Where Paul preached
Athens & the Areopagus
Mars Hill, where Paul stood before the philosophers and preached to them about an unknown god, with the Acropolis directly above and the Agora below.
Destinations / Greece, Sicily & Malta
following St. Paul by sea
In the Footsteps
of St. Paul
Greece, Sicily and Malta — the sea roads the Apostle travelled, and the churches he left behind.
St. Paul crossed this sea four times and was shipwrecked once. Almost everything we know about how the Church spread out of Jerusalem happened on these coasts, and most of it is still visible.
A ProRome pilgrimage here follows the Acts of the Apostles as a route rather than a text. In Greece: Philippi, where Lydia became the first European convert and Paul was jailed; Thessaloniki and Beroea; and Athens, where he stood on the Areopagus and preached to the philosophers about an unknown god.
The sea road continues west. Malta is where the ship broke apart in Acts 27 — St. Paul’s Grotto and the bay are both still venerated. Sicily holds Siracusa, where he stopped for three days, the golden mosaics of Monreale, and the shrine of Our Lady of Tears. Groups often finish in Rome, where the road ended for him.
9–11
Nights Abroad
Recommended
Daily
Mass at
Sacred Sites
3
Lodging Styles
To Choose From
25–500+
Pilgrims
Per Group
Where You Will Pray
The places that make a St. Paul pilgrimage
The monasteries in the air
Meteora
Monasteries built on rock pillars hundreds of feet above the Thessalian plain, reached by cut stair and once by rope basket. Six of the original twenty-four survive.
Monastic Greece
Varlaam & Rousanou
The classic view below the Great Meteoron, looking down past Varlaam to Rousanou. Mass is arranged at one of the houses for most groups.
St. Paul the Apostle
Malta
Where the ship broke apart in Acts 27. Valletta above the Grand Harbour, St. John’s Co-Cathedral and its Caravaggio, and the bay that still carries his name.
St. Publius
Mdina
The old walled capital, and the cathedral built where tradition places the house of Publius — the Roman governor who received Paul and was made the island’s first bishop.
Our Lady of Tears · St. Lucy
Sicily
Siracusa, where Paul stayed three days, the golden mosaics of Monreale, the shrine of Our Lady of Tears, and Etna above it all.
The Ground You Cover
The sea roads of St. Paul
Click any marker to see what is there and how long groups usually stay.
Legend
- Greece
- Sicily & Malta
Nowhere is off limits
These are the sites groups ask for most — not a list of where we can go. Ephesus, Patmos, Cyprus and the Aegean islands all sit on the same road. If there is a place your group cares about, tell us and we will build the road to it.
A Sample Nine Nights
Greece, north to south
Nine nights covers Greece well — arriving in Thessaloniki, working south through Meteora and Delphi to Athens, following Paul’s own direction of travel.
Day 1
Depart the United States
Overnight flight to Athens or Thessaloniki.
Day 2
Arrive in Thessaloniki
Transfer, opening Mass, and the basilica of St. Demetrius in the afternoon.
Day 3
Philippi and Kavala
The riverbank where Lydia was baptised, the prison, the forum, and the harbour where Paul landed in Europe.
Day 4
Beroea and south
The synagogue city of Acts 17, then the road south towards Thessaly.
Day 5
Meteora
Mass at one of the monasteries, and the climb between the rock pillars.
Day 6
Meteora to Delphi
South through the mountains to the oracle, and an evening in the hills.
Day 7
On to Athens
Arrival in the capital, and a first evening below the Acropolis.
Day 8
The Areopagus
Mass, then Mars Hill where Paul preached, the Acropolis, and the Agora.
Day 9
Corinth
A day trip west — the bema where Paul stood trial, the canal, and the ruins of the city he wrote to twice.
Day 10
Athens, at your own pace
A free morning, closing Mass, and a group dinner in the Plaka.
Day 11
Return home
Transfer to Athens airport, with your tour manager through to the gate.
This is a starting point, not a package. Groups regularly continue west to Malta and Sicily, add an Aegean cruise for Patmos and Ephesus, or finish in Rome where Paul’s road ended.
