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Upcoming departures to England and Scotland. Each group has its own host, dates, and itinerary.
Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury, and Henry II’s former friend, when he was cut down in his own cathedral in 1170 by four knights who took the king’s exasperation for an instruction. He was canonised within three years. The place where he fell is marked, and it is still where pilgrims come to stand.
Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to England at the end of the sixth century. He landed in Kent, was received by King Ethelbert, and founded the abbey that carries his name. Canterbury has been the seat of the English primacy ever since, which is why a murder here mattered to the whole of Europe rather than only to England.
The old road from Winchester to Canterbury carried pilgrims to Becket’s shrine for centuries. Chaucer’s company in the Canterbury Tales rode the other great approach, out of London by way of Rochester. Groups who would rather walk a stretch of it than arrive by coach should say so when they inquire, and we will build it in.
Canterbury falls on day four. The morning is at the white cliffs and Dover Castle, then back to Canterbury for Mass at St. Dunstan’s, then the cathedral. The rest of the route runs through Aylesford, Cambridge, Ely, Walsingham, Kidderminster, Birmingham, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford and London. View the full itinerary →
One filed route reaches Canterbury as part of a wider English pilgrimage. Parishes and groups who want Canterbury and Kent as the whole trip, at their own pace, are exactly what the inquiry form below is for.
Tell us the window you have in mind and we will build the itinerary around it: the time you have, and the places that matter most to your pilgrims.
Every pilgrim in your group gets the app. Their itinerary, hotels and flights, the prayers of the day and a way to reach one another, all in one place and kept current as the pilgrimage unfolds.
Your whole group in one thread, so a change of plan reaches everyone at once.
The full day-by-day schedule, always current, in every pilgrim’s pocket.
Where the group is staying each night, with addresses and dates.
Flight details kept alongside everything else, not in a separate email.
The prayers of the day, including the Liturgy of the Hours.
A keepsake record of the shrines your group visits along the way.
Times and meeting points pushed to everyone the moment they change.
“They’re big enough to handle any problem that arises, and small enough to craft truly unique experiences.”
Chris StefanickNo. The cathedral has been Church of England since the Reformation, and pilgrims visit it as the site of the martyrdom rather than for Mass. Our groups celebrate Mass in Canterbury by arrangement, not in the cathedral. On the English Shrines and Martyrs route the itinerary names St. Dunstan’s, the church that holds the head of St. Thomas More.
Yes. Daily Mass is built into the itinerary, and we arrange times and locations in advance with each church. Your priest should travel with a celebret or letter of good standing from his bishop or superior. We handle the scheduling.
United States citizens need a passport and do not need a visa for a short stay, but every traveller must obtain a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation before departure. Each pilgrim, including children, applies through the UK ETA app or gov.uk, currently 20 GBP, usually approved within minutes and valid for two years or until the passport expires. It is an entry requirement rather than part of the tour package.
Tell us when you inquire. It is not part of the standard coach route, and whether a walking stretch fits depends on your group and the length of the trip.
Yes, that is most of what we do. Tell us your dates, roughly how many travellers, and whether Canterbury is the whole trip or the start of a wider English pilgrimage.
A pilgrimage consultant replies within one business day. No deposit or commitment.