Youth Pilgrimages

Built for the age group

The pace, the walking and the free time are set for young people rather than trimmed down from an adult itinerary, and the days are built so there is something to do as well as something to see.

Chaperones and supervision

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

A pilgrimage, not a tour

Daily Mass, confession and time for prayer stay in the itinerary, with a priest travelling with the group where you have one. A Canterbury tour manager is on the ground throughout and a local guide meets the group at each site.

The first conversation

You tell us roughly where the group wants to go, when, and how many young people and adults 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 families

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 parents. Bulletin 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 parish or school office is not 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 chaperones can look after the young people 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 school, 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 group 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.

What ages do you take?

Tell us the age range and we build to it. A high school group, a confirmation class and a diocesan youth pilgrimage are three different trips, and the pace, the free time and the rooming all follow the ages travelling.

What chaperone ratio do you work to?

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

How far ahead should we start?

Most youth groups start eight to thirteen months out, and the school calendar narrows the dates, so the earlier end of that window is safer than it is for an adult group.

Who collects the money?

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

Can you build a youth pilgrimage anywhere?

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