Client Letters

Testimonials, Pilgrimage Experiences, What our clients say about 206 Tours

We’re blessed with incredible Pilgrims and Priests! For over 35 years, we have proudly served them with quality Pilgrimages. Our stellar Spiritual Directors, detailed planning, dedicated certified guides, and first class accommodations are what make us one of the most respected Catholic Tour Operators in the world. We take care of everything so all you have to do is focus on connecting more deeply to your faith. Read testimonials and our Pilgrim’s experiences below.

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Good evening,

I want to thank you with all my heart for this wonderful experience I had on this pilgrimage. I could feel the presence of our Lord and our Mother through everyone around me. We were a very large group for sure, however that sense of togetherness was palpable to me; it did not matter you were on the red, the blue or the yellow group, we were one, we were pilgrims praying  together, sharing a meal, and being there for each other. It is so easy for a pilgrimage to become a sightseeing trip; as Fr. Calloway told us on the first night to remember mostly that we were on a pilgrimage; whatever church we visited we were given time for personal prayer, I appreciated that a lot. Since we spent most of our day traveling, prayer was very important, and our priests made sure it happened.

Talking about the priests, they were wonderful, a shout out to them, real shepherds. I thank the Lord for them and pray for them. Thank you Fr. Calloway, Fr. Tim and Fr. Angelo, thank you.

A big thank you to our guide Roberto, our driver, I apologize, I think Marco, and Liz, I have no words, their availability was unbelievable. 

Everything was great at the hotel, the restaurant personnel was wonderful, welcoming, and the food was good.

Thank you 206 Tours, I had the most wonderful experience as I said before.

God Bless

Nicole Victor

Thank you for making my recent trip to our Lady of Guadalupe a very blessed and memorable experience. My co-pilgrims are so loving, friendly and we bonded almost instantly. Roberto/Guide and Ricardo/Driver were equally wonderful; hotel accommodation is the best. Overall, 206 Tours continue the good services you do.

-Maria Gracia Juarez

 

Dear 206 Tours,

Thank you so much for allowing me to provide positive feedback on our recent Medjugorje Pilgrimage with Father Dawson and Father Miles through 206 Tours.  Most importantly, everything was so spiritual and amazing!  We are looking forward to another pilgrimage back there or to the Vatican or Holy Land with 206 Tours.

206 Tours did an excellent job from our first email encounter all the way to this final feedback email.  The communications from Cara, the gift 206 shoulder bag and the help with our travel arrangements on our way there due to weather delays, etc showed that 206 Tours really valued our business.  With the group of 47 of us making the pilgrimage, the red/blue 206 shoulder bags were so helpful in identifying our fellow passengers through the busy airports and ensuring that we did not leave anyone behind. 

The flights, transportation to/from the airports and through the Security Checkpoints in each Country went well with no complaints.  Our wonderful Tour Guide (Dragan Zovko) was so knowledgeable and always seemed to be one step ahead of us in all our daily activities to ensure minimal disruptions and maximum exposure to our daily schedules.  He was well versed on everything and his personality was perfect for this group of Pilgrims from Louisiana.  He quickly bonded with all of us and was so enjoyable to be around.  I do want to also make note that his strong Catholic faith really added to our overall spiritual experience of this trip.

The Hotel Grace was excellent and I am glad we stayed there.  The Hotel Grace Staff were professional and welcoming to us and ensured that our stay with them was topnotch.  The daily breakfasts and dinners were delicious and we left the table full each morning and night.  The wine selection was excellent too!  The Hotel Grace accommodations were very good.  From our rooms to the daily room service, food, drinks, etc, there were no complaints and when we make a return trip, I know where I want to stay.  Hotel Grace was next to St. James Church and the Chapel, which made it so easy to walk to whenever I wanted.  Even the distance from Apparition Hill from the Hotel was an easy walk.

206 Tours also did an excellent job with ensuring we had bus service to take us around to other areas that we wanted to experience such as Cross Mountain, Divine Chaplet Chapel, and Dubrovnik.  I felt complete safety in the hands of our bus driver.

Overall, a most wonderful pilgrimage and thanks to 206 Tours for everything you have done to make it such a memorable experience.  I have recommended 206 Tours to some friends of mine who are looking to book a pilgrimage soon (I gave them Cara’s email).

Thank you again and may God continue to bless 206 Tours.

With kindest regards,
Jason and Nancy Amato

It was a wonderful pilgrimage, everything about it was perfect.  It was my first trip with 206 Tours, and I hope to travel with you again.

Many thanks to all involved,

Marlene Riley

  • From: Rev. Wilfredo (Freddie) Decal
  • Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2024
  • To: series@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home! | Fatima, Spain & Lourdes, Jan 26, 2024 Rev. Wilfredo (Freddie) Decal
  • Tour 37: Fatima, Spain, and Lourdes

Peace and All Things Good!

Our recent pilgrimage to Lourdes, Fatima and Spain was a grace-filled experience. Leo was a kind, knowledgeable and hospitable tour guide, and the group was spirit-filled and striving to deepen their faith through the pilgrimage. We got along well and everyone was punctual and amiable. I give thanks to the Lord for the wonderful experience of being a chaplain to this group.

With warm regards and best wishes, I remain, In Our Lord and Lady,

Rev Wilfredo (Freddie) Decal

Dear Rinda,

I hope you are well. Please pardon my delay in offering my gratitude to you and 206 Tours for allowing me to be chaplain to the pilgrimage to Mexico City and its environs, January 25-30. We had a wonderful group, some 22 pilgrims and myself. We bonded well and I believe all had a very good experience. The driver of the bus, Marco, was incredible to say the least. Negotiating through the unbelievable traffic of Mexico City, where the infrastructure simply is not sufficient for the population, was something to behold. Our guide, Roberto, was also a very good fit for the group. He was helpful in every avenue and very respectful of me and the pilgrims. In short, it was a very good experience.

I do, however, once again want to thank you for allowing me to serve in the capacity as spiritual director. I have enjoyed each and every opportunity that you have given me and I look forward to future possibilities, including my trip to Spain in September.

Thank you again and God bless you.

Father Rick Gribble, CSC

  • From: JoNell Doucet
  • Sent: Friday, February 2, 2024
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Medjugorje with Fr. David Dawson and Fr. Miles Walsh JoNell Doucet
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje

All I can say is amazing!!! I wish there was a survey!! Everything was perfect!!

Our tour guide was absolutely awesome!! Without Dragen, I know our experience would not have been the same! Hotel Grace was wonderful! The staff, food, accommodations was helpful and professional with that warm friendly touch!!

206 Tours scores a 10 out of 10!!

JoNell Doucet

  • From: Pauline Pratt
  • Sent: Monday, January 29, 2024
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Feedback Pauline Pratt
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje

Hi Cara,

I have to tell you that my pilgrimages with Father Murphy to Medjugorje refresh my soul. He gives us projects to do that help us to examine our lives and become closer to our God. He takes us to places that fill us with the beauty of the Lord. 

The whole 206 tour experience has been a blessing for me. Hotel Grace is very comfortable and clean and all the people who work there are friendly and make us feel right at home. If we have a problem they are right on it. 

It all starts with a text to my friend Cara…

Pauline Pratt 

Silvia,

Thanks to you and your team, we truly had a memorable trip to the Home of Our Lady of Guadalupe! Jesus, our guide was GREAT with his knowledge of the area and his expertise in handling our group and helping the driver navigate the traffic and crowds. He was certainly befriended by our group and we got to know him and his family history 🙂 Our pastor, Fr Wilhelm, was made for the Mexican people, as everywhere we went he was approached for a blessing of some sort by young and old alike – they could sense his devotion to Mary!

The bus and driver were wonderful and the accommodations and food were top notch – we actually bumped into one of our past Bishops, who now is an Archbishop in Denver, and was on a pilgrimage there also. 🙂

Once again, Thank You, for a great experience – I am already skimming the 206 Tours Pilgrimage master list looking for our next adventure for the Mary Makers!

Take Care and God Bless,

Dean Bittner

  • From: Barbara Warren
  • Sent: Wednesday, January 3, 2024
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home! | Fatima, Spain, Lourdes, & Paris Pilgrimage with Fr. Sean Connolly and Fr. Liam Quinlan | October 18 - 31, 2023 | Tour SC101823 Barbara Warren
  • Tour 40: Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Paris

Hi, Cat:

I know this is late in coming, but I wanted to let you know that the pilgrimage to Lourdes, Fatima, Spain and Paris was wonderful.  Our spiritual directors, Fr. Sean Connolly and Fr. Liam Quinlan, were excellent.  They, along with our 206 Tour Guide, Javier, were knowledgeable about all our destinations, both culturally and spiritually, and helped to create an upbeat atmosphere of camaraderie among the pilgrims.  This was my third pilgrimage with Fr. Connolly and 206 Tours and I can’t say enough good things about Father and 206 Tours.

Our bus drivers were excellent drivers and were very accommodating regarding handling our luggage.  Our driver for most of the pilgrimage was Juan and, I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch the name of our driver in Paris (it might have been Philippe).

Regards,

Barbara Warren

  • From: M. Romero
  • Sent: Tuesday, January 2, 2024
  • To: patrick@206tours.com
  • Subject: Feedback - Women of Grace Pilgrimage to Mexico City - Dec. 8 - 13, 2023 M. Romero
  • Tour 206: Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe

Happy New Year! 🙂

I posted my gratefulness to all the organizers of this wonderful pilgrimage on Facebook “last year”! 🙂 

What a wonderful experience! It was a blessing to be part of the Purple Bus!

This was my 4th pilgrimage with 206 Tours, and I hope it won’t be the last!

May God bless you, your family, and all at 206 Tours! You guys are so wonderful 🙂

  • From: B. Losier
  • Sent: Tuesday, January 2, 2024
  • To: patrick@206tours.com
  • Subject: Feedback - Women of Grace Pilgrimage to Mexico City - December 8 - 13, 2023 B. Losier
  • Tour 206: Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe

Dear Patrick,

The pilgrimage was superb!  The tour guide, Luis, was knowledgeable with history, culture, and the faith.  He had great humor and we always felt well cared for.  The Sheraton was clean, gave great service, and the food was delicious.  I would highly recommend 206 Tours to anyone who wants an authentic Catholic pilgrimage.

Thank you to Johnnette who was so warm and approachable.

I extend my sincere appreciation to all the people behind the scenes to make this trip unforgettable.

Hi Jason, 

Maria was hands down one of the best (if not the best) tour guide I’ve ever encountered. She was engaged, funny, caring, organized and very knowledgeable. She made the trip absolutely stand out and the experience was certainly magical and blessed. We had a hiccup with my luggage in one of the hotels and she jumped on it quickly, kept calm and resolved the issue seamlessly. I’ve seen other travel coordinators get flustered in situations like that. But not Maria, she was a true professional! I would absolutely recommend that she be the tour guide for all Greece trips!  Equally so, Father Michael was the best spiritual director! He made us all feel like family and truly connected to Jesus. He is just such a special and caring shepherd of God. I feel very blessed to have gone on such a wonderful trip made extra special by both Maria and Father Michael! 

God bless and Merry Christmas! 

