The Grand Tour Explained: Bridgerton, Bad Behaviour and Too Many Sex Scandals to Count

When the writers on Netflix’s Bridgerton send Colin Bridgerton off on the Grand Tour in season three, it’s treated as a throwaway plot device. In reality, the Grand Tour was one of the most influential – and ridiculous – phenomena in British history, shaping everything from travel writing to modern tourism. In this episode, we use Colin Bridgerton’s continental adventures as a starting point to explore the 18th-century Grand Tour: the original gap year for wealthy young men. Its participants travelled through Paris, Rome and Venice, crossed the Alps, wrote pompous letters home, got embroiled in scandals, caught STDs, and became the target of savage satirical cartoons. We unpack how the Grand Tour also helped invent the travel guidebook, why tourists still flock to the same “must-see” sights today, how so-called souvenirs often meant mass produced art and looted antiquities, and why Venice became both a cultural hotspot and an early warning about over-tourism. It’s a story of privilege, taste-making and cultural theft –and explores how many of travel’s biggest controversies in 2026 can be traced back to the Grand Tour. Ps. Hang around for the end of the podcast, where we’ve included another episode-themed musical easter egg. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bytheirowncompass.com/subscribe