Arrival at Lisbon Airport. Transfer to hotel for dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel. Visit in the morning to the quarter of Belém, with the Tower of St Vincent, a symbol of the city, and the Jerónimos Monastery, one of the greatest masterpieces of Manueline architecture. Free time for lunch and departure in the afternoon for Fátima. Stop at Alcobaça for a visit to the monastery and the tombs of King Peter I and Inês de Castro, and to Batalha for a visit to the church and the monastery, in splendid Portuguese Gothic style. Arrival at Fatima in the late afternoon. Check-in at hotel for dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel and a short visit to the Sanctuary of Fátima, dedicated to the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary di Fatima to the child shepherds in 1917. Departure for Madrid, stopping for lunch along the way. Arrival in Madrid in the late afternoon for hotel check-in, dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel. Visit to the Spanish capital in the morning. Sights during the visit include the Gran Via, the Calle de Alcalá, the Puerta del Sol and the Plaza Mayor. Lunch in a restaurant and excursion in the afternoon to the Escorial to see the majestic monastery declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Return to Madrid for dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel and departure, stopping halfway along the route for a brief guided visit to the city of Zaragoza, famous for its Nuestra Señora del Pilar Basilica. Lunch and then departure for Barcelona, arriving in the evening. Check-in at hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast in hotel. Morning dedicated to a guided visit of the capital of Catalonia, one of the most beautiful cities of the entire Mediterranean. The city tour includes the Cathedral, the Barrio Gòtic district, the city’s oldest quarter, the lively Rambla, and Montjuïc, with its panorama over the city. Lunch in a restaurant and excursion in the afternoon to the Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery, a mountain hermitage of Benedictine monks of spectacular beauty, about an hour from Barcelona. Return to Barcelona for dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel and departure for France. Lunch along the way, with a visit in the afternoon to Sénanque Abbey, an imposing Cistercian establishment surrounded by fields of lavender. Departure later for Avignon, for check-in at hotel for dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel. Morning dedicated to a guided visit to Avignon, with its imposing Palais des Papes and the famous “Pont d’Avignon” (the St Bénézet Bridge). Departure for Dijon. Sights en-route include the ruins of Cluny Abbey, Europe’s most important spiritual centre in the Middle Ages, and Cîteaux Abbey, where the reform of the Cistercian order started. Lunch along the way. Arrival in Dijon in the late afternoon for hotel check-in, dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel and departure for Normandy. Lunch in a restaurant along the way. Arrival in Saint-Malo in the late afternoon for hotel check-in, dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel and departure for Mont Saint-Michel, a tiny island linked to the mainland by a narrow strip of land and the site of an ancient and imposing Benedictine monastery considered to be one of the wonders of the western world. Arrival expected in the late morning, followed by lunch in a restaurant and afternoon visit with guide to the island and abbey. Return in the afternoon to Saint-Malo, an old corsair port on the Atlantic coast, which grew in the 16th century thanks to its flourishing trade with the New World. Guided visit to the fortified citadel, built in the 12th century but extensively altered and enlarged in the 16th and 17th centuries. Return to hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast in hotel and departure by ferry for England, with lunch on board. Arrival in Portsmouth in the late afternoon and transfer to London. Check-in at hotel for dinner and overnight stay. 

Departure after breakfast for full-day guided visit to London, including Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London. Return to accommodation after visit for dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel and departure for Belgium. Arrival in Dover late in the morning to take the ferry, with lunch on board. Arrival in Calais and transfer to Brussels, the Belgian capital and the seat of Europe’s main institutions. Short visit to the city centre, including the Grande Place with the Town Hall, a compendium of various architectural styles, the Grand Sablon, once the city’s market place, and the Royal Palace, followed by hotel check-in, dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast in hotel. Visit in the morning to the Notre-Dame d’Orval Abbey, founded in 1132 and one of Belgium’s most important abbeys, then continuing to Luxembourg. Lunch in a restaurant and a visit to this small state’s fascinating capital, then continuing to Strasbourg, long considered the crossroads of Europe, making it the ideal site for the headquarters of several of the continent’s important institutions. Check-in at hotel for dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel and departure for St Gallen. Lunch in a restaurant and visit to the Saint Gall abbey complex, the symbol of the city, with a Baroque cathedral and a richly stocked library. The entire abbey precinct was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Departure later for Milan, for check-in at hotel for dinner and overnight stay. 

Breakfast in hotel and departure for Florence. Arrival in the late morning and lunch in a restaurant. Short visit in the afternoon to the city centre, one of the cradles of the Italian Renaissance. Departure later for Rome, arriving in the late afternoon for hotel check-in, dinner and overnight stay. 

Guided visit to the Eternal City, including Piazza Venezia, the Imperial Forums, the Capitol, the Coliseum, the Circus Maximus and the Arch of Constantine. Lunch. Guided visit continues to St Peter’s Square and the Vatican. Half board in hotel. 

Departure from Rome after breakfast for Monte Cassino, with a visit to the famous abbey founded by St Benedict, located in a panoramic position on top of a mountain. Lunch in a restaurant and return to Rome to continue the visit to the city, with the St Mary Major and St John Lateran basilicas. Dinner and overnight stay in hotel. 

Breakfast in hotel and transfer to airport. End of our services.