What it costs
$3,000–$3,500
Student groups · per pilgrim, land only
$3,800–$4,500
Adult groups · per pilgrim, land only
Both ranges are all-inclusive on the ground and vary with the season you travel. Airfare is quoted separately — see the FAQ below for how that works.
- Lodging matched to your group — religious guesthouse, four-star hotel, or five-star
- Daily breakfast and most dinners
- Private motorcoach and all ground transfers
- Catholic guides throughout
- All entrance fees and site reservations
- Daily Mass arranged and reserved
- A ProRome tour manager for the full trip
Where you stay
Religious guesthouses. Malta and Sicily both have houses run by orders, several of them inside the historic walls of Mdina and Siracusa. Greece has fewer Catholic guesthouses, and most groups there stay in hotels.
Four-star hotels. More space, more amenities, and the option most parish groups choose.
Five-star. For groups who want it, we build it — and we will tell you honestly what it adds and what it does not.
The choice is yours on every pilgrimage, and it moves the price more than any other decision.
When to go
April to early June and late September to October are the best windows — warm, clear, and the sites uncrowded.
July and August are very hot across all three, particularly at the Greek archaeological sites where there is no shade.
Winter is mild in Malta and Sicily and a genuinely good time to visit. Greece is wetter and some sites shorten hours.
10 February, the feast of the Shipwreck of St. Paul, is a public holiday in Malta and worth building around.
What Sets Us Apart
Your guide is a missionary, not a tour guide
ProRome guides are trained missionaries with degrees from Catholic universities. They are not working from a script, and they are not reciting dates from a plaque.
Acts is a travel narrative, and a guide who can read it against the ground — where the harbour actually was, how far Paul walked, why the Areopagus mattered — turns a set of ruins into the story your group came for.
Common Questions
Planning a St. Paul pilgrimage
Should we do Greece, or Sicily and Malta, or all three?
Nine nights covers Greece properly on its own, and it is the fullest version of the Acts narrative. Sicily and Malta together make a separate ten to twelve night pilgrimage with a very different feel — Norman, Baroque, and Mediterranean rather than classical. Groups with fourteen nights sometimes do Greece and then sail west, finishing in Rome.
Is this a cruise?
Not usually. We run these as land pilgrimages with private coaches, because a cruise gives you a few hours ashore at each site and no possibility of Mass at the places that matter. Where an island genuinely needs a boat — Patmos, or crossing to Malta — we build it in.
How much does this pilgrimage cost?
Student groups typically run $3,000 to $3,500 per pilgrim and adult groups $3,800 to $4,500, land only and all-inclusive on the ground, varying with the season. Airfare is quoted separately because airlines do not release group fares until roughly eleven months before your return date.
Where do groups stay?
That is your choice. Malta and Sicily both have houses run by orders, several inside the walls of Mdina and Siracusa. Greece has fewer Catholic guesthouses and most groups there choose four-star hotels. Five-star itineraries are available throughout.
Can our priest offer Mass in Greece?
Yes. Greece is overwhelmingly Orthodox, but there are Catholic parishes in Athens, Thessaloniki and the larger towns, and we arrange Mass daily. At some sites we celebrate outdoors — Mass on the hillside at Philippi is one many groups remember.
What is there to see on Malta?
More than most people expect from an island that size. St. Paul’s Grotto at Rabat where the Apostle is said to have stayed, the bay where the ship broke apart, Mdina the old walled capital, and St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, which holds Caravaggio’s Beheading of St. John the Baptist.
How far in advance should we start planning?
Twelve to eighteen months. Spring and autumn lodging in Greece and Sicily is the constraint, and the Malta shipwreck feast in February fills the island.
How does airfare work?
Airlines do not release group fares until roughly eleven months before your return date, so airfare is quoted separately from the land price. That gives you two ways to launch. You can launch land-only now, start registering pilgrims at the land price, and add airfare once it opens — the usual choice when a group wants a long recruiting window. Or you can wait until the eleven-month mark, let us contract the air, and launch one all-inclusive price, which is simpler for pilgrims but shortens the time you have to fill the trip. We will tell you which fits your group when we talk.
Let’s build your St. Paul pilgrimage
Tell us your group, your dates, and what is on your parish’s heart. We will come back with an itinerary and a price — no obligation, and no template.
Request a Custom Proposal →