Madrid, Santiago de Compostela & Fatima
9 days
Your trip includes
- Round-trip airfare
- All airport taxes & fuel surcharges
- Centrally located hotels: (or similar)
- ~ 2 nights: Hotel Moratin, Madrid, Spain
- ~ 2 nights: Hotel Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- ~ 1 night: Marques de Pombal or Mundial, Lisbon, Portugal
- ~ 2 nights: Santa Maria Jardim, Fatima, Portugal
- Transfers as per itinerary
- Breakfast and Dinner daily
- Wine and mineral water with dinners
- Transportation by air-conditioned motor coach
- Assistance of Christian guide throughout
- Sightseeing and admissions fees as per itinerary
- Catholic Priest available for Spiritual Direction
- Mass daily & Spiritual activities
- Luggage handling (1 piece per person)
- Flight bag & portfolio of all travel documents
- *
Not included
- Lunches, Tips to your guide & driver.
Itinerary
Depart for Madrid
Make your way to your local airport where you will board your overnight flight(s). Your meals will be served on board.
Madrid
Upon arrival in Madrid, you will collect your luggage in the baggage claim area, and continue to the Arrival’s Hall, where you will be greeted by your tour guide and/or driver. You will be escorted to the bus where your group will transfer to your hotel. You will enjoy free time before dinner and retiring for the evening.
Madrid & Toledo
This morning, you will awaken in the capital city of Spain! Following breakfast, you will enjoy a tour of Madrid that includes the Royal Palace and the Plaza Mayor. Both sites are iconic to Madrid, as the Palace holds state ceremonies and events, and the Plaza Mayor is the geographic center of Madrid, as well as the social center. This afternoon, you will depart for Toledo (approximately one hour and twenty minutes). Toledo is a city set upon a rocky mound that is isolated on three sides by a looping gorge of the Rio Tajo. It is known as the City of Three Religions or Cultures because the Christians, Jews, and Moors have lived peacefully in this city for centuries. Each inch of this outcrop has churches, synagogues, mosques and houses heaped upon one another in a haphazard spiral in which the cobbled lanes infiltrate with its best efforts. During your time in this city, you will view the some of the grandest treasures such as, the glorious Gothic Cathedral that was built upon the Great Mosque of Toledo. Visit La Iglesia de Santo Tome, best known for housing El Greco's most famous painting and the Sinagoga del Tránsito, known for its impeccable stucco inscriptions. Additionally, you will visit a number of monuments such as La Puerta de Bisagras, La Puerta del Cambron, La Puerta del Sol and many others. Your day will culminate with a return transfer to Madrid where you will enjoy dinner and an overnight.
Madrid - Santiago de Compostela
Today, you will depart Madrid and head towards the city of Santiago de Compostela (approximately six hours). While en route, you will make a stop on the calle del Agua of Villafranca del Bierzo. This main street truly emanates Baroque architecture and is filled with palaces and emblazoned houses. At the entrance of this village, you will find the Romanesque church of Santiago. According to tradition, the pilgrims who were unable to finish El Camino as a result of an illness would receive the jubilee blessing at this church. Your next two stops will be visits to the gothic styled Collegiate Church of Santa Mari¬a and the Church of St. Nicolas, dedicated to the patron Saint of Villafranca del Bierzo. This late afternoon, you will enter Galicia (approximately one hour and fifteen minutes) by way of the city, Lugo. Your first stop will be to O Cebreiro, the first village in the region of Lugo and nestled in the mountains at an altitude of 1,300 meters. While in O Cebreiro, you will have the opportunity to view the iconic palloza styles houses, and the site of a Eucharistic Miracle that occurred in the year 1300. This evening, you will proceed to Santiago de Compostela (approximately two hours and thirty minutes) for your dinner and an overnight.
Santiago de Compostela
This morning, you will join the walking pilgrims at the Monte del Gozo from which the spires of the iconic Cathedral are visible. You will walk the last few miles of El Camino and attend the International Pilgrim Mass at the Cathedral of St. James. Formed by Galician granite, this Cathedral is one of the finest architectural examples in Europe, as it encompasses Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles. Additionally, the Cathedral contains numerous and valuable pieces of art that truly captivate the eye. Upon entering the Cathedral, tradition will lead as you hug the dazzling statue of St. James. Following this intimate embrace, you will descent into the crypt where the Patron Saint of Pilgrims’ relics are kept. Following your visit, you will enjoy a sightseeing tour of the city. Some stops on your tour include the Obradoiro Square, Fonseca Palace, Gemirez Palace, Franco Street, and much more. Your evening will be free to spend at your leisure, until a final dinner with your group. You will spend a final overnight in Santiago de Compostela.
