Thirty years ago this March, archaeologist Peter Sommer set off on his 2,000-mile (3,219-kilometre) trek across Turkey, retracing Alexander the Great’s route through the region’s breathtaking landscapes and ancient sites. The journey inspired Peter Sommer to begin leading archaeological tours to the country and eventually to start his own travel company.
In this anniversary year, Peter Sommer Travels is offering four walking tours in Turkey, two of which will be led by Peter Sommer himself. The departures are:
- Walking and Cruising Western Lycia: Eight days departing May 12, 2024, and starting at £2,895 (approx. AU$5,597) per person based on double occupancy. Led by Peter Sommer.
- Walking and Cruising the Lycian Shore: Fifteen days departing September 29, 2024, and starting at £5,125 (approx. AU$9,908) per person based on double occupancy. Led by Peter Sommer.
- Walking and Cruising the Carian Coast: Eight days departing September 29, 2024, and starting at £2,925 (approx. AU$5655) per person based on double occupancy. Led by Dr. Richard Bayliss.
- Walking and Cruising Western Lycia: Eight days departing Oct. 6, 2024, and starting at £2,895 (approx. AU$5,597) per person based on double occupancy. Led by Dr. Richard Bayliss.
Peter Sommer Travels Managing Director Peter Sommer said his trek across Turkey 30 years ago was the start of his lifelong passion for the country, and for travel and exploration around the world.
“Apart from one family holiday at a Spanish resort, I’d never been abroad, though I had studied Alexander’s life and empire. I expected my journey to be an adventure, and it was, filled with incredible views of the land and sea, and the stunningly well-preserved remains of cities from centuries gone by,” Mr Sommer said.
“But the Turkish people proved to be the greatest revelation, welcoming me, a young foreigner, into their homes and sharing their meals with me. These chance encounters, and the entire experience, were life-changing and led to the birth of my travel company,” he said.
In 1993, Peter Sommer finished a master’s degree in ancient history and archaeology, and yearned to leave the library and its dusty books behind for a more hands-on experience. Having studied Alexander and his military campaigns and marveled at Victorian travelers’ photographs of Turkey’s remote valleys, mountain passes and ancient cities, Sommer settled on retracing the Turkish portion of the longest military expedition ever undertaken on foot.
Planning for the trek took nearly a year, as Peter Sommer researched the route, pored over maps, sought sponsorships for hiking boots, tents and other equipment, and wrote to would-be patrons for support. Sir Ranulph Fiennes, named “the world’s greatest living explorer” by the Guinness Book of Records, and Michael Wood, the British historian and broadcaster, backed the journey.
After arriving in Istanbul on March 21, 1994, Peter Sommer started his trek from Troy, where Alexander first set foot in Asia, three days later. Over the next four-and-a-half months, Sommer took in the myriad wonders of Turkey, from the ruins of Sardis, a truly Anatolian capital, to the monumental remains of the great cities of Ionia like Ephesus and Miletus, the rugged region of Caria, the mysterious ancient sites of Lycia and Gordion, known for the legendary cutting of the Gordion knot, ending just north of the Syrian border at Issus, the location of Alexander’s second epic battle against the Persians.
Despite Peter Sommer’s planning, his journey still had challenges. He often got lost trying to follow ancient routes that have been obscured by a modern landscape of roads and towns, and on three occasions he fended off attacks by the renowned Kangal dogs of Anatolia. But along the way, he experienced the incredible warmth and hospitality of the Turkish people, and fell in love with their food, history and country.
In the years after his trek, Sommer, at the suggestion of his mentor John Freely, an American professor and author of books on Turkey who was a long-term resident of Istanbul, began creating and leading archaeological tours for a British travel company, then started his own company, all while studying for a doctorate and working as a documentary producer/director.
Tours include accommodations and crew services aboard Turkish gulets, meals, excursions with expert guides, entrance fees and tips on land, airport transfers on the first and last day, and more.
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