Peter Sommer Travels Traveller Reviews

Gulet from Bodrum to Kusadasi with stops at ancient cities, swimming daily and wonderful Turkish food.

Peter Sommerhimself was our guide. Very knowledgeable, professional and personable. Very well organized. Attracts travelers interested in learning about and experiencing historical sites while providing a pleasant experience on the Gulet.

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.

Our guides, Nota and Michael, made ruins and artwork come to life with superb storytelling that placed events and people in context so we could imagine ourselves competing in the ancient Olympics, training for military duty in Sparta and living in medieval castles. They introduced us to gorgeous scenery, Greek wine and local food, including goat in parchment paper.

The deep experience of Peter Sommer Travels is evident in every tour detail, from choosing perfect restaurants and hotels, to timing our arrival at popular sites to avoid peak crowds and employing a skilled bus driver to navigate narrow roads. Our guides answered myriad questions with knowledge and patience. They cared about each traveler personally. I hope to be able to take another Peter Sommer tour soon.

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.

The Hadrian's Wall tour was excellent! Having read about it over the years, it was wonderful to finally be able to experience it in person in all of its glory. The tour guide, Paul Beston, was very knowledgeable and spoke in a very clear and understandable way about its history, how it developed and was built, and the establishments and towns that grew up around it. The accommodations were wonderful! A beautiful small village on a river. The meals provided could not have been better! All in all a most memorable trip!

Ales was very friendly and knowledgeable and kept everything moving well to keep to the schedule. He was very helpful when asked a question about out tour and always kept an eye on us to make sure we had everything we needed. He also was great at following up with questions that he needed to check up on first and always had a smile!

This was our first trip with Peter Sommer Travel, and we are hooked. Everything topnotch. The itinerary was just right for the eight days of the tour...well planned and paced. Well organised -we began our days on time, knew what to expect in terms of walking and sites we were to visit. Paul, our guide, was super knowledgeable, very experienced and entirely engaging. He made the evolving world of Hadrian and successors come alive in all its diversity. I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Alex, his assistant, was just as able and good natured in keeping us on time. Accommodation great -fine linen and good food. Now to look forward to our next adventure with Peter Sommer Travel.

Our experience with Peter Sommer Travel was first class start to finish. The people with whom we spoke and exchanged messages one booking the trip and then confirming details were professional, attentive, knowledgeable, a delight to deal with. The information we needed was clear, thorough and came on time. The team on the tour I have mentioned above...just great.

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

We had an exceptional trip exploring the history, the archeiology, the cultural dimension upon which the Romans built and maintained Hadrian’s Wall. Our guide, Paul, presented a lively, knowledge based narrative of the many sites we visited over the eight days of our trip. Our trip was exceptional.

Every detail of the trip was carefully planned and executed with precision. Our lodging, our site visitations and our transport from the beginning to the end consistently met all expectations. Each segment of the trip was carefully planned and executed. Our guide and his associate helped make each day exciting, interesting, and memorable.

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 was my 2nd gulet cruise with Peter Sommer Travels, since the first (in 2023) had been excellent; and now I very much want to take a third! That really says it all. On this Dodecanese cruise the gulet was splendid, the crew superb, the itinerary an excellent mix of major and more quiet minor islands and archaeological sites, the leaders/managers exceptionally knowledgeable and also very very good at bringing people happily together, the food and wine delicious. Everything was taken care of; participants could simply relax and enjoy themselves. On a Peter Sommer cruise (I judge from the two I have taken so far) the individual participants also tend to have a number of similar interests and so to be a great group to travel with; and together on this cruise we all talked a lot, learned a lot, and laughed a lot. I'm already happily anticipating that third cruise in 2025!

Professional, efficient, friendly, people-oriented, excellent at detail, no hassles, thoroughly knowledgeable. Group leaders/guides/managers are handpicked for knowledge and for professionalism without sacrificing the ability to mix well with everyone and to lead skillfully--and they all have a good sense of humour (probably essential when leading tours!). Everything is worked out in advance in detail; and when unpredictable problems occur (as, on this cruise, a sudden Greek government edict that we had to leave Greek waters immediately, with one third of the trip still to go), excellent solutions are speedily found and implemented. Truly impressive.