France, Portugal And Spain

Three countries, one road, and four of the shrines that have drawn pilgrims across Europe for centuries. Lourdes and Fátima, where Our Lady appeared to children; Santiago de Compostela, the end of the Camino since the ninth century; and Ávila, the walled city of St Teresa.

Lourdes and the crossing into Spain

The journey opens at the Grotto of Massabielle, where Our Lady appeared to St Bernadette in 1858, with the baths, the basilicas and the candlelight rosary procession that closes each evening. The road then crosses the Pyrenees to the Sanctuary of Loyola, birthplace of St Ignatius, and to Burgos and its cathedral.

Santiago and Ávila

Santiago de Compostela is reached as pilgrims have reached it for over a thousand years, for the Pilgrim's Mass and the tomb of St James the Apostle. Ávila follows — completely encircled by eleventh-century walls, the home of St Teresa of Jesus and one of the great centres of Spanish mysticism.

Fátima and Portugal

Three nights at Fátima allow time at the Chapel of the Apparitions, the tombs of Saints Francisco and Jacinta, the shepherd children's homes at Aljustrel and the Stations of the Cross at Valinhos, with the Rosary and procession each evening. Santarém and its Eucharistic Miracle come next, and the journey ends in Lisbon.