"Pope Authorizes Official Pilgrimages to Medjugorje"
May 13, 2019
Medjugorje, Shrines of Croatia, Slovenia & Venice
15 days
Your trip includes
- Round-trip airfare from your desired Airport
- *
- All airport taxes & fuel surcharges
- Hotel accommodations (or similar) in double occupancy
- ~ 3 nights: Hotel Grace, Medjugorje
- ~ 3 nights: Lapad Hotel, Dubrovnik
- ~ 1 night: Atrium Hotel , Split
- ~ 2 nights: Hotel Jezero, Plitvice
- ~ 2 nights: Park Hotel, Bled
- ~ 2 nights: Bauer Palladio Hotel & SPA, Venice
- Whisper Headsets
- Transfers as per itinerary
- Breakfast Daily
- 6 Dinners
- Transportation by air-conditioned motor coach
- Assistance of local guide throughout
- Sightseeing and admissions fees as per itinerary
- Catholic Priest available for Spiritual Direction
- Mass daily & Spiritual activities
- Meeting with visionaries (pending availability)
- Visit to Community Cenacolo
- Luggage handling (1 piece per person)
Not included
- Lunches, Tips to your guide & driver. Items of a personal nature.
Itinerary
Day 1, Depart for Medjugorje
Make your way to your local airport where you will board your overnight flight. Your meals are served on board.
Day 2, Arrive Medjugorje
Upon arrival in Europe, change gates to board your short connection flight to either: Dubrovnik, Split, or Sarajevo airport. Upon arrival collect your luggage in the baggage claim area, and continue to the arrival’s hall where you will be greeted by a tour guide and/or driver, who will take you on the 2 1/2 hour drive to the village of Medjugorje. Enjoy dinner before retiring for the evening.
Day 3 & 4, Experiencing Medjugorje
The most beautiful feature of Medjugorje is its simplicity, and its peace. While in Medjugorje, you will have the opportunity to experience your faith grow, and share in the faith journey of pilgrims from all over the world. The local guide will accompany your group throughout your stay in the village.
Some activities that will accompany you in your spiritual journey:
Attend Daily Mass: Each morning, at 10:00A.M, your group will assemble at St. James Church for Mass (English-Speaking). At the end of each Mass, regardless of language, there is a blessing of the religious articles that you have with you.
On Feast Days, and Sundays: English Mass is at Noon
Climb Apparition Hill: This mountainous hill is where the visionaries first encountered Our Lady. Also, at the base of this hill is a Blue Cross, where it is said Our Lady appeared to the children while they hid from the communist police in the early days of the alleged apparitions. When climbing, your group is invited to recite the Rosary, pausing five times for each decade of the Rosary. At the top of the hill, you will witness the exact location of the first alleged apparition of Our Lady to the visionaries, and enjoy private time in prayer.
Climb Mt. Krizevac (Cross Mountain): In 1933, the villagers built a 30' high cross atop a mountain to commemorate Jesus' passion and death on the cross. Your group will have the opportunity to climb this mountain and venerate that very cross. When climbing, your group is invited to pray the Stations of the Cross (to meditate on Jesus' suffering Road to Calvary), pausing fifteen times for each Station.
Apparitions: Each evening at 5PM or 6PM daylight savings time, your group will join the villagers and fellow pilgrims of Medjugorje in saying the Rosary as all anxiously await the alleged arrival of Our Lady to the visionaries. Following the apparition, at 6:40 P.M. (5:40 P.M. during Daylight Savings Time), feel free to stay at St. James Church and attend the Croatian Mass. Following the Croatian Mass there is a Blessing of the Sick.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament: Our Lady has always called us to be close to her Son. For this, you will have the opportunity to adore the Blessed Sacrament at the outside altar of St. James Church. Adoration is held on Tuesdays and Saturdays; Veneration of the Cross is held on Fridays inside the church. Additionally, there is an Adoration Chapel on the grounds of St. James Church. Adoration is held here in the afternoon hours.
Meetings with the Visionaries: Pending their availability, your guide will arrange meetings with the visionaries at their homes.
Visit to the Community of Cenacolo: You will have the opportunity to visit the community of Cenacolo, founded by the Sisters of Charity, for young men and women who have taken a wrong path and are on the road to recovery. You will be able to listen to their inspirational words about their journeys back to Jesus Christ.
Prayer at the Statue of the Risen Christ: Located on the grounds of St. James Church, is the bronze statue of the Risen Christ. Many pilgrims sit and pray on the benches surrounding this peaceful statue. This statue miraculously seeps droplets of water at all times of the day, out of Christ's right knee.
* Your time in Medjugorje is intended to provide a personal retreat. As such, your time in Medjugorje is not designed to be a “tour” but rather, to provide opportunities for prayer and reflection as you feel called. Upon arrival in the village, you will have an orientation tour. For the remainder of your stay, you will not have a guide however, a representative of 206 Tours will be available should you have any questions or requests. Daily Mass in English and English confessions are available at St. James Church in Medjugorje.
