Peter Sommer Travels Traveller Reviews

A really wonderful experience

Very well organised trip

Peter Sommers organised an excellent trip, which exceeded all of our expectations

Efficient. Good information was provided before the trip and all aspects were well organised,

Our second gulet cruise with Peter Sommers. They continue to live up to our expectations. An excellent and varied itinerary and our two expert leaders/guides were exceptional. the chartered gulet was high quality and crew competent and very friendly and helpful

All dealings with 'head office' were very good.

Following a full written briefing before departure we were delighted to have our expectations more than fulfilled. High quality service with food and events to match

A family business clearly dedicated to providing detailed service and a quality product

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip from start to finish. Planning and execution were exceptional. I also thought that a good balance was achieved between some fairly taxing hikes and rest and relaxation on the beautiful gulet.

Peter Sommer Travels is an extremely well run small company. They clearly love what they do and excel at it. Their organization and attention to detail is faultless. And I will recommend them whenever I can.

I had for many years fancied a gullet cruise along the southern Turkish coast, but finally this one centered on an exploration of on-shore archaeological sites appeared to satisfy every possible requirement. A good cabin and facilities, varied and interesting meals, enjoyable company, a knowledgeable and personable leader, and a friendly and professional crew left nothing to be desired. The balance between opportunities to relax and swim in remote and attractive coves, visit many and varied ruins of ancient settlements, wander through local villages and markets, and meet a fascinating set of fellow travelers has left me wishing only that I had come across this travel company many years ago.

As good as they come.

7 nights on gullet Bodrum to Dalaman. Well thought through programme well executed. Sirdar impressive guide and good company. Good food, activities and organisation.

Peter Sommer Ltd - had not travelled with them before but can see why they have their reputation.

A very well organized tour with very knowledgeable and personable guides. We learned a lot about the history and archeology of Crete while enjoying superb food. The principal guide was very attentive to individual needs.

The tour operator retained excellent guides. We would have liked a bit more information about the specific trip and our fellow tour-goers than the operator provided.

I am an elderly man. Maria and Peter took care of me and made the tour a memorable experience.

Well organized, ,

This was our sixth tour with Peter Sommer, which begins to sound like an addiction! People often ask us what was the highlight of the tour. However, we still cannot decide, as every day we were presented with extraordinary archaeological sites, often set in landscapes with amazing views, in terrain covered in wild flowers. As well as these field trips we visited notable churches and were able to see remains of ancient cultural items and even ships in well laid out museums. These experiences were interspersed with tempting meals featuring regional speciality dishes and a succession of local wines, some almost unknown outside Italy. What then of these daily highlights? Here are just six: walking among bronze-age rock-cut tombs and houses at Pantálica; entering through the florid Baroque portico of the Duomo, Syracusa’s ancient cathedral, to find ourselves surrounded by the huge pillars of the far older Greek temple of Athena; exploring the interior of the Villa Romana del Casale, a unique surviving imperial hunting lodge, with its astonishing mosaic floors, culminating in an amazing 60-metre long hunting scene; viewing the astonishing golden wall mozaics of the Norman cathedral of Monreale and the intricately carved capitals of its cloister; marvelling at the great Greek theatre at Taormina with its natural coastal backdrop; and, for contrast, hiking through the moon-like larva landscape of the upper slopes of Mt Etna. The list could go on and on! Among museum objects, the astonishing workmanship of the ornate ancient ceremonial silverware from the destroyed ancient city of Morgantina stood out. After seeing so many beautiful Greek cities that were destroyed in wars (sometimes multiple times), we were left with an abiding sense of the fragility and impermanence of human societies.

Despite our late arrival caused by airline delay, we were met at the airport and taken out to join the rest of the group for supper. The whole tour was managed by Paul Beston and Andrea Giardina with the usual calm efficiency and attention to detail which distinguishes Peter Sommer holidays. Paul brought to his guiding a wealth of unobtrusive scholarship and local knowledge based on careful and regularly updated reconnaissance and reading. Andrea communicated his passion for the land and culture of his beloved Sicily, pointing out many things we would otherwise have missed along the way. The combination of guided visits to sites, cities and selected museums helped us to build a composite picture of human cultures in Sicily from the Bronze age to the early modern period, with a particular focus on classical antiquity. Apposite quotations from ancient writers such as Thucidides and Cicero helped us to understand more of the life of the ancient city states and their eventual demise, through the eyes of contemporary observers. The selection of accommodation was always comfortable and especially appealing when staying in rural hotels surrounded by groves of fruit and olive trees. It would be hard to imagine a more enjoyable way to assimilate so much of the history of Sicily in such a short time.