Our Expert Tour Guides
The guides who lead our tours are true specialists. From archaeologists, historians, and travel writers, they are natural enthusiasts steeped in the history and culture of our destination countries. Our archaeological tours, in particular, benefit immensely from their on-the-ground expertise, offering you unparalleled insights into ancient sites. We choose our tour guides not just because they are extremely knowledgeable, but because they are great communicators and friendly hosts. They are there to bring the history and archaeological sites to life, and they are also there to make your holiday as relaxing and inspirational as possible.
From the start of our company in 2002, PST has grown to include a team of 30 expert tour leaders plus a range of wonderful licenced local guides. In March 2024, we managed to assemble 24 of our guides plus some of our local agents, from 6 countries for a magnificent get together in Istanbul - our biggest ever gathering. Here we are raising a glass on a boat on the Bosphorus! It proved a huge success, with lots of brainstorming of new tour and destination ideas and discussions of how we can make our trips. Needless to say we enjoyed lots of wonderful meals and everyone got to know each other much better. It was great fun and an incredible learning experience. Thank you to all of team that were able to come!
You can take a look at all of our guides below and click on individual bios to find out more. After that why not take a look at our range of expert-led archaeological tours or gulet cruises, or get in touch so we can help create a wonderful private tour just for you.
Serdar Akerdem
Peter has been working with Serdar since 1999, when Serdar acted as the local fixer on a BBC/CNN documentary series Peter was filming around the Antalya region of Turkey. A man of many talents, not only is he a highly experienced location manager and tour guide, Serdar is a genteel, enthusiastic and knowledgeable archaeologist. He has lectured...
Marcello Baglioni
Marcello first began his love affair with Italian food and wine as an 8 year old sous-chef in the kitchen of his father’s Italian restaurant in Hollywood, California. He ended up going into the food business, working as the manager of a successful catering company, before moving to Sicily where he has lived for almost two decades, immersing himself..
Dr Richard Bayliss
After a degree in archaeology Richard lived in Turkey working at the British Institute in Ankara as a resident archaeologist. He has travelled widely around the country over many years, surveying and excavating many celebrated sites, from a church with its mosaics falling into the sea at Sinop, to....
Paul Beston
Inspired by finding a musket-ball in Gibraltar, Paul spent his childhood drawing Spartans, watching historical documentaries and devouring archaeology books. 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...
Dr Jesper Blid
Jesper studied Classical Archeology and Art History at Uppsala University in Sweden, before earning his doctorate at Stockholm University. He has worked as a researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Lund University and Université of Bordeaux and as a Lecturer at Stockholm University and Uppsala University...
Dr Filip Budić
Steeped in the history and archaeology of Croatia, Filip has walked and travelled extensively across the mainland, coast and islands of his homeland. Passionate about history and archaeology since his childhood, he has worked on multiple excavations and surveys throughout Croatia as well as at sites in Kosovo, Germany, Greece, Israel and...
Dr Deborah Carlson
Deborah studied classical archaeology at the University of Arizona and participated in the terrestrial excavations of a Roman villa in Tuscany and a Greek temple in the Peloponnese. In 1996, Deborah moved to Texas so that she could study shipwreck archaeology with George Bass, the Father of Underwater...
Uğur Çinar
UÄźur has led a wide range of tours in Turkey for Peter Sommer Travels, accompanying many of our expert historians and archaeologists. UÄźur studied for his guiding course at Aegean University in Ä°zmir before completing a degree in Tourism Management at the Mediterranean University in Antalya. Driven by his...
Professor Jim Crow
Jim Crow’s research interests focus on Roman Frontier Studies and Byzantine Archaeology. A graduate of Birmingham and Newcastle Universities, he directed the archaeological excavations on Hadrian’s Wall for the National Trust for most of the 1980s and has run field projects in Northumberland at High Rochester and Harbottle. He has served on...