Lucia 

  • From: Johnnette Benkovic-Williams, President & Founder of Women of Grace
  • Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2023
  • To: patrick@206tours.com
  • Subject: Follow Up - Women of Grace Pilgrimage to Mexico City - December 8 - 13, 2023 Johnnette Benkovic-Williams, President & Founder of Women of Grace
  • Tour 206: Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe

Hi Patrick,

Francesca and the Tour Guides were great. Everything good comes by way of the Cross, and we were abundantly blessed throughout. Thank you for working so diligently with us, and to make this such a Special moment for Women of Grace – and for all of our pilgrims, too. The attention to detail, and the lovely extras, truly made this a unique and Holy moment for all of us.

It was lovely to work with your team in Mexico. The Women of Grace Team felt a special bond with your Team there. I look forward to another pilgrimage soon … possibly in 2024. I have some ideas…..

Blessings, joy, and peace in this Holy season!

Johnnette Benkovic-Williams

Thanks so much!

  • From: Danielle Heeran
  • Sent: Friday, December 15, 2023
  • To: olivia@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from your Pilgrimage to Mexico with Fr. Alan Tremblay, and Thank You! Danielle Heeran
  • Tour 206: Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe

Hello! 

Easiest review ever! Javier is a gem. He is so special and really made the trip what it was. I felt safe with him. He took care of everything so we could focus on being pilgrims. I had a life changing experience and I know Javier was a big part of that. Jesus was also a fantastic driver. We were in the best hands! Thank you all so much. 

Sincerely,

Danielle Heeran

The pilgrimage was very successful and rich in graces for the pilgrims.  First time I heard so many confessions.

Roberto is a great guide!  Now I’ve got two guide buddies, Roberto and Javier.

The hotel as well as all accommodations were excellent.  The pilgrims all appreciated everything that was done.

In spite of a wee setback we all had a prayerful experience.

Father Ed

God bless 206

  • From: Gary Markiewicz
  • Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2023
  • To: olivia@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from your Pilgrimage to Mexico with Fr. Alan Tremblay, and Thank You! Gary Markiewicz
  • Tour 206: Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe

Happy to provide some feedback.

Our guide, Javier, was fantastic. Very knowledgeable, personable, helpful and adaptable. His ability to solve issues quickly was not only impressive but almost unnoticeable due to how seamlessly he was able to improvise solutions. As a person that works in a Health and Safety conscious industry, I was impressed with his attention to health and safety hazards and proactiveness with reminders about trip hazards and vehicle hazards while walking about the city.

I’m not sure I have a most memorable part, but the ones that stuck with me and moved me were (not in any particular order) the Chapel of the Holy Rosary, the viewing of the original organ in one of the cathedrals, the vision of Fr. Pro’s remains and tour of the small museum, all of our beautiful masses at the various churches and crypts, and of course getting to view the Tilma. The last church we visited where the healing water was located was a real treat due to the street festival!

I can’t think of a challenging part, maybe not having as much time to view the Tilma as I’d like but being that it was during such a high volume week with celebration that was to be expected. Javier did the best anyone could to provide us with the best opportunity to view considering the circumstances.

I was surprised (happily) by a few things. All the meals were fantastic and the places we ate at were great! The hotel was way better than expected (almost too nice) and the bus driver and his bus were top notch!

Gary Markiewicz

  • From: Father Pierre Deglaire C.S.Sp
  • Sent: Monday, December 11, 2023
  • To: rinda@206tours.com
  • Subject: Shrines of Italy Father Pierre Deglaire C.S.Sp
  • Tour 96: Shrines of Italy Pilgrimage

Greetings from California,

A month ago I was in Italy with the SHRINES OF ITALY pilgrimage. Everything went well.
The group was small, everything went smoothly. The 206 Tours guide was very good and very attentive to the needs of the people, the guide for Rome was excellent.
My stay in France went very well. I bought there a book by a French author: Didier van Cauwelaert, “L’insolence des miracles”. A book published in October 2023 He speaks a lot about the miracles of Padre Pio, and others: Carlo Acutis, the miracles of the Eucharist, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Juan Diego….. how the church quite a few times has difficulties in recognizing these miracles. Unfortunately the book is only in French.
Thanks for organizing this collection for the guides, I hope that the guide from Jordan is also included.
Many times during these two months I thought of 206 Tours and these guides affected by the events of October, this time of advent and Christmas are a time of prayer for peace.
I still feel very good and would like to participate in a pilgrimage next year between mid April and mid June.
Let me know if you have something…
Merry Christmas to you and all the people of 206 Tours. Peace on earth to people of good will.

Father Pierre Deglaire C.S.Sp

TO 206 Tours:
I am writing this email to thank several people from our recent pilgrimage to Fatima, Spain, and Lourdes. 
1. Special thanks: Steve Shawl from Medjugorje pilgrimages. We used him for a trip to
    Medjugorje and it was fantastic. He therefore made all arrangements for the Fatima, Spain,
    and Lourdes trip thru 206 tours.
2. Our trip with 206 tours was fabulous.
    A. When we landed in Portugal Daniel (Guide) was there waiting for us. He was
         extremely thorough and helpful throughout our entire journey.
    B. Father John Gillis (Canadian) was brilliant. He did so much for me it is unimaginable. 
         He made several suggestions to help me thru what I thought were tough times as a
         child. He recommended Restore to Glory podcasts, which I have listened to almost 45
         podcasts. His sermons during our daily masses were enlightening. I would highly
         recommend him to anyone if they were to go on a pilgrimage and he was the priest. 
     C. Our experience was so good, me and my wife plan on going on another pilgrimage
          thru 206 tours next September to Hungary, Germany, Austria, etc.
Thanks for all you do,
David Brant
  • From: Carmen Alfaro-Morawski
  • Sent: Friday, December 1, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Review of our 206 Tour #40 thru Portugal, Spain and France (Fatima, Lourdes) Carmen Alfaro-Morawski
  • Tour 40: Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Paris

Dear Sir/Madam,

Our tour to Lisbon, Spain and France (#40) was a beautiful, inclusive, and well-organized tour.

Everything we did and visited was outstanding. It was as pleasure and a privilege to travel with a priest who provided friendly guidance, the daily Mass Service, prayers, etc. The whole trip was a success spiritually and sightseeing as well. 

This is my first trip with 206 Tours but I am extremely pleased to have joined it and being part of it. Thank you to all the staff who helped worked out the ins and outs of the trip and the staff who were our tour guides and the drivers. All of them were of excellent character, knowledgeable and their work was first class. 

I also want to praise the individual tour guides who for a few hours would be taking us around to explain and show certain special places during the different stages of our trip

It was a pleasure to be part of 206 Tours for Lisbon Spain and France (#40) . THANK YOU again.  All went well. 

Carmen Alfaro-Morawski

Our tour was life changing and a wonderful and unforgettable spiritual experience. We saw so much and had such great pilgrims to share our journey with. Leo was so knowledgeable and shared with us so much to enrich our tour. He kept us going through many challenges. He really did an amazing job!

Father Charles was absolutely perfect to lead us spiritually. So grateful to have him traveling with us each day. His Masses truly made each place extra beautiful and special. 
So grateful and blessed to go on this trip. Extraordinary on so many levels. We Loved it!!!
Thank You to all that planned all the places we visited,  especially where we had Mass each day. Hotels and food were ALL fantastic!!! God bless you all for putting together this trip of a lifetime 🙏 This trip meant the world to us! Super Awesome!
Sincerely and Gratefully,
Tina and Jim Lukco
  • From: Don Goduti
  • Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2023
  • To: kristina@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: We'd Love Your Feedback on Your Pilgrimage with 206 Tours! Don Goduti
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje
Hi Kristina,
The pilgrimage to Medjugorje with 206 Tours was all that you described in the descriptions and more. The guide, Slavo, was excellent because of her local knowledge and having experienced much of what has been going on in Medjugorje since it all began.
Our flights worked out as planned, the hotel and food was excellent and our ground transportation from and to the airport was excellent.  Despite the commercialism surrounding the town itself you do come away with a peaceful and joyful experience.  That primarily came from seeing the thousands of  people attending religious services on a daily basis.  To me it represents how the people in the surrounding areas have adjusted their lives to the new way Mary has asked them to live to please our Lord.
Thank you for putting quality and keeping quality in your tours.  May God bless you all for what you do to provide a unique pilgrimage experience.
May God’s grace fill you.
Don Goduti
  • From: Angela Gatenby
  • Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2023
  • To: kevin@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from 206 Tours! Angela Gatenby
  • Tour 1-B: Medjugorje and Dubrovnik

Hi Kevin, 

How are you?  The tour could not have been better.  Praise God. Ivan our tour guide was absolutely amazing.  The greatest thanks to him for being open to the Holy Spirit and for sharing so much knowledge and love of our faith.

Also, I am so thankful to Fr. Patrick Keane. I cannot say enough good about him.  My daughter accompanied me on the tour.  I felt the grace of God every moment.  Truly a miracle. Thank you for a blessed tour.

Sincerely,
Angela Gatenby

I was very happy and satisfied with the Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe; the tour guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the city of Mexico and the history of the churches that we visited. I’m so amazed with the beauty of the churches and its altars.  I will be booking for another visit to the Lady of Guadalupe in the near future. 
Romadonna
  • From: Fr. Charles Puthota
  • Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2023
  • To: series@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: E-Ticket confirmation for Charles Puthota Pilgrimage 206 Tours Inc. Order #459627 Fr. Charles Puthota
  • Tour 40: Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Paris

Dear Friends at 206 Tours,

Thank you for all your wonderful help.

The pilgrimage to Portugal, Spain, Lourdes, and France (October 29 to November 11, 2023) was a big success. 

The pilgrims were highly satisfied. 

Thanks for all the meticulous arrangements and well-organized plans you and your teams had made. 

Warm regards,

Father Charles Puthota

  • From: Susie Howard
  • Sent: Monday, November 20, 2023
  • To: maria@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from 206 Tours! Susie Howard
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje

This was my 4th 206 Tours Pilgrimage and can’t wait till my 5th! 

-Susie Howard

  • From: Fr. Brian Smail
  • Sent: Monday, November 20, 2023
  • To: maria@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from 206 Tours! Fr. Brian Smail
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje
This was my 4th time leading a 206 Tour.  I must say that 206 is consistently excellent in every way!  I have done the Holy Land Twice with 206, also Footsteps of St. Paul, and now Medjugorge.  The latter was my first time there and it was truly a life-changing experience for me.  I love sharing these experiences with my fellow pilgrims, praying with them (Mass, rosary, etc.), and celebrating our Catholic faith throughout the journey.  206 always prepares an outstanding itinerary, accomodations, etc.  I was thrilled to be able to experience Medjugorge with the group.  For me, climbing Apparition Hill alongside my fellow pilgrims and experiencing the peace and joy at the top is something I will never forget. And being a Franciscan priest, I was deeply touched by, and proud of, the 800 year legacy of the Franciscans in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
I look forward to leading another 206 pilgrimage whenever you need me!
God bless you in this wonderful ministry!
Fr. Brian E. Smail, OFM

Dear Rinda and Dan,

Warm greetings from Germany. I wanted to thank you for organizing the pilgrimage to Guadalupe. It was fantastic! The group was very nice and quickly became “one body in Christ.” Everything went very well.

I might reach out again for a tour to Compostela (Camino) in the future to see whether you need a priest.

Best wishes and blessings,

Fr. Marco

  • From: Gene and Theresa Blahato
  • Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from 206 Tours! Gene and Theresa Blahato
  • Tour 96: Shrines of Italy Pilgrimage

Hello!

