There’s no better way to experience Turkey and all its treasures than on a once in a lifetime archaeological tour with a renowned archaeologist, filmmaker, and tour guide. Peter Sommer is an award-winning documentary producer, with an intense passion for everything Turkish and Greek. In 1994, Sommer walked 2,000 miles across Turkey, as he retraced the route of Alexander the Great. During this time, Sommer “fell in love with the country, its ancient civilizations, and the Turkish people.” Two years after Sommer completed his travels, he founded Peter Sommer Travels. Since 1996, Peter Sommer Travels has offered “unique escorted tours” and cruises around Turkey and Greece.
Peter Sommer Travels Tours
Peter Sommer Travels offers Archaeology tours, Food tours, Family tours, Gulet Cruises and private Gulet Charters. Each year, Peter Sommer Travels features an impressive list of tour guides to lead its expert led gulet cruises, archaeological tours, and historical tours of Turkey and Greece. For 2015, the guide list includes: Professor Jim Crow, Professor Julian Bennett, Professor Tony Spawforth, Dr. Michael Metcalfe, Dr. Olivier Henry, Dr. Alan Greaves, and many more.
The 2015 Tour Schedule features the following tours:
Exploring Istanbul
Exploring Sicily
Exploring Crete: Archaeology, Nature and Food
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great: The Conquest of Asia Minor – Part One
Walking & Cruising Western Lycia
Exploring Sicily
Exploring Athens
Cruising to the Cyclades
A Gastronomic Gulet Cruise
Cruising the Carian Coast: from Mediterranean to Aegean
Cruising to Ephesus
Exploring the Peloponnese
Cruising the Carian Coast – A family tour
Cruising the South-East Aegean: Greek Isles and Turkish Shores
Cruising the Lycian Shore
Cruising the South-East Aegean: Greek Isles and Turkish Shores
From the Slopes of Mt Olympus to the Shores of the Aegean
Exploring Istanbul
Cruising the Amalfi Coast
Cruising Western Lycia
Cruising to Ephesus
Cruising the Carian Coast: from Mediterranean to Aegean
From Halicarnassus to Ephesus
Cruising to the Dodecanese
A Gastronomic Gulet Cruise
A Gastronomic tour of Sicily
Walking and Cruising the Lycian Shore
Walking and Cruising the Carian Coast
Walking & Exploring Cappadocia and the Lands of the Hittites
Walking and Cruising Western Lycia
Exploring Rome
Peter Sommer Travels Gulet Charters
The Turkish sailing season runs from April until the end of October. Low season is spring and October and high season is summer. Prices will vary by season. Peter Sommer Travels offers a variety of traditional Turkish gulets for charter, ranging from small to large. The company works with a wide variety of gulet owners, so they can accommodate everything from small families to large groups.
Crewed yacht charters are readily available and consist of a full crew: a captain, cook and able seamen. Additional able seamen are available depending on the size of the boat. PST offers provides “additional logistical support, from airport transfers and minibuses” to transport guests into the interior to local guides that can give guests a tour of the archaeological sites.
Gulet Cruises: What to Expect
Gulet cruises are typically three hours long. Guests can expect to engage in activities such as swimming, snorkeling, sunning and windsurfing. Mealtimes are festive events filled with local delicacies and Turkish wines. A typical breakfast on a gulet cruise may consist of bread, tomatoes, olives, cheese, eggs, yogurt, and honey. Lunch and dinner may consist of one of two main courses, accompanied by salads and mezes, followed by fruit.
What is a Gulet?
The word ‘gulet’ probably derives from the French goulette, or schooner. These two-masted wooden vessels, usually made from local pine, were long used for transport and fishing along the southern coasts of Turkey. Typically designed with a sharp bow, broad beam and rounded aft. Today these days they are designed and fitted with comfort and not trade in mind.
Land Tours
Peter Sommer Travels offers a range of land tours and city tours such as Exploring Rome, Exploring Athens, Exploring Istanbul and Exploring Crete, Exploring Sicily and Exploring the Peloponnese. Such trips are carefully crafted to offer an in-depth experience, an intimate exploration of a region’s history and culture. They are based on extensive research, painstaking preparation and – most importantly – on the profound and detailed local knowledge of their guides.
How to Book a Land Tour or a Gulet Cruise or Private Charter
If you would like more information about Peter Sommer Travels offerings, you can contact PST by email, fax or phone.
Peter Sommer Travels
Chippenham House
102 Monnow Street
Monmouth
NP25 3EQ
UK
Tel: +44 (0)1600 888 220
Fax: +44 (0)1600 888 221
Email: [email protected]
Brochures and schedules can be viewed online through the official Peter Sommer Travels website or you may request a brochure online or by phone, fax, or email.
Note: This article was updated and revised at the end of 2014 with information and text provided by Peter Sommer.