On this vacation, discover Italy from Rome to Venice. Start your trip in Rome, Italy’s capital, with a welcome dinner and guided tours with a Local Guide to the Holy Stairs, St. John Lateran Basilica, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. Mary Major Basilica, the Catacombs, the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Square and Basilica, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.
Travel to Montecassino to visit the first of the Benedictine monasteries founded by St. Benedict around 529 AD. Then journey to Italy’s eastern coast and San Giovanni Rotondo, home to the beloved St. Padre Pio. Visit his Friary, the Old Church, and the New Church. Next, visit the Shrine of Monte Sant'Angelo, one of Christendom’s most celebrated shrines and where St. Michael the Archangel appeared in the 5th and 17th centuries.
Via Lanciano's Church and the Holy House of Loreto, travel to Assisi, where guided visits to the Basilicas of St. Francis and St. Clare are included. See the crucifix that spoke to St. Francis and visit the St. Mary of the Angel’s Basilica and the Portiuncula.
On the way to Florence, stop in Siena and visit the Sanctuary of St. Catherine and the Basilica of St. Dominic. Spend two nights in Florence and enjoy a guided sightseeing tour including a visit to Michelangelo's David. Stop in Padua to visit St. Anthony's Basilica and arrive in Venice. Enter Venice by private boat to meet your Local Guide and visit St. Mark's Square and Basilica. Later, enjoy a farewell dinner at a local restaurant—a perfect ending to the Italian portion of your Grand Catholic Italy vacation.
From Venice, travel to Innsbruck in Austria, host of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics. Stroll through the quaint medieval lanes to Emperor Maximilian’s Golden Roof. Then travel to Oberammergau for the highlight of your vacation: the original Passion Play—held every 10 years and performed by the community of Oberammergau. Enjoy first-class seats to the Passion Play and hotel space in the town of Oberammergau. Your vacation ends in Munich with an orientation tour and farewell dinner—a perfect way to end this trip of a lifetime.
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