McCabe Pilgrimages Traveller Reviews

This was a pilgrimage to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation. We visited many places connected with Luther's life. We had a very knowledgeable guide, from whom we learnt a lot.

McCabe is a very experienced tour operator, specialising in pilgrimages. We had previously travelled with them to the Holy Land. Another excellent experience!

Early in the morning of the first day we 21 pilgrims arrive at the Mount of Olives. The Holy City lies ahead on the other side of the valley; golden domes and white stone walls shimmering under a cloudless blue sky. Carefully, we walk down the steep road, remembering the donkey that came this way almost 2000 years ago. Half of my companions have been here before but I, a new pilgrim, understand at last that the people laid down cloaks and branches on that first Palm Sunday to ensure the donkey did not slip and shed his precious load. We descend the hill, visiting the Pater Noster church, Dominus Flevit, on our way to the peaceful Garden of Gethsemane and the fabulously adorned Church of All Nations. On the second day we follow Christ's journey along the Via Dolorosa, all the way to the place where he died, was buried and was resurrected. Where? ? At the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, or at the Garden of the Tomb? My head says the one, but my heart the other. We explore Jesus’ life, visiting Bethlehem, Nazareth and staying beside the exquisite ‘Syrian Sea’. Everywhere, details fall into place, giving context to the stories we thought we knew so well. We learn about the peoples who live here and the political and moral dilemmas they face. Is there a solution? Maybe the feeling of ‘being on the edge’ that I sense here helps people to see God clearly and develop a deep relationship with Him. We visit two possible locations for the Annunciation. Which is it? We conclude that it doesn’t matter, so long as we believe and trust in Him. I thank Fr. Stanley and Christine Finch, David our amazing Palestinian guide and my fellow pilgrims for making this journey a wonderful and truly memorable experience.

McCabe is an absolutely fabulous tour operator and I hope that I will travel with them again,sometime. They were very well-organized and informative. They also selected excellent accommodation and restaurants for us and we were looked after all the way. This is the first accompanied tour that my husband and I have taken, always previously having preferred to 'do our own thing'. However, by travelling with McCabe we were able to do so much more. We never had to think about things like where to eat, or having the correct change in local currency, or even where we could get bottled water. We have returned home feeling wonderfully relaxed, yet elated by our incredible pilgrimage experience.

After many years of wanting to go to visit the Holy Land we signed up for this pilgrimage (June 6-15th). It was truly the trip of a lifetime. Our UK leader and organiser, Canon Stanley Finch had prepared the itinerary carefully and tried to include as many of the holy sites as possible. Our local guide was exceptionally good. His knowledge of the places we visited was immense. This included his Biblical knowledge and how the Old Testament related to the life of Jesus. He also had a thorough grasp of geography, geology, architecture, history - ancient, medieval and modern, and the modern political situation in today's Israel.He made every place we visited come alive and went out of his way to find the best way to access all sites.

MacCabe Pilgrimages has been operating for several decades and has this niche in the market off to a fine art. Initially we thought the price for a ten day "holiday" was quite high, but it was something we really wanted to do. Then we realised that the price included flights, transfer, coach travel each day, full board in good quality hotels, entry fees to all sites on the itinerary and came to the conclusion that it was exceptional value for money. Not only that but our excellent guide and our driver took all the stress out of visits, access and driving on strange roads to some remote corners and that all made our pilgrimage all the more enjoyable and meaningful.

we went in the footsteps of Martin Luther with a fantastically learned guide and visited parts of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire which were all new to me, just so interesting and lovely old medieval cities

McCabe Pilgrimages all beautifully planned worked like clockwork - good pre planning and excellent care

Celebrated the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Very interesting and varied - good breadth of history, the music of Bach and Handel - beautiful churches and castles - and just enough time to enjoy coffee, cake and icecream in traditional coffee houses!

McCabe is always reliable. It researches all its tours in advance and very often sends out a representative to make sure everything is alright as it did on the trip to Germany

Whilst this was primarily a pilgrimage to visit some of the places that St Paul went to it was also a time of fellowship and friendship with fellow Christians. And they were plenty of opportunities to visit religious sites as well as general sightseeing and shopping! The three Island cruise at the end of the pilgrimage was a lovely relaxing day to see more of this beautiful country and experience the hospitality for which it can be justly proud. Thank you

McCabe did a great job putting together this pilgrimage in conjunction with our leader. It was great to have all the entrance fees etc arranged in advance and included in the cost. All we had to pay for were lunches on some of the days everything else was taken care of.

The pilgrimage to the Holy Land was very well organised by McCabe. The local guide was excellent and the Golden Walls hotel in Jerusalem was very good all round. The Ron Beach hotel in Tiberius was in need of a good deep clean, but food and staff were good and a beautiful setting.

McCabe handled everything very well with no fuss and no hassle from our point of view. Everything ran smoothly in part due to the excellent tour guide, and the leaders with the group.

An excellent holiday, very busy at times but it would have been a disappointment to miss anything out. Both hotels were comfortable and clean with an amazing choice of food. The guide was really excellent and he had a depth of knowledge that enlightened us and kept us totally interested. A very enjoyable holiday that I will not forget.

McCabe Travel had the whole holiday running like clockwork. It was an enjoyable experience with an excellent guide. We went to all the places I wanted to go to, and the guide was extremely informative and always interesting.

Visits to sites of interest in the life and work of Martin Luther, also Bach.

Efficient, friendly, caring.

We visited many towns and churches, following in the footsteps of Martin Luther, including Wartburg Castle, where he translated the New Testament into Modern German of the time. Enjoyed organ recitals and learned much about J.S.Bach as well. Wonderful pilgrimage, in a great group of people, with excellent leader and guide, and very good coach driver too.

Chose a good itinerary, good hotels and everything went smoothly.