vr headset travel

10 of the Best Virtual Reality Travel Experiences

With the time and expense required to travel being prohibitive to many, there are alternative ways of indulging your wanderlust – including via the burgeoning world of Virtual Reality.

(Photo: Cubicle Ninjas)

There are a huge number of VR companies all vying to create ever more unique experiences for consumers – and one of the biggest growth categories has been travel. And what better time to get a taste of exploration and adventure from the comfort of your living room, equipped only with a VR headset, than now, when travel is a luxury that many just can’t stretch to? We’ve picked out 10 of the best virtual reality travel experiences currently on the market.

So which VR headset should you go for? Our favourite is the Meta Quest 3, which launched onto the market in mid-2023 and is the successor to the Meta Quest 2. For immersive games and travel experiences, we believe the Meta Quest 3 is destined to become the leading VR headset over the coming years. It’s pretty affordable, too, and unlike other headsets, doesn’t require cords or a computer. You can purchase the Meta Quest 3 at Amazon.com.

Guided Meditation VR

Developed by Cubicle Ninjas, Guided Meditation VR is designed to bring peace, joy, and calm back into your daily life by teaching you ancient meditation practices in a cutting-edge way. It features over 40 lush environments to escape the everyday, 30-plus hours of guided meditations on anxiety, depression, maternity, resilience, sleep and zen, and hundreds of hours of calming musical audio tracks to help enhance your meditation experience. Users can also customise their sessions to their own specific preferences and needs, including the option to switch into Motion mode and gently float through beautiful vistas like you would on a lazy river, leaving the worries of your life behind before returning calmer and stronger.

PRICE £10.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

Be anywhere in the world with anyone, instantly, in this captivating game developed by Wooorld Inc. Visit hundreds of cities, architectural landmarks, natural wonders, and vacation spots in incredible 3D detail, and get tips about the best places to visit, the hidden gems, where to get the best food and all the tourist traps to avoid. You can also create your own 3D avatars with face and body tracking and test your worldly knowledge by guessing where you are after being teleported to 5 random locations, with only the landscape, flora, architecture, and road signs for clues. The game can played as collaboratively as you wish, with options to explore the world with friends and meet new people, or hop into a Solo World without any distractions.

PRICE Free HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

(Photo: Wooorld Inc.)

Blueplanet VR Explore

(Photo: Blueplanet VR Explore)

Highlighting sacred and fragile locations of natural beauty and cultural heritage, Blueplanet VR Explore is a collection of remarkable places across the world. With freedom to move around and explore, the virtual reality experiences are captured in volumetric 3D with great detail and accuracy. The scenes look and feel like these places do in real life, and enable you to freely move around to enjoy and explore these remarkable, fragile, and priceless environments. Concern for the environment often comes from direct experience, and being as close as we can get to experiencing a sense of actually being there, Blueplanet can help encourage people to appreciate and protect these treasures.

PRICE £18.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

BRINK Traveler

Travel to some of the world’s most amazing natural wonders in fully immersive 3D and feel like you’re really there in this awe-inspiring game by Brink XR. Step into a scene akin to a postcard as you visit a total of 28 (with more on their way) of the most breathtaking places on Earth. In-game highlights include room-scale walkable areas in each destination, a virtual guide and assistant to learn about where you’re visiting, and the chance to shoot photos to share with friends. You can either play the game solo or with friends and family in multiplayer mode.

PRICE £11.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

(Photo: BRINK XR)

National Geographic Explore VR

Created in partnership with National Geographic, a world-leading society in the fields of geography, cartography and exploration, this magical VR experience invites you to discover two of the most iconic locations on Planet Earth. Don your explorer hat and head to Antarctica for an exhilarating expedition. Navigate around icebergs in a kayak, climb a vast ice shelf and survive a snowstorm as you hunt for a lost emperor penguin colony. Visit the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru and get immersed in amazing digital reconstructions of the legendary site. Witness mummy worships, raise a cup of sacred chicha and encounter cute and furry alpacas as you match Hiram Bingham’s photographs from when he rediscovered the citadel. Be sure to take a camera as your best snaps may even make it into the prestigious National Geographic magazine.

PRICE £7.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

(Photo: Force Field Entertainment B.V)

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Fans of the hugely popular TV blockbuster The Walking Dead can now join the world of zombies in this new VR adventure. Travel through the ruins of New Orleans as you fight, scavenge, and survive, each day unravelling another mystery lurking within the city’s historic quarters. Encounter desperate factions and lone survivors who could be friend or foe. Whether you help others or take what you want by force, every choice you make has consequences. What kind of survivor will you be for the people of NOLA? Scavenge for anything that you can; weapons, food, tools, and clues. Be wary of the living and the dead, with spatial audio drawing attention to any loud noise. Craft makeshift gear out of scrapped material; blades, guns, medicine, and more. Test your morals and make difficult choices for yourself and others. It’s all here, bringing the small screen to life in a big way.

PRICE £29.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

(Photo: Skydance Interactive)

Narrated by award-winning actress Anna Friel, this trail-blazing VR series opens the door to some of the planet’s wildest environments while redefining the limits of 3D-180 cameras. Meet the humans protecting our most precious wildlife, explore the great savannahs of Kenya, discover the ancient jungles of Borneo and dive into the rich coral reefs of Raja Ampat. Encounter elephants, orangutans, manta rays and some incredible humans, all in stunning cinematic footage filmed from the air and deep into the ocean. The series was produced in partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF),

(Photo: PHORIA)

The world is your oyster with this interactive, immersive VR experience that’s designed to be played by the whole family. There’s global travel and adventure in which your friends and family can join city tours, hot air balloon rides, back-country road trips, and plenty more. Or you can simply kick back and relax, practice meditation and get back to nature – all in the company of a guide or going solo, if you prefer. Other features include photo sharing, soundtracks, a range of fun games and media customisation.

(Photo: AARP Innovation Labs)

Rome Reborn: The Pantheon

Created by Flyover Zone, an American company specialising in virtual travel applications that present the world’s most important cultural heritage sites and monuments, Rome Reborn is one of five applications that present different areas of ancient Rome. This particular one transports users over the entire ancient city, focussing on the Pantheon, perhaps the best-preserved building from antiquity. In the company of two virtual guides, you’ll get to explore the exterior forecourt and interior sanctuary of the reconstructed complex as you listen and learn about the Pantheon’s design and decoration, as well as the nature of the religious cult once housed within it.

PRICE £3.99 HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Rift

(Photo: Flyover Zone Productions)

Monte Fitzroy is Argentina’s most famous mountain landmark and is even used as the logo for outdoor retailer, Patagonia. It is a place that immediately evokes a sense of adventure. At the foot of the mountain is a beautiful and remote glacial lake known as Laguna Sucia. Most people who visit Monte Fitzroy view it from a location that is much easier to access. Laguna Sucia requires a much tougher hard-to-access trail that culminates in one of the most beautiful and remote glacial lakes in existence. You are rewarded with a sense of almost meditative stillness as you approach this untouched natural amphitheatre. This VR experience utilises Pterovision, a 3D technology that integrates computational photography, 360 Video, and gaming and allows you to take off like a bird, fly around the lake, visit the waterfalls along the edge, and fly over glacial formations beneath the mountain peaks. Numerous narrations will tell you about the challenges we faced when filming in this location, as well as educate you about the geology, culture, and history.

PRICE $2.99 HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Rift

(Photo: Specterras Productions)

Gala360 – Travel & Relax

Taking you on awe-inspiring virtual adventures across the globe, Gala360 is the result of the magic touch of an array of exceptionally talented photographers who have captured their globe-trotting trips in all their glory before being rendered into VR form. In professional 6K resolution, more than 300 tours around the world are featured, with some also including narration which allows you to listen to the stories behind the trips. Most of the tours are free, but you can pay a small fee to unlock more.

PRICE Free HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2)

(Photo: Gala 360)

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Top 10 Virtual Travel Experiences with the HP Reverb G2 VR

Introduction.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness…Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

1. Virtually visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The remotely located island abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel and one of Normandy, France’s most iconic landmarks.
The Pompeii ruins of a city preserved in ash, resulting from the tragic eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 BCE.
The site of the first hominid fossil and an important place for understanding human evolution at the Sangiran Early Man Site in Java, Indonesia.
Petra, Jordan , the city of stone built more than 2,000 years ago by the Nabataeans.
The Slovakia-based Domica Cave , shaped by limestone from the Middle Triassic era and an underground river (actually) named Styx.
The limestone statue of the half-lion, half-human mythical creature known as the Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt .
The Genbaku Dome, otherwise known as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and the only structure left standing after the August 6, 1945 explosion of the first atomic bomb during WWII -- preserved in the same state as it was immediately following the explosion.

2. Take in online exhibits

Peruse rooms and galleries of the rightfully world-famous Louvre in Paris, the world’s largest art museum, and even visit with the Mona Lisa from home in the Louvre’s first virtual reality project applying the latest scientific research on Leonardo da Vinci’s creative processes and painting techniques.
Virtually visit the iconic spaces of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art such as the Cloisters, the Temple of Dendur, the gilded sculpture of Diana in the Charles Engelhard Court, and more – all without the pressing crowds.
Explore Saint Petersburg, Russia’s State Hermitage Museum – second only to the Louvre in size -- through this truly comprehensive VR experience that includes many of the museum’s renowned works of art from Catherine the Great’s expansive collections as well as special exhibitions.
Experience the world’s first entirely virtual art museum (including the building itself), the Virtual Online Museum of Art (VOMA) , launched in September 2020, featuring galleries of works by dozens of artists such as Matisse, Manet, Li Wei, Bosch, and many more including newer and lesser-known artists from the around the world.

3. Partake in cross-cultural virtual experiences steeped in literary and art history

Virtually run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain at the annual Festival of San Fermin and be like Hemingway, who immortalized this event in his acclaimed novel The Sun Also Rises .
Take an interactive, virtual tour of the J ane Austen House in Chawton, Hampshire, UK, to explore some of the rooms where she wrote her renowned novels.
Immerse yourself in the Immersive van Gogh Experience , which places you inside several of his paintings such as “The Starry Night.”
Join in on Dublin-based Bloomsday activities with other super-fans of James Joyce’s Ulysses , which celebrates the central character of Leopold Bloom on June 16, 1904, the specific day depicted in the novel.
Step into the Anne Frank House and rooms of the secret annex, where the brave 13-year-old diarist, her family, and friends hid for more than two years from the Nazis during WWII.

4. Join in virtual castle tours in the UK

Edinburgh Castle , one of Scotland’s most impressive landmarks built in 1103 on top of 350-million-year-old volcanic rock. It’s an ancient stronghold with a long and rich history as a fortress, prison, and military garrison, as well as the royal residence of several kings and queens.
Blair Castle , a 750-plus-year old Scottish castle in Perthshire in the central Scottish Highlands, ancestral home of the Clan Murray and historic seat of the Duke of Atholl.
Malahide Castle , one of Ireland’s oldest and most historic castles dating from 1185, in the picturesque seaside town of Malahide about 20 miles north of Dublin.

5. Take virtual tours of national parks

Yellowstone Park , established in 1872 and America’s first national park, spans approximately 3,500 miles of breathtaking views across Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. It has numerous hiking trails, hot springs, and geysers like Old Faithful, which shoots water 100 feet into the air.
The Grand Canyon National Park , a true wonder of the world and one of this planet’s geological spectacles, was carved out by the Colorado River. It’s nearly one mile deep, and covers over 1.2 million acres.
National Mall and Memorial Parks Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC features almost 3,800 cherry trees, 3,020 of which were gifted by Japan in 1910, and represent 12 different varieties.
Redwood National Park is home to the world’s tallest trees, some of which are taller than the Statue of Liberty. With specimens up to 2,000 years old, this spectacular biosphere located in northern California contains almost half of the world’s old-growth redwoods.

6. Visit theme parks

Dollywood VR roller coaster rides , some of the best and fastest roller coasters in the world, located in Dolly Parton’s eponymous Dollywood theme park in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Universal Orlando in Florida, walk through and experience some of the rides of this theme park completely on your own in this truly immersive virtual experience, including Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

7. Take a virtual cooking class

8. share in a virtual wine tasting, 9. swim with the sharks on a deep-sea dive.

10. Visit out-of-this-world places with NASA

Bonus: experience the travel experience itself, experience virtual travel with the hp reverb g2 vr headset.

