In the Footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI

 
Itinerary

1. Day
…in the early morning arrival in Munich where you will meet you tour guide. Drive through a scenic landscape of the Bavarian Alps to Altötting, most important shrine of Mary and pilgrimage centre in Southern Germany. Check in into hotel for three nights. D

2. Day
Altötting: In the morning possibility of participating in the holy mass in the basilica St. Anna. City tour on foot through the pilgrimage centre and its famous Gnadenkapelle (Chapel of the Miraculous Image). This is a tiny octagonal chapel which keeps a venerated statue of the Virgin Mary and is visited by over 1 million pilgrims per year. We continue on to the twin-towered Stiftskirche with its treasury; to the Jerusalem Panorama of Christ's Crucifixion from 1903 and the Pilgrimage and Local Heritage Museum and a Diorama show. In the afternoon excursion to Marktl, often called Marktl am Inn ("Little Market on the Inn River"), the birthplace of the current Pope Benedict XVI. You will visit his birthhouse which now houses a museum and his baptistery. Return to Altötting. B/D

3. Day
In the morning possibility of participating in the holy mass in the abbey church St. Conrad. Leisure time. In the afternoon excursion to Burghausen on the river Salzach with the impressive fortress, the longest in Europe. Return to Altötting. In the evening you will be able to pray the rosary in the Chapel of the Miraculous Image. B/D

4. Day
In the morning participation in the holy mass. Afterward you continue on to Raitenhaslach: you will visit the Cistercian Abbey with its splendid baroque church and this extensive monastic complex, along with its art treasures and its inn. Not far away, you'll find the steep flank of Marienberg upon which rises the rococo Pilgrimage Church Maria Himmelfahrt. Then onwards to Tittmoning which preserved much of its original appearance, including an impressive fortress. The town became the Ratzinger family's home from 1929 on and "…has remained the dreamland of my childhood." You will have a city tour and visit the town square with its fine fountain; Gates and ancient townhouses, the Augustinian baroque abbey church, the Ratzinger family's home place - the so-called Stubenrauchhaus and the Pilgrimage Church of Maria Brunn. In the afternoon on the way to Traunstein you stop in Taching at St. Coloman Church and enjoy the extensive hilly landscape until to the Chiemgau Alps. Arrive in Traunstein and check in into our hotel for three nights. B/D

5. Day
Traunstein: Sightseeing tour through the "Father town" of Pope Benedikt XVI. "After much wandering, we finally found our true home here, a place to which I often return happily in memory" as he wrote. See the town square with its Lindl fountain, Pope Benedikdt's St. Michael's study seminary, the Parish Church of St. Oswald, where the Ratzinger brothers celebrated their First Mass after their ordination to the priesthood, former Salt Works in the district Au (a construction dating from the salt pipeline between Bad Reichenhall and Traunstein in 1617 – 1619) with its Salt and the former Parish Church of Hufschlag. B/D

6. Day
This morning after breakfast, you board your motor coach and head to Salzburg. Here at the city of Mozart you take a half-day tour which includes the Funicular, Hohensalzburg Fortress Courtyards and Museum, and Mozart's birthplace (Geburtshaus). Return to Traunstein. B/D

7. Day
After breakfast you will leave to Lake Chiemsee, which features a spectacular creation of King Ludwig II – Herrenchiemsee Castle. Situated in the centre of the lake, on 'Herreninsel', the castle was supposed to become the "new Versailles". Then continue on to Munich, the Bavarian capital where Ratzinger was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977. Sightseeing tour by bus and on foot: You will see the Palais Holnstein - his residence as the Archbishop and the historic old city with its famous buildings and squares, such as Marienplatz with the town hall, the Frauenkirche church with its distinctive onion-topped towers, and the Nymphenburg Palace, baroque residence of the Bavarian kings. Check in into our hotel for one night. B/D

8. Day
You will be transferred to the airport and fly home.