Tour Itinerary
Friday, November 2
Arrive in Mexico City and transfer from the airport to the 4-star Sevilla Palace Hotel for conference and lodging. Dinner will be served at approximately 4:00pm, followed by the opening of the Conference at 6:00 pm. Simultaneous translation service (Spanish-English, English-Spanish) included.
Saturday, November 3
Conference at the Sevilla Palace Hotel. Breakfast, lunch, simultaneous translation service (Spanish-English, English-Spanish) and dinner included.
Sunday, November 4
Conference at the Sevilla Palace Hotel. Breakfast, lunch, simultaneous translation service (Spanish-English, English-Spanish) and dinner included.
Monday, November 5
After breakfast we depart the Hotel to visit the place where St. Juan Diego lived on Tulpetlac hill. Here we will hear about St. Juan Diego's life. After completing our tour we will travel to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe for Mass at the main altar.
After Mass, lunch on your own at one of the local restaurants. Sample authentic Mexican cuisine and relax in the festive atmosphere of the heart of Mexico City.
Following our lunch break, we return to the Basilica to visit the Chapel of the Roses. Upon completion of our tour, we return to the Sevilla Palace Hotel for dinner and overnight.
Tuesday, November 6
After breakfast, we depart the hotel to visit the beautiful Church of the Holy Family and to see the relics of Blessed Padre Pro, a priest who was executed in 1927 for defending the right of religious freedom for Mexican citizens. From Holy Family Church, we travel to the exquisite Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City. After a tour of the Cathedral, we will visit the National Palace of 'the Murals', featuring murals painted by the renowned Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Following the tour of the Palace, we return to the Metropolitan Cathedral for Mass.
Lunch on your own in one of the local restaurants or do some shopping. After lunch, we return to the Cathedral to continue our tour and see such sights as the crypt of Friar Juan de Zumarraga, the bishop to whom Juan Diego revealed Our Lady's roses.
After our tour there will be time to stroll the main streets and explore the "Zona Rosa." In this area, in which the streets are named after European cities, there is a great concentration of hotels, restaurants, cafés, art galleries and elegant shops.
Following our visit to the "Zona Rosa", we will head over to Coyoacan to the Church of St. John the Baptist, followed by free time to walk around and explore the area.We will return to the hotel via the Avenida Insurgentes, the largest avenue in Mexico City, and said to be the longest in the world, with a length of 18 miles (28.8 km) on a north-south axis across the city. Return to the Sevilla Palace Hotel for dinner and overnight.
Wednesday, November 7
After breakfast, we depart for Cholula, about 80 miles (129 km) South-East of Mexico City. Here we will explore what is known as the city of 365 churches, one of the leading religious, economic and political centers of old Mexico, where a gigantic earth mound conceals the worlds largest pyramid, now crowned by a church. From Cholula we depart for the City of Puebla. In Puebla, we will tour the former Convent of St. Monica – intricate tunnels and hidden passages configure this singular religious precinct, in which dozens of nuns lived in a clandestine manner for more than 70 years to escape the anticlerical laws passed by the government of the Reform (1855-1861). From the convent we will visit the Puebla Cathedral. The Cathedral, completed in 1649, has the tallest bell towers in Mexico and one of them can be climbed for a view of the city and the nearby volcanoes. The cathedral itself is the second largest in Mexico, after the one in Mexico City.
Lunch on your own.
Next we will visit the Church of St. María Tonanzintla. 'Tonanzintla' means “the Place of our little mother”. Its construction began in the XVI century and it is one of the richest jewels of exuberant Mexican baroque. It was constructed by the hands of the natives who modeled plaster to capture their own universe. In it they created a Mexican iconographic model made up of dark-skinned angels, niches with feather headdresses, and above all tropical fruits and cornstalks.
We return to the Cathedral for Mass and then return to the Sevilla Palace Hotel for dinner and overnight.
Thursday, November 8
After breakfast we depart for a tour of the Pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacan, one of the most important archaeological sites in the Americas. Its name is translated as "The Place where Men Become Gods" and signifies the Aztec belief that the gods created the universe here. At its center are two of the most imposing pyramids you will see in Mexico, the Pyramids of the Sun and of the Moon. Climb to the top, stroll down the eerie Street of the Dead, see the Temple and Palace of Quetzacoatl, and the Palace of the Jaguar. Prominent in the area are local artesans selling their wares.
Lunch on your own.
After lunch we return to the Basilica of Guadalupe for an inspiring closing Mass. Before returning to the hotel for dinner, we will have our last opportunity for some shopping.
Friday, November 9
Transfer to the Mexico City International Airport
Adios Mexico!!
INCLUDED
Round-trip flights to Mexico City from Chicago, Phoenix or Houston; transfer to/from airport and hotel; transportation during the tour; meals as indicated; guide service; admission to the Pyramids; admission to Cholula; admission to the Convent of St. Monica.
NOT INCLUDED
Connecting flights to/from Phoenix, Chicago or Houston and the traveler's nearest airport; lunches unless otherwise indicated; beverages; gratuities for the bus operator and the guide.
Registration Information
Early Bird Price: $2,145 – full amount paid by 20 June
Standard Price: $2450 – full amount paid by 20 September
Late Price: $2550 – full amount paid by 20 October
Single supplement: $315 (for those who wish to have their own room during the time in Mexico, add $315 to the base price)
Travelers 25 years and younger may be eligible for a youth discount. Call for details.
A $300 deposit is required to hold a space. Spaces are limited. No one is considered registered until deposit is received. Cancellation charges may apply. Pricing is per person, double occupancy. When registering, please indicate the name of your planned roommate (spouse, relative, or same-gender friend). If no roommate is indicated, you will be placed with another single traveler of the same gender.
Discounted rates are available for 'Conference Promoters' - receive a $50 discount for each additional person you recruit for the conference/pilgrimage. Recruit 20 people and attend for free!* For more details on how to be a promoter, visit the Promoter's Resources page.
There will be three points of departure for travelers from the USA: one group will depart from Chicago O'Hare International Airport; one group will depart from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport; one group will depart from Houston Bush International Airport. Travelers are responsible for making their own travel arrangements to these departure locations.
Approximate flight times from departure points to Mexico City are as follows: Chicago 8:00am; Phoenix 5:15am; Houston 12:05pm. For travelers not in the Chicago or Phoenix areas we recommend joining our group traveling from Houston which is using a direct flight leaving at 12:05 pm on Friday, November 2, from Houston, Texas to Mexico City. In this case, travelers must arrange their own flights to Houston, Texas. Path to Rome is not responsible for missed or delayed flights.
Important notice: A passport is necessary for the tour and conference; non-US citizens may need a visa to enter Mexico. It can take about one month to obtain a passport. Please apply with enough time.
