Simon Reeve’s favourite city in the world is both “spectacular” and features one of the “most stunning buildings on the planet”. In an exclusive interview, the well-known BBC adventurer opened up about a beloved city where the East and West meet and intrepid tourists can “smell the history and the culture”.
Simon, who’s travelled to more than 130 countries, is fresh off a recent trip to Europe’s Nordic nations, where he filmed the three part BBC series ‘Scandinavia with Simon Reeve’. He previously revealed his favourite country in the world to Express.co.uk and has now revealed his number one city. Simon leaned towards a spot that straddles both Europe and Asia and contains a “spectacular” locale with “one of the most stunning buildings on the planet”.
He said: “In terms of a city, I think Istanbul is not just spectacular, but you can’t go there and not smell the history and the culture there. You know, I love how it’s clearly divided. You’ve got your old bit.
“You’ve got your modern bit. You’ve got your Eastern area, as well – the other side of the Bosphorus, Asia, basically. It is the point where, for a thousand years and more, the East and the West have met.”
Simon weighed in on what he termed his “favourite little quirky thing”, which involved the Hagia Sophia, the city’s 1,600-year-old grand mosque.
He explained that the site is now open as an attraction but remains an “incredible building”.
He said: “I’ll tell you my favourite little quirky thing actually, in many a way; there’s a building in Istanbul called Hagia Sophia, which was a church, then a mosque, is now sort of a museum, just open as an attraction.”
Simon added: “But it’s an incredible building – one of the most stunning buildings on the planet, and up at the top, inside on the upper balcony, there’s a bit of graffiti carved into the balcony.”
He was referring to an example of ancient Viking runes carved into the Hagia Sophia when it was still a church. The National Museum of Denmark says the visiting Vikings were named Halvdan and Are.
According to Atlas Obscura, the inscription is believed to read “Halfdan carved these runes” or “Halfdan was here”, a sentiment that delighted Simon, who dubbed it his “favourite little bit”.
Learning about the scribbling Vikings was a “chill down the spine moment” for the presenter, who said people have been travelling since the “beginning of us”.
He added they always felt the desire to make their mark or feel connected with these “incredible sights”.
He added: “It’s just a reminder that our ancestors travelled, and they were quite similar to us, actually. They probably wanted a beer, a selfie, and to leave a little bit of a mark behind.”
You can catch all three episodes of Scandinavia with Simon Reeve on BBC iPlayer NOW.