We were on the tour to Italy in September. We had Luigi as our Tour Guide and Fr. Guido Gockel as our Spiritual Director. I honestly can’t remember the name of the driver. All of them were OUTSTANDING!  Luigi was entertaining and extremely knowledgeable. He was funny yet we had a deeply spiritual pilgrimage. We listened to music, watched religious films on the bus, and prayed. Fr. Guido made sure that we did Morning Prayer, Rosary, and Evening Prayer. He did sermons on the bus as well as a making sure we had daily mass. The driver did some fantastic driving and navigated some tricky curves and parking with such ease. 

We also want to do a shout out to your staff because we had a later flight but instead of putting us with the 4am bus, we went on the 7am bus. We really needed the extra sleep and spend less time at the airport. Just the way you all planned the trip and provided wine, etc was so wonderful and thoughtful!! We are never going to tour with any other company but 206 Tours!! Just for an aside, the people that we traveled with said the same thing too!!

God Bless,

Gene and Theresa Blahato

Dear Milanka,

Greetings! Thank you for your phone call. 
Everything went very well on the pilgrimage! It was a wonderful time for everyone!
Christina was an outstanding guide! Is it possible for her to serve as the guide for the pilgrimage this June in France?
I’m very happy with the work of 206 Tours! You run an amazing company!
Thank you for all you do!

In Christ,

– Fr. Jeffrey Kirby
  • From: Julianne and Antonio Hernandez
  • Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Thank you 206 Tours - Loved our pilgrimage Julianne and Antonio Hernandez
  • Tour 37: Fatima, Spain, and Lourdes

Dear Jason,

Wanted to thank you and 206 Tours.  Our trip to Fatima, Spain and Lourdes was simply FANTASTIC!!  Everything was perfectly planned…206 Tours perfectly planned the itinerary, air travel and tours.  Leo, our guide, was wonderful, organized and fun….he made each day unfold seamlessly.  Father John was a fun, energetic person and a great priest/spiritual advisor.  The group of fellow pilgrims from California were wonderful travel companions and welcomed us ‘Floridians’ so warmly 😊.  

The trip was very spiritual for us.  Cannot put more of that into words.  These are beautiful countries with so much religious history that I never knew or even cared about.  We feel very blessed to have visited Fatima and Lourdes.  It was very powerful.  I am so glad that Salamanca, Avila, Burgos and Loyola were also included;  I have become interested in the lives of St. Teresa and St. Ignatius and am reading their books to learn more about them.  

Thank you again for all that you and the rest of the 206 Tours team do.  Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas!!

Sincerely,

Julie and Antonio Hernandez

  • From: Patrick and Bonni Esquibel
  • Sent: Monday, November 6, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Tour 103 Feedback Patrick and Bonni Esquibel
  • All Italian Shrines Pilgrimage

Hello Series Tour Team,

This was our first time to visit Italy and we were very excited to visit all the Italian shrines. Any time we can gain knowledge and continue our education about our Catholic religion and history we welcome it with open arms. It was all we expected and more. We gained valuable information about our saints and history. Kudos to all our tour guides for sharing a wealth of knowledge with us. If we would have traveled on our own we would have missed many points of interest and in some cases not even know what we were looking at. 

Thank you to our priests, tour guides, and bus drivers who transported us safely to every location.

Thank you 206 Tours and looking forward to our next Pilgrimage.

Patrick & Bonni Esquibel

  • From: Sandra Hill
  • Sent: Monday, November 6, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Classic Italy Tour 98 Sandra Hill
  • Tour 98: Classic Italy

Hello 206 Tours,

I am thankful for the opportunity to have been among the Pilgrims of Tour 98 Classic Italy. I met wonderful people from all over, Australia, New Zealand and many different areas in the United States. I learned so much about the history, culture, art and beauty of Italy through the guides that were brought in for each place. Alessandro our guide was well organized, attentive, and professional.  Claudio our bus driver navigated the roads with ease, keeping us safe. 

We had Mass every day in the most beautiful churches in the world.  Our spiritual guide/ priest, Fr Edmund Luciano through his homilies brought the scriptures alive by applying it to modern day events.  He spent time with each one of us and I enjoyed his company.

It was an unforgettable experience to be able to follow in the footsteps of so many saints, Popes, and blessed people.  Thank you 206 Tours to everyone who made this trip possible.

God Bless,

Sandra Hill

My husband and I had a wonderful time as we toured France with Cristina and Fr. Tuan.  We learned so much, we saw so much and we are so appreciative! 
We chose 206 Tours, again, as our first tour with them throughout Spain was exceptional. We loved our guide for Spain, Javier and we loved our guide for France, Cristina.  Truly they worked so hard to provide for us a seamless experience. Traveling with like minded, faith filled,  people is such a gift. Thank you for all the work you do behind the scenes to make such a pilgrimage available. God bless you!

Katy McGovern

Our group seemed very happy and satisfied with our trip.  Good comments on the guides, and the sights and experiences.  Also, good comments on the hotels and food.

I was glad about all the arrangements.

Thanks to 206 Tours for a memorable trip!

Fr. Mark Osterhaus

Hi Jason,

My name is Mike DeLooze. My daughter Ashley and I went on tour #37 Oct.15th- Oct.24th. Our tour guide was Miguel, and I wanted to let you know how impressed we were with him. He was very personable, knowledgeable, and attentive to any and all of the needs of the whole group. He definitely represented 206 Tours in fine fashion. We enjoyed our whole experience. It was far more than what we ever expected and have told several members of our church that we highly recommend this tour. Thank you for a wonderful once in a life time trip that I got to take with my daughter!

Blessings to you,
Mike DeLooze

Dear Jason and co,

Greetings in Christ Jesus and may his peace reign with you.

I am grateful to God and to you for the opportunity l had to be the Spiritual Director of Tour #96 All Italian Shrines.  The group of people l met together with the Tour Leader Javier was wonderful. The time spent together was quite enriching. Every pilgrimage is an opportunity to encounter the Lord, to walk in his footsteps by walking in the footsteps of his saints who lived in this world like us and encountered joys and sorrows like us. As such, we walked, we invoked the Lord and we give him thanks for the blessings received. It was an opportunity for us to encourage one another as the Scriptures tell us: ” Every day as long as this today lasts, keep encouraging one another” (Heb 3:13).

I would say, it was well organized and that all went well. I was later informed that some members of the group were infected with covid.That was unfortunate, but thank God they are all fine. It was a wonderful experience for me as it was my first time leading as a Spiritual Director.  I look forward to other Tours with 206 Tours.

Peace and blessings. 

Fr. Marcel Kofon SANG. 

  • From: Natalie Owings
  • Sent: Thursday, November 2, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: El Camino The Way of St. James with Fr. Gervan Menezes and Michael McCusker | October 12 - 22, 2023 | Tour MM100923 Natalie Owings
  • Tour 70: El Camino - The Way of St. James - Spain

Thank you Cat & Alexandra! 

The pilgrimage definitely exceeded my expectations.  All was just beautiful – the tour guides, the bus drivers, the Mass locations, the accommodations (some more amazing than others of course, understanding we got the best of what was available on the Camino 😃)  I know giving feedback on improvements, no matter how small, are always helpful, but I honestly don’t have any.  I will search 206 Tours on social media and be certain to give a review.  Did you happen to hear about the birth of the calf from Marta or Quico!  Michael and I were incredibly blessed to be witnesses.  So awesome!  The Camino does truly replicate life in so many ways.

Thank you for the personal touch of the photos below.  By the way, that’s my son Michael in the photo below who was blessed to serve with Fr G at all the Masses!!  He was so humbled when Fr G asked.  So many blessings!  😊 😊 😊 Still processing all the memories, and suspect I will for years to come.

With much appreciation, and continued prayers for you, your family, and all the team and their families at 206 Tours.

In Christ,

Natalie

  • From: Martina Millard and Gavin Butcher
  • Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from 206 Tours! Martina Millard and Gavin Butcher
  • Tour 99: Rome, Sorrento & Assisi

Dear Jason,

We arrived home in Australia and it took some time to readjust to southern hemisphere time.  However, we were very happy to have joined the tour and will promote 206 Tours with our friends. We weren’t quite sure what to expect when our original tour (100) was cancelled and we found ourselves with a different tour group – but our email communication was always effective due to 206 getting back to us promptly and organising everything for our change of tour.  When our backpacks arrived, we felt secure in the knowledge that everything would go to plan. We read all the information that was sent to us and it equipped us very well.

Every transfer that was arranged (beyond that of the tour schedule) to accommodate our needs went precisely as planned.  At no stage were we left wondering what was happening.  When we arrived in Italy, 2 days ahead of the rest of the group and saw the person holding to 206 sign, we were very relieved and our confidence in our plans with 206 was validated.

The days on the tour were unforgettable.  We were with a wonderful group of Americans and will remain in touch with many of them.  Our tour guide, Alessandro, was knowledgable and efficient.  He was very professional. Our bus driver, Caludio, was and expert at negotiating the Italian way of driving and kept us safe at all times.  Safety protocols were followed very well.  Each day was mapped out for us the previous evening, so that the next day was clear.  Every day was jam -packed, but the presence of expert guides for the days meant that we had access to wonderful information, excellent seats and no waiting in queues.

For us, the journey into the roots of our faith was significant. Daily Mass and spiritual experiences will stay with us for some time and have had a profound impact on our Catholic identity and its meaning for us in the world both within our small sphere of influence and more broadly.

We are very grateful to have been made aware of 206 by our priest and may choose to travel with you again in future.  We learned both the advantages and disadvantages of being part of a group tour (something we had not done before) and the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages.

Thank you for your efficient communication, organisation and overall coordination of our experience in Italy.  

Kindest regards,

Martina Millard and Gavin Butcher

  • From: Fr. Lester Evangelista
  • Sent: Monday, October 30, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Testimonial for Mexico Tour June 29 - July 4, 2023 Fr. Lester Evangelista
  • Tour 206: Mexico - Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Mexico Pilgrimage was never simply a journey through physical space to a holy place. Because the true purpose of every church and  pilgrimage destination is a journey of inner transformation. I believe that this experience will help deepen my faith and love for our Lord Jesus and Mother Mary. 

The managers and staff at 206 Tours are all exceptional. As well as the local guides (Roberto and Arturo) are not only experts, but also important links to  the peoples and cultures of Mexico. 

I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a spiritual leader of this pilgrimage. Thanks to 206 Tours. Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!

Rev. Fr. Lester Evangelista

  • From: Fr. Jim Marshall
  • Sent: Monday, October 30, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Greece Pilgrimage | Tour JM101323 Fr. Jim Marshall
  • Tour 160: Greece Pilgrimage

Good afternoon, Cat

I just want to tell you that our trip to Greece was a blast. It was probably the best pilgrimage I have been on which is saying something. Nena our tour guide was exceptional as well. She took great care of us. The food was quite good as well which is not always the case on these kind of trips as I am sure you know. The group plans on getting together later this year for a reunion and I will let you know how that goes as well.

Thank you for everything and God bless you.

Fr. Jim Marshall

This was my third trip to Israel but under 206 Tours this time and I’m very satisfied with the service … from the accommodation, to the tour guide, Yousef, who was very knowledgeable about his part and I learned a lot from him, very informative including the Bible as we visit each site. He was very patient with us, the driver kept us safe in all the travels. I have no complaint about your company. Father Eugene, our spiritual guide is excellent and preferred to have your company. I highly recommend 206 Tours.

