Christian Heritage Tours

Example Itinerary - 10 Day Italy
Example Itinerary - 12 Day Celtic Christianity: Ireland, Scotland and England

ITALIAN PILGRIMAGE

Any traveller in Italy knows that time is precious with such a great wealth of heritage and beauty. This is perhaps most true for the Christian pilgrim, exploring the many great Churches, relics and museums that the country has to offer. Our standard pilgrimage programme includes the "must-see" highlights in Rome, including the Vatican museums, St Peter's Basilica and the catacombs. Perhaps a day trip to Assisi (and/or the Pompeii ruins), a visit to Padua or Florence and Pisa, or a viewing of Da Vinci's Last Supper in Milan. We would be happy to provide a suggested itinerary or tailor make a tour to suit your requirements.

LUTHER AND EASTERN GERMANY

The history of the western world was fundamentally altered in the 16th century when Martin Luther launched the reformation in Wittenburg. Beginning in Berlin, this tour visits those places most associated with his his great history, including his home in Wittenberg and the university, the Luther House and the church where he is buried. This part of Germany is also the land of the 18th century German Enlightenment, with figures such as the music-king, Frederick the Great, the poet Schiller and polymath Goethe, and composers Handel and J.S. Bach. The itinerary also allows for a visit to the Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp before deviating into the Czech Republic for a visit to the city of Prague.

JOHN WESLEY

John Wesley: theologian, evangelist and the man who took the world as his parish. As spiritual leader of the Eighteenth Century “Methodist revival”, he was to touch the hearts and minds of the masses at the onset of the Industrial Revolution. He travelled an estimated 250,000 miles and preached 40,000 sermons during his prodigious horseback ministry; it is no wonder that the impact of his work has been vast and long-lasting. We offer a tour that explores the significant places and events in John Wesley’s life; be it his formative years with the Holy Club in Oxford, his evangelical conversion on Aldersgate Street or his first encounter with open air preaching in the slave-trade city of Bristol. We visit sites frequented by John and Charles Wesley and other locations of more general importance to the development of Methodism in Georgian England.

MAYFLOWER TRAIL AND PILGRIM FATHERS

In 1620 a vessel named The Mayflower sailed from England for the New World; its passengers in search of new beginnings and religious tolerance. They have become known as the Pilgrims and will forever be a treasured part of American history. Our tour explores the origins of their remarkable story, as we return to the villages of Nottinghamshire where Separatist philosophy took hold and inspired the first leaders of the Pilgrim movement. Travelling across England, we visit Churches, monuments and museums of great significance to those early American settlers, including the site of their historic departure from the quayside in Portsmouth. We also offer tour extensions to Holland, where William Brewster first hoped to establish a permanent community in the freethinking town of Leiden.

ST AUGUSTINE

Sent by Pope Gregory to re-establish Christianity in England after the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, Augustine founded the Christian Church in southern England and was the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Supported by King Ethelbert of Kent and Queen Bertha, Augustine gradually introduced Christianity by consecrating pagan temples for Christian worship and converting festivals into martyrs’ feast days. Follow Augustine’s route, back then fraught with danger, along the south coast. Canterbury, a picturesque city of cobbled streets, dominated by the impressive Gothic Cathedral on the site of Augustine’s original Cathedral. St Augustine’s Abbey, which Augustine built as the burial place for the Kings and Archbishops of Kent and St Martin’s Church, where he met Ethelbert. On through the beautiful Kent countryside taking in other important locations including Ramsgate where Augustine landed, Reculver where he built a church and pretty Chilham where he was buried.