VIRGILIO TRAVEL
DETAILED ITINERARY
(Subject to Change)
Friday,
March 13
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Depart your home airport for the journey to Italy! The group flight (i.e. the one those purchasing LAND + AIR will be flying on) flies out of New York-JFK on ITA Airlines at 10:15 PM and arrives in Rome at 11:45 AM on Saturday.
Saturday,
March 14
Meet Lino and our tour guide at Noon at Fiumicino Airport in Rome and we head into the city. We start with lunch, then check in and a chance to shower off those nasty airplane germs. We then go to the Jewish Ghetto, with a short tour of the area and it’s history. We have Mass at a nearby church and then go to our first group dinner. You’ll be exhausted and ready for bed after today, no doubt.
Sunday,
March 15
We start at 9am with shopping. You’ll have time to buy rosaries, Pope bottle openers, and anything else you want to have blessed. We’ll then go to St Peter’s Square to pray the Angelus with Pope Leo XIV and he’ll bless our items.
After that, we’ll have lunch and then head to some ancient churches. This afternoon, we’ll visit San Clemente (named after one of our first Popes: St Clement) and then San Pietro in Vincoli (which has the chains which held St Peter when he was in jail in Jerusalem). It’s also the place of Michelangelo’s famous Moses statue for the funerary monument of Julius II. We’ll then wrap up the day with a great dinner at a local restaurant.
Monday,
March 16
Get your walking shoes on. We’ll do a lot of it today! We’ll explore the city center with a walking tour that covers lots of churches. San Marcello al Corso, Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso, Sant' Andrea delle Fratte, and end at Piazza del Popolo where we see Caravaggio’s masterpieces of Peter and Paul. We then stop for lunch on your own before we jump on the bus and head to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme for Mass. Here we’ll see relics of the Passion like the True Cross and more. After that, we visit the Scala Sancta and have a chance to go up the stairs on our knees. Then we head back to the hotel to freshen up before going out for another delicious dinner.
Tuesday,
March 17
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This morning we leave at 9am to visit Galleria Borghese: a fantastic museum rarely (if ever) visited on pilgrimages. After that we go to a local restaurant for some great pizza. In the afternoon, we visit the Aventine Hill where we see Santa Sabina (one of the Lenten station churches and a beautiful place for Mass), the keyhole looking at St Peter’s, and more. It’s a special day of a great museum and some of the ancient churches of Rome.
Wednesday,
March 18
Today we have the morning free to tour St Peter’s: pray, visit the dome, and soak it in. No tour; just the experience of it all at your own pace. Like it was meant to be experienced. You can never have enough time at St Peter’s! After lunch, we do another long walking tour of Rome. From St John the Baptist of the Florentines, where we have Mass. Then onto Chiesa Nuova, Sant’Andrea della Valle, a special treat at Chiesa del Gesu, ending at Dodici Apostoli (burial spot of two of the apostles) and one of Lino’s favorite restaurants for dinner.
Thursday,
March 19
We leave at 9am for St Mary Major. No tour of this great church, but a chance to visit the tomb of Pope Francis, and take in the beauty of this amazing basilica. We then will visit the ancient church of Santa Prassade just next door. Then hop on the bus and visit San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (burial site of both St Lawrence and St Stephen). After a fun group lunch, we head to Trastevere where we visit Santa Cecilia (burial place of St Cecilia) and have Mass. We then visit Santa Maria in Trastevere and you’ll have dinner on your own in this fun part of town.
Friday,
March 20
This morning you have free to do any last minute shopping, visit some off the beaten path places, or just to rest. In the afternoon, we’ll go to Santa Maria della Vittoria (and see the beautiful Bernini statue of St Therese in Ecstasy). Then visit the incredible church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e Martiri where we will have our final Mass. We’ll then go to the hotel to freshen up before we go to a farewell dinner at another of Lino’s favorite restaurants. We then walk back on a night tour of Rome, seeing Castel Sant’Angelo and St Peter’s before saying goodbye.
Saturday,
March 21