Dr Michael Curtis
Michael is a landscape and coastal archaeologist, author, and broadcaster with a special interest in Roman ports and harbours. He is an Honorary Fellow at the School of Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Leicester. His academic journey began with undergraduate studies in archaeology at...
Francesca Del Vecchio
Francesca is an art historian and professional tour guide who also specialises in museum education and art communication in the Campania region of Italy. A very welcoming and friendly Neapolitan, her passion and enthusiasm for this ancient city and the entire Campania Region is matched by her in-depth knowledge of its history...
Seçkin Demirok
Seçkin’s was inspired by his grandfather to pursue a career in travel and tourism. He earned his Turkish guiding certificate in 2010 and then went on to achieve a degree in history at Anadolu University and an MA on Turkish archaeology and ancient history from Boğaziçi University, the leading University in Turkey...
Dr Sophy Downes
A passionate enthusiast of the ancient world, Sophy has travelled extensively for her studies, and devoted her life to understanding its myriad cultures. In between teaching appointments at the University of Edinburgh, University College London and the American University of Rome, she has lived for several years in Greece and Italy, and...
Dr Cathie Draycott
Cathie Draycott is an assistant professor in Classical Archaeology at Durham University. She specialises in the archaeology of Iron Age and Classical Anatolia, and in the study of art, visual culture and social identities. She has previously worked as a research fellow at the University of Oxford, Koç University in Istanbul and the British Institute...
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 in Croatia and Montenegro as well as doing many other new and exciting things for PST. Mislav has directed and been involved in many archaeological.....
Italo Giordano
Italo is an Italian archaeologist as well as a licensed tour guide whose academic work is focussed on Sicily, particularly the Greek and Roman periods and the island’s later Byzantine, Arab and Norman layers. Not only does he present sites with clarity and passion, his understanding of the archaeology, its survival and...
Dr Maria Girtzi
Born in Thessaloniki, Maria is an Archaeologist and professional tour guide. She studied Archaeology and Art at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and did her postgraduate studies on Greek Archaeology (MA and PhD.) at the University of Birmingham in the UK. She has taught History, Archaeology and Art...
Professor Olivier Henry
Olivier holds a Degree in ancient history, two Masters Degrees in ancient history and classical archaeology and a PhD from the University of Bordeaux. After a couple of years at the University of Illinois, lecturing on ancient architecture, he worked at the French Institute for Anatolian Studies, coordinating all French archaeological activities in Turkey...
Lucia Iacono
Born and bred in Siracusa (Sicily), Lucia studied for a BA in foreign languages and literature at the University of Catania. After a brief stint working as an English language teacher, she followed her heart and become a qualified tourist guide, specialising initially in the South-Eastern provinces of Ragusa and...
Professor Ivana Jevtic
Ivana nurtured a passion for art and the past since her childhood. Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, she developed an interest for the history of the Balkans and studied art history at the University of Belgrade before receiving her doctorate at the University of Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne. A specialist in Byzantine art, architecture and history...
Nota Karamaouna
Born and bred in Athens, Nota has been travelling to Turkey, especially Cappadocia, for many years, captivated by its multicultural history, the spectacular landscape and the warm local hospitality. With a degree in Archaeology and Art History and a Masters in Byzantine Archaeology, she is currently finishing her PhD. focusing on the Byzantine churches of Cappadocia...
Dr Giuseppe Labisi
Giuseppe Labisi is an archaeologist with a joint PhD from the Sapienza University of Rome and the Panthéon-Sorbonne University of Paris. Since 2020 he has been co-director of the archaeological project on Mount Altesina (Nicosia, Sicily) - first as an associate member of the University of Bordeaux-Montaigne...
Nikos Lanser
Born to a Dutch father and a Greek mother in Rotterdam, Nikos Lanser was always interested in anything Greek. He studied and received a degree in ancient Greek history at Leiden University before working in broadcasting, and taught Greek from his early student years onwards. For a decade he did PR work and business consultancy, before he moved to Athens, Greece, where he obtained a degree...
