Pilgrimage Fatima/Lourdes

Travel to two of the world's most revered pilgrimage centers and experience the wonderful cultures and beauty of Portugal, France, and Spain. Stay two nights in Fatima and reflect on and explore the famous basilica and the tombs of Francisco and Jacinta. Travel to Aljustrel, where the shepherd children lived, and Valinhos, where Our Lady appeared after the children's return from prison. During a two-night stay in Burgos, visit its magnificent cathedral, a masterpiece of Spanish Gothic architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Enjoy a walking tour of Lourdes and a two-night stay there. Visit the Grotto where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette. End your tour in vibrant Barcelona.

Fatima

Whatever your beliefs, you can’t help but be impressed by the vast reserves of faith that every year lead as many as 6 million people to the glade where, on May 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary is said to have first appeared to three awestruck peasant children. Where sheep once grazed there are now two huge churches on opposite ends of a vast 1km-long esplanade. For Catholic pilgrims, Fátima has a magnetic appeal like few places on earth, and a trip here will provide any visitor with new insights into Portugal’s religious facet.

Aljustre

Close to the town of Fatima lies the tiny hamlet of Aljustrel, the home of the three child seers and their families. It was in the home of Jacinta and Francisco Marto that Our Lady appeared four times—three times to Jacinta and once to her and Francisco. It was in the home of Sister Lucia dos Santos, the last living seer of Fatima and the last child in a family of seven, that the first interrogations of the shepherd children took place.

Valinhos

The fourth time Our Lady appeared was at the pasturage at Valinhos on the 19th of August, 1917. Coming to the children shortly after they had been abducted and unjustly imprisoned in the nearby town of Ourem, the Blessed Virgin told the seers that they must continue going to the Cova da Iria on the 13th of each month.

Cathedral of Burgos

The extraordinary Gothic cathedral of Burgos is one of Spain's glittering jewels of religious architecture and looms large over the city and skyline. This Unesco World Heritage–listed cathedral is a masterpiece. A former modest Romanesque church, work began on a grander scale in 1221. Remarkably, within 40 years most of the French Gothic structure had been completed.

Lourdes

This sprawling town, 43km southeast of Pau, has been one of the world’s most important pilgrimage sites since 1858 when 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous was visited 18 times in a rocky grotto by the Virgin Mary. The visions were subsequently confirmed by the Vatican, and Bernadette was beatified in 1933. Now known as the Sanctuaires Notre Dame de Lourdes, the grotto is considered one of the holiest sites in Christendom. Over six million people arrive in Lourdes every year, hoping to be doused in the miraculous waters.

Grotto of Massabielle

The spiritual centre of Lourdes is the subterranean grotto where Bernadette Soubirous experienced her visions in 1858. From the Porte St-Joseph , a broad boulevard sweeps towards the gilded spires of the Basilique du Rosaire and the Basilique Supérieure. Underneath is the fabled Grotte de Massabielle , where people queue for hours to enter and take a blessed dip in the cave’s icy-cold baths, while other pilgrims content themselves by lighting candles of remembrance outside.

Barcelona

Barcelona is an enchanting seaside city with boundless culture, fabled architecture and a world-class drinking and dining scene. Barcelona's architectural treasures span 2,000-plus years. Towering temple columns, ancient city walls and subterranean stone corridors provide a window into Roman-era Barcino. Fast forward a thousand years to the Middle Ages by taking a stroll through the shadowy lanes of the Gothic quarter, past tranquil plazas and soaring 14th-century cathedrals. In other parts of town bloom the sculptural masterpieces of Modernisme, a mix of ingenious and whimsical creations by Gaudí and his Catalan architectural contemporaries for which this city is so well known. Barcelona has also long-inspired artists, including the likes of Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró, whose works are in bold display in the city's myriad museums.