Diocesan Pilgrimages

Your own clergy lead it

A diocesan pilgrimage travels with its own bishop and priests, so Mass is celebrated for the group each day and confessions are heard along the way. We arrange the times and the churches with each shrine before you travel.

Built at diocesan scale

Several hundred pilgrims across many coaches is a size we run every year. Each coach keeps its own guide and escort, the group worships together, and the itinerary is built so the whole diocese moves without the day turning into logistics.

One diocese, one pilgrimage

Parishes from across the diocese travel as one group on one itinerary, with a Canterbury tour manager on the ground throughout and a local guide at each site. Dates are set around the diocesan calendar rather than a fixed departure.

The first conversation

You tell us roughly where the diocese wants to go, when, and how many you expect. We build a draft itinerary and a price from that, with no deposit and no commitment until the plan is right.How it works →

Promotion across the diocese

Every trip gets its own brochure and we mail 250 printed copies to the leader, with sample bulletin text and an email ready to send to every parish. Bulletin graphics are made on request.Promoting it in the parishes →

Registrations and payments

Canterbury takes the registrations, the deposits and the balances directly from each pilgrim, so no parish office and no diocesan office is collecting cheques or chasing payments.Common questions →

The leader travels free

At the group size shown on your proposal the leader’s place is complimentary. The threshold is written on the proposal from the start rather than discovered later. How the free place works →

A Canterbury escort on the ground

A tour manager travels with the group for the whole pilgrimage, with local guides at each site, so your clergy can be priests to their people rather than tour leaders.What a pilgrimage is like →

A different kind of group?

We build the same trip for a parish, a school, a youth group, a lay organisation, or a seminary or religious community. We also build pilgrimages to mark a priest’s anniversary. Tell us what the group is and we will build around it.

Your diocese travels on its own dates.

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.

How large a group can you run?

Several hundred pilgrims across many coaches is a size we run every year, and the itinerary is built for that scale rather than stretched to fit it. Tell us the number you expect and we will build to it.

Can parishes join individually?

Yes. A diocesan pilgrimage is usually opened to every parish, and each pilgrim registers and pays Canterbury directly, so the parishes are not collecting money on our behalf.

How far ahead should we start?

Most diocesan groups start further out than a single parish would, because the number of travellers and the number of parishes to reach both take time. Eight to thirteen months is the usual window, and the longer end is safer.

Who collects the money?

We do. Each pilgrim registers and pays Canterbury directly, so no parish office and no diocesan office is handling deposits, balances or refunds.

Can you build a diocesan pilgrimage anywhere?

Yes, that is most of what we do. Tell us your dates, roughly how many travellers, and where the diocese would most like to go, and we will build it around that.