Esprellas

  • From: Al and Anita Karle
  • Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from 206 Tours! Al and Anita Karle
  • Tour 57: Shrines of Spain and Fatima

We cannot thank enough Fr. Joseph, Fr. Piotr along with our wonderful guide Miguel for an amazing pilgrimage to Spain and Fatima. Monserrat, Toledo and Fatima were among our favorites but to be able to walk along the Camino if only for a few miles and attend Mass at the Cathedral of St. James was in itself a gift.  You can never visit Fatima just once so this was a bonus added on to Shrines of Spain.  This was not a pilgrimage on our list until Fr. Piotr and Leo (our guide) recommended while on a previous pilgrimage with them and so glad they did! It is a pilgrimage we recommend.

Thank you to the entire 206 family who know how to plan and organize pilgrimages so the only thing pilgrims need to do is pack and arrive at the airport!

Al and Anita Karle

  • From: Tahira Haroon
  • Sent: Friday, October 27, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Marian Shrines Pilgrimage with Fr. Jeff Kirby Tahira Haroon
  • Tour 37: Fatima, Spain, and Lourdes

Thank you so much for the wonderful experience!  I really appreciate all the information you sent ahead of time, letting us know what to expect and how to prepare for our trip in terms of currency, clothing, etc.  I felt that I had everything I needed. 

I knew Fr. Kirby from the Morning Offering, which is one of the main reasons I signed up for the tour.  (The destinations Fatima and Lourdes were another ) 

Our tour guide, Christina, was fantastic!  I hope that, if I take another 206 tour, she will be the tour guide again.  She was always cheerful and helpful.

Tahira Haroon

  • From: Michelle Schick
  • Sent: Friday, October 27, 2023
  • To: olivia@206tours.com
  • Subject: Marian Shrines Pilgrimage with Fr. Jeff Kirby, and Thank You! Michelle Schick
  • Tour 37: Fatima, Spain, and Lourdes

Dear Olivia:

Thank you for your welcome!  Our experience was amazing and beyond what I could ever have imagined.  I am so grateful for your company that organizes these tours as there is no doubt you are leading pilgrims to our Lord.  

Our Spiritual Leader, Father Kirby, was wonderful and welcoming.  Our tour guide, Cristina, went above and beyond to make our trip the best possible.  

The most memorable part of my trip would have to be the nightly lit processions with so many other Christians singing praises to Mary and all in different languages. 

I can’t think of anything that was too difficult.  Maybe our connecting flight back home where we only had 40 minutes to get to our next flight and we had customs to get thru, but we did make it.  The stewardess was very accommodating in that they let us move up front once everyone was seated.

I was surprised by how much we were able to pack in in such a short time.  My main purpose was to go to Lourdes, so experiencing Fatima and all the other amazing places just added to the experience.  I was so inspired by the people who have gone before us that have built these beautiful Basilicas and left us the legacy that they have.

My only suggestion would be that you do not need $50 in ones as most of the candles in the churches required Euro coins.  I came home with almost all of my ones and fives and they were bulky.

I received blessings beyond measure on this trip.  To be able to bring home Holy Water from Lourdes and place all the intentions that people sent me with to both the apparitions, meant so much and has meant so much to the people that I have shared with.  I can’t thank you enough. God bless you all and your work!

Peace be with you,

Michelle Schick

  • From: Anita and Glenn
  • Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2023
  • To: sandra@206tours.com
  • Subject: Medjugorje with accommodations at Ivan Dragicevic's Oct 9, 2023 - Oct 17, 2023 Anita and Glenn
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje

Hello dear Sandra ,

We cannot give you praise enough for the 206 tour to Medjugorge. First we met Ivanka when we were so travel weary and her warmth and spirit soon brought us to anticipate what we were to enjoy. Ivan and his wonderful kitchen crew revived us with such fresh and delicious food that we were to enjoy our whole visit . I have to also thank them for so graciously making veggie soup and alternative meals for us. We cannot thank Ivan & Ivanka enough for making the Medjugorge experience alive for us. They are living history and their spiritual inspiration is unmatched. Also thank you for your help in extending our trip for a few days in Split. The Hotel Luxe was excellent and the city intriguing and fun. Many thanks for everything!

Anita and Glenn

  • From: Bill Strebel
  • Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: El Camino The Way of St. James with Fr. Gervan Menezes and Michael McCusker | October 12 - 22, 2023 Bill Strebel
  • Tour 70: El Camino - The Way of St. James - Spain

Cat and Alexandra,

Thank you and all of the 206 Team for a very memorable, physical, spiritual and emotional pilgrimage.  Martha and Quico were wonderful as were our drivers Juan Louis and Raul.  Everything was planned out with near military precision. 

The 3 night stay at Pazo De Bieite was so wonderful. The staff there were amazingly concerned with our comfort and wellbeing, everyone from the man and woman running it to the servers and other staff.  Beautiful location. Wish it were not raining so much so that I could explore more.

Thank you all again.

Semper Fi and Vivat Jesus,

Bill Strebel

Liz,

I cannot say enough good things about Vanessa as our guide!  She took care of everything and had us on the move.  She was wonderful 10 out of 10 for sure!  Antonio our bus driver also was great!   Really enjoyed the trip it was perfect.   

-The Baker’s

Hi Danielle, 

It was a wonderful experience. Tour was organized and very good drivers and tour guides. Most especially our tour coordinator Leslie was great! Very friendly, courteous and professional. Thank you so much. 

Virgilio and Yolanda Ong

  • From: Fr. Richard Baafi
  • Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from 206 Tours! Fr. Richard Baafi
  • Tour 168: Poland Pilgrimage

Dear Jason,

Thank you for your email. Our pilgrimage to Poland (Tour 168) was highly successful. It was a great spiritual experience. The pilgrims were full of enthusiasm and actively participated in all religious and social activities with joy. 

Our tour guide, Sabina Balos, was very articulate and meticulous. Her contributions positively impacted the overall success of our pilgrimage. In my estimation, this pilgrimage renewed the pilgrims’ faith and hope. Similarly, the pilgrimage offered participants the opportunity to increase in historical, social and religious experiences. Indeed, our Poland pilgrimage was extraordinarily memorable and unique. 

I thank you for the opportunity to share the gift of my priesthood. It is my prayer to have such future opportunities as a spiritual director. 

Thank you. God bless.

Best regards,

Fr. Richard Baafi

  • From: Chuck Phelps
  • Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2023
  • To: rinda@206tours.com
  • Subject: 206 Tours Poland Tour Chuck Phelps
  • Tour 168: Poland Pilgrimage

My wife and I recently took a 206 Tours pilgrimage in Poland. We were in a small group of pilgrims but everyone was friendly, enthusiastic and reverent.

Our Spiritual Leader was Fr. Richard. His homilies were fresh and relevant. He was enthusiastic about his priesthood and was friendly and approachable.

Our Tour Guide was Sabina Balos. She was very knowledgeable and expressed that knowledge in a conversational manner rather than a lecture. She was willing to do whatever it took to make each day a successful experience. Her deep faith came through in her words and her actions. She contributed a great deal to making this tour a rewarding and unforgettable experience.

Chuck Phelps

Few experiences in life have an impact that dramatically changes your life on all levels of living- physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.  The footsteps of St. Paul pilgrimage is one of those rare life-changing experiences for me.

The opportunity to celebrate the Eucharist in so many sacred places- Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus, Crete, and Thessalonika where St. Paul preached was breathtaking and soul enriching.  When I read his letters, I now have an entirely different perspective.

Eleni Maousidou was outstanding to collaborate with on the pilgrimage.  She was a veteran and I was a rookie.  She was highly informative, very friendly, possessed a wonderful sense of humor, and knew how to avoid tourist traps and crowds in order to make our visits educational and enjoyable.

The hired tour guides were also excellent.  The pilgrims were kind and friendly.  I had three deacons assist me at the altar. Several pilgrims (12) sought spiritual guidance, the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick (16), and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this pilgrimage a rip-roaring 10.

I hope that I will have the chance to work with 206 Tours in the near future.  Kindly let me know if that is a possibility.  Many pilgrims (10) asked me to let them know when I will be leading another tour.

Thank you for this spiritually enriching experience. I am grateful to 206 Tours for this wonderful opportunity.

Fr. Tom Heron

Hi Piernha, 

We hope and pray that all is well with you. 

We had an enjoyable, faith filled pilgrimage. Thank you for all the help you gave us to make it happen. 

Some of our fellow pilgrims already expressed their desire to join us on our next pilgrimage without even knowing where we are planning to go. Thank you. 

God bless. 

Chiqui and Carmelita

God bless you all! This was the most inspiring and fulfilling trip I have ever taken!

I’m also very grateful to all of you for all the assistance before the trip! Best Tour agency I have ever used! 

Thank you so much!! 

Maria Gabriela Acurio

Hello Liz,

I just wanted to send my heartfelt gratitude for your assistance and patience in facilitating our trip.  The pilgrimage was amazing and very uplifting. I am greatly blessed for the opportunity to visit the holy places of Our Lord, Our Virgin Mother Mother and our beloved Saints.

I enjoyed our group and absolutely loved Vanessa and Raul. Of course, we appreciated Fr. Samuel’s spiritual guidance, Masses, daily Rosaries and Stations of the Cross.

Thanks again and best regards,

Marnie

  • From: Cindy Costello
  • Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2023
  • To: sandra@206tours.com
  • Subject: Medjugorje with accommodations at Ivan Dragicevic's Oct 9, 2023 - Oct 17, 2023 Cindy Costello
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje

Dear Sandra,

The pilgrimage to Medjugorje was filled with graces and beautiful experiences.  What an unforgettable gift to stay with Ivan!  

It is difficult to name just one meaningful experience, but the first that comes to mind is being able to be present during Ivan’s apparitions, and to see and hear him explain about our heavenly Mother with such humility.  It was such a grace to witness his mission in life, and how he is responding with such generosity.  To see him share his home and his gift of service (all the meals and all his time with us)….was a true gift to me.

My favorite experiences revolved around time for silence and prayer–all the wonderful opportunities and places for that.  Since I love nature and the outdoors, to hike up Apparition Hill and Cross mountain in prayer, was a memory I will not forget.

Last of all, I would just tell other pilgrims to Medjugorje to be open to whatever our Lord and our Lady wish to do in their hearts while they are there.  To just be carried by them and by the will of God.  To take the opportunities to pray…to see each encounter with individuals as His gift, and to rejoice in the universal Church which is “on display” there–with all nations and tongues praising God.

Our tour guide Ivanka was an inspiration–guiding us both physically and practically as well as spiritually and from her heart.

Thank you for all that was provided through 206 Tours.  I felt well taken care of, and informed.  

Sincerely,

Cindy Costello

  • From: Linda Whitner
  • Sent: Friday, October 20, 2023
  • To: olivia@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Medjugorje with Helen Zec Linda Whitner
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje

Hello- the trip was everything I had imagined plus more. It was so nice to be around so many God loving people both young and old.  I can’t wait to go again!

Linda Whitner

Thank you so much for all the assistance for our pilgrimage. We had our follow up meeting and it was amazing. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip! There were no negatives. The guides were outstanding and the hotels were reported to be wonderful.

We are planning another pilgrimage and to the person all want to use 206 Tours. That speaks volumes about your wonderful handling of the trips. Natasha and Liz have a wonderful day and God Bless you both.

