Scheduled flights from London Heathrow, Gatwick, Glasgow, Bristol or East Midlands Airports. On arrival at Rome Airport transfer by coach to our guesthouse, the Casa S. Maria Alle Fornaci, situated near to St Peter’s Basilica. Before dinner in a local restaurant we walk to St Peter’s Square to see the Christmas tree and the crib.

Our first visit this morning is to the Colosseum. Afterwards we walk down the Via dei Fori Imperiali, visiting on our way, the Church of Ss. Cosmos and Damian, where there is a magnificent crib, and ending up at the Church of Ara Coeli, next to the Campidoglio where we see the Santo Bambino (Holy Child), which is placed in a special crib. After a light lunch in a local restaurant, we visit the famous Christmas market in the Piazza Navona. Dinner will be in the guesthouse.

This morning we drive to the Piazza del Popolo, to visit the exhibition of cribs at the Church of S. Maria del Popolo. Walk up to the Pincio Gardens to get the wonderful view of Rome, see the ice rink and the hot-air balloon (if you want a ride in it, this will cost you extra). Lunch is included today in a local restaurant near to the Piazza del Popolo, and the afternoon will be at leisure for you to wander down Via del Corso and see the shops, or go down Via del Babuino to the Spanish Steps. Dinner will be in the guesthouse. Arrangements have been made to attend Midnight Mass in St Peter’s Basilica (You may be seated in St Peter’s Square).

Those who wish may attend Mass of Christmas Day at St Peter’s at which the Holy Father will preside. Afterwards we drive for a festive Christmas lunch at L’Eau Vive restaurant, run by an order of Belgian Missionary Sisters, who will serenade us with Christmas carols. To work off our lunch, we will take a gentle stroll back across the Tiber to our guesthouse. Dinner will be in a local restaurant tonight.

In the morning we attend Mass in the Basilica of St Mary Major. Afterwards we leave by coach for the Rieti or ‘holy’ Valley, where St Francis established several communities in his lifetime and where he spent much of the last two years of his life. We have lunch at a hotel in Rieti before driving to the Sanctuary of Greccio, where on Christmas Eve 1223, St Francis wanted to celebrate the feast as vividly as possible, bringing home to everyone the circumstances of Christ’s birth. And so, he had enacted the first Nativity tableau and during this scene a nobleman follower saw Christ as a baby in a manger. Weather permitting we attend the live tableau in the woods followed by dinner. Overnight in Rieti.

After breakfast we return to Greccio to visit the Sanctuary where, apart from the cave of the crib, we can visit the kitchen, refectory, chapel and dormitory that were built for and used by St Francis and his followers. The modern church houses a collection of cribs of all kinds. Afterwards we have lunch in the village of Greccio before we transfer to Rome Airport for the return flight to the UK.