Fátima Tours in Fall

Dianna the tour guide and Paulo the motor coach driver were excellent. The accommodations were good -no AC in 2 hotels- really need that, good otherwise. All sites were incredible. . To be present at three different locations in the world where the Virgin Mary appeared was very inspiring.

The excellent customer service provided by our tour manager, Diane Very persinable, cheerful personality, accesible to whatever concerns we had. And quickly and easily resolved a problem 2 friends had that could have affected them not only to continue the tour but to return to the US. In detail, after leaving our hotel in Portugal, friends forgot their valuables in the safe; ie, passport, credit cards, cash. Items were removed and shipped to Barcelona in time. Excellent service to what couldnhave been a very difficult situation as it would have been not.to have the passports. I would gladly travel again with Diane and with Collette Tours and highly recommend them.

The water gesture at Lourdes was amazing! Maria was a wonderful tour manager. She went above and beyond setting up tours and giving us history of each area.

The highlights of the trip were Fatima, Lourdes and Barcelona. The flight from Boston to Zurich was not very comfortable at all. The approach to solving our flight from Zurich to Portugal was disconcerting. A call was placed to the emergency number for Collette and we waited for a call back. Father Ray had to solve the issue of getting 40 people to Portugal on his own. Very stressful for both Father Ray and the rest of the pilgrims.

I have been on many Collette tours, and I would say, while I enjoyed this tour, there were a couple of details that were disappointing, and I found to be outside the norm for a Collette tour. First - the excellent. Collette never disappoints when it comes to the location of the accommodations. We were always within quick walking distance to the highlights of the tour - Fatima and Lourdes especially. Barcelona accommodations were in an excellent place albeit not close to the historical city. The location in Barcelona still provided us ample options for dining. The local tour guides were outstanding as they have always been. They provide color and depth to the history of each place and that is greatly appreciated. Lourdes was a majestic place, and we were provided ample time to take it all in. Unfortunately, our tour manager was not what I have come to expect with a Collette tour. While a very pleasant person, there were times she was not clear with her communication or directions which created confusion with the large group. I was disappointed in the optional tour to Lisbon. We did not have a local guide, and our tour manager was not informative in an interesting way to learn about the history of Lisbon as a local guide may have provided. It felt very much like we were just walking/driving through a large city.

Our tour director, Diana Camacho, was the best part of our pilgrimage! She was amazingly dedicated and helpful to our entire group throughout the tour. Trip highlights included Shrines at Fatima and Lourdes, and Burgos was beautiful! Low points were the long bus rides between cities. 8 hours on a bus is too long. Hotels were good except for the Mercure in Lourdes; the Occidental in Barcelona was outstanding.