Exploring the Peloponnese Traveller Reviews

Peter Sommers tour of Peloponnesus, May 2018, a place I always wanted to see. I had trouble finding a tour that covered all the places there that I wanted to see. This trip did everything I wanted, and more, and the trip leaders were both knowledgeable, helpful and well-organized. It was a strenuous trip, I'm a "young" 89 but they were very considerate and helpful for me, and I didn't have any problems with the rough terrain and streets.

Peter Sommers Tours.

A Peter Sommers tour of the Peloponnese in southern Greece, which turned out to be outstanding in scope, tour-guide expertise, cuisine and tour logistics. A trip of a lifetime.

Professional in arranging the trip, and the tour guides were outstanding in knowledge, professionalism and organization. This was our first tour with Peter Sommers. We have had several trips with another tour operator, Road Scholar, and can say that, given our experience, Peter Sommers was excellent.

Peter Sommer's "Exploring the Peloponnese" tour was a fantastic introduction to an area richer in history and culture than a (typically) mainland focused view of Greece might suggest. It conveyed a real sense of the depth of history here, of the high cultures that were attained, and often lost, and of the conflicts which swept this area. Beyond that, it was beautiful, often even stunning, and far more varied than one might imagine, from the sun bleached Mani Peninsula to foggy Arcadia. The people were uniformly friendly, welcoming and gracious, and always helpful.

The guides were excellent. Disentangling the very often complicated history and evolution of some of the sites---Mycenaean right up through the Ottoman era---required an in depth knowledge; importantly, when archaeology or history have failed to provide a clear understanding of "events" the guides did not try to paper over that fact. They are clearly passionate about their work both as guides and scientists. As guests of Peter Sommers we were virtually care free. The quality of the food, the accommodations, and the transportation all exceeded our expectations. I have never been on such a tour before, but will certainly be looking to joining another in the future.

We took the road less traveled and that made all the difference. The Peter Sommer, Tour Exploring the Peloponnese, truly did explore. Most advertised tours don't include the wild Mani area,and don't include hair-raising mountain bus trips through Central Arcadia, or a boat trip through a flooded magical cave where we were like visitors to Hades Underworld led by Chairon. We discovered Greek wild-flowers, and Greek wine, local Greek food-dishes (including wild boar). We stayed in delightful and unusual small hotels and visited all the usual sites such as Mycenae, and Olympia but with tour leaders, archaelogists Heinrich and Nota, fallen heaps of stones and massed museum displays came alive as buildings and lifestyles, and the history, icons, and wall paintings of Byzantine churches were explained to a group who of travellers much more familiar with western Art. They opened up a world that all the studying from books cannot give. The only trouble is "I want to go back for more"!A wonderful trip.

Communication with Peter Sommer was easy and all questions were replied to quickly. I noted that the special needs of all our group were catered for, and everything was done to make us a harmonious group. The bus driver was excellent, amazingly competent on difficult narrow roads and a lovely person. The hotels and restaurants chosen were interesting and varied, giving a lot of different experiences; the reading list before tour and the notes provided on Greece were great preparation, and the tour leaders were really knowledgeable and went out of their way to answer questions.

It was a wonderful time, spectacular sights and experiences,intellectually stimulating ,great company and very interesting food.

Wonderful organiser,great attention to detail and extremely knowledgeable.

Travelling in the Peloponnese was an adventure every day into the history of Greece. Our two archaeologist guides had provided us with maps of the sites and notes about the architecture and were always ready to answer any questions. At the sites we were given a lot of additional of information as we moved around so we could understand different aspects of living in the ancient world. We also had an up to date insight with visits to an Olive Information Centre having travelled through thousands of olive trees, and also to 3 wineries for great wine tastings. One of the great highlights was to stay on the island of Monemvasia in a restored wonderful old house full of treasures and overlooking the sea. Our guides were exceptionally helpful and sociable and we found the tour had attracted people really interested in the what the tour was offering and so were good company.

Communicated well when required and gave good advice

A highly informed and interesting introduction to a rich collection of ancient ruins, temples, sanctuaries and stadia combined with travelling through spectacular & scenic terrain with its charming villages and towns all round the breath-taking peninsula that is Southern Greece. Our two weeks were packed with visits to the delights of Nafplio, Monemvasia, Kalamata and Corinth along with very engaging excursions to the likes of Messene, Sparta, Mycenae and Olympia.

We found Peter Sommer Travels to be a friendly and well organised "family firm" who seem genuinely concerned to ensure its clients have a really enjoyable and rewarding tour. And in Heinrich Hall they have surely secured the perfect guide for such an excursion - a very knowledgeable and engaging German national who's spent much of his life in Ireland and Greece (in which countries he no doubt developed his infectious sense of humour). He certainly knows his archaeology from a pile of stones! He is ably supported by Nota who organises everything seemlessly and provides valuable insights on Art History and the more recent Byzantine period.

A 14 day tour Exploring the Peloponnese run by Peter Sommer Travels, focusing on the history, art, food, wine and culture of the area led by two expert guides. The logistics, hotels, meals and choice of sites visited were excellent. It was amazing to walk on the original stadium of the Olympic Games and see sites from ancient history such as Corinth, the Palace of Nestor, Mycenae and the lion gate, and Tiryns. The museums we visited had rich collections spanning periods from the Neolithic through the continuing procession of civilisations which have inhabited the Peloponnese. We visited several monasteries and Byzantine churches with lovely paintings adorining the walls and ceilings, some dating back to the 10th centuary. We sampled many typical Greek meals, went on a boat trip in a huge underground cave and saw the gateway to Hades at the end of the Mani peninsula . It was one of my favourite holiday experiences.

Great attention to detail, expert knowledge of the sites visited, a well researched itinerary and selection of good hotels and restaurants throughout the tour. We were so impressed that we are considering further tours with Peter Sommer Travels in the future.

We joined Peter Sommer's "Exploring the Peloponnese" tour in May 2017 - partly to become better informed about the rich history of the area, and partly to try out Peter Sommer Travels. Starting from Athens, we enjoyed a two-week tour that featured historical sites ranging from neolithic to recent times. Personally, we most enjoyed the broad expertise of our guides as we walked through the sites of Greek antiquity. We rose early, ate well, travelled comfortably and drank in historical sites and details every day. This is a tour for intelligent, fairly active travellers who want to learn, not just to see. We will definitely seek out Peter Sommer Travels for future adventures.

We were very impressed with the organisation and execution of the tour. Our guides were extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Scheduling was expertly managed throughout the trip. Accommodations and food were of the very best available. This was our first trip with Peter Sommer Travels. It certainly will not be the last - in fact, we will be looking through Peter's offerings very carefully to choose our next adventure.

Two weeks of excellent archaeology, beautiful scenery and amazing food. We spent a full two weeks in the Peloponnese, visiting not only the well known archaeological sites (Mycenae, Corinth, Tiryns, Epidauros, Olympia, Bassae, Pylos, Messene etc) but also more remote and beautiful places such as the Mani peninsular, mountainous Dimitsana and Monemvasia. Everywhere we had great local food - sausages with orange in the Mani, wild boar in Dimitsana, suckling pig in Mavromati, seafood all over!

Peter Sommer Travels is a small operator offering tours to several Mediterranean countries; I have used them many times (13 so far) and never been disappointed.