Book With ConfidenceOur Safe Travel Policy

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, 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 1996. 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.

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 BubbleSleaze – 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

Dr. Michael Metcalfe, an historian and archaeologist specialising in ancient inscriptions, is the innovative and organisational force behind our tours in Italy. He is responsible for our private charters and is one of our principle tour leaders.

Find out more about Michael.

Julie Sibley Operations Manager

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 focuses on tour design, creative content, social media and marketing and is a core member of our guiding team.

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!

Alex Stephens

Alex 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 Pichu. 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.

Cem Yucesoy

Cem Yucesoy, our main logistics coordinator, has helped organise all our Turkey tours to date, from choosing minibus drivers to booking local guides. As a specialist Turkey TV fixer, Cem has helped arrange the filming of many documentaries in Turkey. As well as personally accompanying many of our trips in Turkey, Cem is also a key member of our team helping to plan new tours in the Mediterranean.

Accreditations

AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2015 Gold Award AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2017 Gold Award AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2018 Silver Award AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2019 Silver Award Best Travel Company for Arts and Culture Holidays Silver British Travel Award 2022 Member of AITO The Specialist Travel Association Member of ABTA the Association of British Travel Agents Member of ASTA The American Society of Travel Advisors Member of ABTOI the Association of British Travel Organisers to Italy

Rated as Excellent on Aito Reviews with over 500 reviews