Thanks,

Tom

Thank you, Jason. My wife, Michelle, and I enjoyed a wonderful experience made possible by 206 Tours. Our Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage (September 30 to October 9, 2023) was everything we expected and more. We especially appreciated the spiritual dimension, which was made possible by Monsignor Kee. His Masses, homilies, and blessings gave our pilgrimage the guidance and meaning that we found so helpful. The logistics provided on the Camino by 206 was superb – the meals, lodging, and transportation were superb. The Tour Guide, Alex, was an excellent leader and teacher; and or Driver, Pedro, was both very skilled and friendly. We found our group to be delightful – very easy to get along with. We highly recommend 206 Tours to people interested in pilgrimages.

The only glitch that we experienced concerned the change in flights and airlines in our departure from home. The original British Airline flight was cancelled one day before departure. We were not alerted of the change in airlines to American and Iberia. We noticed it in an Email with a new flight schedule, but the changes were easy to miss. Fortunately, we were paying attention and called British Airway to resolve the issue.

With gratitude,

Valentin and Michelle Varela

  • From: Maureen O'Brien
  • Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2023
  • To: olivia@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Medjugorje Maureen O’Brien
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje

This pilgrimage was fantastic.  There were a lot of us, 53, but we were all one very happy family.  Already so many have asked me to put them on the list for next year!   We had many old friends, but many new friends do as well.  Jelka’s House is my favorite, and I think all agree.  She and Drazen were as hospitable as ever, and how they produce such great meals in that small kitchen is amazing.  Slavenka was her usual excellent self, such a dear friend over all these years and a perfect guide.  Our priests, Fr. Ed Riley and Fr. Tom Reilly, were always there for us and we are most grateful for the wonderful blessings we received through them.  And we were blessed with a third priest, Fr. Bill O’Donnell, who came as a pilgrim for the first time! 

All was very smooth, great flights, great accommodations, great priests, great guide, great pilgrims. 206 Tours is still the best after all these years!  

Love to you all at 206! 

Maureen

Dear Rinda,

I hope you are doing well. I am fine by divine grace.

Our pilgrimage to Poland was highly successful. The pilgrims were full of enthusiasm and participated actively in the activities. Our tour guide, Sabina Balos, was wonderful and very efficient. Her deep knowledge, faith, and detailed attention to every participant’s needs made the pilgrimage extremely memorable and unique. 

I thank you for the opportunity to share the gift of my priesthood with the people of God. I pray for future opportunities. Thank you. God bless.

Best regards,

Fr. Richard

  • From: Fr. Emmanuel Edi
  • Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from 206 Tours! Fr. Emmanuel Edi
  • Tour 97: Rome

To the One, Eternal and Immortal Trinity be glory and praise both now and forever.

Permit me to use this opportunity to thank the entire 206 Tours family for the privilege to undertake this pilgrimage being the second occasion. My heartfelt gratitude goes also to the pilgrims with whom I journeyed. This year’s pilgrimage exceeded my expectations. I have been in Italy for four years now and never dreamt of having the opportunity of visiting the places that this tour afforded me. Most fascinating of all is the privilege of celebrating the holy sacrifice of the Mass in those most sacred and revered churches and sanctuaries we visited. It is an experience I will live to remember and treasure. For me the whole moment was a period of a divine encounter. It was indeed a wonderful, spirit-filled and refreshing moment. The voiced testimony of many of the pilgrims made me realized that it was indeed a remarkable time. I would also like to commend the optimum cooperation I enjoyed from all the pilgrims and the tour guide, we were like a family throughout the whole time. Overall, it was an amazing trip and an enriching one at that. Thank you once again 206 Tours for this great privilege, looking forward to more of this in the years ahead. God bless you and all yours. May God continue to use your good platform to enliven and strengthen the true faith in the hearts of His people, amen.               

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Emmanuel Edi

I want to thank all at 206 Tours, who were involved in addressing the change in plans when the conflict broke out affecting Tour 158.  Your prompt reaction and the handling of the impacts were greatly appreciated. Thank you.

The day trip to Baptismal site in Jordan, probably exceeded what we would have experienced on the Israel side. In addition to seeing the site of the first chapel there, our tour guide, Omar, was able to get permission for Father Jim to say Mass at the river. Having your representatives Jadoun and Laith meet with us in person was most helpful.

FYI, I found the Landmark hotel better than Crowne Plaza, but glad you were able to find us lodgings. Room was more spacious at Landmark and it had wider selection on the buffets.

I am sharing your great response with friends and family.

Thank you.

Bill

  • From: Julie Zackrisson
  • Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Medjugorje with Optional Post Tour to Dubrovnik with Julie Zackrisson, Fr. Luke Clark, & Fr. Joseph Scordo | September 27 - October 8, 2023 | Tour JZ092723 Julie Zackrisson
  • Tour 1-B: Medjugorje and Dubrovnik

Dear Cat and Alex,

Our pilgrimage absolutely exceeded our expectations!  We had a wonderful time!  The weather was perfect. The hotel and its staff were great!  More than anything, our guide, Mirela, was fabulous!  She shared from her heart and was so knowledgeable about the events of Medjugorje.  We couldn’t have asked for more!  We truly love her!  She is a very beautiful child of God!

We can’t thank our Blessed Mother enough for the blessings that flowed through Her hands!  They truly kept flowing and flowing!   She and our dear Lord are so good and so generous!

We had a fun time in Dubrovnik too on our last day!  Those who wanted to “walked the walls”.  Others sat and enjoyed the atmosphere, conversation and wine!  Our hotel was lovely and the food was so much better than I remembered it.  (I may have remembered it wrong, because it was so good!)

I thank 206 Tours for giving us a fantastic and deeply spiritual pilgrimage!  

Love,

Julie

  • From: Gabriella Malara
  • Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2023
  • To: sandra@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Medjugorje with Accommodations at Ivan Dragicevic's Home Gabriella Malara
  • Tour 1: Medjugorje

Hi Sandra,

Thank you for all your assistance. It was a wonderful pilgrimage. And the tour guide was the Best! We appreciated her immensely. Of course staying with Ivan and the whole prayer experience is beyond words. We are grateful and hope to go back next year.

Thank you again.

God bless,

Gabriella Malara

  • From: Diane Bertrand
  • Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Feedback Diane Bertrand
  • Tour 160: Greece Pilgrimage

Good Morning Piernha,

In the uncertain times of COVID-19, I prayed and asked God for an end to the pandemic and the possibility of finding another partner who could facilitate my mission of taking people all over the globe to encounter Christ.  On a whim, in my rigorous online research, I randomly stopped scrolling when I reached 206 Tours in the search results and began a conversation with Natasha, and the rest is history.  I returned on October 4th from a wonderful Spirit Journey crafted by your team of pilgrimage experts, and my pilgrims are already asking ‘where next’ and ‘how soon’.

I am writing to thank you for your rigorous work with me and your patience in discerning my needs.  Everything that we did was different: the method of communication between our two entities, the process of customer engagement…everything.  Your steady, upbeat, calm demeanor and assistance were a lifeline for me as I navigated the days towards take-off.

I thank you for the beautiful experience that your hard work crafted by sharing with you feedback from my parish priest as I returned to Mass last Sunday.  He said, “ Diane, welcome back!  I can see the Holiness you received on your trip on you.’

Thank you, Piernha, Natasha and 206 Tours.  I will continue to pray for all of you always.

Salve Regina!

Diane

  • From: Deacon Mike Whitcomb
  • Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2023
  • To: sales@206tours.com
  • Subject: Tour to Lourdes, Paris, and Lisieux Deacon Mike Whitcomb
  • Tour 8: Lourdes, Paris and Lisieux

We just returned from a pilgrimage to Lourdes, Paris and Lisieux and are very satisfied. The pilgrimage was spiritually powerful indeed.

The Chaplin Fr. Piotr Paciorek was fantastic. He allowed me to assist at all Masses which was an incredible grace. It was through Fr. Piotr’s guidance that I was selected to repose the Blessed Sacrament at the main (25,000 people) Basilica Eucharist Procession. I will never forget that experience and have Fr. Piotr to thank.

The tour guide Miguel Martin was very helpful and attentive. He made sure we were where we were supposed to be and did it with grace and a smile. Nice man.

The individual tour guide specialists at each location were wonderful. Their insights helped us all have a more powerful spiritual experience.

All in all, a great pilgrimage and will recommend 206 tours to my friends and family.

God bless,

Deacon Mike

David & I just returned from our 206 Tours trip “In the Steps of St. Patrick” throughout Ireland, culminating in our visit to the Shrine of Knock.
We cannot aptly express our sincere gratitude for this phenomenal journey, that is truly unforgettable.
Thanks to all of 206 Tours, but in particular, to the most EXCEPTIONAL Guide, Ms. Karen Coakley.  She kept us to a schedule so that we missed nothing of the culture & historical sites, while being so knowledgeable & personal.
Please extend our deepest thanks & appreciation to her for an unforgettable memory that will be forever in our hearts. 
With sincere thanks,
Karen & David Heil

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Sept 11 – 20, 2023)

Dear Patrick,

My wife and I had a wonderful pilgrimage to Israel!   I want to acknowledge particularly our Guide, Usama.  He demonstrated near encyclopedic knowledge, and we gained a perspective of many historical, archeological, religious, social, and contemporary features of the Land.  We learned about the life of the people in the Holy Land, throughout the last 4000 years! We learned so much. Usama was extraordinarily genial and kind, and throughout our tour, he had our best interests at heart. Usama was most impressive, and he is a great asset to your company. Even when our friend had a slight medical issue, he displayed poise and was a calming influence for the entire group of pilgrims. He deserves the highest accolades.

Beyond that, we really appreciated how he and Said handled logistics throughout our Tour.  We felt safe, and confident. And we had many blessings on our journey. Our pilgrimage was a joy, and I wanted to write and provide you and your team at 206 with this feedback.

We pray that all your personnel in the Holy Land are kept safe. May God end these recent actions swiftly, as it hurts the heart, and it hurts our Brothers and Sisters in the Holy Land. We are much more attuned to that in these days.  

God bless you, God keep you, and all the 206 Family.

Yours sincerely,

Thomas & Christine Lopez

Dear 206 Tours friends,

Once again, I had the pleasure of traveling with 206, this time to the Holy Land. Like always everything was well and professionally organized. Help in the airport after arrival in Tel Aviv to go through immigration was very appreciated.

It was a pleasure to listen to George’s comments on every holy place we visited. Very professional. We always felt safe in the bus thanks to our driver.

Hotel, service and dinners were excellent. And something to admire to watch Jews celebrating New Year with whole families.

Thank you for the opportunity to visit and offer Masses in all the holy places so precious to every Catholic.

Wishing you God’s blessings in your future work,

Fr. Eugene Grytner

Good morning ladies,

I had to take a quick moment at my first opportunity to thank you for that memorable tour you structured for us pilgrims from Saint Joseph Marello parish. You outdid yourselves! Everything about the tour was perfect! There have been so many happy reports from all of our Pilgrims, Father Phil and Deacon Jeff as well as the other 22 of us. We are all very very very very pleased.

Jorge Martin, our tour guide, was remarkable.  We loved him from the first day!  Likewise, your scheduling of our walking days. Although we initially were worried that the days would start too late for us, you were right, your plan worked perfectly. We soon adjusted to Spain’s schedule and the late dining!