Industry-leading, Valve-designed lenses, which can be adjusted for each user’s unique eye distances and face shape
Four cameras and internal sensors for detecting position to track more of your arm movement and jump right into VR without additional peripherals
Ultra-sharp visuals with 2160 x 2160 LCD panels per eye
An ergonomic design with controllers that are comfortable to hold onto

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7 Great Virtual Reality Travel Experiences

Try VR travel to fulfill your bucket list without leaving the couch

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Who says you can't see the world if you stay home? Virtual reality (VR) tourism experiences let you see places all over the world without ever leaving your couch. These aren't games; they're experiences, so the pace may be slower than you expect, but they are worth your patience. Here are some of the best VR tourist destinations to help you decide on your next virtual adventure.

Make sure your computer is beefy enough to handle the demands of virtual reality technology.

The Grand Canyon VR Experience

Very relaxing experience.

Excellent visual and sound quality.

Impressive attention to detail.

Predefined with little control.

Requires powerful hardware.

Short experience.

In The Grand Canyon VR Experience ($2.99 by Immersive Entertainment), you sit in a virtual motorized kayak ride through the Grand Canyon. Tailor the tour to your preferences by selecting either a sunlit or moonlit experience and controlling the ride's speed.

While you cruise along, you'll enjoy the sights and sounds of procedurally generated, artificially intelligent wildlife. Attract and feed the virtual fish as you navigate the waterways.

The ride is on rails, so you can't steer the kayak. However, you can stop at various points and enjoy the scenery by using the throttle speed controls of your motorized kayak or by exiting at scenic rest stops.

The tour is short, and there's no historical background information for history buffs. Still, it is a fun ride perfect for someone new to VR.

This tour requires one of the following virtual reality headsets: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift , or Valve Index .

Explore amazing places.

Impressively detailed.

More locations are added to the library regularly.

Not updated recently.

Realities (free from Realities.io ) is a VR travel app that allows you to explore scanned and modeled real-world environments. The environments aren't just 360-degree photos; these locations were captured with specialized scanning equipment, allowing for immersive rendering in virtual reality.

The user interface is a giant globe you rotate with your VR controllers. Once you decide on the place you want to visit, tap the area on the virtual globe, and you are instantly whisked away to the exotic locale.

One interesting destination is a cell in the infamous Alcatraz prison. When you arrive, you're greeted by an unseen narrator, presumably a former prisoner in the cell next to you, who recalls their experiences. It's museum-like and an educational adventure worth having.

There are other destinations of varying size and complexity, and the experience is updated with new realities regularly.

This experience is compatible with the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, and Windows Mixed Reality .

Titans of Space PLUS

Great soundtrack.

Detailed 3D visuals.

Impressive sense of scale.

Flying through space makes some users feel nauseated.

No improvements since late 2019.

Do you like planetariums? Have you always wished they were more realistic? If you've ever dreamed of riding in a spaceship and exploring the solar system and beyond, Titans of Space PLUS ($9.99 by DrashVR LLC) helps make this a reality—at least a virtual one).

The original Titans of Space was one of the first polished virtual reality experiences available; it created a lot of buzz about all the potential VR had to offer.

This app provides a theme park-style ride through the solar system and beyond, allowing you to control the pace of the experience. Factoids about the planets and moons are provided throughout your journey, as are distances and other measurements of interest.

The sense of scale of the planets and moons is truly awe-inspiring and gives a unique perspective only astronauts usually get to have.

This title runs in both standard and VR modes. It does not require a VR headset. It is compatible with HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, and Windows Mixed Reality.

Impressive rendering technology.

Auto-tunes for your GPU.

Stunning visuals.

Can feel slow.

Mostly narration with little hands-on time.

Everest VR ($9.99 from Sólfar Studios ) is an interactive Mount Everest VR tourism experience.

You'll experience Mount Everest in five iconic scenes. Prepare for your expedition at Basecamp, traverse the terrifying Khumbu Icefalls, spend the night at Camp 4, ascend the perilous Hillary Step, and finally conquer the summit of Everest.

After completing your first summit attempt, unlock God Mode to reach a unique vantage point of the Himalayas that's only possible in VR. Towering over the mountain range, this is a stunning VR diorama.

EVEREST VR is a must if you're into mountain climbing but don't like its possible death and frostbite aspects.

Requires one of the following virtual reality headsets: HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Valve Index.

The VR Museum of Fine Art

Lots of content.

Educational experience.

Hasn't been updated since its initial release.

No voice narration.

Only takes about 20 minutes to experience.

If you've ever wanted to peruse a museum at your own pace with no limits on how close you can get to the artwork, then The VR Museum of Fine Art (free from Finn Sinclair) is for you.

This free app holds amazing educational value with incredibly detailed scans of some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. Look at the brushstrokes of Monet's Water Lilies or take a 360-degree tour of Michelangelo's David. This is an art lover's delight.

The experience makes you feel as if you're visiting a museum, complete with a pamphlet map to help you navigate your way around the exhibits.

Great VR experience.

Incredibly realistic.

Contains three episodes.

theBlu ($9.99 from Wevr INC .) is a collection of virtual reality-based underwater experiences that make you feel as if you're literally in the tank of a huge aquarium exhibit.

Stand on the deck of a sunken ship while a gargantuan whale swims by and looks you straight in the eye or swim in a sea of bioluminescent jellyfish. There's no need for expensive scuba equipment or diving classes, or even to leave your living room, for that matter.

The level of detail in this app is amazing, and the sense of scale (especially during the whale encounter in the first episode) is jaw-dropping.

Compatible with HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, and Windows Mixed Reality.

Google Earth VR

Amazing street view VR.

Travel the world virtually.

Impressive, vast experience.

Can be slow to load.

Lacks a search feature.

May cause motion sickness.

When Google Earth was released many years ago, everyone marveled at the novelty of finding and viewing their house from satellite imagery. Now, Google Earth VR (free from Google) lets you see your house from space and virtually fly to it and stand in your front yard or on your rooftop.

Change the sun's position, scale objects to any size you like, and fly around the world. The detail levels depend on what you're trying to view. For example, tourist destinations are likely to have more detailed geospatial imagery than rural areas. There is so much to see, and Google offers virtual tours to help you get started.

Google has even added several comfort features to prevent virtual travel sickness in this must-see virtual reality app.

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Screen Rant

10 virtual travel apps for oculus/meta quest 2.

VR gives people the chance to travel the world from the comfort of their own house, and these ten apps are the best for the Oculus/Meta Quest 2.

Travel is a major goal for many people, but it can be inaccessible even in the best of times because of financial and mobility-related barriers. As unfortunate as it is, some people may never have the chance to visit all the places they want to. But VR allows its users to not only explore virtual worlds but also get a better understanding of their own.

Between 360-degree breakdowns of the world, guided tour videos, and documentaries, VR allows people to get closer to the places of their dreams than was previously possible. Many travel apps even include interactive features, so the users can feel like they're actually able to connect with different cultures and topography. As systems like the Oculus/ Meta Quest 2 become more widely available, and as programmers and cinematographers put more effort into advancing the technologies, travel will truly be possible without having to leave home.

Traveling While Black

Traveling While Black is an Emmy-nominated VR experience that talks about the process of traveling, specifically focusing on the barriers that have been put in place for Black populations, in history and in the present. The experience takes advantage of every benefit VR offers, which helps its message connect with the audience.

While this is not a documentary that focuses on the freedom of VR, it does try to get its users to think outside their own bodies and life experiences to see how other people can be limited in their own freedom. It tells an incredibly important story, which deserves to be heard by those who have now gained a deeper level of freedom through the digital realm.

For those looking for a way to walk around the world, Wander is the app to download. The app's primary function is to allow users to navigate the world similarly to Google Maps' StreetView, allowing them to enter an address and be transported to that spot. This can be a great way to explore new areas or look back on places you used to live.

In addition to immersive imagery, users can use the historical jumping feature to see what different areas looked like over the years. Many famous landmarks even have the ability to be explored from the inside, giving users the feeling that they're really there.

BRINK Traveler

BRINK Traveler gives users the ability to see some of the most amazing places on Earth from the comfort of their own homes. While there are currently only 17 locations for users to visit, the additional features make each one a true travel experience that may push them to travel in real life as well .

Virtual guides can explain the features and history of each spot, and an in-app camera allows users to take all the pictures they would want if they were to visit in person. Another great feature is the ability to travel in multiplayer mode, which lets users meet up with friends from anywhere while getting a remarkable view at the same time.

OtherSight is one of the most interactive travel apps out there because it specifically focused on including usable objects in every location. Currently, users only have the option of going to four different locations, but there's a lot that they can do at each one.

Users can visit churches, streets, and museums and really get a sense of how it feels to be there. The scale, texture, and movement qualities of interactive features are especially well done. While this is a fairly limited app at the moment, the developers are working on new locations, which can provide future explorations.

The Ocean might not be the first place people think of when they try to imagine their travel plans, but it is one of the great untapped resources on Earth. There is far more to be seen and discovered in the Ocean than there is on land, and Ocean Rift gives users the chance to explore that realm.

There are 14 different habitats to explore, which can be used as an educational program or one for relaxation, depending on the settings. The sea creatures are extremely detailed, and users can actually interact with many of them, giving the perspective of a true underwater safari. However, those with a fear of the ocean and its creatures may find some modes a little too realistic for their comfort level.

Blueplanet VR Explore

Blueplanet VR Explore is one of the most expensive travel apps, but that's in part because it is so extensive. The app allows its users to travel to 40 different cultural sites, with some offering the ability to interact with the landscape or even hang glide over it.

One of the best qualities of this app is the spacial breakdown, where users can truly explore the location. It is a physically navigable terrain, which creates a greater level of immersion than standard point-and-click systems. The one downside to the app, beyond its price, is that it takes up a lot of space, requiring a lot of memory and a strong internet signal while downloading.

Alcove is not technically a travel app, but it does offer a number of virtual tour experiences for free. The app itself is a virtual home, where users can download different in-app features depending on their interests. The travel features do include a number of tours on the ground, under the sea, and even in the sky, narrated by some of the most thorough guides available in VR.

The limitation of the app is that each experience is entirely pre-determined. There are no interactive features that would make it more immersive. However, given that it is free and has such incredible visual quality, that might be a sacrifice worth making.

National Geographic Explore VR

National Geographic Explore VR is a highly-interactive app that allows users to take on the role of a National Geographic photographer. They have the ability to travel to Machu Pichu or Antarctica, where they can navigate the landscape and take pictures of the many sights to see.

Users feel the strain of rowing boats and climbing cliffs, which makes for a more immersive experience . However, the quest is fairly pre-programmed, which means that individual decision-making is only possible in the pictures a user takes rather than in the experience as a whole. Coupled with another, more interactive app, this could be a great way to feel the travel in a way that images themselves cannot achieve.

Nature Treks VR

Nature Treks VR isn't overly concerned with realism, instead focusing on making a relaxing experience. Users have the ability to go on a walk on a variety of virtual paths, with exotic animals meandering by and control of the weather allowing the user to fit the experience to their preferences.

Because it isn't definitively located in any real-world locations , users have the ability to mold the world as they see fit, interacting with the trees to summon animals and controlling the sound levels to be more immersive or more relaxing. The detail work and spontaneity make it an engaging experience, though users should be aware that it is not intended to be a completely realistic one.

ecosphere is a photo-realistic breakdown of the Earth's most beautiful locations and the people that are working to protect them. Intended as a way to help the average person connect with the environmental crises of our time , these immersive documentaries show the importance of caring for the Earth before the damage is irreversible.

This is distinct from other user-directed travel apps but also provides a sense of depth and significance far beyond what other apps can offer. There are only a handful of experiences, but they go beyond visuals to explain what really matters about the different locations they portray. As an added bonus, the app is free, making these videos some of the most accessible ways for Oculus users to travel in VR.

NEXT: The 10 Coolest Games To Play On Oculus Quest 2

Welcome To The Wide World Of VR Travel

Vr travel apps are taking off. here are the ten best..

World travel can be expensive. But you can experience exotic locales in immersive virtual reality for little or no cost at all. With Samsung Gear ($99) or Google Cardboard ($8), any iPhone or Android smartphone can be turned into a virtual reality device.

