In Europe, Rome holds the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, the four papal basilicas, and the Pope, which makes it the usual first pilgrimage. Assisi, a few hours north, is the hill town of St. Francis and St. Clare and now also holds the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis. Lourdes in France is the grotto where St. Bernadette reported eighteen apparitions of Mary in 1858, with a sanctuary organized around the sick. Fátima in Portugal remembers the 1917 apparitions to three shepherd children. Santiago de Compostela in Spain keeps the tomb venerated as that of the Apostle St. James and is reached on foot along the Camino. Poland offers the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Kraków, with the tomb of St. Faustina, the icon of the Black Madonna at Jasna Góra, and the hometown of St. John Paul II. Medjugorje, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a parish where the Holy See permitted pilgrimage and devotion in 2024 without declaring the reported apparitions supernatural.
Beyond Europe, the Holy Land is the one pilgrimage to the places of the Gospel itself: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Galilee. Whether it is possible depends on current security conditions, so read the U.S. State Department advisory before planning anything. For Americans the closest of the great shrines is the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, where the image on St. Juan Diego’s tilma has been venerated since 1531.
To choose, start with what draws you. For the Apostles and the center of the Church, go to Rome; for Mary, Lourdes, Fátima, or Guadalupe; for a walking pilgrimage, the Camino; for mercy and St. John Paul II, Poland; for quiet, Assisi. Then be honest about your legs: Lourdes and Fátima are level and built for pilgrims who cannot walk far, Rome and Assisi mean cobblestones and hills, and the Camino means walking all day. One destination, or two neighboring ones, is plenty for a week to ten days.