A meaningful tour to complete visiting the holy doors on Rome (other than St. Peter’s) - We already had a tour which included St. Peter’s Basilica. My daughter and I actually registered with the Vatican website to note our chosen dates/schedules to enter the other open holy doors within the period of our stay in Rome (St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran). I thought of taking Uber rides to get to these places. I think this still would have been possible and much cheaper. It would’ve taken longer and if you can research about these places and don’t mind taking a longer time to go through these, I think you’ll be fine. Since this was our first family trip in Europe together, since we had provision for this tour, I decided to book it for the convenience of being picked up, driven around without worries, have the chance to go through the open holy doors of St Mary Major, St. John Lateran (such a blessed experience I am grateful for during this pilgrimage of our family in this Jubilee year) on January 3 (our chosen tour date) and visit the basilica and holy door of St. Paul outside the walls (holy door would be open Jan 5 but we would not be in Rome then anymore). I appreciated our Tour leader Tatiana for the highlights she shared with us. Loved knowing about the images of all 266 popes painted in St. Paul, of the Easter Candle, of the reconstruction of the basilica and how this was once the largest basilica in the world and that it’s now the 4th), learning about St. Stephen (the first Christian martyr), St Lawrence (the first Roman Christian), the reason behind why St. Paul was beheaded and St. Peter crucified. Amazed knowing about the bodies of St. Paul and St. Peter buried there. Amazed knowing about and seeing the encased wood relics from the crib of Jesus in St. Mary Major. Grateful to learn about the first Jubilee (1300), held every 100 years, then every 50 years, then every 25 years. Learned how popes were enthroned at St. John Lateran and how this Church is the oldest public church in Rome. Thank you, Tatiana! It would’ve been nice if time was managed so that we could have spent more time in St. Mary Major and in St. John Lateran compared to the time we spent in St. Paul outside the walls. This tour definitely made our trip a meaningful pilgrimage. Grateful also that Tatiana was kind enough to take our family photo in each siteThank you also, Paul, for driving for us. ❤️ Grateful also for Viator accommodating that we be picked up /dropped off at our hotel which was not among the pick-up locations in the Viator app. Thank you, Lord, for this pilgrimage experience for our family!

Way beyond any expectation - Having an archeologist as a tour guide was beyond any expectation! John Carlo shared his knowledge and helped us understand the history behind the details. What an incredible experience. He was as kind and respectful as knowledgeable.

A Must See - The basilicas were so beautiful and filled with so much history. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. Well worth the money.