Content for tourism is one of the first categories to really take off in VR, allowing you to experience being there without really going there. VR travel apps can both help you experience a place—or a specific resort, city, museum, hotel or cruise ship—before you take the plunge. Or, it can replace actual travel altogether if you'd rather experience a place vicariously.

Here are our favorites for where to take your first virtual trek.

Want to experience a sailboat cruise off the coast of Croatia? YouVisit is one of the best-designed apps dedicated specifically to virtual reality tours. In addition to thousands of travel destinations, they also feature college campuses, businesses, hotels and restaurants. The tours include 360-degree video as well as 360-degree interactive panoramic photos. Navigate by looking, no buttons or controllers necessary.

Free on Android , iOS and Gear VR

Google Street View

This VR app supports both iOS and Android devices, which means you can literally go pretty much anywhere in the world—though, unfortunately, you have to take off the headset to interact with the app. Plus the app is free on both Android and iOS. There's also an unofficial StreetView VR app, also free, for the Gear VR , by YoutopiaVR, which pulls in Google Street View data. The app has a great navigation interface: You just tap to skip ahead to the street you're on, or do a long tap to bring up the map. You can zoom in and out and jump to anywhere in the world, or click on the microphone and say the name of a place and you are there. Say "Eiffel Tower," for example, and you're transported to the spot, above Paris, looking down. It's awesome.

The app also has a voice-enabled group functionality, so you can virtually visit places with your friends. Now if I only had a friend with a Gear VR, I could try it out.

Discovery VR

The virtual reality studio from Discovery Networks specializes in you-are-there extreme experiences such as scuba diving in shark-infested wrecks and and flying through a remote canyon on a zipline. The app itself isn't available on Gear VR, but some of the content can be found on Gear VR's Milk VR and Hulu VR video apps.

Free on Android and iOS .

One of several VR studios to emerge over the past few years, Jaunt VR has a selection of incredibly high-quality travel VR videos including Nepal, Machu Picchu, Syria and Jerusalem. Travel is just the beginning at Jaunt, which also includes VR films, music and sports.

Free on Android , iOS and Gear VR.

Ascape Virtual Travel & Tours

Ascape is all about finding inspiration for travel. The service has more than 100 virtual tours of gorgeous destinations around the world including resorts, cities and experiences. Navigate by touching the screen, so be prepared to access the phone frequently. If you're a virtual auteur, you can become a producer for Ascape, and make money from your own videos.

Samsung Milk VR

Primarily a movie app, Milk VR also offers immersive video tours, such as Chicago, romantic Italy, New York's Times Square and many more. However, only the Gear VR version of the app works with a headset, specifically the Gear VR headset. Unfortunately, the standard Android version does not support Google Cardboard viewers, but simply shows a video that allows you to look in different directions by turning the phone or swiping the screen.

Free on Android and Gear VR.

All YouTube videos are playable in immersive virtual reality on Android phones – search for your destination and "360" or "vr" or filter for "360 videos." Then look for the cardboard symbol at bottom right or behind the three dots setting symbol at top right. Traditional videos are shown on giant private movie screens, while 360-degree videos are shown in immersive virtual reality. On Gear VR, the work-around is to use the Samsung Internet browser app and surf over to the YouTube site. There is no iOS support yet.

Free on Android .

Combines crisp 360-degree panoramic images with sound loops to create a "frozen moment in time" effect. Orbulus videos include the ability to experience New Year's fireworks on Hong Kong Harbor, a view of the Northern Lights and even the ability to stand on Mars. Navigate by looking, no buttons or controllers necessary.

Sites in VR

Panoramic photos of of landmarks from Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco, Kuwait, Yemen, Macedonia, Holland, Belgium and France. Very user-friendly interface but the photos themselves are not interactive. Navigate by looking, no buttons or controllers necessary.

Experience 360-degree Flickr photos in immersive virtual reality on your Gear VR headset. Not yet available for iPhones or Androids yet, but you can check out the Orbulus app instead.

Free on Gear VR.

Single destination apps

In addition to the apps above, many developers are releasing virtual reality tours for individual destinations. You can see Tokyo , London , Cyprus and even Paris . Maybe a trip to the Big Apple is something you've dreamed of—or the Caribbean is more your speed. To find others, search for the name of your destination and the keyword "VR" in your app store. Plus, here are a few more to get you started for your next virtual escape:

United Arab Emirates

Liege Cathedral , in Belgium

Neon Museum in Las Vegas, NV

(Free for Android too)

Museo Maya de América

Toumanian Museum in Armenia

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The Ultimate Guide to the Best VR Travel Apps on Meta Quest

Discover the world from the comfort of your own home with our meticulously handpicked selection of the best VR travel apps available on the Meta Quest platform. With these immersive and engaging virtual reality applications, you can traverse continents, delve into the depths of the ocean, soar through the skies, and embark on exhilarating adventures, all without ever leaving your living room.

As virtual reality technology continues to evolve, the experiences offered by these apps become increasingly lifelike and captivating, creating unforgettable memories and fostering a deeper appreciation for our planet's diverse beauty. Whether you're a seasoned traveler seeking new horizons, a curious explorer who loves learning about different cultures, or someone who simply wants to relax in breathtaking environments, our curated list of the best VR travel apps for Meta Quest caters to every taste and interest. These cutting-edge experiences will undoubtedly transport you to extraordinary places and provide unique perspectives that redefine the way you discover and connect with the world around you.

Introduction: The World at Your Fingertips

Virtual reality has transformed how we explore the world, allowing us to travel to far-off destinations without ever leaving our homes. The Meta Quest platform offers a plethora of immersive experiences with the best VR travel apps that take you on breathtaking adventures. From guided tours of the world's most stunning locales to tranquil meditation retreats, there's an app for everyone in this comprehensive guide.

Wander: Roam the Globe with Street View

Wander is one of the best VR travel apps on Meta Quest, providing users with access to Google Street View in a fully immersive environment. Traverse city streets, hike through national parks and visit historical landmarks as you explore the world at your leisure. Key features include:

360-degree panoramas
Time travel: view historical imagery
Multiplayer mode: travel with friends
Voice search and teleportation

Google Earth VR: Soar Through the Skies and Dive into Oceans

Google Earth VR is another top contender among the best VR travel apps on Meta Quest. It allows users to fly over cities virtually, dive into oceans, and walk the streets of their favorite destinations. Highlights of Google Earth VR include:

Immersive 3D environments
Guided tours of popular attractions
Customizable itineraries
Integration with Google Maps

National Geographic Explore VR: Embark on Exciting Expeditions

National Geographic Explore VR brings the world's most iconic locations and thrilling adventures to life. This Oculus-exclusive app allows users to:

Dive with sharks in Belize
Climb Antarctica's highest peak
Explore Machu Picchu and ancient Incan history
Uncover hidden secrets of Egyptian tombs

Guided Meditation VR: Find Peace and Serenity

Guided Meditation VR transports users to a serene, virtual world filled with breathtaking environments to aid in relaxation and meditation. This app ranks among the best VR travel apps on Meta Quest for those seeking a peaceful escape. Features of Guided Meditation VR include:

Over 100 meditation sessions
A variety of calming environments
Personalized meditation experiences
Integration with popular wearables for biofeedback

TheBlu: Dive into the Depths of the Ocean

TheBlu offers a mesmerizing underwater experience that immerses users in the beauty and wonder of the ocean. As one of the best VR travel apps on Meta Quest, TheBlu lets you explore the depths of the sea and interact with marine life in stunning detail. Key aspects of TheBlu include:

Photorealistic marine environments
Three unique oceanic experiences
Interaction with diverse marine species
Educational content about ocean conservation

Conclusion: The World Awaits in VR

Virtual reality has revolutionized how we explore the world, offering immersive experiences that transport us to distant lands and captivating environments. The best VR travel apps on Meta Quest provide an unmatched way to discover new destinations, embark on thrilling adventures, or simply unwind in peaceful settings. As you journey through these breathtaking experiences, you'll gain a newfound appreciation for the beauty and wonder of our planet.

Can I use these VR travel apps without a Meta Quest device? Most of the apps mentioned in our list are specifically designed for Meta Quest devices, such as the Meta Quest Quest and Oculus Rift. However, some apps, like Google Earth VR, may be available on other VR platforms such as HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. It is always recommended to check the compatibility of the apps with your specific VR headset.
Are there any free VR travel apps for Meta Quest? Yes, there are free VR travel apps available on the Meta Quest platform. Google Earth VR, for instance, is a free app that allows you to explore the world in immersive 3D environments. However, some apps may require a one-time purchase or offer in-app purchases to unlock additional content and features.
Can I travel with friends using these VR travel apps? Some VR travel apps, like Wander, offer multiplayer modes that allow you to explore and experience the world together with friends or family members who also have compatible VR headsets. This feature can make virtual travel more engaging and enjoyable as you share adventures with your loved ones.
Are there any educational VR travel apps? Many VR travel apps provide educational content and experiences. For example, National Geographic Explore VR combines breathtaking expeditions with informative content on history, culture, and wildlife. Similarly, TheBlu offers educational material about ocean conservation and marine life.
Is an internet connection required for using these VR travel apps? Most VR travel apps require an active internet connection, as they rely on real-world data and imagery to create immersive environments. However, some apps may allow you to download content for offline use. It is best to check the specific requirements of each app before use.
Can I use these apps to plan real-life trips? While VR travel apps primarily focus on providing immersive experiences, they can also be helpful in planning real-life trips. For example, Google Earth VR and Wander can give you a sense of what a destination looks like and help you identify places of interest before you visit. This can aid in creating a more efficient and enjoyable travel itinerary.

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The threat of the COVID-19 means international travel is mostly off the table for the foreseeable future, especially for us Americans. But, if you miss the feeling of genuine discovery that comes with international and adventure travel, now might be a great time to get a pair of Virtual Reality (VR) goggles.

I'm an avid traveler, and one of the saddest things for me about this pandemic was knowing it will be a long time before I travel internationally again. Recently, and somewhat begrudgingly, my husband and I purchased a pair of Oculus Quest VR goggles for my teen daughter who's been begging for a pair. We figured it might be a good escape for her during quarantine. As it turns out, they're great fun for all of us!

While my daughter is using them to ride incredibly “ Epic ” roller coasters or play Beat Saber , I've been having a blast traveling to places like Mt. Everest, Angel Falls, and Petra. The immersive, 360° experience provides me nearly the same feeling of wonder as I feel when I travel. In fact, the experience is so good that my husband and I agreed not to travel virtually to places on our bucket list because it's too good a preview of the real thing.

Virtual Reality Basics

VR goggles run the gamut from inexpensive headsets that use your phone as the screen all the way up to high-end computers that you wear on your face , but no matter your budget or needs, there will be opportunities for you to virtually explore the world.

At the most basic level, companies that specialize in VR content have created videos you can watch on the integrated YouTube app in the headset. In fact, you can preview these videos on your computer before you even put on your headset. Search “360 VR travel” in YouTube , and you’ll find thousands of 360 videos from all around the world. Many of these short videos fly you over famous travel destinations such as Petra or the Matterhorn by using circular, drone-based, video cameras to capture experiences you’d never get by just being there.

Just a word of caution: if you have a fear of heights, don’t look down!

Best VR Travel Apps for Oculus Quest

We decided the Oculus Quest (which has been hard to find since the pandemic began) was the best option at the best price point for our family. It can be used as a wireless, standalone headset, or optionally connected to a PC for more intense gaming experiences. Since I have the most experience with Quest, here are my recommendations for the best travel apps on that system.