Valeria Lenuzza
Valeria is a very popular and extremely talented tour manager and guide on our Rome tour. After graduating in Classical studies, academic life took her to Athens, where she gained a Master’s in Aegean Prehistory at the Italian Archaeological School and undertook archaeological research and exploration throughout Greece and Turkey. After gaining her PhD in Aegean Archaeology...
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...
Professor Graham Oliver
Graham undertook both his undergraduate and doctoral studies in Classics at Oxford University before moving to The University of Liverpool in 1994, where he taught until 2013. He then moved to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island where he is Professor of Classics, Chair of Classics and Professor of History...
EyĂĽp Ă–zdemir
Eyup has led a wide range of tours in Turkey for Peter Sommer Travels, accompanying many of our expert historians and archaeologists. EyĂĽp has a degree in ancient history focusing on the Hittite civilisation, from Ankara University. Following his academic education, he became an official tour guide...
Anastasios Papadopoulos
As an archaeologist, Anatasasios has dug a huge variety of sites in Greece, covering thousands of years of its history – everything from the Neolithic to the mediaeval Byzantine era, particularly in his beloved north. He has a degree in history, an MA in Byzantine Archaeology and is studying for a PhD at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Having excavated widely for a decade...
Dr Spencer Pope
Spencer received his PhD in Classical Archaeology from Brown University, after studying and living in both Greece and Italy for several years, and is now Associate Professor in the Department of Classics at McMaster University in Ontario (Canada)...
Julian Richards
Julian is an archaeologist, author and broadcaster who specialises in the prehistoric landscapes of southern Britain and has a particular fascination with Stonehenge...
Peter Sommer
Peter studied Ancient History and Archaeology at Birmingham University before completing a Masters on the archaeology of Central Asia. He has taught at Birmingham University and Istanbul’s Bogaziçi Üniversitesi (Bosphorus University). In 1994 he walked 2,000 miles across Turkey, retracing the route of Alexander the Great, and fell deeply...
Professor Tony Spawforth
Tony Spawforth is emeritus professor of ancient history at Newcastle University, UK, and has been visiting fellow at the British School at Athens and fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. A freelance writer, lecturer and broadcaster he is well known for presenting documentaries for the BBC such as Alexander The God King...
Dr Nigel Spivey
Peter had the good fortune of directing Nigel a good few years back in a documentary about Britain’s ancient monuments. We are absolutely delighted that he is one of our tour leaders. Nigel is a Fellow of Emmanuel College and Senior Lecturer in Classics at Cambridge University, where he teaches Classical...
Alexander Stephens
Alexander is our Client and Operations Administrator and the main point of contact for our guests. He manages all bookings, enquiries, and day‑to‑day administration, and genuinely enjoys speaking with guests on the phone. Having worked with the company for over three years, Alex has built up...
Dr Peter Tomkins
Peter fell in love with Crete in 1991 on a gap year spent travelling in Greece. Arriving for a planned two-week visit, he was still there three months later pushing a wheel-barrow for the British School excavations at the Bronze Age town of Palaikastro in East Crete. After reading Classics at Oxford...
Dr Athena Trakadas
Athena is an archaeologist whose passion is investigating how past coastal communities lived and engaged with the marine environment, and how this can inform our present and future. She holds degrees in Classics & Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley (USA), MAs in Nautical Archaeology...
Ilhan Varlik
Ilhan has led a wide range of tours in Turkey for Peter Sommer Travels, accompanying many of our expert historians and archaeologists. Ilhan is a licensed outdoor and cultural tour guide who has led many tours both inside and outside of Turkey. He started his working life as a Counter-Intelligence Officer at the...
Paola Virgilio
Paola has a Master’s Degree in Arts and Theatre at Bologna University and long-standing passion for her homeland, she’s led many tours related not just to archaeology, but also cuisine, nature, literature and the arts: while away from Sicily she graduated with a Master’s Degree in Arts and Theatre at Bologna....
Cem YĂĽcesoy
Cem has worked 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 guiding qualification and ever since has accompanied a great many of our trips...