Exploring Macedonia Traveller Reviews

An awe inspiring excursion into ancient Macedonian society, its history and amazing archaeological sites brought to life descriptively by our tour operator in colourful context of a tumultuous epoch of conflict and social upheaval. The pervasive exploits and achievements including social changes and military campaigns of Philip II and his son Alexander were laid to bare in this most fascinating tour. Revelations and story telling were relived through most eloquent deliveries and animations by our tour guide, Dr Maria Girtzi

Maria led us into an exceptional history of Macedonia infusing our group with colourful factual knowledgeable historical accounts of ancient events occurring within this region. Moreover, her animated and descriptive theatricals brought to life and illuminated monumental occasions such as the slaying of Philip II and the great battles at Philippi. There are many more rich examples of Maria’s professionalism that could be related here, thank you Maria. A word about our two tour drivers, they were exceptional both in support of Maria and our tour group members and helpful at every opportunity.

The Macedonian tour explored a sweeping journey across the region, with visits to ancient archaeological sites, excellent museums, amazing tombs, a crusader castle, Byzantine churches, an island of interest and enchanting towns. Beginning and ending in Thessaloniki, this thriving city offered historic sites in its midst. The cultural expense and food provided an extra indulgence and were much appreciated by the guests.

Peter Sommers Travels offers small-group holidays of value. When you book a tour you know that you will receive excellent guides, a well-thought out and organised trip, very good accommodation and an outstanding insight into the past. It is a sheer pleasure to be associated with them and leaves you very much looking forward to another adventure.

My husband & I recently returned from the Peter Sommer Macedonia Greece trip. Wow, what an amazing journey. Spectacular scenery, delicious food & stupendous history -- from Neolithic site dating back to 6500 BC, ancient tombs (including King Philip's tomb), King Philip's capital, Alexander the Great, Crusader castle, Byzantine Empire of the 4th Crusade. Such a breadth of history, all led by Maria Girtzi, our wonderful PhD archeologist leader.

Peter Sommer Travels is wonderful. Their trips are beautiful planned & organized

The trip was for me a dream come true! Brought up on classical literature , I had always wanted to visit the storied cities I had read so much about. Peter Sommer's Tour "Exploring Macedonia" (travel start date June 17, 2024) allowed me to do just that and in the company of perhaps the best guide I have ever had on a tour. Her name is Maria Mirtzi . A trained archaeologist and University professor she regaled us with the history, geography, mythology, culture, and cuisine of each locality we visited. The places came alive under her dramatic retelling-Philippi, Amphipolis, Dion, Pella, Aigai, Stageira et countless others. We were treated to fresh food family- style at most of the places visited with wine at dinner. We all agreed that water was best during the midday meal with more hiking ahead of us! Our hotels were first-rate- even "boutique" wherever we stayed. Everything was taken care of and the comfort and safety of each member of our tour group was paramount. My experience will stay with me for years to come and the countless photos I took will be a reminder of the wonders of that particular area of Greece and of its people!

I think I already have ! Suffice to say that Maria Mirtzi was highly knowledgeable, professional, solicitous of our well-being, conscientious, accessible, and just plain very nice! Her enthusiasm for what we were seeing and what she related about what we saw was contagious and fired up our enthusiasm in turn. Her energy never flagged and neither did ours!

This tour was very satisfactory for me under all points of view. I'm not new to the history of Greece and to the country. For me, the tour was a perfect blending of sightseeing, history in depth, but told with passion (and humour), very confortable and charming accomodation, great meals, with specific care in having us taste different specialities, so much so that I would call it not just an archaelogical and historical tour, but also a gastronomic tour of Macedonia. And we also got a comprehensive overview of the different geographical regions, including a trip to Thasos Island.

As someone who has been working in the tailormade travel business in Italy for the past 40 years (now I'm retired) I can confidently say that the care that Peter Sommer Travels put in their tours is truly outstanding, under every aspect: itinerary, choice of guides, of hotels, of restaurants, of everything that can make a trip absolutely satisfactory.

Peter Sommer's Exploring Macedonia tour was all that I hoped it would be. It was a perfect combination of on-site archaeology and museum-going with fabulous meals and some winetasting included. We had the free time we needed to explore some of the little villages we stayed in with a grand finale in Thessaloniki.

Peter Sommers was all about communication. Someone from his office responded to all of my questions the day they were asked (amending for a large time change) and supplied clear information about what to expect on and before the tour.

A frequent visitor to Greece, I had never before been to Macedonia and I was awed by the its beauty, its lush countryside and verdant, mountainous west. It is impossible to overstate the wow factor of the museum at Vergina, now enclosing the tomb of king Philip II and the rich treasure found there along with his armour, shield and the golden casket in which his bones were found. That and the king’s capital Pella were the expected highlights of the tour, but there were so many other treats – the charming lake-side town of Kastoria with its wonderful museum of icons, the richly-atmospheric sanctuary at Dion said to have been a sacred place for Macedonians, and the nymph-haunted shrine at Meiza where Aristotle taught the young Alexander. The ferry day-trip to the isle of Thasos was a lovely change of pace, and a steep climb was rewarded by sight of ancient marble quarries, said to have sourced the whitest marble in the world, rolling down to the sea. I didn’t, in Greece, expect torrential rain, thunder and flash floods. But that was only for a short while and in retrospect it added a certain drama to the reconstructed Neolithic village at Dispilio where we ducked and (almost) dived among the thatched huts and walkways suspended over the lakeside. Our guides Maria and Paul were extremely knowledgeable, considerate and good company. Nothing was too much trouble. The food was splendid and we all appreciated the lengths Maria had gone to to order for us local dishes in each of the towns we visited.

Efficient, professional, friendly.

A 12-day visit to the Macedonian region of North Greece to see the sites connected with Alexander the Great and his father, Phillip II. The tour was quite intensive because of the distances between sites, but travel was by comfortable coach. Hotels ranged from simple but comfortable in the more distant towns to first class elsewhere. The food, planned and arranged by our local (and learned ) guide, was outstanding. The sites were very well presented by our guides, and often had first-class museums attached so we were able to gain a very good insight into the Macedonian civilisation of the 4th century BC. Our fellow travellers were experienced and interested Peter Sommer clients and we quickly developed a warm group atmosphere. The visit to the amazing treasures of Philip II's tomb was one of the most memorable experiences of the ancient world one could have anywhere.

We have always found Peter Sommer Travel to be to be very efficient with a personal touch, and their guides in Greece are qualified international archeologists with experience of research in many of the sites, so they can speak from knowledge. They also pay great attention to the travel details, the accommodation and food.

We toured Northern Greece looking at sites and visiting museums linked to Alexander but not exclusively 400-300BC. We had excellent archaeological specialists guiding us and much thought had gone into both the technical content of the tour and the domestic arrangement - our hotels were very comfortable and menus were thoughtfully put together and well designed.

Peter Sommer is not a budget tour operator but the thought and care which goes into their itineraries make them good value for money

We experienced so many aspects of this fascinating region of Northern Greece. The trip was varied, well paced and brilliantly organised

It's the third time we've been with Peter Sommer, which says everything about their efficiency, friendliness and organisational skills