If you would prefer our traditional pilgrimage/tour of Medjugorje, we would recommend you consider our Tour #1 (www.206tours.com/tour1) that provides a tour escort and spiritual leader throughout your stay.
Day 5, Medjugorje – Dubrovnik
After breakfast, we will transfer to Dubrovnik where we will arrive in time to check in to our Hotel. Spend the afternoon in this city overlooking the Adriatic, at your leisure. Feel free to walk to the Old Town, also known as the “Pearl of the Adriatic”. This evening, you will have dinner at a typical Dalmatian restaurant that serves local delicacies and wines.
Day 6, Dubrovnik
This morning enjoy a walking tour of "Old Dubrovnik" starting with the Rector's Palace, Bell Tower Clock, Orlando's Column and the Sponza Palace. You will also see the Dominican Monastery and Franciscan Monastery with its Pharmacy, one of the oldest in the world. Spend the rest of the day at your leisure. Overnight in Dubrovnik.
Day 7, Dubrovnik, excursion to Montenegro
After breakfast, depart for the Republic of Montenegro, towards the mouth of the beautiful Bay of Kotor, the longest and deepest fjord in Southern Europe. Enjoy a boat ride to Our Lady of the Rocks, one of two islets off the coast of Perast. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest building on the islet, with a museum attached to it. Upon return to the coast, we will stop in Perast, an old charming coastal town. This afternoon we will spend time in the city of Kotor before returning to Dubrovnik for an overnight.
Day 8, Dubrovnik - Split
After breakfast, depart Dubrovnik and travel north along the spectacular Adriatic coast, past old fishing villages and new resorts, to Split. Enjoy a city tour featuring the historic inner city, built around the Roman Emperor Diocletian's Palace, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. See the remnants of Split's Roman heritage, its Renaissance and Gothic structures, Jupiter's Temple, the Peristyle and the Cathedral. Dinner and overnight in Split.
Day 9, Split -Trogir - Plitvice Lakes
After breakfast, we will journey north along the coast to Trogir, the center of artistic activities where scholars from around the world gather to study and paint. Our journey continues towards the beautiful Plitvice Lakes National Park. Dinner and overnight in Plitvice.
Day 10, Plitvice Lakes
Today we enjoy Plitvice National Park listed in UNESCO's World Heritage list. This park is a natural wonder boasting breathtaking scenery, terraced lakes, thickly wooded mountains, and lush vegetation. The rest of the day is at leisure. Dinner and overnight in Plitvice.
Day 11, Plitvice Lakes, Opatija, Postojna to Bled
Today we visit the beautiful bay of Kvarner and its popular resort, Opatia. An orientation tour of Opatia will present the highlights of this former Imperial resort city. After your visit here, drive across the border into Slovenia to Postojna Caves, home to one of the largest caves in Europe. Tour the fantastic subterranean world by miniature electric train. Afterwards, continue to Bled for dinner and overnight.
Day 12, Bled - Ljubljana Excursion
An Alpine lake surrounded by high peaks of Bled, which was discovered by travelers in the middle of the 19th century. A sightseeing tour features the charming town and the lakeshore, as well as Bled Castle, perched on the cliff high above the lake. Take an afternoon excursion to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Here, view the Central open-air Market, Baroque Town Hall, Robba's Fountain, the Three Bridges and the Parliament. Return to Bled in the evening for a restful overnight.
Day 13, Bled, Trieste to Venice
Leave Bled, driving south to Trieste, Italy for tour and visit to Miramare Castle and its park. This castle was built by the Hapsburg Monarchy on the cliff overlooking Adriatic Sea. Then, continue on to the marvelous city of Venice to check into your hotel for a restful night.
Day 14, Venice
Today begins with a walking tour of Venice featuring the major highlights: St. Mark's Square, St. Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace, the Bell Tower and the Bridge of Sighs. The tour ends with a visit to a glass blowing factory where you may see the demonstration of a traditional Venetian glass blowing. In the afternoon, enjoy Venice at your own pace, shop or join an optional gondola ride. This evening we will enjoy a farewell dinner at local restaurant.
Day 15, Venice - USA
Enjoy breakfast at the hotel and heartfelt goodbyes to your fellow pilgrims, before your transport to the Venice airport for your flight home.
*206 Tours Disclaimer:Occasionally local religious and national holidays, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of events or the missing of certain events/places. Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of events and places to be visited.
The benefit of buying airfare with 206 Tours?
- Your transfers are always secured, even if your flights are delayed - round trip transfers to/from the hotel and airport are included no matter what!
- If you purchase your airline ticket on your own, you have to pay in full at the time of booking, and most of the time it is non-refundable. If you book with 206 Tours, full payment is due 60 days prior.
- In the very rare event that a tour is cancelled, you would get all your money back, which would most likely not be the case if you purchased it directly from the airline.
- Your flight arrangement will be followed up on and reconfirmed by 206 Tours.
- 206 Tours can arrange for you to travel before the tour, make a stop-over, or stay later!