MERCY TOURS
Your Catholic Pilgrimage Resource
A Spiritual and Cultural experience
There are many good tour companies from which to choose. While many pilgrimages appear similar at first glance, it is important to take time to examine each individual offering to see if it is the best fit for you. Here are some things to consider when looking at a pilgrimage company:
- Itinerary: Well planned itineraries that provide a refreshing mix of the spiritual, cultural, historical and personal time. Daily private Mass and devotions celebrated by our own Catholic priest. Mass is the focal point of each day and our priests are totally loyal to the Magesterium of the Church. A minimum number of hotel changes. Obviously hotel changes cannot be avoided when traveling from city to city, but we minimize these since changing hotels involves packing and unpacking and is inconvenient and tiresome. And lastly, the amount of time you spend on the bus traveling from one city to another. This might not be readily apparent when you are evaluating different companies so we suggest you do some research. Feel free to contact us and we can give y0u approximage travel times and distances whether you are traveling with us or someone else.
- Hotels: As they say in real estate, "location, location, location". We offer good quality, centrally-located hotels close to the local attractions. You have the option of getting off the beaten path to experience the local culture. We allow time for stopping at a local cafe, strolling about town, or just people-watching that can add greatly to your experience.
- Group size: You will appreciate the fact that we limit the size of our groups to 15-25 people, about half the size of most other groups. You will not get lost in a crowd. You will be traveling with other Catholics and have more personal attention from our tour director and priest as well as get to know everyone in the group more easily than if you are in a large group. No long lines at restrooms or checking in to hotels, more room on the bus, and you can actually hear the tour guides when they are speaking.
- Price: Unfortunately this is the thing that many people look at first, but it can be very misleading. If you travel with us you know exactly what is included in the price. Everything is spelled out in the itinerary--no hidden charges. All breakfasts and most dinners are included. We occasionally offer dinner on your own just to give you the opportunity to mingle with the locals and absorb their culture, but not too often because we know that can run up the cost of your tour.
- We include special activities such as the touring the Vatican Gardens in Rome, a wine tasting in France, etc. that are optional at extra cost on other tours and can easily run upwards of several hundred dollars. Most experience travelers will tell you that those optional tours are often over-priced and lacking in value. Suddenly your bargain tour isn't such a bargain after all. We include the extas and that adds up to an incredible value.
- Extend-Your-Stay Option: You may extend your stay on any of our tours with no additional airline stopover fees (if booking your air with us). In addition, we can help you with any pre-tour or post-tour hotels and tour arrangements.
Contact us via email or phone toll-free 1-877-404-4240
Mercy Tours Inc. 6504 28th Street S.E. Suite Q Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546 Tel: 1-877-404-4240 616-942-4773 fax 616-808-3794 
