Make your way to your local airport where you will board your overnight flight(s). Your meals will be served on board.

Upon arrival in Madrid, board Transportation to Caleruega, the birthplace of St. Dominic and our home for the first leg of this pilgrimage. Stay in a Dominican Convent in this charming town that was so formative for St. Dominic.

Visit St. Dominic's Well, a museum housing items related to the history of the Dominicans, the parish church built on the site of St. Dominic's birth, and the crypt of St. Dominic that was discovered in excavations. Visit the Benedictine Monks at St. Dominic de Silos Monastery and el Burgo de Osma cathedral.

Board our transportation to make our way to the region of Fanjeaux/ Prouille, stopping along the way in Burgos, San Sebastian and Toulouse. St. Dominic would have walked this route, so we are glad to take these two days to travel by bus, spending one night in San Sebastian.

Toulouse is home to the Church of the Jacobins, the relics of St. Thomas Aquinas, the 1st house of the Dominicans which has a tiny Chapel where we know St. Dominic would have preached. Enjoy lunch on your own in Toulouse before continuing to Carcassone. Carcassonne, a medieval town outside of Fanjeaux/Prouille becomes the perfect home base for our visits to the important sights around this region.

On July 22, 1206, Dominic was at prayer on a hill in Fanjeaux in the evening, when he saw a globe of fire descend and come to a standstill on the Chapel of St. Mary of Prouille. This "seignadou" (sign of God) happened on three successive nights, telling Dominic to establish a monastery in this place. Nine women became the first nuns and entered this monastery.

We'll visit the "assassin's cross" en route to Fanjeaux, where St. Dominic was ambushed by heretics (who were later converted), as well as St. Dominic's house, the ancient Church, the "Seignadou" hill, and get a feel for the towns where St. Dominic spent many of his years preaching.

As the trip to Italy is another long stretch, we'll enjoy visiting the Matisse Chapel, a Dominican Chapel in St. Paul de Vence, before spending the night in Nice.

Florence will become our home base for the last leg of our trip, allowing day trips to Bologna and Siena.

Visit this charming university town where St. Dominic spent his last years. Visit the Basilica of San Domenico and the tomb of St. Dominic.

Visit the ancient walled town that was home to St. Catherine, a powerhouse Dominican Saint and a doctor of the Church. Visit the sanctuary that was built upon the home of St. Catherine. Finish our pilgrimage considering her well-known decree, "be who God made you to be and you will set the world on fire!"

Depart from Florence