Thank you, thank you for putting together this remarkable tour! We will be looking at other pilgrimages for the future through 206!

Best regards and God‘s blessing on you both,

Jann

206 Tours Team,

Lisa and I loved this Holy Land experience! We cannot thank you enough for all the great work you did planning and coordinating this amazing spiritual adventure. Our Tour Guide (Yorgos) and Spiritual Advisor (Fr. Eugene) were incredible. We learned so much, and feel that the daily schedule with time for prayer and Mass (in addition to the important sites) made this trip one we will talk about for the rest of our lives.

The hotel (Inbal) was awesome, with great good and accommodations and the size of our tour group (13) was perfect. We will recommend this Holy Land tour to all our friends as we look for another 206 Tours to take.

Don’t hesitate to have any of your future guests call us. We would be happy to provide more detail.

Andy & Lisa Hiles

  • From: Dawn McManus
  • Sent: Wednesday, October 4, 2023
  • To: sandra@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Medjugorje with accommodations at Ivan Dragicevic's Sep 25, 2023 - Oct 3, 2023 Dawn McManus
  • Tour 1 - Medjugorje

Best trip I have ever been on. Life changing. Could not have been better. So grateful, and what a blessing your company is. 

In Christ, 

Dawn McManus

Dear Jason,

The trip was amazing, enlightening, and exhausting.  Our tour guide, Tony, was terrific and on top of every detail.  Our driver Antonio kept us safe despite some very winding roads.  One of the best parts was hearing what other pilgrims had to say about other 206 tours they’d taken.  We are making a wish list.

Thanks so much,

Jeanine & Scott

  • From: Christine Kamwendo
  • Sent: Monday, October 2, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Thank you for the wonderful organization of my pilgrimage Christine Kamwendo
  • Tour 97-A: Shrines of Italy and Medjugorje

Dear Jason, Chris and Team,

I sincerely thank you for the professional and outstanding organization of my pilgrimage to ensure I had a spiritually rewarding tour!!! Everything was seamless. My travel experience to the shrines of Italy and Medjugorje from August 14 to 28 left an indelible mark on my heart, never to be forgotten.

Although you provided contacts at every stage, I never used them, not even once, because everyone was on time and in place when I needed them.

The choice of accommodation was marvelous. Le Meridien Visconti Hotel, Rome, Centro Spiritualita Padre Pio, San Giovanni Rotondo, Hotel Giotto, Assisi, and Villa Grace, Medjugorje, were welcoming and the hospitality was unparalleled.

Your choice of Spiritual Director (Fr George Dunne) and guides, including Federica and Andrej, must be acknowledged. They spiced everything and made the experience wonderful.

I am already planning another pilgrimage in the coming year. I have also encouraged family members and friends to use your agency anytime they want to travel.

Thank you again for your help and care.

Remain in His Grace,

Christine Kamwendo

206 Tours Comments:

Overall, tour was outstanding and well run. Hotel, transportation, food (all meals) and schedule were great. Could not have asked for more and definitely received my money’s worth! I would un-hesitantly recommend 206 Tours to anyone and will consider booking another pilgrimage with you in the future.

Our tour guide, Yorgos Chermantas, was truly outstanding and continuously went well beyond the norm to make this pilgrimage special in every way. He is personable,  knowledgeable and able to quickly react to a changing situation. His understanding of the religious, political, historic and cultural climate of the era when Jesus was alive added tremendously to our experience. He did not hesitate to share this and described every event, person and place visited with understanding and insight beyond what is written in the Bible or Sacred Books. 

Brian Maher

  • From: Catherine Mezzacapo
  • Sent: Monday, October 2, 2023
  • To: rinda@206tours.com
  • Subject: Tour #37 - September 17, 2023 Catherine Mezzacapo
  • Tour 37 - Fatima, Spain, & Lourdes

Good Morning.  A note of appreciation for all your help.  It was a wonderful tour. Our guide, Vanessa, was the best.  Everything was spectacular from tours, food and sites.  We had a few hiccups with the plane but all worked out. 

Thank you again for making all this happen and especially working with me to get Uriel in the group

God Bless,

Catherine

Dear 206 Tours,

My friend and I planned and prepared for months to get ready for the Camino.
When we arrived, we had nothing to worry about but walking and packing our bags each day! Everything else was taken care of by 206 Tours outstanding staff.

Father Matt was our spiritual director and took that role seriously with daily mass, offering confessions and any advice or guidance we needed. We love him!

Jorge, our guide was outstanding in every way! He took care of each pilgrim and was extremely attentive to every need. I can’t imagine anyone exhibiting such a spirit of caring and charity! He had excellent relationships with each restaurant and hotel staff resulting in outstanding service! We love him!

Our bus driver was also amazing! By the time our pilgrimage we were sad to depart our fellow pilgrims who had become like family! Thanks to all for an amazing experience which will be memorable for many years!

Warmest regards,
Nancy

  • From: Carolyn
  • Sent: Friday, September 29, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Poland with Fr. Doug Grandon and Carolyn Pierini Carolyn
  • Tour 168: Poland Pilgrimage

We had an incredible blessed pilgrimage with 206 Tours!  Viola, our guide, was fabulous!  Still getting over jet lag but will certainly review our pilgrimage soon on Facebook and Instagram for 206 Tours!

Fondly,

Carolyn

  • From: Diane Lambert
  • Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Re: Welcome Home from 206 Tours! Diane Lambert
  • Tour 98: Classic Italy

I had a wonderful time during the pilgrimage to Italy.  It was very enriching both spiritually and culturally.  Our tour guide, Tony Giuliani, did a great job helping to make the tour very enjoyable by connecting us with the culture of Italy as well as ensuring that we experienced all the spiritual sites on the tour.  Father Carlos helped us also to connect deeper to our faith with our daily masses at the beautiful churches we visited.  We also felt safe with our bus driver, Antonio, driving us many miles through Italy.  This was an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life.  I feel very blessed to have gone.  Thanks also to 206 Tours for all the organizing that went into making it a memorable trip.

God bless,

Diane Lambert 

206 Tours have outdone themselves again in organising another fantastic pilgrimage tour. The hotels were very comfortable and so were the breakfast and dinners. We paid for our lunches which was okay however the tour guide (Eleni Maoussidou) should have given us the opportunity to select the lunch venues maybe a food court where we could select whatever we want instead of taking us to one restaurant with restricted selection of food.

Our Spiritual Director: Fr Lito Capeding was wonderful. Very friendly and approachable and tried to get as much time to meet our spiritual needs. I would definitely like to sign up for the next pilgrimage if he is on it.

The Greek Isles Cruise was a bit rushed but that was expected. The best part of the tour was the visit to Kusadasi – Ephesus (Mary’s House). A very big thank you to 206 tours for organising us to celebrate mass at Ephesus, that was amazing!

Kind regards

Denis

Hello,

I’d like to take this opportunity to give some feedback regarding the above referenced Camino which took place September 5 through 15, 2023.

This was my first Camino and I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt a deep sense of physical and spiritual accomplishment. 

I’d like to highly commend our Tour Guide, Cristina Calvo. She was well organized, personable, and flexible. She ensured that we were all well taken care of. On the last day of our hike, she was flexible enough to allow us pilgrims to hike the entire way into Santiago de Compostela rather than take the bus for the last couple of miles as originally scheduled. For this, I am extremely grateful because part of the sense of accomplishment (both physically and spiritually) was seeing the spires of the Cathedral in the distance as we hiked to the top of our last hill.

Sincerely,

Marianne Sham

Our tour guide Jorge was amazing. I liked that we formed together as a group like a family. We are still in touch with each other. Our bus driver, Pedro was great.

I thought the Pilgrimage was perfect. Fr Matt was great too.

-Pam

 

Hi Jason and team,

Thank God for the blessing of a wonderful Camino.

Jorge and Pedro were excellent as well as the pilgrims and the weather. Looking forward to serving as a spiritual director in 2024, the Lord willing. Thanks for the opportunity. As mentioned, was a blessing for me.

God bless, 

Fr. Matt Mauriello

The trip was great. Cristina went above and beyond to make adjustments on the fly-particularly the last walking day where Mass was scheduled late morning in one location which would have made the walk during hotter weather and much later.  Instead she found an alternative by having Mass in the early evening and allowing the walk to begin earlier in the morning.  Made all the difference for a lot of us. That was just one example of her leadership.

Overall this trip was another A+ trip with 206.

Jim Stam

 

Dear Milanka,

I write to thank you and your organization for an incredible Holy Land Luxury tour. My husband and I are telling everyone we know to take this pilgrimage.  It touched us on so many levels and far exceeded the high expectations we had. From start to finish, we were impressed and delighted. Let me highlight a few areas: 

Upon receiving our flight information, it became obvious that it made more sense to just fly directly out of Newark versus leaving from Philadelphia and taking chances on connecting flights.  Chris Wright resolved this for me during a simple, eight-minute phone call.  A live person answered the phone, listened to my concern and resolved it!  I am very grateful and surprised by this uncommon customer service.  I was the one who elected to originally fly out of Phila, not knowing a direct flight was available in Newark by easily driving 30 minutes further. 

Having guides meet weary travelers at the airport and then return them to the airport to guide them through the unfamiliar steps was very much appreciated. 

The pilgrimage itself exceeded our expectations!  Every stop pulled back a veil.  Attending Mass in our Lord’s tomb was the most emotional spiritual experience.  Renewing our wedding vows at Cana touched me deeply. I could go and on about how powerful the packed pilgrimage was. 

Our tour guide George (Yorgos Chermantas) was fabulous.  He has a gift of being able to relate to a group of various ages and backgrounds and blend a group of strangers into a family by mid-week.  He is extremely articulate, knowledgeable and responsible.  George took the pilgrimage to another level with his charismatic gifts.  He assisted fellow travelers all week with whatever issue arose (heat, missing luggage, travel advice, where can I buy this? Delayed flights…) with a genuine kindness. You have an excellent tour guide in George.  It was a privilege to be on his tour.  I would be remiss in not complementing our driver who was excellent and kept us safe the entire week.  Between George and our driver, I felt completely safe on our tour and that had been my main concern prior to the trip.  I cannot understate the gratitude I feel for both our tour guide and driver. 

Finally, kudos to the Hotel Inbal!  Hopefully we will make this pilgrimage again and we will insist on the Hotel Inbal. The food was fantastic!  So fresh, so delicious and so much variety.  I would get to breakfast the moment it opened so I could enjoy it until we had to get on the shuttle.  I miss the breakfast and dinner buffet tremendously.

Thank you, Milanka, for all the extra effort your company puts into its pilgrimages.  Your company is definitely five stars to us.  We hope to enjoy many more pilgrimages with 206 and only regret not starting sooner. 

Sincerely, 

Kelly and John Hullihan 

Hello,

I want to give the highest accolades to our tour guide for the Michael Brown Shrines of Italy tour, Frederika. I cannot possibly say enough good things about Frederika!  She was extremely intelligent, organized, knowledgeable, and kind.  She worked non-stop on our behalves, never wavering or complaining.  What a privilege it was to be on a tour with her, Michael Brown, and Fr. Trujillo, an absolutely amazing team.  

Please pass this on to whomever it should go and everyone in authority.  Bravo, and keep up the great work!

