Your Trip Includes:
Round-trip air from Newark (special round-trip fares from your local airport)
Airline Fuel Surcharges & Airport Taxes
11 nights at centrally located First Class Hotels or similar
      ~ 2 Nights:  Aug 12 - 14, Catania, NH Bellini
      ~ 3 Nights:  Aug 14 - 17, Sciacca, Grand Hotel Delle Terme
      ~ 1 Night:   Aug 17 - 18, Palermo, Hotel Astoria Palace
      ~ 2 Nights:  Aug 18 - 20, Assisi, Hotel Cenacolo
      ~ 3 Nights:  Aug 20 - 23, Rome, Hotel Cicerone
Breakfast & Dinner daily – Dinners in Rome in local restaurants
Professional Tour Escort
Transportation by air-conditioned motor coach
Assistance of professional local Christian guides in Rome, Assisi, Siena, Florence, Palermo , Catania , Erice, Sciacca, Agrigento, Sciacca
Sightseeing & admissions fees, Vatican Museums, Palermo Cathedral, Sciacca Cathedral, Catania Cathedral, Sienna Cathedral, Dome in Palermo and Monreale, Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Archeological Siracusa
Mass daily
Luggage handling (1 piece per person)

Flight bag & portfolio of all travel documents

Not Included:

Not Included: Lunches, Beverages, Travel Insurance (www.206tours.com/insurance), Extended Cancellation Protection Plan (www.206tours.com/cancellationprotection), Tips to your guide & driver (euro 7 - 9 per day), Personal Items.

Day 1, August 11, Saturday: Depart from Newark
Depart from Newark Airport where you will board your overnight flight to Italy. Dinner and breakfast will be served on board.

Day 2, August 12, Sunday: Catania
Upon arrival your escort will warmly greet you this morning and welcome you to Italy. Transfer to your hotel in Catania and enjoy a free afternoon for rest, relaxation, adjusting to local time or exploration (on own). You tour escort can suggest sights or walks for you to enjoy. Dinner and overnight.

Day 3, Aug 13, Monday: Catania - Cathedral of Catania & St Agatha
Breakfast will be served this morning. Today we will participate in a full day’s guided visit of Catania. We will visit the Cathedral of Catania, dedicated to Saint Agatha. Sicily is the location of the martyrdom of Saint Agatha as well as her birthplace, and Saint Agatha is the patron Saint of Sicily. It is believed that carrying her veil, taken from her tomb in Catania in procession has averted eruptions of Mount Etna. The appearance of the Cathedral dates back to the 1711 century design of Gian Battista Vaccarini, who designed a new Baroque façade after the 1693 earthquake. It has three floors with Corinthian columns, in granite. All the orders are decorated with marble statues of St. Agatha over the gate, St. Euplius on the right and St. Birilus. The entrance door, in wood, has 32 sculpted plaques with episodes of the life and martyrdom of St. Agatha, coat of arms of Popes and symbols of Christianity.

Day 4, August 14, Tuesday: Catania - Siracusa - Agrigento - Sciacca
After breakfast depart for Sciacca. En route stop in Siracusa for a tour including the Greek Amphitheatre and the Ear of Dionysus. After the visit we will head off for the Valley of the Temples, the largest concentration of Greek ruins outside of Greece. We will tour the temples of Vulcan, Zeus, Heracles, Concordia, Castor, and Pollux. Proceed to Sciacca, famous for its ceramics and hot baths. Upon arrival enjoy a guided walk between imposing princely palaces and religious buildings: the New Castle or Castle of the Luna counts, the baroque Duomo, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, on the project of the Sciacca architect Michele Blasco, Palazzo Scaglione with its museum, Palazzo Arona- Perollo, the Jesuite College (now the town hall), the San Domenico Church, founded in 1532 by father Tommaso Fazello, Piazza del Popolo or Scandaliato with its view of the port and the Mediterranean Sea, the Santa Margherita Church, built in 1342 at the behest of the infanta Eleonora of Aragona, Palazzo Perollo, the San Salvatore Gate, the Carmine Church, rebuilt in the 1700, the Steripinto Palace, in Catalan plateresque style and the Palermo Gate, surmounted by an eagle with open wings. Dinner and overnight.

Day 5, Aug 15, Wed: Sciacca / The Feast of La Madonna del Soccorso
Following breakfast, you have a full day at your leisure dedicated to the Feast of La Madonna del Soccorso. Dinner and overnight.

Day 6, Aug 16, Thur: Sciacca / The Feast of La Madonna del Soccorso
Following breakfast, you have another full day at your leisure dedicated to the Feast of La Madonna del Soccorso. Dinner and overnight.

Day 7, August 17, Friday: Sciacca - Erice - Palermo
After breakfast depart for Palermo. En route stop in Erice, to visit and wander it’s ancient streets and visit some of the famous home-made pastry shops, world-famous for marzipan candies and other delicacies like almond and pistachio pastry. Proceed to Palermo, the fascinating capital of the province of Sicily. We’ll tour this beautiful city, including the old centre, the lovely Capo market, the Massimo Theatre Square, and the Palatine Chapel. Later, your bus will climb Mount Pellegri for us to see the spectacular views of Palermo to the Sanctuary of Saint Rasalita, the patron Saint of Palermo. Here, in the cave of the Sanctuary, the Saints bones are discovered in 1624. The bones were carried in procession throughout the city and Palermo was liberated from the plague. We’ll continue to our visit of Monreale, tour the Cathedral, and admire the 6,340 square meters of gold mosaics in the dome. Dinner and overnight..

