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As the world practices “social distancing,” travelers have found their plans canceled or at least significantly curbed. While most of us are stuck at home, we don’t have to be bored. Fortunately, the internet and virtual tours allow us to travel almost anywhere from the comfort of our couch.
Though we feel there’s nothing quite like seeing historically significant places and objects in person, virtual tour programs, like Google’s Arts & Culture and AirPano, significantly enhance the experience. Think of these virtual guides as modern books. They can help with travel planning. You know what to expect, and you gain insight and knowledge on your destination ahead of time.
Here are 30 of the best virtual tours we’ve found so far.
Virtual Tours Of Famous Museums
Created by the Google Cultural Institute, Google Art & Culture is an online platform which partners with hundreds of museums. They display high definition imagery of countless collections from across the world. The intent is not to replace visiting these historically significant destinations, but rather provide greater accessibility to the treasures they hold.
Some virtual tours, allow visitors to move from room to room throughout the museum. Others, provide an online catalog of their collections.
Browse through Google Arts & Culture’s Collections page to see all the museums on offer. Some of our favorites include:
Virtual Tours Of Ancient Lost Civilizations
These once lost, now rediscovered, ancient cities and monuments make amazing places to explore through virtual tours. Though, you would be sincerely missing out never seeing these phenomenal destinations in person.
Virtually Tour Cultural Icons
From the Great Wall of China to the Palace of Versailles, so many culturally iconic destinations have virtual tours. If you can’t find a virtual tour on Google, just go to the destination’s official website and you may get lucky.
- Palace of Versailles, France
- White House, U.S.A (scroll to museum views)
- Sydney Opera House, Australia (scroll to museum views)
- Houses of Parliament, U.K. (Houses of Parliament Website)
- Buckingham Palace, U.K. (Buckingham Palace Website)
- Colosseum, Italy (AirPano)
- Great Wall of China, China (AirPano)
Sky Views Of The New Seven Wonders Of The World
In addition to the tours listed above, Google’s Poly platform also as skyhigh views of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
- The Taj Mahal, India
- Great Wall of China, China
- Colosseum of Rome, Italy
- Chichén Itzá, Mexico
- Petra, Jordan
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Manchu Picchu, Peru
Virtually Tour Natural Wonders
How amazing is it to be able to trek though the Amazon without the fear of snakes, or peer through the clouds at Angel Falls? It’s astounding what technology brings right into our homes. By the way, the tour of the Sơn Đoòng Cave is one of our favorites on this list.
- Sơn Đoòng Cave, Vietnam (National Geographic)
- Angel Falls, Venezuela (AirPano)
- Grand Canyon, U.S.A (scroll to museum views)
- Amazon Forest & River, South America (scroll to museum views)
- Jokulsarlon Ice Lagoon, Iceland (AirPano)
Virtually Tour Areas Typically Off-Limits
This is probably our favorite list of virtual tours. Most other destinations on this page are probable and possible; however, most people will never see these areas in person.
- International Space Station
- CERN facilities European Organization for Nuclear Research
- Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway (Global Seed Vault website)
- Scott’s Hut, Antarctica
Hopefully, we will all be back out traveling the world again real soon. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy traveling the world through these virtual tours, and maybe have added a few new destinations to your bucket list.
If you know of any other fantastic virtual tours, let us know in the comments.
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