In the love of Our Lord Jesus and Holy Mother Mary,

Katie Saunders

  • From: Angie Chiasson
  • Sent: Friday, September 22, 2023
  • To: milanka@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Trip on Sept 4th Angie Chiasson
  • Tour 111 - Holy Land Pilgrimage

Hello,

My husband, mother and myself was so WOW’d by our trip with your company! In the beginning, Greg Terrebonne was very engaging and his excitement was infectious, so with our interest we were quickly pulled in. He followed up with everyone and ensured our every question was answered. Our one reluctance early on, was the prospect of having three legs to our flight. We were later blessed that alternative flights were provided which eliminated one leg leaving two easy stops both coming and going and are appreciative for the accommodation.

Looking back, the most vital piece, in my opinion, was our tour guide, Madj. The wealth of his knowledge, paired with his easy delivery was extremely profound. Another noticeable piece that added a flavor, was his local connection to people and shops. Without that, I’m not certain we’d have been able to do things such as having Mass INSIDE Jesus’ tomb. Madj provided a tour of his home country, the places we were eager to see, plus so much more. He had what we thought were reliable solid answers to every question we had and never grew impatient in answering the many our group threw at him. He catered to us way more than I ever expected! He carried a messenger bag that I jokingly claimed was magic in the variety of things he could produce from cough drops to whisper components.

The one tiny things that could’ve enhanced our experience was if an American type food option could be offered occasionally. Not being a huge fan of Mediterranean fare made it a bit monotonous. However, for those who liked it, it was pretty and plentiful.

The three of us agree, that while cradle Catholics this trip has tremendously intensified our faith and we’ll be telling our family and friends what a remarkable journey 206 provided.

Heaping many blessings onto 206!

Angie Chiasson

  • From: Kevin
  • Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Portugal Kevin
  • Tour 36

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

  • From: Father Rick Gribble, CSC
  • Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2023
  • To: rinda@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage Review Father Rick Gribble, CSC
  • Tour 37 - Fatima, Spain, & Lourdes

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

  • From: Michael and Lisa Brown
  • Sent: Monday, September 18, 2023
  • To: milanka@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Italy with Spirit Daily Michael and Lisa Brown
  • Tour 96 - Shrines of Italy Pilgrimage

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

  • From: Fr. Jason Brilhante
  • Sent: Monday, September 18, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Medjugorje Fr. Jason Brilhante
  • Tour 1 - Medjugorje

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 

I just returned from a 206 tour to Portugal, Spain and France with Father Lawrence Lew.
I just want to send a review in and say how magnificent the trip was….
Father Lawrence made all the difference. His Dominican education made him perfect for teaching us, preaching amazing homilies during Mass, having the most beautiful reverent masses and even hearing him pray in song. His voice is amazing. His personality was perfect for a tour group. It was my sisters first pilgrimage and she was blown away by father who inspired her and edified her!
Great choice in a priest!!!
Also Quico is AWESOME as well. So funny, intelligent and so very patient with us!!!
Love 206 tours.
In Christ,
Carolyn
  • From: David Sawyer
  • Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Tour #111 - Welcome Back David Sawyer
  • Tour 111 - Holy Land Pilgrimage

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 

  • From: Gi
  • Sent: Monday, September 11, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Paris Gi
  • Tour 40

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

  • From: Manuel and Marili Dimatulac
  • Sent: Friday, September 8, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima-Spain-France Tour Manuel and Marili Dimatulac
  • Tour 40 - Fatima, Spain & France

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

  • From: Carmine
  • Sent: Wednesday, September 6, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Paris Carmine
  • Tour 40

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

Dear Rinda,

I trust this message finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for the opportunity to serve as the Spiritual Director for the recent Pilgrimage to The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. It was truly an enriching experience, and I am honored to have been a part of it.

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.

Good Afternoon:

I had a wonderful trip, especially enjoyed 3 days on the cruise ship.  Fr Piotr is a wonderful spiritual advisor and I look forward to going on another pilgrimage with him.  All the guides were amazing especially Eleni and Nicholas. 

My only recommendation would be to either add another day or two to the tour.  We really had no time to spend on Santorini island.  The cable car is exciting but takes up so much time.  When we got off the boat taxi, we had to rush to get in line for the cable car (we were in line about an hour), had Mass then, had to go back and wait in line for the cable car (about 2 hours) to get back to the cruise ship via a boat taxi.  No time was available to explore the island. We were so late, the cruise line held the staff to accommodate us for our dinner. We ate after nine o’clock.  Staff was very gracious, but they had to get ready for the morning departure, we felt uncomfortable for them and kind of rushed our meal.

This was my second tour with 206 and look forward to another.  I meant what I said about Fr Piotr, if he is booked on another tour, I would appreciate a heads up.  I would enjoy going on another with him.

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 

Dear Esteemed 206 Series Tours Team,

Greetings of peace and wellbeing, from Rome, the Eternal City. It is my great pleasure to share with you my testimonies on the 206 pilgrimage tour held here in Italy, from August 1-13, 2023. Interestingly, it was my first outing serving as Spiritual Director with 206 Tours.

First, I would like to most sincerely thank God for His divine guidance and protection. I thank Milanka Lachman for the great initiative and vision in founding this pilgrimage organization. It was amazing meeting with her and her dear husband and having them participated with us actively at Mass on August 1 at the Church of Sacro Cuore di Gesù in Prati, here in Rome. Special thanks to all of you the 206 Series Tours Team for your wonderful job, creativity and the disposition to help realize the vision of this holy pilgrimage body. The organization and services offered during the tour were amazing.

Serving as Spiritual Director to this pilgrimage tour offered me a unique opportunity of celebrating the Holy Eucharist in the Sacred Basilicas and Sanctuaries we visited. It provided me and my fellow pilgrims the special privilege to seek and implore the intercession of the Saints to whom these Holy Places are specially dedicated. I was highly fascinated by all the activities we embarked upon: the celebration of the Holy Mass, the praying of the Holy Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, etc. 

The active participation of the pilgrims in common liturgical spiritual activities, the Holy Mass, the Rosaries, the Stations of the Cross etc. impressed me. Even when there was a sudden downpour at San Giovanni Rottondo in the Stations of the Cross, the pilgrims were happy and saw it as God’s blessings upon His children. Some persons among the pilgrims willingly volunteered to serve at Mass. Special thanks to the permanent deacon Mitch who assisted me at Mass and to Greg, Matthew and the young Samuel who served as minor ministers. Our celebrations of the Holy Mass most times attracted some persons to joined us even the non English speakers.

Finally, I would be highly delighted to travel with 206 Tours Pilgrimage again in the future so that we can all continue to unite and strive as one family to realize the vision of this agency and in building Christ’s kingdom across the world and at the end of time gain eternal life in heaven. 

Thanks most sincerely for the opportunity given me to serve. Rest assured of my continuous prayers and Masses for you all and for 206 Pilgrimage Tours. Pax et Bonum! 

Yours faithfully in Christ

Fr. Basil Ejim 

  • From: Aura Guerra
  • Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Medjugorje Pilgrimage Aura Guerra
  • Tour 1

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

  • From: Linda Kuenning
  • Sent: Monday, August 21, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: All Italian Shrines Pilgrimage Linda Kuenning
  • Tour 103

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

  • From: Fr Dwayne
  • Sent: Monday, August 14, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Egypt and Jordan Fr Dwayne
  • Tour 156-j

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

  • From: Janie
  • Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Janie
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Janet Mabry
  • Sent: Monday, August 7, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: The Best Shrines of France Pilgrimage Janet Mabry
  • Tour 5

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

  • From: Pepper Mulherin
  • Sent: Monday, August 7, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Medjugorje Pilgrimage Pepper Mulherin
  • Tour 1

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

  • From: Ana White
  • Sent: Monday, August 7, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Shrines of Italy Pilgrimage Ana White
  • Tour 96

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

  • From: Fr. Michael Freihofer
  • Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: The Best Shrines of France Pilgrimage Fr. Michael Freihofer
  • Tour 5

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

  • From: Karin Seubert
  • Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: The Best Shrines of France Pilgrimage Karin Seubert
  • Tour 5

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

  • From: Zita Habijan
  • Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Zita Habijan
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Debbie Domenico
  • Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Poland, In the Footsteps of St. John Paul II & St. Faustina with Fr. Dawid Kwiatkowski Debbie Domenico
  • Tour 168

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

  • From: Ricardo Morales & Nora Morales
  • Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Ricardo Morales & Nora Morales
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Ken Odibu
  • Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Rome, Sorrento & Assisi Ken Odibu
  • Tour 99

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

  • From: Odibu Ken
  • Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Rome, Sorrento & Assisi Odibu Ken
  • Tour 99

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

  • From: Joseph Phillips
  • Sent: Monday, July 24, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Lourdes, Paris & Lisieux Pilgrimage Joseph Phillips
  • Tour 8

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

  • From: Paula
  • Sent: Friday, July 21, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Shrines of Spain & Fatima Pilgrimage Paula
  • Tour 57

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

  • From: Fr Jay Harrington
  • Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Paris Fr Jay Harrington
  • Tour 40

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

  • From: Anhthu Tran
  • Sent: Monday, July 17, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Rome, Sorrento & Assisi Anhthu Tran
  • Tour 99

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

  • From: Fr Cochran
  • Sent: Monday, July 10, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain & Lourdes Pilgrimage Fr Cochran
  • Tour 37

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

  • From: Phyllis
  • Sent: Saturday, July 8, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Shrines of Spain Pilgrimage Phyllis
  • Tour 56

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

  • From: Rose Frampton
  • Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Shrines of Italy Pilgrimage Rose Frampton
  • Tour 96

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.

  • From: Matt
  • Sent: Wednesday, July 5, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Matt
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Lydia Parker
  • Sent: Wednesday, July 5, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Shrines of Spain Pilgrimage Lydia Parker
  • frcalloway

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

  • From: Ruth Connell
  • Sent: Wednesday, July 5, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: El Camino - The Way of St. James - Spain Ruth Connell
  • Tour 70

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

  • From: Milagros Parker
  • Sent: Tuesday, July 4, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Great Shrines of France & Medjugorje Milagros Parker
  • Tour 20-a

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

  • From: Mike
  • Sent: Monday, July 3, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Shrines of Spain Pilgrimage Mike
  • Tour 56

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

  • From: Elizabeth McDowell
  • Sent: Monday, July 3, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Elizabeth McDowell
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Carmen Fraser
  • Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Carmen Fraser
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Moira
  • Sent: Friday, June 23, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Jordan & Holy Land Moira
  • Tour 158

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

  • From: JoAnn
  • Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Shrines of Italy Pilgrimage JoAnn
  • Tour 96

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

  • From: Pax
  • Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2023
  • To: alexandra@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Assisi, Rome and The Holy Land Pax
  • Tour 118

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.

  • From: Buen Camino
  • Sent: Monday, June 12, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: El Camino - The Way of St. James - Spain Buen Camino
  • Tour 70

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

  • From: Mary
  • Sent: Friday, June 9, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Greece and Greeks Isle Cruise Mary
  • Tour 161

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

  • From: Kathleen McCaffrey
  • Sent: Wednesday, June 7, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fulfilling trip to Italy

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

  • From: Christine
  • Sent: Wednesday, June 7, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Assisi, Rome and The Holy Land Christine
  • pilgrimages.com/frhendershott

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

  • From: Eileen and George Boylen
  • Sent: Wednesday, June 7, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Medjugorje Pilgrimage Eileen and George Boylen
  • Tour 1

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

  • From: Fr Willy
  • Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Fr Willy
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Pat V.
  • Sent: Friday, June 2, 2023
  • To: judith@206tours.com
  • Subject: Poland and Medjugorje Pat V.
  • Tour 168-a

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.