Day 8, August 18, Saturday: Palermo - Rome - Assisi
Following breakfast, we will travel today to Assisi, transferring to Palermo Airport for our flight to Rome. Upon arrival, we will be met and transferred to our hotel in Assisi. Visit the tomb of St. Francis. Explore the quaint hilltop birthplace of St. Francis that still retains something of the atmosphere of the early 1200s, the period when St. Francis began his ministry. Contained within the huge 13th-century Basilica are many of the saint's possessions and a series of frescoes depicting his life. You may kneel before the crucifix from which Jesus spoke to St. Francis, asking him to rebuild His Church. It was in St. Mary of the Angels Basilica where St. Francis spent most of his life. Here we visit the Chapel, Portiuncola, the rose bush, and the cave where the saint retired for prayer. Stroll the medieval streets of the compact little town. After stopping at an outdoor cafe with a view of an ancient Roman temple, we go to the Church of St. Clare to see the saint's incorrupt body. The foundress of the Order of Poor Clares followed the teachings of St. Francis by living a life of poverty and humility. We will visit these two saints' tombs before dinner and retiring for the evening.

Day 9, August 19, Sunday: Assisi - Siena - Assisi
After breakfast, we are off to the beautiful town of Siena, the birthplace of Saints Catherine and Bernardine and one of Italy’s loveliest medieval cities. Here we will stroll the Piazza Del Campo, one of Italy’s finest squares and visit the Cathedral and the Basilica of St. Francis, containing the miraculous consecrated hosts that remained intact since 1730. View the incorrupt head of St. Catherine at the Basilica of St. Dominic. Return to Assisi for dinner and overnight.

Day 10, August 20, Monday: Assisi - Florence - Rome
After breakfast we depart from Assisi. We drive through the Italian countryside enjoying the beautiful scenery. Stop en route to Florence. Upon arrival, enjoy a half day guided visit including the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, and the Baptistery with its renowned bronze door. See the replica of David’s statue, the colossal nude Classical sculpture depicts the Biblical hero who killed the giant Goliath. Afterwards, visit Santa Maria Novella Church and Santa Croce. Proceed to Rome for dinner and overnight.

Day 11, August 21 Tuesday: Rome
Wake up in the Eternal City, one of the greatest centers of Western Civilization and the first truly cosmopolitan city on earth! It is also the spiritual capital for all the Catholics around the world. This morning we depart for a sightseeing tour entitled "Christian Rome" which includes: the Basilica of St. Mary Major, one of the oldest Shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, a Shrine that contains a relic from the manger of the infant Jesus; the Holy Stairs, the Basilica of St. John the Lateran, The Basilica of the St. John in Lateran, is the former residence of the popes prior to their return to Rome in 1377; St. Paul Outside the Walls, which houses the remains of St. Paul under its main altar; and the Appian Way, the oldest road from Roman times, plus the famous Domino Quo Vadis Chapel; see the ancient Baths of Lizcalla, Arch of Drusus; Tomb of Celilia Metella and Michelangelo’s statue of Moses at St. Peter in Chains Church. We will also enjoy a visit to the Trevi fountain. Dinner and overnight.

Day 12, August 22, Wednesday: Rome
Today is truly a day we will have in our minds for many years to come. This morning we go to Vatican City to attend the weekly Papal Audience or Blessing given by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (pending papal schedule). Following the audience visit of the Vatican Museums, a group of most impressive edifices with hundreds of galleries filled with art treasures. See awe-inspiring relics and works of art donated throughout centuries as tributes of faith. We'll cover The Tapestry Gallery, The Raphael Rooms and the most overwhelming Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's Masterpiece, restored mural of the Last Judgment. Later, enter the largest Church in Christendom St. Peter's Basilica, built on the site where St. Peter was martyred. Unsurpassed in beauty, a monument to the long history of the Catholic Church, to which pilgrims come from around the world, St. Peter's is the grandest of the world's Churches. Marvel Pieta and Bernini's amazing bronze canopy. We will also visit the grave of Pope John Paul II located at the Vatican. Before dinner, we'll have some time at leisure, to explore your own paths, to shop, or just to sit in one of the outside cafes and watch the world go by.

Day 13, August 23, Thursday: Return to Newark
After breakfast, we will depart for our return flights back to Newark today, bidding Arrivederci Italia!

Additional Information & Travel Tips:  What to Know Before You Go
Any Questions?  For more information, please contact: Amanda tel: 800-206-TOUR (8687) or email: [email protected] with any questions or to register.

For general information, please contact: Remy Dixit  tel: 908-806-2564 or email: [email protected] or contact: Gloria Maligaya  tel: 908-782-9803 or email: [email protected]

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Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy		St. Peter's Basilica & Square, Vatican City, Rome, Italy
The Holy Stairs, Vatican City, Rome, Italy		The Sistine Chapel, Rome, Italy
Vasari's fresco Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral Florence, Italy		Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy

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