Wander uses Google Street View to allow you to go anywhere around the globe. You can teleport using the integrated map, or let the app choose a random destination for you. While looking around on the map was fun, I was a bit overwhelmed by being able to go literally anywhere, and the random destination was sometimes just a bit too random. Luckily, Wander has a feature called “Collections” where you can choose interesting starting points in various destinations. I tried using Collections for Singapore since I’ve never been. I was able to visit some of its famous temples, look up at the amazing skyscrapers, and walk under the Supertree Grove .‌‌

National Geographic Explore VR

National Geographic has created an immersive travel game for two destinations, Machu Picchu and Antarctica . The game starts you out at a National Geographic base-camp where you’re given a photography assignment. Once you choose your destination, the virtual guide helps you navigate the location as well as interact with objects and historical re-enactments. I found myself in awe at how steep the cliffs were at Machu Picchu and at how high above me the glaciers were in Antarctica. There were limited “walking” opportunities, however, so unlike Wander, I couldn’t go wherever I wanted within the destination. For instance at Machu Picchu, I wanted to explore more of the citadel, but the app made me stay in only a few locations of programmed interactions.‌‌

Best VR 360 Videos for any VR Headset

With more and more 360° VR videos being produced every day, the options to travel the world are endless. To find any of these videos, simply access the YouTube app on your headset (or on your smartphone in the case of phone-based VR headsets ), and search for wherever you want to go. The videos are shot using circular cameras on drones or carried by the photographer with a camera pole. Personally, I like to watch these on a swivel chair so I can look at the view in all directions.‌‌

LIFE VR, Sports Illustrated - “Capturing Everest”

LIFE VR and Sports Illustrated teamed up to create a collection of short minute videos that follow climbers as they climb Mt. Everest. While I have climbed some tall mountains such as Mt. Kilimanjaro, I’ve never quite had the courage to attempt Mt. Everest. But this made it easy! Crossing a treacherous Khumbu Icefall crevasse on a bendy aluminum ladder? No problem in VR. Sleeping at Camp 4 in a tent that barely clings to the snowy slopes knowing you’ll have to wake at 10pm for your all-night summit bid? Way more restful in VR. When I stood at the top of Everest and looked out at the endless views in every direction, I was genuinely relieved I didn’t have to go back down. So while I know I’ll never climb Everest, these videos made me feel like I actually did! ‌‌

AirPano VR 360

Russia-based AirPano 360 makes short, 360° drone tours of awe-inspiring places around the world. The videos are accompanied by robotic sounding voice-overs and subtitles, but the information provided gives you a good overview of what you’re seeing. One of the most impressive videos was the Angel Falls experience that takes you from the bottom of the highest falls in the world in Venezuela (3000') all the way to the top of the plateau where the waters make their perilous dive off the cliffs. You can spin around to look either at the falls, or out at the incredible view of the valley below. I don’t know how many times I exclaimed, “Wow,” as did the rest of my family when I made them watch this video. Seeing as how a regular trip to Angel Falls requires a plane trip from Caracas, a day-long riverboat ride, and then a hike up to the falls, this VR experience might actually be better than the real thing! ‌‌

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Virtual Reality Lets You Travel Anywhere—New or Old

row of people wearing VR headsets in a museum

Like many people, I was on the fence about using virtual reality for travel. However, tempted by the opportunity to experience places and things I could never visit without time, expense, and travel, I visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) to check out their spacewalk VR Transporter .

Pro tip on museum expeditions: Book online and arrive early. If you have been barricaded in your house for months, museums can feel like they are amusement-park massive. I had to navigate through multiple exhibits before passing a height test and waiting in a short queue.

VR Transporter is an intimate experience you have with three other people at a time. Shortly after the headset hovered within grabbing distance, my own voice startled me when I blurted to the attendant: “I need a seatbelt!?”

Then the attendant explained that I couldn’t wear eyeglasses with the headset. I panicked at first, worried that I wouldn’t be able to fully experience VR without glasses—the way I had felt when I reserved the last row at the movie theater and came up empty after looking through my purse for my specs.

As I clipped my glasses to the front of my shirt, immediately I felt like I could sense the dynamic motion of being in outer space. I lifted my leg to avoid debris. I was strapped in a chair at a museum, but my brain and body responded to the heaving as if I was a spacecraft passenger.

The experience concluded with a gorgeous view of a rocket ship, and when the railing lifted, I emerged to a blurry nearsightedness. I was struck by how clear the VR realm was in comparison to the real world. VR Transporter ate every roller coaster experience I had for breakfast.

“MSI is planning to add a second VR Transporter experience because of its popularity,” says Julie Parente, director of public relations at MSI. VR Transporter’s creator, Pulseworks, makes it available in 20 locations nationwide, mostly in museums. Illinois has “ free days for residents that waive entry to the museum and drive the typical cost of experiencing VR to as cheap as $10. While there are a variety of discounts on a typical day, entry plus a VR ticket costs $32. But while VR can take us places we’ve never been, it can also take us back to places important to us.

After getting my second Moderna shot this spring, I bolted to the airport for Accra, Ghana. As a thirtysomething remote entrepreneur and writer, it was the salve I needed after 14 months of Covid-19 isolation. Accra was the one place in the world I knew I could effortlessly follow the outdoor activity guidance the CDC suggested. For six weeks, I reveled in open-air markets by day and spent nights with my grandmother at her place that had views of Aburi’s lush mountaintops. I spent weekends visiting Accra’s free Arts Center, watching artisans chisel lifelike images into earth materials.

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When I returned to Chicago, I longed for a way to hold onto the motherland beyond the clattering of my waist beads. After all your vacation days or travel money are exhausted, virtual reality may be the next best way to visit the destinations that have been lighting up your social timeline, or are on your bucket list.

As we move through the post-vaccine era, international travel and large events have both been slow to return, so Ceek , a streaming program for virtual events and experiences, aims to fuse wanderlust with concert ecstasy.

“We try to create an experience that takes people through time and space,” says Ceek CEO Mary Spio. While Ceek is headquartered in Miami, it also has offices in Ghana, where Spio was raised. Along with the work they do to simulate the communal experience of attending a live event, Ceek is designed to help people visit locations virtually.

What's novel about Ceek is how the platform combines technology to rethink concert experiences by giving Africa’s first-time visitors—or the nostalgic like me—a tour of their majestic sights and must-see monuments. The Ghanaian artist Sarkodie starts his show on Ceek by standing on the Black star on the Independence Square monument in Accra before descending onto the stage.

Referring to the Tanzanian Afrobeats artist whose show includes an experience with zebras and lions, Spio says, “Inside of the application, we have all these different venues. You can be in a safari with real animals around you watching a show from Diamond Platnumz .”

Spio explains that the combination of sights and sounds is important. “It’s like we are showering you in sound and you can feel everything.” Ceek’s VR approach uses customized, branded headphones that retail for $250, and a custom VR headset that retails for $99 and includes a three-month subscription to Ceek’s service. If you are not ready to invest in both, you can access the full-360 scenes on a smartphone. The subscription, which hosts Diamond Platnumz and Sarkodie’s content, is available for $10 per month. It’s surreal to know that I could reminisce about New Year’s Eve at Independence Square through Ceek on a smartphone for as little as 10 bucks.

Ceek also allows attendees to challenge their preconceived notions of a destination and to build their itinerary for future trips in and beyond Africa. “For some, their snapshot of Mexico is mariachi,” says Spio. “But by being in these environments and experiencing a different type of music with a different lens, you might say, maybe I want to visit a Cenote in Mexico or an EDM rave in Mexico and experience it for the first time.”

The past year and a half proved that a number of events and conferences needed better, more engaging ways to go virtual, and Venu3D is a VR platform that wants to help. Built to help event organizers host trade shows, conventions, and conferences, the aim is to make remote attendees feel like they are really at an event, while staying safely remote. “Back in March, our Covid Relief Tradeshow had over 800 attendees and more than 135 exhibitors.” says Jeremy Lam, CEO of Venu3D, of the event where virtual attendees hailed from US, Canada, Mexico, India, and Kenya, among others.

The Young Presidents Organization, which hosted the Covid Relief Tradeshow , made it free to all members. Other organizations make it free to all attendees and utilize features in Venu3D to prominently showcase event sponsors. Otherwise, ticket prices typically range from $50 to $500. Anyone can attend events on Venu3D by attending their free meetups .

Like Ceek, Venu3D’s audio is also accessible with or without a headset. The service enables participants to hear people based on proximity in the virtual world and attend virtual art exhibits, all to try and recreate that feeling of being in a space with real people you can interact with. When I saw the platform, I looked forward to the day when VR sees large-scale adoption. While visiting a virtual conference, I might see the works that captivated me at Accra’s free Art Center.

The promise of VR is the opportunity it has to help us rethink what travel even means. “Traveling can be traversing cultures, traversing memories, and can be very internal,” says David Askaryan, CEO of the Museum of Future Experiences . Askaryan says MOFE’s VR venue and production studio create “an experience where the world around you just completely changes for 70 minutes.”

MOFE is less a traditional “museum” and more of a curated art studio that hosts events. Its current show, Liminality , allows users to think about the future world. Available in New York for $75 a ticket, Liminality’s Life Giver immerses attendees in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Sweden where a family navigates the impact of global warming. “The show is designed like a dream or surreal trip to encourage reflection, interpretation, and conversation,” says Askaryan. The company has plans to scale to other cities soon.

Shows like these are only the beginning. Eventually, travel firms and similar art and experience “factories” will use everything from scent libraries to electrodes for taste , and an already-available array of haptic-feedback gloves and other clothing to activate all 5 senses for even more truly immersive experiences. There may be a time where I might be able to reap even more benefits from using VR to cope with the next pandemic-level threat .

I imagine a future world where anyone can use VR to visit Africa. From my bedroom in Chicago, I could throw on my headset and travel to Tawala Beach in Accra. As I walk, my feet feel the grainy sand and that unmistakable warm, piercing light of the sun. When I pass the kube wura —a coconut vendor—on the street, I taste the sweetness of coconut pulp. I smell the salt on my tongue wafting to me from the breeze off the Atlantic. I gaze at the waves and listen to the water as it gently tumbles into me and recedes, until I am soothed to slumber.

While I wait for this all-in-one experience, I’m planning my next VR trip: an underwater VR experience .

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Virtual reality travel: explore the world from anywhere

Post date April 12, 2020
Post categories In Trip Planning

Virtual reality is the most innovative way to find inspiration for your next trip, decide how to plan it, travel from home and even take imaginary trips.

While virtual reality has been around for quite a long time, in recent years it’s being used in the travel and tourism industry more than ever.

You’ll see some tourism boards use VR glasses at tourism conferences, you’ll find VR experiences at museums and galleries, and you can stay at home and travel virtually with your VR headset to places you may never visit in real life.

At the moment VR is not quite as widespread as one might expect given its potential, but it is definitely growing. A recent report by TrendWatching mentions the “virtual experience economy” as a hot future trend.

I’ve been fascinated by VR for a long time and frankly, can’t wait for it to become more mainstream.

how the travel world is using virtual reality

There are a few different ways to use VR in the world of travel.

planning your trip with vr

The most obvious way to use VR would be to simulate tourist experiences, so you can get a taste of potential destinations and pick the ones you want to go to in real life.

It’s probably the most advanced marketing tool any tourism company or tourist board can use today, and certainly the coolest!

Put on your VR glasses and see what it’s like to sail on a yacht in the French Riviera or cycle through a forest in Germany….

It is very different to seeing pictures of famous landmarks on Instagram or even to walking around a city with your favourite travel vlogger .

VR is an immersive experience and is much more exciting, powerful and creative.

here are some examples of how vr is being used already :

Sweden’s tourism board lets you see Sweden’s nature with a VR experience available online.

The Non-museum in Vilnius lets you travel all across Lithuania with VR glasses and enjoy its lovely landscapes with carefully curated themes.

Australian airline Qantas lets you “see the best of Australia” before you fly.

Travel World VR is a free virtual reality and augmented reality app for Android and Iphone that lets you see places on your phone before you book your holiday.

These are all carefully designed, simulated tourist experiences that can help you plan your trip and give you ideas for new destinations.

imaginary vr experiences at tourist attractions

VR can also be used in a completely different way, to simulate imaginary experiences, or things you’re not likely to ever do in real life .

This is where it becomes even more interesting.

Tourist attractions, like museums, can add something extra to what they would normally offer, by being creative with new VR experiences.

here are some cool examples of virtual reality experiences:

Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts lets you stroll inside a painting! Klimt’s Magic Garden is one of the best VR experiences I’ve had on any of my trips. You might have to queue for it, but it is well worth it.

The Science Museum in London can turn you into an astronaut with its space descent VR experience that simulates the landing of a spaceship. I tried it last summer and it was good fun!

You can fly from Tokyo to Paris in two hours… Japanese virtual travel company First Airlines recreates the entire experience of international travel, including a mock airport, an “in-flight” meal and VR sightseeing at your destination.

If you’re actually in Paris, you can fly over the city with a jetpack, thanks to FlyView.

When you stay at the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina, treat yourself to “the world’s first virtual reality wellness experience”. It is designed to help you relax with sounds, smells and sensations from nature.

