Fátima Tours in October 2025

Philpa was amazing! Yes we got delayed the first. But for my first time in Europe Philppa helped us enjoy every moment. I can’t thank her enough. Her understanding of her know Fátima, then knowing to get help with other guides for other places that greatly understood the other places was made the experience more. I have told everyone in my church and family of faith to go on this trip. It truly is a life changing.

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.

You would think that so many sites in one day is not possible, but it is possible in this more than full day trip. Our guide/driver (Joao/John) would give some background information in the car before arrival at a site and explain the main things to see once there. After that there was enough time to walk around on your own, take pictures etc. He was always willing to answer questions and is a good driver. The sites are very impressive, each in their own way. After all the churches, chapels and monasteries, the medieval town of bidos is a very nice final stop. We were only 4 people on the tour, so almost private. Very good deal for the price.

I particularly liked Lourdes and the Grotto for my personal experience. Fatima was interesting too. The EXPERT tour guides were very knowledgeable and kind. Most of the dinners were wonderful. Enjoyed the shopping (but not much time to do so). The Gothic quarters extra excursion and dinner were poor. Cathedral was closed. Tour guide pushy, arrogant and uninformed. Montserrat mountains were amazing. No time to take the cable cars through them and only 20 minutes to shop use the rest room and grab some lunch.