ROME AND SOUTHERN ITALY TOUR

Upon arrival at the Rome airport we will meet our tour leader and our driver who will take us to Naples. On our way it will be possible to see from road the Abbey of Montecassino standing on a hilltop, famous for being the site of several battles in World War II.
Arrival in Naples and stop at the Posillipo hill from where we can admire the entire city along with its volcano, Vesuvio. Then we go down to visit the typical neighborhood of Santa Lucía, where the Castel dell’Ovo is located and stop to take a photo. We will continue the visit in the city center: Plaza del Plebiscito; Royal Palace; San Carlo Theater; Castel Maschio Angioino and Galeria Umberto. Next stop, Pompeii. We will stop for lunch and in the afternoon we will enjoy a guided tour of the excavations of this ancient city buried under the ashes of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. where you can still appreciate the way of life in that imperial era. After the visit, we will leave for the Sorrentine coast to reach the hotel in Sorrento. Dinner and accommodation at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel and departure to San Giovanni Rotondo. here we will find the Capuchin Convent where Padre Pio spent most of his life. Inside the crypt of Our Lady of Graces (Santa María delle Grazie) it is possible to see the tomb that contains the mortal remains of the saint. The convent was lately incorporated with a new church into the Sanctuary of the Capuchins and designed by the famous architect Renzo Piano, where thousands of pilgrims come to honor the memory of Padre Pio, an estimated 8 million a year. We will have lunch and, in the afternoon, go to Monte Sant’Angelo, through the winding roads of the Gargano area. From the top of the town we can observe the entire landscape with the imposing Adriatic Sea. Here we will visit the Sancturay of San Michele Arcangelo, one of the most beautiful sanctuaries built inside caves and nature, located 70 meters deep. This was the first pilgrimage site for Saint Francis of Assisi. After the visit, we will return to the hotel for dinner and accommodation.

Departure towards Rome with a stop in Pietrelcina where we will also have lunch on our own.
Pietrelcina is the birthplace of Padre Pio, on May 25, 1887. He was the eighth child of a family of farmers whose origin dates to the beginning of the Roman Empire. We can walk through the narrow alleys with small stone houses built on a large hill where Francisco Forgione (Padre Pio) spent his childhood. We will visit his house and the place where he was baptized and then the place where he retired with the flock.
Arrival in Rome and dinner. Accommodation.

Breakfast and check out the hotel.
In the morning we will enjoy guided tour inside the Vatican Museum, located in the smallest state in the world, but also the best known and most visited. We will have lunch on our own and continue our route with a tour guide, to enjoy the Eternal City even more, visiting monuments such as the Cathedral of Saint John Lateran, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Saint Paul outside the Walls, etc. We will also visit the entire EUR area, built in the first half of the 20th century for the Universal Exhibition in Rome, with large avenues, green areas, monumental and robust buildings with facades that refer to the historical past, as this area is representative during the period of Mussolini’s dictatorship.
In the afternoon we will go to the Rome airport. Boarding procedures.