Bridgerton Tourism: UK Boom & Filming Locations

Tehreem’s visit to Greenwich was “misty and slightly rainy,” but he didn’t mind.

“It was a great moment for me to see it in person,” says this fan, who with her illustrations of the series has caught the attention of Bridgerton actress Nicola Coughlan and the author of the books on which the series is based, Julia Quinn.

When typing “Bridgerton” on Instragram or TikTok, there are countless posts of fans posing in front of the Abbey Deli in Bath, which is also the Modiste dress shop, or in front of the Old Royal Naval College, the scene of several sequences.

Much of this content is accompanied by the series’ soundtrack and references to Lady Whistledown and the “dear, gentle reader.”

Melissa Maddock has gained almost 800,000 followers on TikTok by going to filming locations. Visiting Bath “was like entering the series,” he says.

The 26-year-old, from Nottingham, says the locations she saw were “exactly the same as those seen in the series”, unlike other shows which use “a lot of scenery”.

The first episodes of the fourth season of Bridgerton premiered on January 29.

That day, Alexis Reise Brodman, 27, was ready and awake to see them the moment they launched, even though it was 3 in the morning in the city where she lives, New York.

Then, that same night, he saw them again at a party he organized at his house with friends in the purest British style: with sandwiches, traditional scones and tea.

So when Alexis visited the UK last year, she made sure to visit the series’ filming locations in Bath and Greenwich.

Alexis says it was “a little shocking” to see a car park outside Ranger’s House, the Bridgerton family home, but she was still “dazzled” to be there in person.

Tehreem agrees with her. She also claims that some of the places she visited surprised her, especially Range’s House.

He told us that it seemed like a normal building, with buses circulating nearby and the noise of tourists.

And all this made him appreciate the decoration and post-production work of the series, with the exterior transformed with wisteria, the characteristic hanging purple flowers, and designed to appear to be surrounded by other properties.

Paul Elliott is running Bridgerton-themed tours in Bath from 2021.

He wasn’t much interested in the series when it premiered, but as a tour guide who experienced the collapse of his industry during the pandemic, he says the viewing figures for the first season made him wake up and pay attention.

When he started offering Bridgerton tours, Covid-19 restrictions forced him to limit groups to just six people and take customers’ temperatures.

Since then, he has offered tours to people from all over the world, according to what he tells the BBC. He even took six Bridgerton fans around town on Christmas Day.

“I don’t think any of us expected the phenomenon we’ve seen with Bridgerton,” says Seb Conway, general manager of Basildon Park in Berkshire, a site that was used to recreate the Featheringtons’ garden and Lady Tilley Arnold’s house. He says people from “all over the world” have visited the property because of its connection to Bridgerton.

“We even had people who have come here specifically to get married because this space appeared in the series,” he says.

Seb says it’s particularly interesting to see the adjustments the production team make to the location, such as using artificial flowers in the rose garden for a scene filmed in winter, and using props and careful camera shots to hide mirrors that couldn’t be removed.

For some people, visiting Bridgerton filming locations is about much more than just seeing the locations with their own eyes.

Alia Pyatt, one cosplayer (those who dress like a fictional character) 31-year-old Californian, has made her own dresses inspired by Bridgerton and hopes to visit the locations of the series this summer dressed perfectly in the Regency style.

“You immerse yourself in that fantasy,” Alia says, describing it as a form of escapism.

She and her friends, also big fans of the series, have made cosplay of Bridgerton characters. In addition to dressing up, they also try to replicate the posture, behaviors (such as using a fan), and “traditional way of speaking” of the time.

Alia’s desire to live and embody the series is shared by many other Bridgerton fans. And this has led to a boom in Bridgerton-themed experiences and events, including candlelight concerts and dances.

The Lanesborough Hotel in London offers a afternoon tea (afternoon tea) inspired by Bridgerton. “Aesthetically, it’s a very Instagrammable experience,” says Jo Stevenson, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing.

Netflix sends the hotel a mood board (visual representation) with the flowers, colors and dresses used in each season to help create the menu. Netflix and production company Shondaland also approve every aspect of the experience, including the names of the cakes and cocktails.

Tehreem has attended Bridgerton-themed events in Toronto, where she met other fans of the series and felt “immersed in the world of the Regency.”

But, unfortunately, her visits to the real Bridgerton locations have not yet transported her to that world of the filmed series, as she expected.

“I thought I would meet Lady Bridgerton at Bridgerton House,” he says, “but there were no wisteria trees or carriages in sight.”

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