The potential for these imaginary or out-of- reach experiences is endless.

virtual reality travel when you can’t travel in real life

Say you suffer from a fear of flying, or you’re old and frail and can’t travel anymore, or you’re stuck at home due to a global pandemic… Is virtual travel your solution?

here are some of vr experiences you can enjoy at home:

Experience Google Earth in virtual reality to go anywhere you like with your VR headset. It lets you fly over mountains or over your favourite city.

Everest VR simulates climbing Mount Everest, with gorgeous views and quite a bit of the excitement you might feel if you were to do it in real life.

Visit the Amazon rainforest with an educational virtual reality journey “Under the Canopy” to learn about the environmental threats to the region.

The Holy City 360 lets you travel through Jerusalem’s famous holy sites with a stereo 360 VR film that will make you feel as if you’re actually there.

theBlu is a popular VR game series that lets you dive into the ocean.

You can visit many virtual museums and galleries worldwide with apps like Boulevard and Google Arts & Culture .

What gear do you need to enjoy vr experiences from home?

To make the most out of the proliferation in VR experiences that you can enjoy from anywhere, you’ll need a virtual reality headset.

There’s a variety to choose from, from simple VR glasses for your phone to high-tech headsets for gamers.

Oculus Quest All-in-one VR Gaming Headset – A standalone headset that doesn’t require a phone or a computer and provides a fully immersive experience.

Oculus Rift S PC-Powered VR Gaming Head – A high-end VR headset that connects to your PC.

Samsung Gear VR – A highly rated headset for Samsung mobile phones.

Google Cardboard – This budget options is the simplest version of VR glasses available. Works with Android or iOS phones.

how to choose your vr headset?

What you should buy depends on whether you’re going to enjoy VR experiences occasionally, or you’re going to dive more deeply into the world of VR gaming.

If all you want is casual entertainment or to play simple VR games on your phone, pick the Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR .

For more serious gaming , or if you’re looking for totally immersive experiences, pick a more professional VR headset, such as Oculus Quest or Oculus Rift S . Bear in mind you’ll also need a high-end gaming computer for the latter.

the future of virtual reality travel

Virtual reality in tourism has a lot of potential. Though it is being adopted quite gradually by the travel industry, there’s little doubt it will make travel more fun and tourism marketing more inspired.

It might also help reduce some of the negative effects of tourism on the environment and help tackle problems of over-tourism.

One of the most interesting innovations in this field comes from Japan.

It sounds like science fiction, but it’s real: avatarin Inc. has developed robotic technology to let us travel as avatars .

When these machines become commercially available, you’ll be able to see what the robot sees and control its movements remotely using a tablet.

This is just the beginning…

An interesting prediction by futurist Ian Pearson says that we may be able to “feel” the sensations at the destinations we visit virtually, thanks to Active Skin .

Another prediction says that by 2050 we will connect our brains to VR devices, so our VR experiences will be completely personalised .

For now, we’ll have to wait and see how things turn out for VR. I hope it’s going to become more common and even a standard tool in our trip planning toolkits.

I don’t believe for a moment that the sense of freedom that travel gives us or that the way we connect with people when we travel can ever be replaced,

Still, virtual travel can lift your spirit and definitely broaden your mind.

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Tags Virtual Travel

Love the idea of being able to virtually travel to the Amazon! I bet that’s a really cool experience. xx

This is a great resource! Virtual travel is great for so many reasons, especially with our current situation. But it’s also great for young people who want to see and learn about the world!

I love that more places are letting you visit them virtually! I really need to get a vr headset soon because I miss traveling so much right now!

Very interesting topic that I’ve never even thought about. Useful for the quarantine period we live in.

3 podcast episodes that will inspire you to travel more

I love listening to podcasts. It’s one of the easiest ways I know to get entertained and educated at the same time. Share

The best travel podcasts to spark your wanderlust

Travel podcasts are gaining popularity these days and there are some good reason for that. Share

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The best VR apps for travel

Travel the earth from your easy chair with these 11 vr apps and sites.

This isn’t a far-off technology, either. There are several virtual travel apps already available, and companies such as Qantas, British Airways, and Marriott have already started experimenting with it as a marketing tool. On the consumption end, YouTube and Facebook are just a handful of the major sites that now support 360-degree content.

But even if you have no plans to physically go anywhere, VR is a fantastic video-based medium for armchair wanderlust. It takes the Google Street View approach of dragging your mouse around 360-degree photos, and transforms it into an immersive experience in which you can explore those environments in greater detail. You can travel to places you may never be able to go (or want to), including destinations that are off-limits to tourists or simply dangerous. And when you add narration from a tour guide to those videos, the experience becomes that much greater.

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While video resolution quality isn’t there yet — depending on the production quality, viewing through VR goggles and headsets can be nauseating — it’s getting better. As we experienced back in 2015 with Marriott’s “VRoom Service,” using the Samsung Gear VR , the audio-visual “sensory experience” did make us feel as if we’re there (pardon the cliché). Expect to see more content uploaded in the near future, including a mix of professional, high-quality videos and those shot by consumers on their phones or cameras.

So if you’ve purchased a VR headset with your new Galaxy phone, or were sent a cardboard viewer as part of a promotion , here are a few sites and apps that will give you a taste of virtual travel.

Google Earth VR

Have you ever wanted to fly around the world? Google Earth’s VR app for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive does that and so much more — virtually, of course. Google Earth VR starts you off in space, but you can zoom in on any part of the globe and, within seconds, you’ll have a bird’s eye view of the locale in question. With a simple long press and drag of your controller, you can fly from the top of the Eiffel Tower to the inside of Disney World — and it happens quicker than you might expect.

If you need inspiration for your next adventure, Google provides tours of famous landmarks, along with themed destinations. You can even go from day to night — just point to the sky and swipe. You can also type in an address and Google Earth VR will transport you to said destination, where you can capture and save snapshots of what you see.

In Boulevard (formerly WoofbertVR), you can explore 3D renderings of various museums and cultural sites located throughout England and San Francisco. However, the app allows you to do more than merely look around. You can access a virtual tablet with the tap of a button, which will provide you with textual information on what you are looking at and allow you to to take a brief audio tour. It can even show you which exhibits you can further engage with.

For instance, if you tap on Édouard Manet’s famous 19th century painting, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère , you’ll be transported beyond the frame and into an animated reimagining of the events depicted in the painting. Or, if you tap on a 1969 photo of painter Helen Frankenthaler, you’ll be able to walk around a 3D rendering of her minimalist workspace, giving you the feeling you just stepped into a memory. If you’re looking to indulge in fine art on your next trip abroad, Boulevard might be right up your ally.

Virtual reality has turned photo galleries into 3D experiences. Gala360 consists of a collection of shots culled from professional photographers, all of which allow you to examine events, museums, landmarks, and different locales with a mere swipe of your finger.

You can walk around and explore the cavernous lava tubes of Hawaii, for example, or take in the breathtaking views of Yosemite National Park. Certain experiences even have audio commentary, providing you further context about what you’re seeing as you scroll through the app’s various photos. Many of these experiences are free, though, premium content will cost you a $1 a month.

Lufthansa #TravelCompass

For its YouTube page, German airliner Lufthansa created several 360-degree on-location videos in Beijing, Hong Kong, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo. Each 46-minute clip lets you pan around a notable area in each of those cities, such as Wan Chai Street Market in Hong Kong or Lombard Street in San Francisco. You don’t need a VR viewer, although it’s more immersive if you use the YouTube Android app with Google Cardboard viewer.

Action cam maker GoPro is getting into the VR game in a big way. Its Odyssey uses 16 Hero4 Black cameras to capture an 8K panoramic video, and its consumer-friendly 360 camera, the Fusion , is coming soon. Of course, GoPro’s videos are short of amazing, and its 360-degree ones are no exception. From surfing in Tahiti to riding a BMW bike on the rooftops of Gran Canaria and inside an Indycar over the Golden Gate Bridge. Check out the personal New York City tour with photographer and Instagrammer, Neil Britto. GoPro won’t be the only big camera company getting into VR: Samsung , Nikon , and Ricoh all have 360 cameras, and we can expect to see content from them. The New York Times, for example, has a series of 360-degree videos created using the Samsung Gear 360.

Chances are, most of us will never experience space travel in our lifetime, let alone journey to Mars. Thanks to thousands of images that have been transmitted back to Earth from its Sojourner and Curiosity rovers, NASA was able to put together 360-degree videos and images of what walking on Mars would be like. The most recent panorama comes from the Curiosity Mars Rover, from a site known as Ogunquit Beach .

As its name would suggest, Ascape is a VR app that’s dedicated entirely to travel. Available as an app for both Android or iOS, and viewable on a phone or VR viewer, Ascape has a bunch of 360-degree video and photo tours — from the Star Wars parade at Disneyland Hong Kong to reindeer racing in Norway — and are neatly categorized (called “collections”). You will need to download each experience, which could take up a chunk of space on your phone.

Littlstar is a VR “cinema network” hosting a variety of 360-degree photos and videos, available on the web or via its app for Android or iOS. Its aerial and travel categories contain numerous content from around the world, including videos from Discovery and National Geographic. When you’re looked through all the travel videos, check out the many others, including tech, sports, cars, and fashion.

Like Littlstar, YouVisit lets you experience its content on the web (through a web browser or the Oculus Rift) or with a VR headset via its app for iPhone or Android . YouVisit has a variety of interesting travel-related 360-degree photos and videos, from the Ayautthaya temples of Thailand to the Louvre Museum in Paris and helicopter ride over New York City. You can even get onboard the Carnival Breeze and explore the different parts of the cruise ship.

Wild Within

Destination B.C., an agency that promotes tourism in Canada’s British Columbia, launched a virtual reality experience called “ Wild Within ,” which explores the natural areas of this western province. In the videos, the viewer travels through the Broughton Archipelago of the Great Bear Rainforest, but has the option of taking one of two paths — the coastline or up a mountain. Wild Within was first developed for the Oculus Rift on a desktop, but it’s now available as an app for iOS or Android .

Discovery is one of the major media companies to dive into virtual reality. Last August, it launched its Discovery VR initiative that lets users experience TV shows like Gold Rush , Survivorman , Puppy Bowl , and MythBusters , in an immersive manner. Besides exploring the exotic locales, you can swim with sharks, ski downhill with Bode Miller, or learn to forage for food, for example. Discovery VR content can be watched online, but it’s best via a phone and Google Cardboard or similar viewer, or Samsung Gear VR (via Oculus store).

Update: Added Boulevard, Gala360, and Google Earth VR.

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The Dell XPS Desktop 8960 remains the best desktop PC you can buy in 2024. However, we have several other options depending on your budget and needs, including desktops for gaming, remote work, and more. We'll provide a quick overview here, but make sure to read our write-up on how we review desktops for a deeper look at our evaluation process.

The Meta Quest 3 is one of the coolest ways to experience next-gen gaming from the comfort of your home. Heck, you can ever wear the VR headset in public, and shame on those who judge! But gaming isn’t the only immersive capability your Quest 3 is capable of. Thanks to apps, you’ll almost be able to use your headset as a standalone computer or smartphone. Of course, there’s a little know-how that goes into just what apps to download, and where you can find them — which is where we come in.

For your education and entertainment, we’ve gone ahead and rounded up several of our favorite Meta Quest 3 apps. You’ll find options for everything from movie and TV show players to 3D model-making. There’s plenty of fun software to get into, so let’s not delay any further! Web browsing in 3D

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Virtual reality tourism ready for takeoff as travellers remain grounded

Experts say pandemic could provide watershed moment for technology, potentially leading to more sustainable tourism

With globe-trotting banned in the pandemic, increasing numbers of people are turning to virtual reality to relieve pent-up demand for travel.

Escapism from the sofa through a growing range of VR travel experiences is whetting appetites for post-pandemic holidays and could be a watershed moment for the technology in tourism, say analysts.

“As long as the pandemic increases and we are spending more time indoors, we should see adoption keep on growing,” said Ralph Hollister, a tourism analyst at Global Data and the author of a recent report on VR in tourism.

Oculus launched its Quest 2 headset in October and the most popular experiences include National Geographic VR, which takes users to places such as Antarctica – where they can navigate icebergs in a kayak, climb an ice shelf and survive a raging snowstorm as they search for a lost emperor penguin colony.

