Peter Sommer Travels Blog
Welcome to our blog!
Since 2011, this is where we provide extra insight and information about our expert-led cultural tours and cruises. Our posts complement what is available on our main website and in our brochure. They offer examples of the fascinating stories and ideas, the lovely flavours and sights, the extraordinary experiences that we share with our guests in six countries.
Texts about archaeology and history, brought to you by our tour experts, tour diaries, news from excavations and museums, recipes, reading suggestions, updates on our new itineraries and much more - it's all here for you to discover and enjoy.
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Rethymno and its Venetian fortress, the Fortezza, on the island of Crete Rethymno’s Fortezza crowns a great craggy rock over the town on the northern shore of Crete, sure to draw the eye whether you’re immediately under its towering thick and ... Read More
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A visit to the Legions: a review of the British Museum's exhibition The Roman army is one of the reasons I’m sitting here writing this. As a child living around the fringes of army bases that sort of topic was always going ... Read More
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The Great Temples of Sicily There are at least a thousand reasons to visit Sicily, the great island - indeed the largest in the Mediterranean - that forms the triangular football to the boot that ... Read More
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What do you see from here? - the island of Crete in Greece Have you been to Crete? Have you explored the remarkable Minoan places, explored the dramatic mountains and coastline and savoured the wonderful cuisine, often considered the best in Greece? Oh ... Read More
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The 30th Anniversary of Peter's Walk across Turkey 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of an important event in the history, or really the prehistory, of Peter Sommer Travels. Come March it will have been exactly 30 years since ... Read More
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Ancient Lycia in Turkey - History and Mystery Lycia is in many ways an archaeological wonderland. Even within Turkey, a country rich in well-preserved ancient sites, the region stands out for its wealth of evocative ancient remains, all ... Read More
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Patmos in the Dodecanese islands of Greece: A Feast Day During a number of our gulet vacations in the Greek islands, we visit Patmos, which is the the holy island of the Apocalypse, at least as seen from the Greek ... Read More
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The Monastery of the Chozoviotissa on Amorgos in Greece During our 2-week Cyclades tour by gulet, we visit the tiny and beautiful island of Amorgos. Our day on Amorgos has two wonderful highlights. The first is the Chora, the ... Read More
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The Bronze Age site of Akrotiri on Santorini in Greece Thera is by no means the largest of the Greek islands, nor even of the Cyclades, the spill of central Aegean islands of which it marks the fringe. But in ... Read More
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The Landscapes of Hadrian's Wall Country The biggest surprise, it’s often said to me as we visit, is just how beautiful the landscape is. And it’s true, you will fall in love with it. It’s there in all the photos ... Read More
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Rome is Back! Due to the nature of this tour, I’m about to use up the world’s supply of superlatives through to about February, so apologies for any impoverishment of language in your ... Read More
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Gold again! AITO Tour Operator of the Year Award 2022 We have some happy news, and we have some thanks to say. Just over two weeks ago, Peter Sommer Travels received AITO's (the UK Association of Specialist Travel Operators) Tour ... Read More
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A Byzantine quarter at Ephesus in Turkey found in 2022 During archaeological excavations at Ephesus in 2022, a well-preserved Byzantine quarter was unearthed, rightly hailed by the excavators as the most spectacular discovery made at the site in many decades. ... Read More
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The Derveni Krater in the archaeological museum in Thessaloniki, Greece Our picture shows a detail of one of the most remarkable things we see in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in Greece. The central galleries are devoted more or less ... Read More
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Thessaloniki: capital of Greek gastronomy A free evening in Thessaloniki is both an essential and a dangerous feature of tours in Macedonia! Thessaloniki is, beyond any doubt, the culinary capital of Greece. Although the city ... Read More