guide (Giovanni?). Hotel accommodations, meals and travel schedule management within the Holy Land were all first rate. Given that Israel is just coming out of Covid, we toured all sites with very little competition from other tour groups. Even the weather cooperated. In addition, given that it was a relatively small group (about 20 of us), we all had the opportunity to get to know each other very well and became a spiritual family as the week went on.

Without a doubt, our faith has grown significantly as a result of this pilgrimage. Thanks to you, Natasha and the entire 206 team for providing us with the trip of a lifetime !

Best,

Jane and John Morency

Thank you for a wonderful pilgrimage.
Quico was an amazing tour guide. He was professional at all times.
He was incredible as he shared his knowledge, information, dates, spirituality, etc.
Quico is a bright young man with a personality type that he was able to communicate with a variety of pilgrims of all ages and walks of life.
He was aware of all of the pilgrims physical limitations, habits, needs, personalities, and provided all of us with a very safe environment.
Most informative pilgrimage out of the 8 I have been on.
The swag (206tour bags, etc) were used and enjoyed by all. Excellent quality!!!
I will continue to advertise 206tours by using my gifts you provided. Thank you!
I will highly recommend 206Tours to all of my friends and acquaintances!!!

Cheryl Hungate

Greetings, 206Tours team. . .

We have returned home from our March 2022 pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It is hard to put in words all the wonderful memories we made while on this pilgrimage. Sa’id Mreibe’ was an excellent guide! His knowledge of the history of the Holy Land was phenomenal. He had a way of weaving that history with our Catholic faith. Sa’id’s attention to every detail and need was sincerely appreciated. He took excellent care of us on our pilgrimage while Ashoor (our bus driver) amazed us each day with his excellent driving skills.

Fr. Bob Newbury was a joy to have on our pilgrimage. He was excellent as our spiritual guide while being someone who fit in as one of the pilgrims. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Fr. Bob.

I must also mention our sincere appreciation of Lufti (the young man who picked us up at the Tel Aviv airport). Paul had inadvertently misplaced his phone in the airport which he discovered after we were outside of security at the baggage claim area. Lufti navigated the process of locating and retrieving Paul’s phone which we feel was a miracle! Without his kind, patient tenacity, the phone would have been forever lost.

We truly look forward to participating in another 206 Tour. You all are the best!

Sincere regards,

Jeanne and Paul

Hello Cara.
Thanks very much for the follow up.

As you know, our pilgrimage was very much anticipated by everyone, and we had high hopes when we put this together.
I have to say that you and Giovanni and Suliman definitely exceeded expectations on virtually every level.
We all had an extraordinary experience that created life changing moments with really no hiccups.
You were always very attentive, timely and responsive.
Giovanni was over the top. Without question the best guide we have ever had in our many international travels. He has a gift.
The accommodations we all very comfortable/nice and the drivers were each very responsible and courteous.
Fr John was an amazing spiritual guide, and all our daily mass locations were prepared nicely and provided very special liturgies.

Bottom line – we will be recommending 206 Tours to everyone we know and I’m pretty sure we would like to travel with you again.
Thanks for everything you did to make our experiences so special.

Cheers,
Mz

Mike Zoellner

It was a well done pilgrimage. The small group responded and shared with interest.
The communication within was soon established and we felt at ease from the first day.
Spiritual activities were well timed – all services excellent.
Fr. Ferruccio

Trip was awesome! 206 (Said and Father Bob) were the perfect team…knowledgeable, efficient, and we were never disappointed in accommodations and food.

I have 2 comments for improvement:
1. Our Covid tests prior to departure were supposed to have passports on the results. Many of us could not accomplish this. If 206 is going to continue to strongly push this, it will help if you can find testing cites that can accommodate this requirement. Otherwise I recommend you soften the language in the final paperwork to a suggestion as opposed required.

2. Avoid using Austrian Airlines whenever possible. They were horrible. The worst was, after checking our bags, going through multiple security checks, I was told I needed an N-95 mask at boarding time. I was lucky that another passenger had a spare otherwise they were not letting me on the plane. The company should’ve given more notice to this requirement… you don’t wait until boarding time to drop a bomb like that. I flew Lufthansa on the last leg of my trip and I felt like I went from a Hyundai to a Cadillac.

