For the 2025 Rome Jubilee, I am offering six pilgrimages. All include Rome, of course, some will include Assisi, Loreto, Lanciano, Manoppello, or Orvieto. I’m doing an off season pilgrimage, a Lenten one, a Holy Week pilgrimage, a few in October, and one over Thanksgiving. Details are linked below.
Some estimates are saying we should expect 39 million extra visitors to Rome in 2025.
Just to add some perspective to that number…
Rounding down, and pretending that the numbers will be evenly spread throughout the year (they won’t), that’s around 700,000 additional people in Rome each week. For those who have been to Rome, a typical Wednesday Papal Audience has around 20,000 people (those are official numbers). Now imagine an extra 700,000 people. If you’ve ever been to Rome for Easter Sunday Mass, the biggest Papal Mass of the year, the official average number of attendees is 60,000. And for those who have been herded through the Vatican Museums, they get around 30,000 visitors per day. Now again, think about an extra 700,000 Catholics each week. Fun!
The Holy Year will be full of graces and an amazing experience for everyone who visits. But it is important to be mindful of the numbers expected so you don’t show up thinking you’ll have Rome all to yourself.
With the exception of my Holy Week pilgrimage, I designed my 2025 trips to hopefully avoid the most crowded times.
If you want to completely avoid Rome next year, I am also offering my usual itineraries outside of Italy, which you can find here.
All pilgrimages go on sale for Patrons and Paid Substack Subscribers tomorrow, Tuesday, November 26th. Times are staggered and listed on the page for each trip. The trips open for everyone else on the 27th.
I never know how quickly a trip will fill up, but most of my trips have sold out in minutes the last few years, with some selling out in under a minute. But I’ve never launched multiple trips at once, so maybe these will go slower. Who knows.
Rome, Just Rome: Off Season Edition
This is your chance to experience the Rome Jubilee (hopefully) before the estimated 39 million pilgrims arrive. January is typically one of the quietest months of the year, the Christmas crowds are gone and the Easter and summer crowds have not yet arrived. While the temps are chilly for Rome (55ºF / 38ºF) most days have those perfect Roman blue skies.
January 18th – 24th, 2025
On sale November 26th → Details here
Lenten Rome and Assisi
If you’ve been with me for any amount of time, you know I love the Lenten Station Churches of Rome. And that’s why this pilgrimage has become one of my favorites. Each day in Rome we will experience the ancient tradition of visiting some of the oldest churches in the city, on their “station” day. I picked these dates to include some of my favorites… San Clemente (which has a beautiful procession beginning centuries below the current streets of Rome), Santa Cecilia (you can expect some lovely music tonight), Santa Maria in Trastevere (possibly the first place Holy Mass was celebrated in Rome), Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls (the burial place of Saint Laurence and Saint Stephen), San Marco (where Mark wrote his Gospel), and Santa Pudenziana (where Peter started his ministry in Rome). We will break up our time in Rome with three nights in Assisi.
March 17th – 26th, 2025
On sale November 26th → Details here
Holy Week in Rome
After decades of having Holy Week in Rome all to myself, I started offering this pilgrimage just two years ago and last year’s sold out in under a minute. We begin with a few Lenten Station Churches, including a chapel that’s only open a few minutes a year, attend Palm Sunday Mass with the Holy Father, head to Assisi for a few nights, returning to Rome for the Holy Thursday walk across the city to visit as many Altars of Repose as we can before … pizza around midnight. You’ll have a chance to venerate the True Cross on Good Friday, and for those looking for more crowds, you can attend Stations of the Cross with the Holy Father outside the Colosseum. We end our pilgrimage with Holy Mass in Saint Peter’s Square with the Holy Father, followed by a huge Easter pranzo at one of my favorite restaurants.
April 11th – 21st, 2025
On sale November 26th → Details here
October Rome and Assisi
October is one of my favorite times to visit Rome – which is why I’m offering two opportunities for you to visit! The scorching hot summer becomes fall almost overnight, the leaves are changing, and the crowds are (typically) more manageable.
In addition to six nights in Rome, we also have three nights in Assisi, one night in Loreto, and a stop in Lanciano and Manoppello.
October 7th – 17th, 2025
On sale November 26th → Details here
October 21st – 31st, 2025
On sale November 26th → Details here
Thanksgiving in Rome
I have to be honest, when I first offered a Thanksgiving pilgrimage, I thought I’d just be traveling alone. But there are a lot of people who like to be away from home for Thanksgiving. So now I am loving celebrating Thanksgiving with my family of Catholic Travelers. 🧡
In Rome, one of my favorite restaurants goes all out to make this holiday special for my groups.
November 18th – 28th, 2025
On sale November 26th → Details here