From 1700 to 1704, he travelled to western Europe as part of a traditional educational journey (Grand Tour), and visited, among other countries, Denmark, France and the Dutch Republic.

After the death of his father in 1708 he returned with his family, who had lived since 1704 in the Schloss Weferlingen near Magdeburg, and assumed the nominal title of Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach.

George Frederick Charles could also rely on the decisive assistance of the Archbishop of Mainz, the Aulic Council (Imperial Supreme Court), and Prince-Bishop of Bamberger Lothar Franz von Schönborn and his nephew, the Imperial Vice-Chancellor (German: Reichsvizekanzler) Friedrich Karl von Schönborn, who supported the abolition of the Contract of Schönberg.

After his accession, George Frederick Charles put great value on the improvement of the ruined finances of his territories and made local government his highest priority.

In the memoirs of his daughter-in-law Wilhelmine of Prussia, George Frederick Charles is described as a thin, bandy-legged, egotistical, wrong-headed, jealous person.