Social distancing giving you cabin fever? It doesn’t matter how much you try to stay busy or keep active and working from home, it is still far too easy to get bored and lose focus when not traveling. Not me. Know what I did today? I had breakfast in Paris, lunch in Amsterdam and afternoon tea in London. And you can too!
You could scroll through Netflix offerings for the umpteenth time, think about all those closets you should be cleaning out, or you could add a little culture and education into your life and “go to the museum” without ever leaving your couch.
According to Fast Company, Google Arts & Culture coordinated with over 2500 museums and galleries around the world to create a great deal of awesome virtual tours and online exhibits of some of the most famous science, history, and art museums around the world.
In addition to Google Arts & Culture’s selection several other museums are offering virtual tours of their own. You can virtually “walk” through some of the world’s most renowned cultural institutions. These museums are great learning opportunities for students at home when schools are closed or anyone who wants to experience new things without leaving home. All you need is the Internet. What these places are offering online allows you to enjoy culture in real time from your own home.
So if you’re looking for an adventure at home and in need of a change of scenery, grab your laptop, tablet or phone, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and join me on a world tour filled with art, history, science, and nature. I’ve even thrown in some bonus attractions such as aquariums, parks, and zoos. Happy Traveling!
Museums and Attractions
Athens Acropolis in Athens, Greece: A must-see destination for ancient history buffs, the Athens Acropolis includes the world-famous Parthenon and is a cultural hotspot for tourists. But you can “go” there today!
View the Theatre of Dionysus and enjoy in-depth videos that provide a fascinating and educational insight into ancient Greece. There are lots of stunning pictures to see and interesting facts to learn, so go get your Greek on!
Check out the Greek: Athens Acropolis
Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta: We have been there in person, and the place is huge. There is one part where you walk through a glass tunnel of sorts and can see sharks swimming overhead! There is so much beauty and wonder in nature, so it’s good to know you can still get your daily dose of “wow” from the safety of your sofa.
The Georgia Aquarium has over 50 species ranging from sea lions to underwater puffins, with many available to view via webcam. There’s also a daily and weekly livestream that’s aimed at getting children interested in animals, and a great at-home educational tool for kids at home when school is closed.
Want to hang out with a Beluga Whale this afternoon? Just click on the link below and see what he’s up to.
Sea more: Georgia Aquarium
The Louvre in Paris: Want to have breakfast in Paris? Pour yourself a cup of coffee and check out some of the famous pieces in the world’s largest art museum. The famous Louvre has free online tours of three famous exhibits, including Egyptian Antiquities.
The Louvre is an attraction visited by millions of tourists in person every year, me being one of them. The Louvre Museum has also created a selection of virtual tours based on its permanent collections. You can explore Egyptian antiquities, the Remains of the Louvre’s Moat, and the decorative arts of the Galerie d’Apollon.
The tour is easy to navigate. There is an expandable minimap that lets you highlight exhibits to view with just a couple of clicks. You can also find out more about each room in The Louvre, with detailed descriptions for each one.
Take a trip: Louvre Museum
Royal Academy of Arts in London: If you’re particularly fascinated by architecture, the Royal Academy of Arts has a virtual tour that will entertain you for hours. The Sensing Spaces exhibition uses high-quality 360-degree photography to give people a taste of its structures and extraordinary exhibitions. It really makes you feel like you are actually there.
Each exhibition has additional information for users to read through, but you’re encouraged to come to your own conclusions and decide what each space means to you personally.
Visit the exhibition: Sensing Spaces
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York: In Guggenheim’s Collection Online you can see the works of renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Jeff Koons, and Franz Marc as well as over 600 other artists.
Google’s Street View feature lets you tour the Guggenheim’s famous spiral staircase without ever leaving home. From this vantage point, you can appreciate incredible works of art from the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary eras.
Visit the Collection Online
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.: Take your time and enjoy the 360-degree room-by-room tour of every exhibit in the museum.
Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: This was one of my favorite places to visit when I went to Amsterdam. If you are a fan of this unusual, ingenious painter you can see his works up close by virtually visiting this art museum which has the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters.
Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains of Peru: A simply stunning UNESCO World Heritage site, Machu Picchu is something you just have to see. But you don’t have to fly all the way to Peru to see it in all its glory, because the comprehensive virtual tour is fascinating all by itself.
With 360-degree views of the ruins of Inca settlements and lush green landscapes, you can visit every popular vantage point and learn more about the history of this famous site as you listen to the informative narration.
