Itinerary

• DAY 1:

  USA

  Depart to Madrid, Spain, Complimentary meals and beverages are served in-flight.

• DAY 2:

  MADRID

  Arrive in Madrid and meet your Homeric Tours representative. We proceed by our private motor-coach to our hotel. Rest of the day at leisure. Dinner included at the hotel.
  Dinner included

• DAY 3:

  MADRID: (CITY TOUR)

  After breakfast we begin our city tour. Visits include the Royal Palace and the Prado Museum. Lunch at a local restaurant is included. After completing our tour we return to our hotel. Those wishing are free to browse at the Plaza Mayor or Plaza del Sol, a prime shopping area or a stroll in the famous park – Parco de Buen Retiro. Dinner at our hotel is included.
  Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner included

• DAY 4:

  MADRID / BURGOS / SAN SEBASTIAN

  Today we depart Madrid to Burgos. El Cid, Spain’s most famous national hero, was born just north of this charming city. He is buried in the Cathedral of Burgos, the third largest church of Spain and one of the country’s most striking beau-tiful Spanish gothic style. After we make our way to San Sebastian for dinner and the evening.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 5:

  SAN SEBASTIAN / LOYOLA / ARANZAZU

  Breakfast then head south to the area of Azpeitia. Here in 1491 Iñigo Lopez de Loyola Oñaz was born in the Castle of Loyola, better known as Ignatius of Loyola. We visit his former house and the museum with a stop at Aranzazu, a shrine to Our Lady at the time of Ignatius and where we know Ignatius prayed for strength to overcome the temptations which he had formerly yielded. Lunch in Loyola is included. Return to San Sebastian for dinner and overnight accommodations.
  Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner included

• DAY 6:

  SAN SEBASTIAN / PAMPLONA / XAVIER / HUESCA

  After breakfast we motorcoach to Huesca. First stop is Pamplona, the site where Ignatius received a wound that was to change his life. This event was the starting point for his conversion to Christ. Continue to Xavier Castle, (a castillo strategically positioned between Navarra and Aragon) recalling the life of St. Francis Xavier. Dinner and overnight accommodations in Huesca.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 7:

  HUESCA / ZARAGOZA

  Depart Huesca after breakfast for Zaragoza a lively city with a vast 17th-century basilica dedicated to Spain’s patron saint, the Virgin of the Pillar, (also the fortress Aljafería), parts of which date back to the 9th century. Dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 8:

  ZARAGOZA / BARCELONA

  Morning visit to Zaragoza and continue to Barcelona, once home to the Olympics. We proceed to our hotel for check-in. Afterwards enjoying dinner at a local seaside restaurant.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 9:

  BARCELONA: EXCURSION TO MONTSERRAT & MANRESA

  After breakfast, depart for Montserrat, home to the dramatically set Benedictine monastery. This Marian shrine has attracted pilgrims for over 700 years, much as it did Ignatius in March of 1522. We pause here to visit the Black Madonna of Montserrat, before whom Ignatius put his sword and exchanged his clothes for those of a beggar. We make our way to Manresa, a place of profound conversion for Ignatius. Here, in a cave on the banks of the Cardoner River, Ignatius received a vision that provided him with deep insights into the spiritual life and altered the course of his own life. From the initial insights he received here, Ignatius went on to pen the “Spiritual Exercises.” Ignatius remained in Manresa for about a year and a half. We enjoy an audiovisual presentation and tour of the museum at Manresa, and then celebrate Eucharist in the nearby cave. We return to Barcelona for dinner and overnight.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 10:

  BARCELONA: (CITY TOUR)

  We begin with Mass at the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar, where Ignatius would often beg for alms. We then continue by coach to the major sites of Barcelona including Gaudi’s Basilica of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family). Afterwards, stroll in the gothic quarter of the city and shop. In the evening, enjoy a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
  Breakfast and Dinner included

• DAY 11:

  USA

  Transfer to airport for our return flight home.
  Breakfast included