Another app, Wander, can teleport VR travellers from the pyramids of Egypt to the gardens of the Taj Mahal, while Alcove offers immersive experiences from hot air balloon rides to city tours.

When We Stayed Home takes travellers to the heart of Paris, Venice, Jerusalem and Tokyo as they largely are today. Through the eyes of a local, you can witness the calm, the beauty and the emptiness of a places on pause during April 2020.

“In this time of social distancing, people are looking for different ways to stay entertained, connected and active, and VR offers that,” said an Oculus spokesperson. “Whether you want to transport yourself to different places in the world, play with friends, get fit or just hang out together and feel like you’re in the same room, people are realising they can with VR.”

One prominent adopter of pandemic VR is Germany’s national tourist board, which has unveiled a number of immersive projects. The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation is using VR to showcase experiences such as beach yoga and snorkelling.

Hollister said VR was still seen as a gimmick. “It remains to be seen if increased usage will last beyond when meaningful travel resumes.” But he believes it could.

“I think the increase will be sustained, especially with the Gen Z and millennials in coming years, as they move into higher-paid jobs, and marketers take them more seriously as a consumer group. They will not feel alienated by the technology,” he said.

Currently, VR is used in the pre-trip “dreamer” stage in tourism, with people looking at where they might want to go. Among the tourist operator Kuoni’s offerings, potential customers can take a 360-degree tour of the upmarket Sandy Lane luxury resort in Barbados.

Hollister predicts that in the future people could use VR to book trips directly, as well as choosing seats on planes and hotel rooms with a click of the controller.

“A lot of travellers and consumers want a seamless experience, to go from looking to booking with minimal clicks, instant gratification and saving as much time as possible,” he said.

It has its limitations. ‘Tourism is also about touch, taste, smell, all those other sensory experiences, which is something VR cannot do,” he said. The price of high-quality headsets restricts access too.

But as the world seeks more sustainable tourism, Hollister said VR also offered a solution. As historic sites are damaged through mass tourism, recreating them in VR could help conserve them.

So this could be a watershed moment for VR and travel. “Everyone will be analysing that and working out its real worth to the industry,” he said.

‘More immersive than I could have imagined’

Angel Ross hoped to be travelling this year – and he has. He’s been cage diving with white sharks, kayaked in Antarctica and played poker in China – all virtually.

Ross, who works for a London-based marketing firm, invested in an Oculus Quest 2 in January to satisfy his wanderlust after finding himself “stuck at home with the winter getting a bit depressing”.

He said: “I love travelling. I am 22 and these are the years when I have been wanting to do a lot of things, and obviously can’t do anything right now. I love the ocean and I love snorkelling. On the Oculus you can dive with all these different animals, and it’s super immersive and realistic.

“There’s a great white shark, you can get in a cage and it comes up to you. It was pretty terrifying but amazing. Then there’s more friendly animals like dolphins you can play with. I’ve done all of them, pretty much.”

To make it more inclusive, he can cast what he is seeing on to his computer or TV to share with friends. “You feel quite disorientated when you come out, because you are really tricking your brain to think you are there,” he said.

On the National Geographic VR app, he went on an Antarctic adventure. “I saw whales, I was in a kayak and you can climb an ice shelf. You really feel like you are walking and moving and going somewhere. All your senses – obviously not smell and touch – feel they are being completely absorbed.

“I am a big poker player, with friends and not for money. And the poker on there is incredible. You can go to all these different locations. And one is this Chinese rooftop garden pool. Really cool.”

He has also been rock climbing in the Alps, “which is super realistic – you chalk your hands and you can look around and see the drop. Pretty insane.”

On YouTube VR he went in a drone up to 40,000ft to see the curvature of the Earth. “It’s even more immersive than I could have imagined. One hundred per cent,” he said .

“Because it’s so immersive and intense, you can’t sit on it for hours on end. You need breaks. So you can have an intense, fun experience and do so many different things, invigorate your senses. And then you just stop, have a break. And you don’t need that constant fix.”

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The best VR headsets in 2024

The best VR headsets for your needs, tested by us

Best overall
Best premium
Best gaming
Best budget
Best for work
Best for budget gaming
How we choose
How we test

1. The list in brief 2. Best overall 3. Best premium headset 4. Best gaming headset 5. Best budget headset 6. Best headset for work 7. Best cheap gaming headset 8. How we choose the best headsets 9. How we test

The best VR headsets are so much more than devices that transport you to virtual worlds. They give you the best mixed reality experience with ever-improving passthrough technology, which unlocks new methods of getting things done like Spatial computing — overlaying your environments with augmented reality holographs.

As this industry is exploding with popularity, we have handpicked a small selection that offer the best bang for your buck. All of them can play most of the best VR games , and some can even serve as home gym replacements, productivity tools for work or even giant immersive screens to watch the best TV shows and movies.

Each of the below VR headsets on this list stands out for a particular reason, typically related to its features. That being said, we do have a clear winner when it comes to the best VR headset you can buy right now.

Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza (if he isn't already).

The quick list

Here's a quick overview of the best VR headsets you can buy right now based on our testing and reviews.

The best VR headset overall

The Meta Quest 3 is our pick for best overall VR headset for a lot of reasons. In its 3rd generation, Meta has fixed a lot of our common gripes with the hardware — offering impressive passthrough, accurate controllers with decent haptics, and a massive suite of apps and games to experience. And you can get all of this for an impressive price.

The best premium VR headset

If that $3,500 price tag isn't a tough pill to swallow, the Apple Vision Pro offers the best mixed reality experience out of all the headsets on this list. That includes an incredibly sharp passthrough mode to enable spatial computing, immersive viewing experiences of 3D movies, full integration with Apple products like the MacBook, and super advanced hand and eye-tracking.

The best gaming VR headset

For the best AAA gaming experience, the PSVR 2 is the headset to choose. With a wide viewing angle and vivid, sharp OLED display technology, to sensational controller haptics and impressively accurate tracking, it brings a new way to interact with a ton of PS first party titles like Gran Turismo 7.

The best budget VR headset

The Meta Quest 2 is still a fantastic choice for buyers who want to take their first step into the world of VR. It is missing some of the features from the Quest 3, such as full color passthrough and that powerful Snapdragon XR2 chipset. But this headset is still compatible with a ton of apps and games — making it a valuable purchase at just $299.

The best VR headset for work

The Meta Quest Pro can do it all, but it's aimed at the hard workers in a virtual space, such as scientists or engineers. If you fit into this niche, you really can't get anything better. But this is a small niche for sure.

The best cheap gaming VR headset

As for gaming on the cheap, the original PSVR is a solid choice. The library is dense with games to pick up and play, using the controls and immersion in some rather exciting ways. And while the PSVR 2 is here and bringing some impressive experiences to the table, this is a low cost way into VR gaming.

The best VR headsets you can buy today

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

1. Meta Quest 3

Our expert review:

Reasons to buy

Reasons to avoid.

The Meta Quest 3 "is undoubtedly the best VR headset I've ever tested" is the first line of our review of Meta's latest VR headset. It improves on the Quest 2 in just about every way, including a brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor and twin LCD lenses that offer 2K resolution in each eye for a combined 4K resolution.

That said, it's still not perfect. The battery life did not impress us — we managed to kill the battery in just under two hours. And while the full-color passthrough thanks to the two RGB cameras and depth projector is impressive, for a headset billed as a mixed reality headset, there isn't a lot to try out in mixed reality yet.

Despite these shortcomings though, the Quest 3 is still the top choice. Its improvements over the Quest 2 make choosing the older Quest headset a poor choice unless you're looking for something truly entry-level. And while the PSVR 2 is more powerful and has eye-tracking features, the resolution upgrade on the Quest 3 really bridges the gap. Plus, as with the Quest 2, you can still play PC VR games thanks to the Link cable or Air Bridge (sold separately), something the PSVR 2 cannot manage.

See our full Meta Quest 3 review .

2. Apple Vision Pro

Yes, the Apple Vision Pro is more mixed reality than truly VR, but that's the direction this whole category is heading in right now. And if you're looking out for the absolute best implementation of VR and AR technology (and cost is no obstacle), Cupertino's new headset is the best way to go.

Apple has tackled a lot of the common challenges for headsets with some truly great ingenuity in both hardware and software. For example, the microOLED displays with pixels smaller than red blood cells make for super sharp pass-through (with the lowest response time in the industry right now at just 12 milliseconds). On top of that, the futuristic eye and hand-tracking experience is head and shoulders above the tracking you can find in the competition.

And sure, there are some issues with it. Beyond that massive $3,500 asking price, the tethered battery can get in the way sometimes, personas during FaceTime calls are pretty weird to look at, and its missing some big apps like Netflix and YouTube (though the latter is coming soon ).

But you're looking at the most innovative product to come out of Apple since the iPhone. This is a revolution in the making, and it's certainly the technically superior VR/AR system of the bunch.

See our full Apple Vision Pro review .

The PlayStation VR 2 on our reviewer, Roland Moore-Colyer

3. PlayStation VR2

Sony 's new PSVR 2 is arguably the best wired VR headset, given it has a plethora of high-end specs, including a brilliant OLED display. But it sits behind the Quest 3 because it requires a PS5 to work and is limited to the PlayStation ecosystem. Plus the gap between the Quest 3 and PSVR 2 is much smaller than the gap between the Quest 2 and the PSVR 2 thanks to a new processor and display on the Quest 3.

Still, the PSVR 2 is excellent, especially for gaming. The headset is comfortable with just a relatively slim but sturdy cable that connects it to the PS5, the screen is excellent with impressive passthrough capabilities and 4K resolution. Plus, there's 3D audio support and easy buttons for adjustment.

But the real ace-in-the-hole is the Sense controllers. These are not only rather comfortable and good at tracking, but they also have excellent haptic feedback; an area where other VR headsets are lacking.

And thanks to being in the PlayStation ecosystem there are exclusive games like Horizon Call of the Mountain and the ability to play Gran Turismo 7 in VR. Combined with the VR tech, the PSVR 2 is one of the very best virtual reality systems you can buy today.

See our full PlayStation VR2 review .

4. Meta Quest 2

The Meta Quest 2 is a masterclass in incremental improvements over its predecessor, the Oculus Quest. As reviewer Michael Andronico concluded: "The Meta Quest 2’s price, game library and overall ease of use make it the best entry point into virtual reality yet."

The Quest 2 sports a slicker design, better display resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate in some games and apps, and faster overall performance than the original Oculus Quest. It also just feels like a well-made headset. There's a large market for Meta Quest 2 accessories too, from Logitech speakers that can be attached to the Quest 2's strap to provide a premium sound experience without taking you fully out of the real world to charging docks and more.

Plus, the Quest 2 does all this without any cables, which is one of the reasons why it still holds our top spot for the best VR headset. But you can still connect it to a PC via the Meta Quest Link cable to play the best PC VR games. One own Mike Prospero did just that with Microsoft Flight Simulator on the Quest 2 .

Starting at $299, it's also the most affordable headset out there, making its quality and versatility all the more impressive. That's why remains our pick for the best way to get started with the world of virtual reality if you don't want to spend up for the Quest 3.

See our full Meta Quest 2 review .

5. Meta Quest Pro

The Meta Quest Pro is effectively the grown-up version of the Quest 2 . Though the Quest Pro can play games, it’s aimed at designers, engineers, scientists and creatives who frequently collaborate online. This is another step toward Meta’s goal of making the metaverse a reality and, questions about the metaverse’s viability aside , the Quest Pro is itself an impressive piece of tech.

The issue is that it may not be practical for most VR enthusiasts, let alone anyone looking to just get started experiencing mixed reality. Its features aren't aimed toward gaming, meaning that there are better — and certainly less expensive — options for VR gamers.

At $999, you would be better off with a PS5 and PS VR or a gaming PC with a VR headset if all you want to do is play games. And the Quest 3 performs just as well when it comes to games but at half the price.

Given that the Quest 3 can probably do most things you'll need, most people will probably pass on the Quest Pro. But if money is no object, there's no denying that the Meta Quest Pro is a great VR headset.

See our full Meta Quest Pro review .

6. PlayStation VR

If you want to play VR games on a console then the PlayStation VR system is a decent option given its lower price point. As reviewer Sherri L. Smith noted: "PlayStation VR delivers compelling games in a comfortable, easy-to-use headset that won't break your budget."