Otherwise I just feel so blessed that I went, that I had such a great group, that we had Said and father Bob leading us…just couldn’t have been any better.

Vr,
Greg Fisher

Dear Rinda,

Having recently returned from Medjugorje after our 206 Pilgrimage tour from the 10-18 March my first comment is that of thanks for having been offered the opportunity to lead a tour and also thanks for the pilgrims of the previous tours I have led to Fatima and Lourdes who encouraged me to place this jewel of the Marian Crown to my continued growth in the knowledge of the immense love that the Immaculate Heart has for each of us. Truly this pilgrimage brought together some of the most devout souls who had a deep desire to experience this affirming and restoring love that we all need in our lives, I saw among them great courage, devotion and persistence in beseeching the intercession of Our Blessed Mother in their lives and indeed for the world. Leading such a group is more of a challenge in Medjugorje because the focus on the usual affairs such as Mass and times for prayer are amply supplied by St. James Church and the enthusiastic worshipers who display welcome and gracious spirits to all pilgrims. The accommodations provided were a key part of a time of rest and stressless movement to local events as being in the centre of town was a great blessing that allowed pilgrims to participate at their own pace. Meals were excellent and provided with the flexibility that allowed pilgrims complete access to local devotions and events.

Of course none of this would have been possible without the wisdom and knowledge of Slavanka who is a well known and loved member of the Medjugorje community. Indeed her intimate relationship with the visionaries and local pastors afforded us many blessings that few would receive. She went above and beyond in assisting us to accomplish what ever we needed help with. Also I now have a real experience of the origin of the company name “206 Tours” and understand better the implications. The staff at 206 also assisted pilgrims with the unfortunate circumstance of luggage problems during the influx of travel in Europe during this period.

Finally let me not to forget to thank the Lord for keeping us free from any threat of violence during this turbulent time in world history, we were truly under an open Heaven constantly being cared for by Our Blessed Mother.

Yours Truly

Fr. John

Recently concluded our, my wife and I, Guadalupe Pilgrimage. we have a better understanding of Our Lady of Guadalupe. i grew up knowing Our Lady of Fatima as I went to elementary and high school at Our Lady of Fatima Academy, a Catholic school. We did did the Marian Tour last year with 206 Tours, visiting Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal and Our Lady of Lourdes in France. In Mexico, Javier Garcia, our tour guide, gave us a comprehensive history of Our Lady of Guadalupe by talking about the various aspects of how it came to be, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Juan Diego, the Bishop, Juan’s uncle Juan Bernardo, persecution of Catholics in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution and the anti-Catholic movement in the early 1900s. Grateful to be part of Guadalupe Pilgrimage, Feb. 24 to March 1.

Sincerely,

Chicpaul and Carmelita Becerra
Victorville, California

Dear Natasha and Alex

I hope all is well!

We wanted to thank you for the beautiful Marian Pilgrimage that you have planned for us, we have no words to express how grateful we are !!

It was a wonderful experience. The hotels and the food were excellent, our drivers Pedro from Salamanca and Hugo from Lisboa were very kind and professional. Our tour guides Javi and Filipe were amazing!!!! We can’t thank you enough.

We love all the places that we visited, we learned a lot. We had a spiritual experience and this pilgrimage touched our lives in so many ways! We enjoyed every minute.

Please call me when you have a minute so we can start planning our pilgrimage to Israel 2023!

May God continue blessing you and the 206 tours family!
Please thank Milanka from all of us.

Xo

Arlyn

Dear Milanka,

Greetings!
We returned last night from again a well organized tour to the Holy Land. Also on behalf of Gabriele and the other participants, thank you! All went very well and the weather until the last day was excellent. Your guide Rami took good care of us. Its always a great joy to experience the amazing service of 206tours and its partners. We pray for a continued blessing of all you do.

With much love and God bless!
Fr. Guido

Hi Natasha and Alex

I hope all is well with you and your family !

We wanted to thank you and your team for an amazing pilgrimage! We had a wonderful time and we were so blessed during all these days and felt the presence of God on our hearts!
You were on our prayers.
Javier, Filipe and our drivers were amazing, as well as the local guides.
We can’t express our gratitude to all of you!

May God bless you always,

Arlyn

God bless You. Fascinating pilgrimage, unspecting blessings, the fraternity of the group and of guides as well; programming to go with you on my next trip. 🙏

Teresa De Moya