School Pilgrimages

Built to the school calendar

Spring break, the weeks after examinations and the summer are the windows most schools can use, and they are the windows that fill first. We build the itinerary to the dates your calendar allows rather than asking the school to fit a fixed departure.

Chaperone ratios and safeguarding

We build to the chaperone ratio your school and diocese require rather than setting one of our own, and rooming is arranged to match your safeguarding policy. Tell us both at the first conversation and we work to them.

It counts as formation

Daily Mass, confession and time for prayer stay in the itinerary, with your chaplain celebrating where you send one. The sites are taught as well as visited, with a local guide at each and a Canterbury tour manager on the ground throughout.

The first conversation

You tell us roughly where the school wants to go, which window in the calendar, and how many students and staff 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 to parents

Every trip gets its own brochure and we mail 250 printed copies to the leader, with sample text for the school newsletter and an email ready to send to parents. Graphics are made on request.How to promote it →

Registrations and payments

Canterbury takes the registrations, the deposits and the balances directly from each family, so the school office is not collecting cheques or chasing payments.Common questions →

Staff places are complimentary

At the group size shown on your proposal the leader’s place is complimentary, and larger groups earn more. 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 staff can supervise the students rather than run the logistics.What a pilgrimage is like →

A different kind of group?

We build the same trip for a parish, a diocese, 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 school 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.

Which part of the year works best?

Spring break and the weeks after examinations are the two windows most schools use, with summer behind them. All three fill early, so the date usually decides how far ahead you need to start rather than the other way round.

What chaperone ratio do you work to?

Yours. We build to the ratio your school and diocese require rather than setting one, and rooming is arranged to match your safeguarding policy.

How far ahead should we start?

Most school groups start eight to thirteen months out. The calendar narrows the dates to a few weeks a year, so the earlier end of that window matters more here than almost anywhere else.

Who collects the money?

We do. Each family registers and pays Canterbury directly, so the school office is not handling deposits, balances or refunds.

Can you build a school pilgrimage anywhere?

Yes, that is most of what we do. Tell us your window in the calendar, the ages travelling, roughly how many, and where the school would most like to go.