The semi-futuristic-looking headset is surprisingly comfortable, with a superb range of some of the best VR games . This includes games like Hitman 3, Stride and Star Wars : Squadrons among others.

If you have a PS4 or PS4 Pro, then PlayStation VR is definitely one of the more affordable ways to play VR games with decent-quality graphics since you don’t need an expensive gaming PC. Plus, even with the less-than-stellar Move controllers and graphics that fall a bit short of high-end PC graphics, you still get a relatively high-end VR experience.

One thing to also bear in mind is that the PlayStation 5 also has support for PlayStation VR but it has some issues. It doesn't play as nicely with the Move controllers as its PS4 counterparts. Additionally, with the release of the PSVR 2, there won't be new games coming to the PS VR headset. But if you want to just play VR games for the first time and you already have a PS4, the PS VR headset could be a perfect entry point.

See our full PlayStation VR review .

How to choose the best VR headset for you

Our picks for the best VR headsets are rather few, due to the fact that a lot of the top VR headsets of the past few years have been discontinued and replaced with one or two models. Yet, that's not to say the choice is a completely easy one. The first thing to consider is what type of VR experiences you want and what hardware you already have.

PS5 vs Xbox Series X: Which console wins?

As it stands, if you want some virtual reality action on the PS5 or Xbox Series X you need to go with Sony. Only the PS5 supports VR in the form of the PS VR headset, and the PS VR2 is on its way, designed specifically for the PS5. Xbox Series X and Series S lack VR support entirely and there's no hint that VR support will come in the near future. We hope this will eventually change given Windows 10 has baked-in VR support, but right now things don't look too hopeful.

For those with powerful PCs and a dedicated virtual reality space, then headsets like the Valve Index , which we have not reviewed, are worth considering. You can also do PC passthrough with the Quest headsets, but they won't be as powerful gaming rigs as a high-end gaming PC combined with an Index headset.

People with less space and less powerful hardware should go for the Meta Quest 3. It offers an all-in-one VR experience and can be connected to a PC using a cable or wirelessly, though that can be a pricey extra.

For owners of the PS4 or PS4 Pro, the choice is a lot easier as your best option is probably the PS VR headset, though at $499 the Quest 3's superior performance and platform are worth considering. If you have a PS5 you should probably still get the PSVR 2 if all you're concerned about is playing VR games. The gaming headsets utilize the console's power to provide graphics above what standalone headsets can manage with their mobile chipsets for a cheaper price than PC VR gaming rigs. Unless you want to experience mixed reality or prefer VR apps and experiences to VR games, the PlayStation VR ecosystem is a great way to experience VR using some of your existing hardware.

How we test VR headsets

Identifying the best VR headsets takes a suite of things to consider, from the hardware itself to the software the headsets will work with. We test and consider how easy it is to set up a VR headset and system, how well-designed and comfortable the headset is, how well its interface works, and take a look at the accessories the VR headset can use.

We also take a look at how specific VR headsets work such and how easy the interface to use, as well as how head tracking performs and the quality of the controllers with the headsets.

A major part of initial testing involves evaluating how much space is needed to set up one of our picks for the best VR headsets to get the most out of them.

A product can look great but still be uncomfortable to use. Aside from testing out all the various content, we spend at least 30 minutes wearing each headset. We test to make sure any embedded air vents are keeping things cool. And if it does get sweaty, we see how well the face guard wicks away moisture. We also weigh the headsets, because even the lightest gadget can feel heavy after long periods of use. Finally, we test how adjustable the head straps are and how secure they feel.

As the de facto face of your virtual experience, the interface is vitally important. We test how responsive and intuitive the home page and subsequent menus are, as well as test special features, like voice commands and gesture control.

Whether it's a traditional gamepad or something more elaborate, like Meta's controllers, we're checking to see if the input devices are ergonomically designed; after all, no one wants hand cramps. We also test tracking and responsiveness in a number of games.

Hardware without great software is just an expensive paperweight. We not only examine the size of a device's library but also scour the listings and test out some of the higher-end apps and titles. At this point, a good library should feature a number of games, apps, movies and other experiences.

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Virtual Travel Experiences

A new way to see the world.

We capture amazing places in volumetric 3D to create incredible immersive experiences that bring you as close as you can get to really being there.

BRINK Traveler for AR turns your phone or tablet into a window to the world, walk around and explore a location as if you were there in person!

BRINK Traveler for VR is the closest thing you'll have to a teleport button anytime soon. Put on a headset and feel like you’re really there!

BRINK Traveler for Phones & Tablets (AR)

Brink traveler for virtual reality (vr).

Fully 3D (6 DoF)

Volumetric capture of real locations all the way to the horizon. Move through a place as you would in person.

BRINK Traveler gives you a feeling of presence, scale, and immersion not possible from any other medium.

Shared experiences with friends and family to travel together from anywhere in the world.

Interactive

More than just seeing! Each location offers a unique experience to interact with a living environment.

Our experiences work on all phones, tablets, and VR headsets, from the comfort of your own home.

We capture the most incredible locations of the world. Places that inspire and stir emotions!

About BRINK XR

Making the world more accessible.

Our Mission

BRINK XR is dedicated to making the wonders of the world personally accessible to all through Virtual Travel Experiences. We aim to give people who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to visit the amazing places of the world a chance to feel like they’ve experienced it in person.

We see virtual travel as a tool to help lower the barrier of entry for those who don’t have the time, money, or health to travel freely. We believe virtual travel experiences can be a tool to build connection and empathy for these amazing places - to protect and ensure them for future generations. Beyond entertainment, we see profound uses for virtual travel - including education, healthcare, and historic documentation.

Our world is filled with amazing places to see and explore. Our passion for travel and the great outdoors is the guiding light of our work on BRINK Traveler . We strive to recreate the connection we have to the incredible natural places we love being in, and enable anyone to have their own connection to these wonderful locations.

We're an award winning team of VFX artists, VR creators, mountain climbers, and world travelers.

BRINK XR was formed because we recognized an opportunity to use our skills in a new and exciting way to create meaningful content that provides entertainment, education, awareness, and scientific / historic relevance to the world.

We've always been trying to capture and present the world as we experience it with 360 photos, timelapses, photography - but with BRINK Traveler , it finally feels like we've found something that does justice to the scale and feeling of being in these amazing places—something no other medium has been able to really capture before now.

Interested in joining our team? Get in touch with us

You don’t have to pack a bag or bring a passport to be instantly transported around the planet. BRINK Traveler gives you your own personal guide to each meticulously captured location.

BRINK Traveler is a stunning app to have loaded onto your Quest. It falls into the category of essential apps to keep installed for when you’re introducing someone to VR.

Travel to some of the world’s most amazing natural wonders in fully immersive 3D and feel like you’re really there in this awe-inspiring experience.

This VR Travel App makes me long for the real thing. Brink Traveler might be a suitable replacement and a lot cheaper than a plane ticket.

Latest Press and Updates

BRINK Traveler's fall update now out on Meta Quest! (and coming soon to PCVR)

October 26 2023 BRINK XR

We're back with another great big content update - this time we've added twelve new spots to visit across eight spectacular locations. We're also releasing the beta of our brand new AI Travel Assistant, along with many other great improvements and fixes!

BRINK Traveler & Puzzling Places present "The Wave" as an immersive puzzle!

August 18 2023 BRINK XR

Puzzling Places is thrilled to announce its latest premium puzzle, "The Wave," in partnership BRINK Traveler. The collaboration is an exciting adventure in itself, bringing together two innovative worlds to create a meditative experience for users...

BRINK XR for the Environment & Earth Day 2023 fundraiser!

April 20 2023 BRINK XR

Our passion for the amazing natural places of Earth is the guiding light behind our work on BRINK Traveler. We believe that everyone should be able to experience the great outdoors — both in our apps and in the real world. Our mission relies on ensuring these wonderful places...

BRINK Traveler's winter locations update now out on Quest, Rift, and SteamVR!

December 24 2022 BRINK XR

Happy Holidays and New Year from BRINK XR - our gift to you is our latest Winter Update for BRINK Traveler! This update focused on bringing in eight new highly diverse and international locations into the experience - places like Norway, South Korea, New Zealand, France...

BRINK Traveler's summer multiplayer update now out on Meta Quest!

August 01 2022 BRINK XR

Summer is finally here and we’re excited to announce the Summer Multiplayer Update for BRINK Traveler! This update focused on the much-requested Social Multiplayer experience so you can travel with friends, family, and other explorers from across the world...

BRINK for the Environment and joining 1% for the Planet

April 20 2022 BRINK XR

BRINK Traveler's winter update now available on Oculus & Steam!

February 01 2022 | BRINK XR

Today we're excited to release our Winter Update as a FREE UPDATE for all existing users. Our main focus for this update is to begin growing the experience with more spots to visit, adding language localization, allowing for greater settings customization based on user feedback, and readying the framework for more updates we have planned in 2022.

Here's a quick rundown of all the new things in the BRINK Traveler Winter Update (v1.1.0)...

BRINK Traveler named one of Oculus' Best Exploration Apps of 2021

December 14 2021 | Oculus

It's been an exciting launch for us, and we're very proud to announce BRINK Traveler has been selected as one of Oculus' best apps of 2021 in the Exploration category!

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support, positive ratings, and touching emails we've received. We're looking forward to the coming year as we release seasonal updates to the app - including many more amazing places to visit and features like multiplayer and guided experiences.

BRINK Traveler Offers Some Of VR’s Best Travel Content Yet...

September 12 2021 | Upload VR

BRINK Traveler is available now for Oculus Quest and PC VR, allowing you to travel to a selection of stunning locations that are displayed in full volumetric 3D by way of photogrammetry-based capture technology.

The app was announced a few weeks ago and launched more recently for Oculus Quest and PC VR via the Oculus Store and Steam. After jumping into the app on Quest and trying out a few of the locations yesterday, it’s clear that Brink is one of the best travel apps available on the Quest...

See the world From the Comfort of Home with BRINK Traveler on Oculus Quest

September 09 2021 | Oculus Blog

Teleport yourself across the planet with BRINK Traveler from Brink XR, a first-of-its-kind virtual travel experience app that lets you explore breathtaking real-world locations in fully volumetric 3D environments created from meticulously scanned photogrammetry and LiDAR.

Visit over a dozen gorgeous locations around the world with BRINK Traveler, out now on the Oculus Quest and Rift Platforms, as well as Steam for $9.99 USD...

Send us a message and we'll be in touch! You can also chat with the team on our Discord or email us directly at: [email protected]

Thanks for your email, we'll be in touch!

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The best VR headsets for 2024

Virtual reality is here, and there's never been a better time to snag a vr headset..

Virtual reality is interesting again. After a few years of stagnation, it’s worth considering an immersive VR headset. The Meta Quest 3 delivers excellent standalone virtual reality for $500, while Apple has thrown down the gauntlet with the Vision Pro , a $3,500 stab at combining VR and augmented reality (AR). Those who have an original Quest should consider upgrading, and while it’s not really feasible for most people, the Vision Pro provides a glimpse at where the entire category might be headed. We’ve tested and reviewed all of the big players in the VR game; this buyer’s guide will help you decide which is the best VR headset for you.

Meta Quest 3

Best vr headset overall, apple vision pro, best next-gen vr/ar headset, meta quest 2, best cheap vr headset, playstation vr 2, best console vr headset, valve index vr kit, best pc vr headset for gamers, bigscreen beyond, best vr quality, no matter the cost, how we test vr headsets.

I tend to judge VR headsets on a few basic criteria: Ergonomics, immersion and controls. It's not that hard to shove a mobile display into a plastic headset and strap some cheap elastic headbands onto it. But it takes skill to craft something that's well balanced and doesn't feel uncomfortable after 30 minutes.

My test for ergonomics is fairly simple: How long can I wear a headset until I start to feel discomfort? For the most ergonomic devices, like the Quest 3, that could easily be an hour or two. But heavier PC hardware often feels cumbersome after just 15 minutes — you won’t find headsets guilty of that in this guide.

Immersion, meanwhile, comes from having high resolution screens with fast refresh rates, so everything looks sharp and smooth. Field of view is also a major element, as it describes how well VR screens can cover what you see. Having a narrow field of view makes it feel like you’re looking through a pair of binoculars, and limits your sense of “presence,” or the idea that you’re actually transported to a virtual world.