Take the tour: Machu Picchu
Musée d’Orsay in Paris: You can virtually walk through this popular art gallery located in the center of Paris. This historic museum was built in the former Orsay railway station for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, but it now houses dozens of famous works from French artists who worked and lived between 1848 and 1914.
Take a walk through the extravagant hallways and appreciate artworks from Monet, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin, among others. You will not have to wait in line, and there will be no crowd to deal with. Just take your time and absorb all the art and culture you want.
Take the tour: Musée d’Orsay
J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles: Los Angeles’s esteemed gallery has two virtual tours, including “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry,” which is a closer look at food in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
You can see European artworks from as far back as the 8th Century in this poplular California art museum. Take a Street View tour to view a huge collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, and photographs.
The Vatican Museum in Italy: No need to fight the crowd of tourists in Rome. Step into the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and Raphael’s Room, which are just some of the famous sites you can see on the Vatican’s virtual tour. It is definitely worth seeing, as they also have incredible artwork on display in these sites.
The tour is compatible with WebVR, so if you want you can put on a VR headset and get an even closer look at some of these breathtaking wonders.
Travel to Rome and visit: The Vatican
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid: Madrid’s popular art museum has the works of some of the world’s most famous artists like Rembrandt and Dali available online.
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico: There are Six virtual exhibits available online from this museum which is named for the woman known as the “Mother of American modernism.”
British Museum in London: The Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies are just a couple of things that you’re able to see on a virtual tour of this museum. This amazing museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to discover the ancient Rosetta Stone, see real Egyptian mummies, and tour the Great Court .
The British Museum in London is home to an astounding collection that spans over two million years of human history and culture. With nearly 50 online exhibits to view, you can see hundreds of artifacts on the museum’s virtual tour.
For a more interactive experience, try the the Museum of the World tour. They have a large selection of exhibits that are organized by century, continent and category – such as trade and conflict or art and design. There is an audio that explains each exhibit in more detail and gives the viewer some interesting backstories to the pieces.
Browse the exhibits: The British Museum
NASA in Virginia and in Ohio: Both Virginia’s Langley Research Center and Ohio’s Glenn Research Center offer free online tours.
You might also want to try out some “augmented reality experiences” with The Space Center Houston’s app.
National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C:. There are two online exhibits through Google for this famous American art museum. The first is an exhibit of American fashion from 1740 to 1895, which includes many clothes from the colonial and Revolutionary eras. The second exhibit is a collection of works from Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer.
MASP, São Paulo in Brazil: Brazil’s first modern museum, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo is a non-profit art museum.
Because the art pieces are placed on clear perspex frames, it seems like the artwork is hovering in midair. It is so cool! Take a virtual tour to experience the spectacular display for yourself.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul: One of Korea’s most popular museums can now be seen from anywhere in the world via the Internet. Google’s virtual tour takes you through six floors of Contemporary art from Korea and others from all over the globe.
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City: This largest art gallery in the United States, also known as the MET, is an enormous treasure house of beauty. As you may know the Met Gala was cancelled this year, but you can still experience some of it at the The Costume Institute Conversation Lab, which is one of the institution’s 26 online exhibits.
Detroit Institute of Arts in Chicago: Mexican art icon Frida Kahlo is the most well known of two of the four available online exhibits.
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam: The Golden Age of Dutch art is highlighted in this interesting art museum which includes the work of Vermeer and Rembrandt.
Google offers a Street View tour of this classic museum, so you feel like you are actually there walking down the halls and browsing the artwork.
MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) in New York: New York’s extensive collection is available for viewing online.
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston: This is a fine art museum to see. The 16 virtual exhibits include a special section on 21st Century Designer Fashion.
America’s National Parks: And if you are tired of being “indoors in museums,” without even leaving your couch you can go “outside” with incredible virtual tours of some of America’s best national parks. This is one of my favorites.
Virtual Zoo Tours: The Atlanta Georgia Zoo keeps a “Panda Cam” livestream on its website. The Houston Zoo’s live cam allows you to check in on all sorts of animals. The San Diego Zoo has a large number of live cam options, which let you switch between polar bears, tigers, and koalas.
In the afternoons The Cincinnati Zoo holds a daily Home Safari on its Facebook Live Feed. I’ve already mentioned the Georgia Aquarium sharks. Well, it is Shark Week every week thanks to live online footage of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Habitat exhibit.
What a massive list! This should be enough to keep you busy for a while. Maybe it is not the same as actually being there, but I hope these ideas will provide some entertainment and education for you during your time at home.
Who knows? Maybe these virtual tours will spark creative ideas for your own next travel destination. Let me know which ones you like best by commenting below.