Santiago de Compostela – Lisbon
Today, you will transfer to Lisbon (approximately five and a half hours). Following your orientation drive through Lisbon, you will visit St. Anthony’s church. Although this patron Saint of Lost Things is known as St. Anthony of Padua (Italy), he was originally born in Lisbon, Portugal. This Church is built upon the site of St. Anthony’s birth, and is also where Saint John Paul II visited in 1982. The former Pope stopped at this Church, on his way to Fatima, to pray to Our Lady in thanksgiving. Saint John Paul II recognizes Our Lady as saving him from being killed when he was shot one year prior, in 1981. This evening, you will enjoy dinner and overnight in Lisbon.
Lisbon - Santarem – Fatima
Today, we will head to Fatima, on the way will stop in town of Santarem for Mass at St. Stephens Church, and to venerate the 13th century Eucharistic Miracle. Continue to Fatima, a Hamlet of Aljustrel, the birthplace and home of the three shepherd children. Dinner and overnight in Fatima.
Fatima
Today will surely be a memorable experience, as you pray and meditate upon one of Our Blessed Mother's apparition sites. Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children; Lucia (age 10), Jacinta (age 7), and Francisco (age 9). These apparitions occurred monthly from May until October of 1917. Historically, as the entire world was in true turmoil, Our Lady's most prominent message during this time was to pray for world peace. The destruction of the world at that point in history was also mentioned by Our Lady in her messages of Fatima, and more specifically, in her second secret to the children. Our profoundly reflective day begins with a visit to the Little Chapel of the Apparitions. This simple, yet modern, chapel is the site where the Virgin Mary first appeared on May 13, 1917. Continue with a visit to the stunning neoclassical church, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary. This Sacred space contains the tombs of St. Francisco, St. Jacinta, and Sister Lucia. View the monument that commemorates the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the square. Due to Our Lady's consistency in Her messages to pray the Rosary, this Basilica also features fifteen altars, dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. While in the Basilica, you will be able to feel, through the Love of Our Lord and Lady, the many graces that were received here. Visit the Museum with the exhibition: Fatima: Light and Peace. Continue with a visit to the Holy Trinity Basilica. After free time for lunch, we will experience Christ's unconditional love by participating in the Stations of the Cross along the Via Sacra. The "Sacred Way" marks the path taken by the shepherd children of Fatima to their first apparition with Our Lady. It is composed of fifteen small chapels in commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord. The fifteenth station, the Resurrection, can be found close to the Chapel of Calvary, dedicated to St. Stephen, King of Hungary. The day ends with a visit to Valinhos, the site of Our Lady's August 1917 apparition and the first and third apparition of the Angel. Your night will conclude with private devotions, and a candlelight procession, requested by Our Lady (1917). Enjoy dinner and a comfortable night's rest in Fatima.
Return Home
Today you will enjoy an early morning breakfast, and say farewell to your fellow pilgrims and a pilgrimage that will be embedded in your hearts forever. You will transfer to the Lisbon airport for your return flight(s) 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.
About your trip
About Santiago de Compostela:
The history of El Camino, the Way of St. James or St. James' Way, often known by its Spanish name, el Camino de Santiago, is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where legend has it that the remains of the apostle, Saint James the Great, are buried. The Way of St. James has existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times. It was considered one of three pilgrimages on which a plenary indulgence could be earned; the others are the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimageto Jerusalem. Legend holds that St. James's remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain, where they were buried on the site that is now the city of Santiago de Compostela. There are some, however, who claim that the bodily remains at Santiago belong to Priscillian, the fourth-century Galician leader of an ascetic Christian sect, Priscillianism, who was one of the first Christian heretics to be executed.
About Fatima:
The Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is one of most famous Marian shrines in the world. 4 million Pilgrims visit Fatima each year! Many are drawn by the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the three local shepherd children, in 1917. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the shepherd children on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May 13th until October 13th. The events at Fatima gained fame due to their elements of prophecy and eschatology, particularly with regard to possible world war and the conversion of Russia.