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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Finding Lydae: a remote Roman city off the beaten track The city of Lydae, one of the westernmost of the Lycian region, is still a riddle for most scholars. Located in the middle of a peninsula, in a basin surrounded ... Read More
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Troy: Myth and Reality at the British Museum Putting on an exhibition about Troy and the Trojan War carries a particular weight of expectation. It’s at the centre of everything for so many of us: archaeologists, ancient historians, ... Read More
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Dubrovnik's City Walls - protecting the Republic of Ragusa Dubrovnik, the 'Pearl of the Adriatic', is justly seen by most as an absolutely unmissable site for those travelling along the coast of Croatia and looking for the region's history ... Read More
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10 years at Peter Sommer Travels - Julie Sibley and Michael Metcalfe A few weeks ago, four people had a nice dinner in the heart of the town of Monmouth, just inside the Welsh border, where Peter Sommer Travels is based. The ... Read More
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The ancient Urn of Brasidas at Amphipolis in Greece We're back in Macedonia, Northern Greece, at Amphipolis, site of the celebrated Kasta Tumulus its excavation a few years ago. That story is perhaps awaiting its conclusion. Today, however, we ... Read More
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The Gleninsheen Collar: Treasure in the National Museum of Ireland The final day of our tour of Ireland brought us back to Dublin, the country's most important city since the Late Middle Ages. In the afternoon, we offered our guests ... Read More
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Newgrange in Ireland and its Megalithic art The penultimate day of our Exploring Ireland tour, was dedicated to three sites. Before returning to Dublin, we saw the monastic site of Monasterboice, with its famous High Crosses and ... Read More
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Trim Castle: the Keep May we recommend a visit to Trim Castle in County Meath in Ireland? Our picture shows the keep, or donjon, of Trim Castle, i.e. the innermost and free-standing fortification, the ... Read More
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Inishmore: the largest of the Aran Islands in Ireland The focus today on our Exploring Ireland tour was the island of Inishmore, (Inis Mór or Árainn in Irish), the largest of the Aran Islands. Geologically, they are a continuation ... Read More
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An ancient tomb at Poulnabrone in Ireland On our Exploring Ireland tour one of the regions we explore in detail is the Burren, the famous area of exposed limestone shelves that forms the northwestern section of County ... Read More
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Clonmacnoise monastery, a sacred place in the centre of Ireland Set on the banks of the broad majestic River Shannon, virtually at the geographic centre of Ireland, is a very sacred place, Clonmacnoise in County Offaly, a monastery founded by ... Read More
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Glendalough: a beautiful monastic centre in Ireland Our first visit of the day on the second day of our Exploring Ireland tours was to Glendalough, one of the most beautiful places in the vicinity of Dublin city. ... Read More
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Ireland Diary 2019 - the Liffey in Dublin “Exploring Ireland” is Peter Sommer Travels’ first Irish itinerary, running only for the second time in 2019. We followed those precedents, not describing every day in detail (just check our ... Read More
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Message on a Column: rewriting history at Mystras “May he have the curses of the 318 God-bearing Fathers of Nicaea and also the curse of me, the sinner. [In] the year 1312." These are the final four lines ... Read More