Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour review: Rob Rinder and Rylan Clark open our hearts and broaden our minds in a genuinely beautiful new travelogue

The new BBC celebs-go-on-holiday show, sending pals Rob Rinder and Rylan Clark to Venice, Florence and Rome on a grand tour might have given you travel fatigue.

After all, the aristocratic Grand Tour has been fertile ground for the TV travelogue – in recent years, Kevin McCloud, historian Bettany Hughes and art critic Brian Sewell undertook the arduous task of a free jolly round Europe's cultural hotspots in the footsteps of Byron and Shelley.

Meanwhile, celebs from Clive Myrie to Joanna Lumley to ITV's banter magnets Gordon, Gino and Fred have taken themselves around Europe on our dollar.

Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder were in Florence this week, part of the pair's new BBC2 series Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour (PIcture: BBC/Rex TV/Zinc Media/Lana Salah)

And on first glance, Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour (BBC2, Sun, 9pm) might seem to be more of the same.

The pair visit the Italian cities which so captivated the Grand Tourists of the 17th and 18th centuries, following in the footsteps of romantic poet and monogamy-phobe Lord Byron and his upper class pals, who were sent to the great European cities to become cultured, learned men-of-the-world.

The Byron framing, to be honest, is extremely loose, with little animated inserts reminding you that, hey, the title isn't just a nice gimmick, there's actual thinking here.

And, in fact, this is much more than a mere travelogue. This is about the transformative power of art and culture, and the benefits that travel can bring in opening your horizons and changing your view of the world.

Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder go on a Grand Tour of Italy's cultural hotspots in a new series on BBC2 (Picture: BBC/Rex TV/Zinc Media/Lana Salah)

According to the preamble of this week's second episode, in which the pair travelled to Florence, Rylan says barrister and GMB host Rob is “one of the cleverest blokes I know, who loves talking about art”, while Rob says the ultra-groomed Rylan “doesn't know his arts from his elbow”.

A fact seemingly reinforced when Rylan discovers the Italian name for Florence is Firenze – which he thought meant 'fire hazard'.

Rob, meanwhile, is prone to flights of fancy when confronted with the living, breathing reality of renaissance Florence.

Listening to the church bells across the rooftops of the city, he says: “If you just listen enough, you're back in the 17th or 18th century... it's like being in the middle of the greatest opera set ever.”

Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder get a close-up view of Donatello's David in Florence, part of the new BBC2 series Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour (Picture: BBC/Rex TV/Zinc Media/Lana Salah)

But his enthusiasm is infectious, and such is Rylan's hitherto unforeseen capacity for soaking up knowledge, it's not long before he is exclaiming “I am the Dome!”, looking out across the rooftops from the beautiful Duomo – the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

You can see that getting up close to these wonders of the Renaissance – liberally scattered around the city – inspires Rylan and allows him to see the world in a different light.

Meanwhile, Rylan inspires Rob to feel more, to experience more, rather than internalise and intellectualise everything he sees.

A walk around the Uffizi gallery, and close encounters with Botticelli's Venus and the Venus di Medici inspires new sense of wonder.

“You don't need someone to confirm what you think,” says Rylan.

“And I don't need someone to confirm how I feel,” responds Rob.

It's not often you can describe a television programme as beautiful, not least a programme which, on the fact of it, is yet another lazy trawl around the places we've seen countless times.

But Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour is beautiful in many ways. It lingers over statues, it gazes at paintings, it contemplates frescoes, allowing the works to inspires the viewer as well as the two celeb pals.

Meanwhile, whether dancing on couches in a Florentine gay bar or taking part in a bondage-themed life drawing class, you can see how these new experiences change their world-view, almost in real time.

The pair are delightful company, whether considering how the Renaissance changed our view of the perfect male body or finding the beauty in stereotypically masculine sport.

And such is their enthusiasm and open nature that you want to drop everything and go to... well, wherever you've always wanted to go really. To visit an art gallery, to experience new things, to go on a grand tour of your own.