Need all the input I can get with this plan. First off, we will be 6 couples in our 60s. After completing the cruise that ends in Portsmouth UK, we intend to travel to Italy and end up in Rome, with stops in the following religious sites:

St. Therese of Liseux
Our Lady of Lourdes
Turin
St. Catherine of Sienna
St. Francis of Assisi
Padre Pio
Vatican

1. We prefer a self-driven van but would not be close to the idea of going via rail or even a guided bus, or perhaps a combination of. Who can I contact to arrange this directly?
2. We are giving 2-3 weeks to do all these
3. We are also open to visiting places other than those listed above. Can you suggest what & where these are?
4. Can you suggest an itinerary?
5. We intend to book the accommodation ourselves. Is there a hotel/motel group that we can contact to arrange this for us?
6. This will be sometime in August/September.

Cheers

Why do you want to drive?

Picking up in the UK and returning? Is going to be expensive and you'll be driving on the wrong side. Dropping in Italy it'll be even more expensive. Plus most/none of your Italian stops would be easy by car.

I'd also point out six people plus luggage is going to be a tight fit even in a nine seater. You'd be better with two vans or station wagons. Even if you convince people to pack light

Are those all musts?

If so the first stop you can take the train from Paris. Train from London to Paris



A long train ride to Lourdes

A long train ride to Turin

Train to Siena

Train to Assisi

Train down to Puglia

Train back to Rome

I think I'm counting seven fairly full travel days out of your two weeks.

If you cut out Our Lady of Lourdes you save yourself two very full days on multiple trains.

If you just want churches spend your two weeks in Rome. Five papal basilicas. Then you've got the minor churches.

If you don't want to do that at least make your life easier by dropping Lourdes. Those two days you could visit St. Marks in Venice. Or the Cathedral in Florence all with a lot less hassle.

Add Canterbury, drop Lourdes. Do it by train.

Lots more sites could be added but Lourdes is well off the line

Rome2rio for planning

Um I think they have 12 people as 6 couples are mentioned. Not gonna fit in a 15 passenger van with luggage. Need a bus with a driver

6 couple? Yikes I should put my glasses on

My impression is that cruise people tend to use a lot of luggage. With minimal luggage could make it with 3 estate cars. Could not pay me to drive a van into Italian towns

Given the distances involved that would be a bus and two drivers. There are limits to the hours a driver can drive.

If you have the money there are undoubtedly coach companies that would be happy to provide this trip for you, either from Portsmouth or from France, but you will be paying for two drivers their food and accommodation there and back again in addition to your own costs.
You could try https://coachhireportsmouth.com/ for instance or do a search online for others. No experience of them they just were top of a search I did. There are plenty of other options if you put in coach hire Portsmouth.

I have no experience with this, but I was intrigued by the question. This seems like the sort of company you should be contacting. https://www.irro-charter.com/bus-cha...gaApQ-EALw_wcB They have a class of buses that can handle up to twenty passengers.

Normally backtracking to get home is not a good idea but I'm wondering if it might work for you. If you’re on a cruise and have large or heavy luggage (or multiple bags each) it will make the Italy part of your trip, either by train or car/van, difficult to impossible. Especially with 12 people.

You could leave most of your luggage in London at a Left Luggage place, take a small bag each with you, after Italy come back to London to collect bags and fly home. Kings Cross / St Pancras has left luggage, the Eurostar departs from there (or flight to Italy??) and you can get back to Heathrow or Gatwick to fly home. Allow plenty of time to check in your luggage at Left Luggage and also to collect again.

A terrific website for train travel is seat61.com
it explains everything you would want to know.

"We are also open to visiting places other than those listed above. Can you suggest what & where these are?"
What are you looking for?
Places of pilgrimage, I suppose?

The most important places in France and Italy are on this list:

• Ars-sur-Formans
• Chartres
• Conques
• Le Puy
• L’Île-Bouchard
• Lisieux
• Lourdes,
• Mont-Saint-Michel.
• Paray-le-Monial
• Rocamadour
• Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
• Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume
• Tours
• Vézelay

Assisi,

• Loreto,
• Padua, Grab des hl. Antonius von Padua
• Lanciano
• Madonna della Corona
• Manoppello
• Moncalieri
• Monte Pellegrino/Palermo,
• Re,
• Rocciamelone,
• Sacro Monte di Oropa,
• San Giovanni Rotondo/Padre Pio
• Santa Maria degli Angel/Assisi,
• Tindar

Einsiedeln,

• Madonna del Sasso/Orselina