admin $6,245 Per Person (Land Only)
Explore history and culture on this immersive journey through Scotland and Ireland, taking in all the major sights.
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS
Join St. Anthony Parish and the Travel House on an exciting trip to Europe!
We leave Quincy on 18 May and return on 2 June. Paris, Lucerne, Milan, Padova (Venice), Florence (winery) and Rome are on the itinerary! Travel is by bus, air, train and boat! Central hotels, breakfast every day, dinner every night except the day we visit the winery, lunch there instead.
We will immerse ourselves in history, natural beauty, museums and more! Just imagine all the different foods we will be able to try! French, Swiss and Italian!!! We will have many highlights: In Paris, Mass at Notre Dame and a dinner river cruise on the Seine! Then the fast train from Paris to Zurich, and wonderful Switzerland! A drive through the Alps to Italy! Milan, a city of fashion, music and history! Padova – from here we will take a day trip by train and water taxi to Venice, and, of course, a gondola ride – plus Padova itself, a city of Roman ruins and Renaissance frescoes! Florence, with its Ponte Vecchio, David, Leather Market and churches! Le Mortelle Winery! Rome – historic Rome and religious Rome! And the chance to see Pope Leo XIV, as we are there on a Sunday!
Per person, double occupancy, is $6398, Single occupancy is $7490. We highly encourage you to purchase travel protection, talk to us when signing up, and we will check on the price for you! $500 deposit to register, balance to be paid by 1 March, 2026. Cash or check, please, or we will have to charge you an extra 5%
18 May 2026
We leave by bus from Quincy for St. Louis around 9.30 AM. Our flight leaves at 2.18 PM, arriving in Detroit at 4.49 PM. We change planes and continue at 6.40 PM, arriving in Paris at 8.25 AM on 19 May
19 May 2026
We have a bus transfer from the airport to our hotel. After checking in, we will walk around the area to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings. Dinner at a nearby restaurant.
20 May 2026
Today we may experience Mass at Notre Dame! Afternoon will be a sightseeing tour, ending with a dinner river cruise
21 May 2026
We will transfer to Gare de Lyon, where the train for Zurich will leave at 10.22 AM, arriving in Switzerland at 2.28 PM. There, Peter will be waiting for us with his bus and we drive the short distance to Lucerne.
22 May 2026
Lucerne is on the itinerary today. We will drive into the city and experience a walking tour which will include the Chapel Bridge. Dinner tonight at a nearby restaurant.
23 May 2026
After breakfast we will depart for Milan. The drive will take us through great tunnels through the high towering Alps. Dinner at the hotel tonight
24 May 2026
Milan sightseeing is on the schedule for today. We will see Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper and many more great impressions from this great city. Dinner at the hotel
25 May 2026
We move on to Padova, the town where St. Anthony is buried. This city is well known for its Roman ruins and Renaissance frescoes. Dinner at our hotel
26 May 2026
We will enjoy a day trip to Venice via public transportation! The bus cannot go to the island, parking is very expensive, so we will take train and water taxi! On the island, we will have a guided tour before we have time to shop before returning to Padova. Dinner at the hotel
27 May 2026
We continue on our trip through Italy to the wonderful city of Florence. Our hotel is in the center of town, so we will have dinner at a restaurant nearby.
28 May 2026
We will have a guided walking tour of Florence today! From Ponte Vecchio to David to the Leather Market and great churches! There will be time to enjoy a gelato. Dinner at a nearby restaurant
29 May 2026
I am really looking forward to today! We will visit Le Mortelle Winery! One of my favorites in Italy! This is a day-long trip that includes lunch, so for dinner we are on our own tonight.
30 May 2026
We travel to our last stop on this tour, Rome, the Eternal City! Dinner at the hotel tonight
31 May 2026
Today is Sunday, The Holy Father will give a blessing from the balcony, so we will be in St. Peter’s Square for that! This afternoon we will tour the Vatican. Dinner at the hotel
1 June 2026
Historical Rome is on the schedule of events for today! We will see the Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Forum and many other amazing monuments from long ago! Dinner at the hotel
2 June 2026
All good things come to an end! We fly home today! We will have an early start, leaving Rome at 9.45 AM, arriving in Atlanta at 3.35 PM. After immigration and customs we continue at 5.20 PM, arriving in St. Louis at 6.02 PM. From there, we have a bus ride back home.
Price per person double occupancy $6398; single is $7490. Trip cancellation insurance is not included but highly recommended. $500 deposit to register, balance due 1 March, 2026
I just returned from a wonderful one week trip to Cancun, Mexico. I go there every January with some of my girl friends. We go to de-stress and love the warm temperatures in January! We mostly stayed at our resort, Dreams Sands Cancun, where we have been three times before this trip. We do love the resort, as we also know what is where, and don’t have to relearn everything. On Sunday we (one of my friends and I) took the shuttle bus into the city of Cancun, to the ADO bus station, bought a ticket to Playa del Carmen, boarded the big bus and went on our way. Going by taxi would have been much more expensive (did that once), and this way, transportation round trip was only about $10…. We felt totally safe on the trip! You see, I have a good friend and her family living in Playa del Carmen. She is originally from Germany, just like me, and I have known her and her family since before she was born (her mom and I were pen pals since we were about 12 years old)! Needless to say, I see her more than she sees her own parents – because of the distance we all need to travel…. It is so much fun to visit her family – she has a wonderful husband and two little boys, and since we always go in the first part of January, we have a suitcase full of presents for them all! Christmas all over!!!! The reason I am posting this, is to let everyone know that it is safe to travel with public transportation in the tourist areas of Mexico. I may not be fluent in their language (and no, I am NOT), but I never had the feeling that I was not safe! Once we arrived at the Playa del Carmen bus station, we texted my friend, and she came to pick us up and take us to her home. Again, we did not feel like we were not safe at all! I am so glad we spent this day in Playa! The only advice I would give in addition to this is that when traveling anywhere, it is important that we are aware of our surroundings, and perhaps even know where we are going. That is the basis for a wonderful vacation…
I am sure we all have heard that starting in October 2020, we will nee Real ID in order to board domestic flights or visit Federal institutions. There is some confusion about this, let me clear it up…
If you need to renew your drivers license before then, you can ask for it to be a Real ID license, but you will have to prepare for that:
Here is something from the Illinois Secretary of State website:
You will need: Proof of Identity, Date of Birth, and US Citizenship or Lawful Status (permanent resident card, or visa in foreign passport)
Whenever you have had a name change, you will need proof of that (marriage certificat for example)
Social Security Card or W2
Provide proof of residency, 2 documents are needed here (for example bank statement and cancelled check)
Document with a written signature (passport, drivers license).
If you have a valid passport, you need NOT have the Real ID, as long as you will always travel with your passport, even on domestic flights. You can also always enter a Federal institution with your passport.