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.
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 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
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
Julie, our Office and Operations manager efficiently keeps track of all that is going on and will carefully look after you and all your travel needs.
Julie is at the heart of all we do, and generally your first point of contact.
Liga Hince
Liga heads up our accounts department and is responsible for keeping all of our finances in order. She also helps out with our administration and keeps the office running smoothly.
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.
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
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.
