About Peter Sommer Travels
We are a multi-award-winning UK-based tour operator specialising in cultural tours, gulet cruises and private trips in Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, Turkey and the UK. Our expertise stems from an intimate knowledge of these areas – their geography, history, people and much more.
We were founded in 2002, by British archaeologist and award-winning documentary filmmaker, Peter Sommer, who originally led all of the tours, all in Turkey, himself. Over the years we have slowly and carefully evolved, expanding our range of destinations as well as the scope of our trips, adding gastronomy, walking and exploring to our classic archaeological adventures.
All of our trips, by land or sea, are led by expert guides, archaeologists and historians, noted for their knowledge and communication skills. Natural enthusiasts steeped in a region’s history and culture, they will accompany you throughout your journey as friendly hosts, there to make your holiday as relaxing and inspirational as possible.
A small family run firm, we take pride in our personal approach, treating our customers as guests with extra special care – before, during and after a tour. Below, you can find out about our core team. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you with your travel arrangements.
How can one do justice to what comprises the experience of a Peter Sommer holiday in a few words? Imagine a holiday that combines cruising through sublime waters in a Turkish gulet, engaging in discussions (not just hearing a lecture!) with your expert guides who provide both context, imagination and interpretation for what you are seeing, walking along ancient roads through the still extant remains of millennia old civilisations and every day sharing freshly-prepared meals made with local produce with your guides and fellow guests. Add to this the opportunities you have to simply relax and enjoy the facilities onboard – and on the water – and getting to know the convivial group of like-minded people who comprise your fellow guests and you have some flavour of the ‘magic’ that is a Peter Sommer holiday. Unforgettable and a reminder of what travel is meant to be about.
Alan & Wendy Smith on their 4th PST trip
Peter Sommer
In 1994, Peter Sommer walked 2,000 miles across Turkey, retracing the route of Alexander the Great, and in the process fell in love with the country, its ancient civilizations, and the Turkish people. A British archaeologist and award-winning documentary filmmaker began organising and leading tours in 1995. Since then we have created a rich and varied collection of escorted small group tours with a difference. Our tours aim to bring to life the rich heritage of these countries from profoundly ancient times to the modern era. We now offer a variety of unique escorted tours in Europe and Asia and gulet cruising holidays.
Peter still personally leads a number of our archaeological tours in Turkey each year.
‘Peter is one of the world’s best tour guides for trips in Turkey’
Tom Brosnahan, originator of the Lonely Planet and Frommer’s travel guides to Turkey, and creator of turkeytravelplanner.com.
Find out more about Peter Sommer.
Elin Sommer
Originally from Norway, Elin travelled as a youngster to London to study journalism. After her degree, she started working in television, and this is where she and Peter met. Elin worked as a Production Manager on a variety of documentaries such as Hostage, When Money Went Mad: the Story of the South Sea Bubble, Sleaze – the State of Britain and A Child’s World, all for Channel 4. After television, she worked as a freelance translator and also ran her own natural skincare company. When Peter and Elin first started PST, Elin was Peter’s right hand woman; looking after everything when Peter was away on recces and tours. She has been at the heart of the company ever since, being more or less involved depending on the arrival of children. These days Elin oversees company strategy alongside Peter and is in charge of HR, H&S, tech support and general admin.
Dr. Michael Metcalfe
Michael earned his PhD at University College London, focusing on the ancient Greek cities in the Eastern Aegean Islands and Western Turkey. While finishing this research, Michael lived and worked in Athens and Ankara as well as London, and took up his first academic post as Assistant Professor in Ancient History at The Mediterranean Center for Arts and Sciences in Sicily. A specialist in Greek and Latin inscriptions and social history, Michael is currently studying the unpublished diaries of early British Travellers to Greece, Turkey and Sicily, and is involved in publishing inscriptions from many parts of the Eastern and Central Mediterranean. He is the innovative and organisational force behind our tours in Greece, Italy and the UK and responsible for our private tours.
Find out more about Michael.
Julie Sibley
Julie is our Office and Operations Manager, at the heart of all we do. After a long career in the corporate world she decided to make her lifelong fascination with archaeology her job! As well as the day to day running of the business she takes care of all our supplier contracts, is responsible for development and maintenance of our company website, advertising and media content and designs and produces our weekly newsletter and our annual brochure. Having travelled extensively in Greece, Turkey and Sicily she is also involved in the design, preparation and delivery of new tours and is destination manager for all of the UK and Ireland.