  • From: Tim and June
  • Sent: Thursday, June 1, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: The Best Shrines of France Pilgrimage Tim and June
  • Tour 5

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

  • From: Linda D.
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2023
  • To: natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Dr. Scott Hahn Linda D.
  • Dr. Scott Hahn Pilgrimages

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

  • From: Nora
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Nora
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Kathleen B.
  • Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land with Dr. Scott and Kimberly Hahn Kathleen B.
  • Dr. Scott Hahn Pilgrimages

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

  • From: Fr. Robert Ambalathingal
  • Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Greece Pilgrimage Fr. Robert Ambalathingal
  • Tour 161

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

  • From: Kean Knerr
  • Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2023
  • To: Danielle Guttilla
  • Subject: Walk Where Jesus Walked

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

  • From: Joseph Calvert
  • Sent: Friday, May 26, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Holy Land Joseph Calvert
  • Dr. Scott Hahn Pilgrimages

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

  • From: Jose
  • Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Portugal, Spain and Lourde Jose
  • Tour 37

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

  • From: Lisa Sengenberger
  • Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to the Holy Land Lisa Sengenberger
  • Dr. Scott Hahn Pilgrimages

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

  • From: Tom and Theresa
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Rome pilgrimage Tom and Theresa
  • Tour 97

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

  • From: Tonia & Chuka
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Jordan & The Holy Land Pilgrimage Tonia & Chuka
  • Tour 158

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

  • From: David and Susan Bissmeyer
  • Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com patrick@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage David and Susan Bissmeyer
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Patricia Baloga
  • Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Patricia Baloga
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Jill
  • Sent: Monday, May 22, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Poland, Prague & Medjugorje Jill
  • Tour 169-a

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

  • From: Fr.Chris
  • Sent: Monday, May 22, 2023
  • To: jason@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain, Lourdes & Paris Fr.Chris
  • Tour 40

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

  • From: Virginia
  • Sent: Monday, May 22, 2023
  • To: alexandra@206tours.com, cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima & Lourdes Virginia
  • Tour 34

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

  • From: Carmen
  • Sent: Monday, May 22, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Carmen
  • 206tours.com/tour111/

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

  • From: Fr. Richard Baafi
  • Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2023
  • To: rinda@206tours.com danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Prague, Salzburg, Vienna & Budapest Pilgrimage Fr. Richard Baafi
  • Tour 187

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

  • From: Fr. Pierre Deglaire
  • Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2023
  • To: rinda@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima & Lourdes Fr. Pierre Deglaire
  • Tour 34

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

  • From: Jill Brien
  • Sent: Friday, May 19, 2023
  • To: jillbrien@hotmail.com
  • Subject: Poland, Prague and Medjugorje Jill Brien
  • Tour169-a

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

  • From: Mike
  • Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain & Lourdes Pilgrimage Mike
  • Tour 37

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

  • From: Susie
  • Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Mexico Pilgrimage Our Lady of Guadalupe Susie
  • Tour 206

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

  • From: Ed.Koenke
  • Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Medjugorje Pilgrimage Ed.Koenke
  • Tour 1

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

  • From: Maria
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain & Lourdes Pilgrimage Maria
  • Tour 37

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

  • From: David
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Ireland & Medjugorje David
  • Tour 202-a

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

  • From: Dina
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain & Lourdes Pilgrimage Dina
  • Tour 37

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

  • From: David Jaminet
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Ireland & Medjugorje David Jaminet
  • Tour 202-a

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

 

  • From: Kathy Catugal
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: The Holy Land & Medjugorje Kathy Catugal
  • Tour 112

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

  • From: Fr. Phil
  • Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Poland & Medjugorje Fr. Phil
  • Tour 168-a

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

  • From: SUSAN SPINA
  • Sent: Monday, May 15, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage SUSAN SPINA
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Fr. Maciej Zajac
  • Sent: Monday, May 15, 2023
  • To: rinda@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain & Lourdes Pilgrimage Fr. Maciej Zajac
  • Tour 37

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

  • From: Gina Gangnier
  • Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Trinitarian Pilgrimage to the Holy Land Gina Gangnier
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Sue Ellen Castellan
  • Sent: Friday, May 12, 2023
  • To: sales@206tours.com
  • Subject: El Camino - The Way of St. James - Spain Sue Ellen Castellan
  • Tour 70

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

  • From: Marge
  • Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2023
  • To: natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Fatima, Spain & Lourdes Pilgrimage Marge
  • Tour 37

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

  • From: Elenita
  • Sent: Monday, May 8, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Jordan & Holy Land Pilgrimage Elenita
  • Tour 158

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

  • From: Arlete
  • Sent: Monday, May 8, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Arlete
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Jorge and Mary Chapa
  • Sent: Thursday, May 4, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Jorge and Mary Chapa
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Miriam Kelly
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 3, 2023
  • To: alexandra@206tours.com cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Poland Pilgrimage Miriam Kelly
  • Tour 168

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

  • From: Stan Drosky
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 3, 2023
  • To: alexandra@206tours.com cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Poland Pilgrimage Stan Drosky
  • Tour 168

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

  • From: Jan Nudo
  • Sent: Wednesday, May 3, 2023
  • To: cat@206tours.com
  • Subject: Poland Pilgrimage Jan Nudo
  • Tour 168

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

  • From: Michael
  • Sent: Tuesday, May 2, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Poland Pilgrimage - The Land of Saints Michael
  • Tour 168

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

  • From: Fr. Matt, TOR
  • Sent: Tuesday, May 2, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Rome & Assisi Pilgrimage Fr. Matt, TOR
  • Tour 92

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

  • From: Fr. Tony – Association of Miraculous Medal
  • Sent: Friday, April 28, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: AMM Pilgrimage to Lourdes, Rome, Medjugorje & Split Fr. Tony

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

  • From: THOMAS KOUSTMER
  • Sent: Monday, April 24, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage THOMAS KOUSTMER
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Karen
  • Sent: Saturday, April 22, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Karen
  • 206tours.com/pilgrimages

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

  • From: Karen Lewis
  • Sent: Saturday, April 22, 2023
  • To: seriestours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Karen Lewis
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Jeri
  • Sent: Friday, April 21, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land pilgrimage Jeri
  • 206tours.com/pilgrimages

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

  • From: LIZ AND MIKE
  • Sent: Friday, April 21, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land pilgrimage tootruns
  • 206tours.com/pilgrimages

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

  • From: Ned and Elaine
  • Sent: Friday, April 21, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Ned and Elaine
  • 206tours.com/pilgrimages

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

  • From: Tom Scheuring
  • Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to The Holy Land Tom Scheuring
  • Tour111

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

  • From: Mary Beth and Tom Wilson
  • Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2023
  • To: Alexandra
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Fr. Dawid Kwiatkowski Mary Beth and Tom Wilson

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

  • From: Mike Fellows
  • Sent: Sunday, April 9, 2023
  • To: Danielle Guttilla
  • Subject: Christmas and Easter Mike Fellows

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

  • From: Carol Mansfield
  • Sent: Thursday, April 6, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to the Holy Land Carol Mansfield
  • Tour111

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

  • From: Dr. and Mrs. Rafael Chan
  • Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2023
  • To: piernha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Pilgrimage to Mexico – Our Lady of Guadalupe Dr. and Mrs. Rafael Chan
  • pilgrimages.com/decastro

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

  • From: Jim
  • Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Jim
  • pilgrimages.com/frdufner

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

  • From: Najat
  • Sent: Monday, March 27, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Walk Where Jesus Walked! Najat
  • pilgrimages.com/frcoiro

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

  • From: Patricia & Jim
  • Sent: Monday, March 27, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Patricia & Jim
  • pilgrimages.com/frdufner

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

  • From: Jean
  • Sent: Monday, March 27, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Jean
  • pilgrimages.com/frdufner

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

  • From: M J
  • Sent: Monday, March 27, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage M J
  • pilgrimages.com/frdufner

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

  • From: Laurie
  • Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Laurie
  • pilgrimages.com/frdufner

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

  • From: Maryann
  • Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Rome and Poland Pilgrimage Maryann
  • Tour 168

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

  • From: Cori and Dan
  • Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Cori and Dan
  • pilgrimages.com/frdufner

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

  • From: Vivian U.
  • Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Vivian U.
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Janet Prouty
  • Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2023
  • To: 206Tours
  • Subject: Science of Sainthood Pilgrimage 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.

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

  • From: Nancy Coelho
  • Sent: Monday, March 20, 2023
  • To: milanka@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage with tour guide Sami and Fr. Dawid Nancy Coelho
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Ann S.
  • Sent: Friday, March 17, 2023
  • To: natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Pilgrimage Ann S.
  • Tour 111

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.

  • From: Carol Mazikowski
  • Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land and Rome Carol Mazikowski
  • Tour 114

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

  • From: FREDY
  • Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com natasha@206tours.com 206tours@206tours.com
  • Subject: Land of the Lord FREDY
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Fr. Jhon
  • Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com
  • Subject: The Thanksgiving Scroll Fr. Jhon
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: A and JC
  • Sent: Tuesday, March 7, 2023
  • To: natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Jordan & The Holy Land Pilgrimage A and JC
  • Tour 158

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

  • From: Chuck and Lizabeth
  • Sent: Thursday, March 2, 2023
  • To: liz@206tours.com
  • Subject: The Holy Land Chuck and Lizabeth
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Pat and Bill Johnson
  • Sent: Wednesday, March 1, 2023
  • To: natasha@206tours.com liz@206tours.com
  • Subject: Wonderful Holy Land Pilgrimage Pat and Bill Johnson
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Cara Camden
  • Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Travel Insured International Cara Camden
  • Tour 111

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

 

  • From: Kathy Clark
  • Sent: Tuesday, February 7, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Mexico Pilgrimage Our Lady of Guadalupe Kathy Clark
  • Tour 206

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

  • From: Anne Marie
  • Sent: Monday, January 23, 2023
  • To: Jenny@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land Tour Anne Marie
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: John S.
  • Sent: Friday, January 20, 2023
  • To: Jenny@206tours.com
  • Subject: Mexico Pilgrimage John S.
  • Tour 206

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.

 

  • From: James Adair
  • Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Franciscan University Pilgrimage to the Holy Land James Adair
  • Tour111

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

  • From: Greg Wurth
  • Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2023
  • To: cara@206tours.com
  • Subject: Rome pilgrimage Greg Wurth
  • Tour 97

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

  • From: Cindy Miller
  • Sent: Monday, January 16, 2023
  • To: danielle@206tours.com
  • Subject: Holy Land tour Cindy Miller
  • Tour 111

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

  • From: Thomas Collins
  • Sent: Friday, January 13, 2023
  • To: natasha@206tours.com
  • Subject: Lourdes, France and Paris Thomas Collins
  • Tour 8

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

  • From: Fr. Ken
  • Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2023
  • To: rinda@206tours.com
  • Subject: Compliments of the season! Fr Ken Odibu Ken
  • Tour 37

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 

  • From: Kristine Bruce
  • Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2023
  • To: milanka@206tours.com
  • Subject: 206 will be the only tour group I use and recommend! Kristine Bruce
  • Tour 111

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