Peter Sommer Travels Traveller Reviews

A gulet is the only way to visit the islands of the Dalmatian coast. What more can one say about gulet travel than our eleven guests, the guide/host/sommelier, and the crew of four...talk about personalized service. Unpack once and spend your nights anchored in secluded coves with swimming and kayaking before dinner...or before breakfast if that appeals. Meals aboard the Croatia gulet were a gastronomical feat and treat in themselves...accompanied by exceptional local wines selected and described by our incomparable guide and host, Filip Budic. Filip was our land host as well and led us to locations not on typical tours...eating oysters and mussels aboard a floating restaurant nestled among aquatic oyster farms; cheeses, wines and olive oils at local establishments he selected for their accessibility and quality in relaxing and comfortable settings; and, when not dining on the gulet, meals at local favorite establishments with the usual selection of Croatian appetizers and entrees but always a few "you have to try this" specialties. Five-star treatment on a fully equipped and staffed vessel capable of the smallest ports and remote coves! GO!

This was our fifth tour with Peter Sommer Travels. We continually return to their offerings because we know the tours are ALWAYS superbly led and organized, and an exceptional value for the money. We know that our guide(s) will be not only experts on local culture, food, and historical and archeological sites, but have led many tours successfully, and have the kind of personalities that ensure they sync very well with each and every guest. Peter Sommer has evolved to offer an extensive array of land and gulet tours across Europe/Asia, but with attention to his personal sweet spot of Turkey. Peter Sommer Travels is our "go to" travel company without question!! In fact, we are booked for Crete in April/May 2020!

A fourteen day gulet cruise around the Dodecanese and Cyclades islands, with a focus on visiting sites of archaeological and historical interest. The two tour guides made the history come alive, and expertly adapted our cruise to take into account some strong winds. The gulet captain and crew were wonderful, and made us feel safe and looked after at all times. Pre-tour information was comprehensive, and logistics well handled. All in all, a wonderful experience.

Peter Sommer Travels arrange cruise and land-based tours in several European countries including Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Ireland and the UK. From our experience, they are experts in what they do, and we would not hesitate to book with them in the future.

We explored a variety of archaeological sites in Crete--mostly Minoan but also a healthy sampling of Greek, Roman and Byzantine centers as well. Our tour had two wonderful guides who were very knowledgeable about the history and archaeological significance of the sites we visited, and could explain it all with great precision and clarity. They also arranged lodging for us in some unusual and delightful hotels and villages. An additional plus of this trip was the great variety of Cretan cuisine, both food and wines, that we got to enjoy. By the end of the trip, I felt that I had experienced a college course in a Study Abroad location condensed into two weeks, and it was absolutely wonderful. One of the highlights for me was having a dinner prepared by a food archaeologist using the foods, techniques and cooking vessels characteristic of the Proto/Neopalatial periods of Minoan history. Our guides (Heinrich and Maria) were terrific at making the history of the sites come alive, but they also conveyed an appreciation of the contemporary culture of Crete as we were experiencing it daily. Now, if only I could crack Linear A.

This was the first Peter Sommers tour that my wife and I had taken. Everything was extremely well organized. They were unusually helpful with arranging transfers and accommodations for extra days we were in Crete but not yet part of the tour. The housing, food, transportation and site visits all were so seamlessly well managed that I felt quite pampered. I certainly don't live this well at home!

We spent almost two weeks exploring archaeological sites across Crete. The tour guides were excellent and made each site extremely interesting. The accommodations and food provided were superb, and we were especially happy to able to enjoy ancient Minoan dinner prepared in traditional cooking vessels. It was a real highlight of the trip!

The tour (Exploring Crete, October 10-22, 2019) was very well organized, and Peter Sommers Travel provided great information prior to our departure so that we could get the most out of our site visits. They also arranged transfers to the airport before and after the tour. We appreciated the free day in the middle of the tour allowing us to explore Chania on our own and enjoy a private dinner at a lovely restaurant in the old part of the city. The transportation provided and the driver were excellent as well.

The people at Peter Sommer Travels worked closely with us before the trip, previewing and explaining everything. Ours was an "archeology-theme" trip, our guide was a doctoral student in Ancient Classics at the University of Zagreb, and his descriptions of the sites we visited were superb. The Turkish gulet was a fun way to cruise, the crew was friendly, and the food was good. There were only six of us guests, and everybody felt like we received a customized tour. I would go on another Peter Sommers trip to a different part of the world.

A Peter Sommers staff person called us in the U.S. from London several times, and she answered all of our questions until we were comfortable in committing to the trip. She also recommended a land tour operator for tours before and after the cruise who was also excellent. The entire experience could not have been better arranged or conducted.

Wonderful accommodation, amazing sights both land and seascapes, and beautiful objects in museums and on archaeological sites. Our guide brought these vividly to life. We covered a lot of ground, but the holiday felt relaxed. Food and drink were completely delicious. Swimming in the Mediterranean was a joy.

Peter Sommer Travels was excellent from start to finish. We had very good pre-holiday info, and were looked after wonderfully from the moment we were met at Bodrum Airport.

we were on a 14 day gullet trip on the Turkish coast with Peter Sommer as our guide. Every day Peter planned a different walk. Some were long and some short but in very walk we learned about ancient civilizations, their tombs, their theatres and how they lived 2000 years ago or more. I spent three enjoyable days just staying on the gullet . Each day a new secret cove was found for swimming and relaxing. Or we could just sit on the deck , have a beer and have time to read a few books that I brought with me. It was a great experience and we fond the people of Turkey to be wonderful.

Peter and his pal organized each day to perfection. Everything went smoothly, right on time and I think the 14 passengers on board all raved about our tour operator as world class.

A delightful week’s cruise on a gulet around various of the Dodecanese islands, with daily guided walks to visit places of historical interest and to enjoy the varied countryside.

This was a very well planned and organised holiday, with a knowledgeable and friendly leader and local expert, on a well run gulet.

A very relaxing trip which combined sightseeing and walking in the Dodecanese with gulet cruising and swimming, not to mention delicious food both on and off the boat.

Two very knowledgeable and pleasant guides, one British and one Greek, who between them ensured the trip ran smoothly and provided as much information as we wanted on history, local customs etc

As a somewhat overly cautious single traveller, I had been keeping an eye on the reviews for Peter Somers travels for some time before committing to a tour with them. Everything I was reading/researching was gushing with compliments. It was only after finally committing to do a culinary gulet tour in Croatia that I got firsthand experience as to why that was so. I had the opportunity to sail the Croatian coast for 8 days on one of the most beautifully maintained sailboats, with an extremely attentive staff, a beautiful room, on-board meals to die for, and daily excursions with the most enthusiastic guide to explore the local foods and wines of the region. With a great group of fellow travellers, I couldn’t ask for more!

From the professional and very personal way I was treated in the booking process with the main office, to the fact that every single detail of our tour was so well thought out and balanced between amazingly unique experiences and relaxing time on the boat, it was all I could have hoped for in terms of value/high level of professionalism/service for the cost. Having been travelling the world for over 25 years and relying often on the services of small tour operators, never have I experienced one with the same extremely high level of service as Peter Somers in every facet of what they do. I only hope that I get the chance to do more tours with them in the future.