Paul Beston
Paul studied Ancient History at King’s College, London, gaining a first, and then earned a distinction in his Masters. Alongside lecturing posts at King’s and Royal Holloway in London, he has acted as an historical adviser for TV including HBO’s Fire from Heaven. Previously he taught Classics in Hertfordshire but we are delighted that he is now full time with us. He is also working with Michael Metcalfe on the publication of some notebooks of early travellers to Greece. He has a lively interest in all periods and regions, but a particular passion for Late Antiquity, Roman Britain and the Near East. He also focuses on tour design, creative content, and writes our blog and newsletters.
Find out more about Paul
Liga Hince
Liga has headed up our accounts department since 2018 and is responsible for keeping all of our finances in order. She also helps out with our administration and keeps the office running smoothly. Originally Liga is from Latvia and got her Master’s degree in accountancy and economics at the University of Latvia. As part of a Latvian folk dance group, Liga danced her way across Europe and the Middle East, from Sicily to Israel, prior to 2006 when she moved to the UK which she has been busy exploring ever since. Liga speaks Latvian, Russian, English and very rusty German and enjoys reading, walking, traveling and dancing and especially loves her cup of coffee!
Alexander Stephens
Alexander is our Client and Operations Administrator and our main point of contact. He deals with all of our bookings, enquiries, general admin and very much enjoys talking to our guests on the telephone. An avid sportsman, Alex plays football regularly as part of a county level team. Alex is also a keen traveller with a love for history and archaeology, his most far flung journey to date was to Peru, where he hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. Alex has a degree in Professional Policing from the University of Derby but decided to step into the travelling industry to better pursue his love of adventure.
Ian Finlay
Ian Finlay has spent more than 30 years in the travel and leisure space, becoming a director of more than 50 businesses, and running companies in 11 countries worldwide. Since 2018 he has taken on a plural career, and now enjoys working with a diverse group of high-quality travel businesses in non-executive roles, helping them grow and thrive.
Joe Shingles
Joe is our Commercial Manager and an experienced tour operator, with experience of planning and running archaeological, historical, artistic, cultural, sailing and wine tours. Alongside a wide travel experience, he has worked in sales, customer service, operational, marketing and commercial roles so will be helping in a lot of areas behind the scenes.
Rebecca Sommer
Born in London and raised with a love for exploration, Rebecca has been travelling with Peter Sommer Travels since she was a baby. From joining gulet cruises along the Turkish coast at just four years old to accompanying familiarisation trips in Greece and Turkey, she has cultivated a deep appreciation for the culture, landscapes, gastronomy and history of these regions. Rebecca has spent a considerable amount of time travelling with PST guests, soaking in the experiences that make Peter Sommer Travels unique and very much looks forward to speaking with and meeting more of our guests. With a first-class degree in Environmental Science from Birmingham University, Rebecca combines her academic expertise with her lifelong passion for sustainable travel and environmental stewardship and joins us as Operations & Sustainability Coordinator.
Mislav Fileš
We are delighted to welcome Mislav Fileš as a full-time member of the PST Team. A good number of you will already know Mislav, because he has been leading tours for us for the last 5 years – with stellar feedback. Mislav will continue to guide for us on a range of tours in Croatia and cruises in Montenegro as well as doing many other new and exciting things for PST. Mislav has directed and been involved in many archaeological projects over the years and is also a licensed ski instructor and an apprentice in alpine mountaineering. With his extensive knowledge and experience, positive can-do spirit, boundless energy and ever present smile, he makes for a wonderful travelling companion and great person to work with.
Find out more about Mislav
Cem Yücesoy
Peter has been working with Cem since 1995, longer than anyone else in Peter Sommer Travels, longer even than Peter has been married! After graduating with a degree in Tourism Management, Cem moved to Bodrum and worked for several decades at a Turkish travel company, dealing with everything from car rentals to hotel management, gulet cruises to private itineraries.
Aware of his brilliant logistical and organisational skills, in 1996 Peter recommended Cem as a fixer in Turkey (location manager) for the BBC TV series In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great. Since then, Cem has gone on to work on a wide range of high-class documentaries, working alongside presenters including Anthony Bourdain, Bear Grylls, Joanna Lumley, Sam Neill, and Jeremy Clarkson and the Top Gear team. In 2009, Cem acquired his professional guiding qualification and ever since has accompanied a great many of our trips in Turkey. As our main logistics coordinator, Cem has helped organise all our Turkey tours to date, from choosing minibus drivers to booking local guides. He is also a key member of our team helping to plan new tours in the Mediterranean.
