why harvest?

harvest journeys has taken over 79,000 pilgrims on 3,880 pilgrimages to over 129 holy sites around the world since 1986

Travel with a team you can trust

Be reassured with the peace of mind that no other team has the experience and expertise that Harvest Journeys has when it comes to pilgrimage. We’re not just tour operators or guides, we are your companions throughout your pilgrimage. We provide the highest level of service and support to assist you through planning and booking your trip, accompanying and guiding you during your travels, and sustaining your connections long after you’ve returned home.

Harvest Journeys partners with the world’s best pilgrim ground operators and guides who share a passion for the sacred and impart knowledge about holy and historical sites, expertise about local cuisine and customs, and provide a welcoming experience and unique care and insight at each stage of the journey.

Harvest takes each pilgrim on a journey to sites where the physical meets the spiritual and the extraordinary enters the ordinary.

For over 30 years, Harvest Journeys has been singularly devoted to faith-based travel. We are 100% dedicated to Catholic pilgrimage and providing every traveller with the greatest opportunities to reap the abundant fruit that pilgrimage provides.

Every pilgrim group is accompanied by a Catholic priest as chaplain who helps to connect the external physical journey with the interior faith journey by providing opportunities for spiritual guidance, scripture, prayer and reflection at holy sites, and ready access to the Sacraments.

Celebrate Mass daily in extraordinary, intimate settings that provide a unique experience of the scriptures and the Eucharist. Take time out for personal reflection and prayer and invoke inspiration and peace through the life of Jesus, Mary and the Saints.

Break bread and share stories with your pilgrim group leaders and fellow travellers. The bonds you make over a simple spiritual encounter has the power to transcend time and distance long after your pilgrimage ends.

Harvest Journeys is a specialist tour operator and a full member of the Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO), the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) and the AFTA Travel Accreditation Scheme (ATAS).

George

Israel Tour Guide

Experience: 20+ years

George has an unbelievable depth of knowledge of Jewish ancient history, Christian history, Islamic history and modern history of Palestine and Israel.

Rami

Israel Tour Guide

Experience: 20+ years

I do my best to ensure that each journey is a memorable one for every pilgrim by sharing my love and passion for this land with special emphasis on Christianity. Through Harvest Journeys, dreams of pilgrims following in the footsteps of Jesus come true in ways they can’t imagine, and I am so proud to be a part of that!

Aliki

Pilgrimage Escort - Greece

Experience: 27 years

Being a pilgrimage guide is not just a job for me; it’s a calling! I feel blessed and privileged every time I have the chance to show my love for my country, my people and Our Lord with the pilgrims who come to visit the early communities and see the Bible come alive. After 27 years, it’s still an awesome feeling for me.

Chris

Pilgrimage Director

Experience: 12 years
Pilgrimages Led: 80+

I enjoy working with people, identifying their needs, and supporting the pilgrims and chaplains. Our role at Harvest is first: to ensure pilgrims get value for money and that their trip runs as smoothly as it possibly can, and second: to ensure pilgrims get the spiritual benefits that pilgrimage offers. That’s where Harvest is unique: we focus on both.

Colleen

Pilgrimage Director

Experience: 26 years
Pilgrimages Led: 36

I work closely with Parishes, Schools and Special groups and often give talks about my first-hand pilgrimage experiences. This helps to instil confidence and to keep one step ahead of any concerns. Some people save for a lifetime to go so it is really, really important to me that we don’t disappoint.

Fadi

Jordanian Tour Guide & Biblical Expert

Experience: 30+ years

Fadi Shawkat Haddad is one of the most respected experts on Jordanian Christian Holy Land sites. His very detailed & thorough archeological research of Biblical sites in Jordan is documented with photographs in his beautiful published book ‘A Christian Pilgrimage Journey in Jordan’.

“Harvest are quite simply the real deal in authentic Catholic pilgrimage encounters. You get the distinct feeling from start to finish that they truly put the pilgrims first so that we can relax and focus on all that God has in store.”
— Bishop Columba Macbeth-Green

our promise

Authentically Catholic

“As a committed Catholic this pilgrimage was for me the epitome of all travel.” – Trish

We are Catholic owned and have been singularly devoted to serving the Church for over three decades. This reality becomes an evident blessing in a spiritual and sacramental way on each day of your journey.

Genuine Pilgrimages not Faith Tours

“The pilgrimage fed us in spirit and in life. It was beyond comparison.” – Eleanor & Bay Manuel

There are many well-meaning secular tour companies who promote Religious Tourism and Faith-Based Travel but lack an in-depth understanding of the true pilgrim needs. You can trust that Harvest is the genuine article having listened and responded to thousands of our past pilgrims.

Itinerary Design Excellence

“I did not imagine that the spirituality (as a pilgrim) and enjoyment (as a tourist) could mix so well.” – Corazon Rohero

Getting the balance right between the Spiritual, the Cultural and the Scenic is an important priority that we take great pride in accomplishing. On Harvest pilgrimages you might notice clever themes or enjoy longer stays in prime locations or observe Time-Out opportunities for quiet reflection.

Stress-Free Travel

“With Harvest you will have a stress-free pilgrimage with everything taken care of from the moment you arrive.” - Patrick

You can relax and put all your travel arrangements in our hands as we aim to make the whole process streamlined from start to finish.

Private Daily Mass Guarantee

"Our daily Mass in wonderful Locations straight out of the New Testament will be treasured for the rest of my life.” – June Bourke

All pilgrimages with Harvest recognise the priority of offering daily Eucharistic encounters at the most stunning altars of the sacred world. It is in the Mass where we cease being tourists and embrace the true pilgrim spirit.

Best Honest Value

“Harvest did an excellent job. They under promised and over delivered! Real value for money.” – Emily Latif

Pilgrims can depend on Harvest to deliver on exceptional value for money without compromising on our renowned Quality Control standards. Our returning pilgrims regularly share their amazement of how Harvest can include so much for the price!

Powerful Insider Encounters

“One of the great benefits of going with Harvest was our incredible access to places that you normally wouldn’t be able to access.” – Marie & Geoff Nilon

We certainly do our research to provide our pilgrims with impacting moments throughout the days of their journey. Our heart is for you to have the very best experience possible.

Unrivalled Leadership On-Tour

“I appreciate that nothing goes this well without excellent planning, knowledge and experience of the manager and his team.” – Emmanuel & Lourdes Scicluna

Harvest prides itself as the benchmark for all three-levels of Pilgrimage Leadership. From our specially chosen Priest Chaplains through to our celebrated Harvest Tour Directors or Faith-Filled Local guides, you can expect the highest quality of care at every step of the way.

Pilgrims-First Mandate

“I felt at all times, as did everybody on our trip, that we were in the hands of professionals who knew what they were doing”. – Catherine Comerford

At the core of everything we do, Harvest aims to serve our fellow Catholics as our first priority before all else. We are confident that we can deliver and back up what we ultimately promise – the genuine pilgrim experience!