Mexico City: Our Lady of Guadalupe & Surrounding Holy Sites

Day 1: Depart for Mexico
Depart USA for Mexico City, Mexico. Arrive at Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City, and upon arrival, proceed to Baggage Claim and then to the Arrivals Hall. Here you will be greeted by our local Trinity Tour Travels guide and driver, who will accompany you throughout the pilgrimage. After check-in at the hotel, you will have a brief time to unpack and relax prior to celebrating a Mass of Thanksgiving for travel mercies. Dinner and overnight in Mexico City.

Day 2: Our Lady of Guadalupe  |  Tepeyac Hill
Following breakfast at the hotel, we depart for the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Holy Mass is celebrated here on this day. We venerate the Tilma, which remains exactly how it was presented to Juan Diego centuries ago. We tour the grounds of Tepeyac Hill, beginning with a charming museum that hosts a collection of paintings and colonial religious art created by pilgrims in gratitude and thanksgiving for miracles granted. We ascend Tepeyac Hill to visit the Capilla del Cerrito, the original chapel on the exact site of the apparitions of Our Lady to Juan Diego in 1531. Walking up the small hills of the Tepeyac Garden, we view its beautiful statues, which depict the unity of the Aztec people with the Spanish Christian Mission. A visit to the Chapel of the Indians completes the Tepeyac Hill tour. After lunch at a nearby restaurant, we drive to Chapultepec Park to visit the National Museum of Anthropology, which contains the world's largest collection of ancient Mexican indigenous art, including the Sun Stone or Aztec Calendar. By bus, we see a number of historical sites during the driving portion of our tour. Dinner and overnight in Mexico City.

Day 3: Mexico City   |  Zocalo Plaza
After breakfast at the hotel, we visit the historical and impressive archaeological center of Mexico to celebrate Mass at Santo Domingo Church, which houses two shrines: Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of Cavadonga, the headquarters of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. Following Mass, we drive past the National Palace, continuing to Zocalo Plaza, where we visit the largest and oldest cathedral in all of Latin America, the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. It is here where Juan Diego’s bishop, the first bishop and archbishop of Mexico, Juan de Zumárraga, is buried. We continue our walking tour, passing the Palace of the Archbishop, where Juan Diego unfurled his tilma and Castilian roses fell to the ground before the bishop and the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary appeared on his cloak (Miracle of the Roses). Our special day concludes with a visit to the home of Mariachi Music, Garibaldi Square. Mariachi Bands, dinner and overnight in Mexico City.

Day 4: Tlaxcala  |  Our Lady of Ocotlan  |   Puebla
Following an early breakfast at the hotel, we depart by bus to Tlaxcala, the smallest of Mexico's states, for the celebration of Mass at the Shrine of San Miguel del Milagro. This is the site of apparitions of St. Michael the Archangel, as well as the spring of curative waters blessed by St. Michael. We drive to Tlaxcala City to visit the unforgettable Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Ocotlan. Also known as the "Place of the Burning Oak," tradition holds that it is here where the Blessed Virgin Mary miraculously caused her image to be burned into a tree. This afternoon, we travel on to enjoy what is known as Mexico's most beautiful city, Puebla. Situated at an elevation of 7,000 feet near Mexico's snow-capped peaks, Puebla is well known for its beautiful churches and its hand-painted tiles, or "Talavera." While in Puebla, we visit Santo Domingo Church, where we stop at its spectacular Chapel of the Rosary, followed by a visit to Puebla Cathedral, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. Prior to dinner with the group, there will be free time for strolling and shopping in the many quaint shops in this charming city. Our day in Puebla concludes with dinner at a local restaurant. We return by bus to the hotel. Overnight in Mexico City.

Day 5: Tlatelolco  |  Tulpetlac  |   Teotihuacan
Breakfast at the hotel followed by a drive to the Square of the Three Cultures in Tlateloloco, where we celebrate Mass at St. James Church, the site of Juan Diego’s baptism. We travel to Tulpetlac to visit the Shrine of the fifth apparition, where Juan Diego’s uncle, San Bernardino, experienced his own apparition of Our Lady. Behind the altar is a tiny chapel that houses the original spring from San Bernardino’s home. We continue by bus to Teotihuacan to visit (and climb!) the incredible ruins of the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon. We return to Mexico City for a special Farewell Dinner, “Fiesta Mexicana." Overnight for our last night in Mexico City.

Day 6: Mexico City  |  USA
Following breakfast this morning, we check out of the hotel and enjoy a final visit to the Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (flight schedule permitting). We bid farewell to this deeply historic city where Our Lady, Patroness of the Americas, appeared to unite her children, the Aztec and Spanish people, and where millions were converted to the truth of the incarnation.
We travel to the airport and although our pilgrimage ends, its blessings and our memories will last a lifetime. May our pilgrimage serve to draw us even closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of His Mother and ours, the Blessed Virgin Mary (La Morenita)!