A wide field of view, on the other hand, can make it seem like you’re actually flying over the globe in Google Earth. We look at a few popular games, like Superhot , Beat Saber and Pistol Whip , on every headset to judge how immersed we feel.

The best controllers fit naturally in your hands and offer accurate tracking. The industry has basically adopted the design of Meta’s excellent touch controllers, but we're also seeing intriguing leaps forward like Valve's finger tracking gamepads. We judge controllers based on how easy they are to hold, how they hold up to sweaty gameplay sessions and how easily headsets can track their position in space.

Read our full review of the Meta Quest 3 VR headset

The long-awaited follow-up to the Quest 2 is an upgrade in every respect: It’s more comfortable to wear, it has higher quality screens and it has full-color mixed reality cameras, allowing you to see the real world alongside virtual elements. While it’s more expensive at $500 , it’s also a far more capable headset than the Quest 2, with hardware and optics that will keep you happily immersed in VR for years.

The Quest 3 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip, which Meta says has double the graphics power of the Quest 2. That additional power is noticeable in games like Red Matter 2 , which feature updated textures that deliver an experience closer to PC VR. The Quest 3’s new displays run at 2,064 by 2,208 pixels per eye, offering an even better experience than the PlayStation VR2. Its mixed reality cameras also let you easily see the real world, in case you need to quickly answer a text or Slack message. And they enable games that can be built around your room.

What makes the Quest 3 interesting is that it offers more than just solid VR: It also gives you a glimpse at what a mixed reality future could be. While it’s not as sharp or capable as Apple’s Vision Pro, that’s understandable. And just like previous Quest headsets, you can also plug it into a gaming PC for higher quality VR experiences.

Sharp new screens and lenses
More compact than Quest 2
Faster performance
Mixed reality cameras make it easier to see the real world
Adjustable for glasses
More expensive than before
Only 128GB of storage to start
No battery life improvements

With the Vision Pro , Apple is attempting to do for VR what the iPod did for media players, and what the iPhone did for smartphones. It’s a bold, $3,500 gamble to reshape the world of VR around Apple’s idea of “spatial computing.” It’s incredibly expensive, somewhat uncomfortable and surprisingly buggy, but the Vision Pro is the biggest leap forward we’ve seen in the stagnating VR industry in years. Most people shouldn’t buy it, but if you’re a developer or someone with money to burn and want the best immersive headset today, it’s truly in a league of its own.

Incredible Micro-OLED screens
Intuitive gesture controls
Convincing Spatial Audio
Immersive Video is astoundingly realistic
Incredibly expensive
visionOS is very buggy
Heavy compared to other headsets
External battery is annoying and doesn't last long
Not many native visionOS apps

Read our full review of the Meta Quest 2 VR headset

Over years since its release, the Meta Quest 2 remains the best budget VR option for the vast majority of consumers. It's a completely standalone headset, and it's comfortable to wear for long sessions. And now that it’s down to a new standard price of $250, it remains the best way to jump into VR without spending a ton of money.

Here’s what’s still good, though: there's a huge library of titles that you can experience anywhere, and it's bundled with Meta’s great motion controllers. You can also connect the Quest 2 to a gaming PC to stream more complex VR experiences.

The Quest 2 features fast-switching LCDs with a resolution of 1832x1920 per eye. It also has a smooth 90Hz refresh rate, which is impressive for something running entirely on mobile hardware. The Quest 2's field of view isn't the best — it's been measured at just around 90 degrees — but it's still enough to enjoy most VR experiences. You can also use different face pads to increase its field of view a bit. And if you want an even more comfortable fit, you can snag the Elite headstrap for $49 (or $129 with a built-in battery and case ).

The Quest 2 may not offer the best VR experience, but it's certainly the most accessible headset on the market.

Higher resolution screens
More powerful hardware
Excellent standalone VR
Works well as a desktop VR headset
Price is a steal
Standalone games still limited by mobile hardware
90Hz isn’t available at launch
Fit adjustment is a bit wonky

Read our full review of the PlayStation VR2 headset

The PS VR2 is one of the best headset we’ve tested. It offers dual 2K OLED HDR screens, effectively giving you 4K quality. It’s one of the most comfortable headsets around. And it has some genuinely refreshing new features, like eye tracking and headset haptics. (Yes, it can literally rock your noggin.) Best of all, the PS VR2 delivers high-quality virtual reality without the need for a $1,000+ gaming PC – all you need is a PlayStation 5.

Now, our recommendation comes with a few caveats. At $550, the PS VR2 is more expensive than the PS5 itself. And it’s unclear how quickly its game library will fill up. The initial run has only a few exclusives, like Horizon VR and Gran Turismo 7 , and we haven’t seen many new titles since then. But it’s still the easiest way to experience high-end VR, and it’s a major upgrade over the original PS VR.

Excellent OLED displays
Comfortable fit
Headset haptics feel immersive
Sense controllers are solid
Incredibly high launch price
Limited new titles
Long term development is suspect

Read our full review of Valve Index VR kit

Valve's Index kit remains one of the best high-end solutions on the market that provides a truly immersive VR experience. For $999 you get the Index headset, Valve's finger tracking controllers and two SteamVR base stations. While we've seen higher-resolution headsets arrive in the last two years, it's still a very solid option, with a 1,440 by 1,600 pixel resolution, an eye-watering 144Hz refresh rate and a massive 130-degree field of view. I'd gladly lose a few pixels for the Index’s smoother and more expansive screen, which are still far beyond most other consumer headsets.

As a SteamVR product, the Index requires installing two sensors at opposite corners of your room. And of course, it's wired to your PC. But that clunkiness is worth it for the higher refresh rate and more accurate tracking. Sure, it's not as easy to use as the Quest 2, but at this price range, we assume you'll suffer a bit of inconvenience to get a truly high-quality VR experience.

Valve's finger tracking controllers are fantastic as well, with a convenient strap that locks them onto your hands. They make playing Half-Life: Alyx feel like a dream. It's unfortunate that other VR games haven't fully taken advantage of the finger tracking though.

144Hz refresh rate with a 130-degree field of view
Excellent finger-tracking controllers
Stellar performance
Requires installing sensors in your room
Wired design

Read our full review of the Bigscreen Beyond VR headset

Essentially an upgrade for the Index, the Beyond is a unique spin on a VR headset from Bigscreen, the developer of a popular app for watching video in VR. It looks more like an oversized pair of goggles than a massive VR headset. The $999 Beyond is the lightest VR option we’ve ever seen (it weighs a tad more than a deck of playing cards), and its Micro-OLED screens are sharp and offer near-perfect contrast. Unlike LCD screens, black can look genuinely black with the Beyond.

The downside, though, is that the Bigscreen Beyond is expensive. It’s $999 on its own if you’re just upgrading a Valve Index setup. If you’re starting from scratch, though, you’ll also need to buy two Steam VR base stations and a pair of Index controllers. That adds up to a whopping $1,578.

The Bigscreen Beyond also requires a custom face cushion, which is built from a 3D facescan when you place your order. Unfortunately, that makes it harder to share than other headsets. There’s also no room for glasses, since it’s so slim. You can buy prescription lens inserts from Bigscreen for an additional fee. And of course, you’ll have to live with a cable tethered to your PC, there’s none of the freedom of the cordless Meta Quest headsets.

For all of its complexity, though, the Bigscreen Beyond delivers the most immersive PC VR experience I’ve ever seen. Since it’s so light, you can easily wear it for hours. Together with its glorious screens, it’s the best option for VR enthusiasts who don’t mind dealing with cost and complexity for true immersion.

Incredibly light and comfortable
Sharp and bright Micro-OLED screens
Works alongside existing Valve Index accessories
No built-in audio
Still exhibits artifacting like other VR headsets

Other VR headsets we’ve tested

Meta quest pro.

As great as the Meta Quest 3 is, the Quest 2 is still a very good entry-level VR headset, and it’s worth considering if it’s on sale below its current $250 list price. The Meta Quest Pro , on the the hand, is an expensive boondoggle best ignored.

HTC Vive Pro 2

Outside of Meta’s hardware, the HTC Vive Pro 2 remains a fantastic PC headset, but it’s far more expensive than the Valve Index, which is more comfortable and offers better audio.

How do VR headsets work?

At the most basic level, a VR headset is simply a high quality screen that you’re holding up to your face. For a wired headset, the actual work of rendering a game is done on either a PC or game console. For completely wireless devices, like the Meta Quest 3, that work is handled right on the headset. They rely on either external sensors, or sensors built into the headsets, to map your physical space. While you can use a traditional gamepad or keyboard and mouse in VR, they typically use motion tracking controllers to immerse you in their 3D environments.

What VR headset is best for full body tracking?

While we’re still waiting for a truly great haptic VR bodysuit to arrive, you can still achieve accurate body tracking with most Steam VR-compatible PC headsets. The Valve Index and HTC Vive Pro 2 both rely on room-tracking sensors that can map your body more effectively than the built-in sensors on competitors. You can also add HTC Vive Trackers to wrist and leg straps, as well as belts, for even better coverage. The Meta Quest 3 doesn’t have any easy body tracking solutions, but you can add Vive trackers when it’s plugged into your PC to mimic a Steam VR headset.

Only a few experiences, like VRChat, take advantage of full body tracking at the moment. Currently there aren’t any body tracking solutions for the PlayStation VR and VR2, but we’re intrigued by the company’s Mocopi body trackers , which were really announced in Japan.

What VR headsets are better than Oculus?

Oculus is the previous name for Meta’s VR hardware. Currently, Meta only supports the Quest 3, Quest 2 and Quest Pro, all of which are wireless headsets. As we explain above, PC VR headsets can generally achieve better quality virtual reality, since they rely on more powerful graphics hardware.

What VR headsets work with Xbox?

Currently, Microsoft’s Xbox consoles don’t support any VR headsets.

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Best VR experiences 2023: Explore, learn, and be entertained in virtual reality

Toy with planets, explore the ocean, or step into the past with the best VR experiences.

Best VR experiences - National Geographic Explore VR Machu Picchu_National Geographic

Space Explorers: The ISS Experience

Brink traveller, star chart vr, national geographic explore vr, all kinds of limbo xr, universe sandbox, perspectives: paradise, the book of distance, within - cinematic vr.

With virtual reality well and truly in the mainstream, there’s no time like the present to dive into the best VR experiences on offer. And we do mean experiences, not games. Yes, there’s fun to be had soaring through space in an X-Wing or gunning down bad-guys from behind a dumpster but VR has so much more to offer besides.

There are a whole range of VR applications that, from the comfort of your own home, let you visit places, times and even whole worlds that would otherwise be out of your reach. Sometimes you’re just you, while some titles put you in someone else’s shoes, offering a perspective you might never have considered. VR fitness apps are becoming more popular, and you can even work in VR .

Without the need to fend off murderous bandits or face-eating xenomorphs, you can take your time to immerse yourself in the experience of your choosing. And if you haven’t already picked up a VR headset (they’re surprisingly affordable) check out our list of the best VR headsets here.

The only snag is there are so many VR experiences out there that it can be hard to know where to start, even if you’ve a specific area of interest in mind. For example, put “dinosaurs” and “VR” into the Steam Store and you’re greeted by 80+ results.

That’s why we’ve rounded up the ten of the best VR experiences available. Some are free, others sport a reasonable price tag but all offer the chance to expand your horizons without even leaving your living room. And if you want to pick up a VR headset to check out these experiences, head to our VR headset deals page to get the best price.

Platforms: Oculus
Price: $2.99 for each of the 4 episodes (via Oculus Store)

If anyone is looking to experience the wonders of space, this VR experience may be close to what you’ll get to seeing what its like aboard a space station. Shot over two years, the VR experience was filmed at the International Space Station. It’s a gorgeous look at life aboard the station, told through four parts as you follow eight astronauts on a journey through some missions. It’ll give viewers an intimate look at living the life on orbit.

There won’t be much interaction, but the experience does dive deep into space exploration through the eyes of these astronauts. With these extreme close-ups of these workers in space together, you’ll feel like you are with them during the joys and dangers of their profession.

Check out Space Explorers on the Oculus Store .

Platforms: Steam VR, Meta (including Meta Quest)
Price: $9.99 / £7.99 (via Steam Store, Meta Quest Store)

BRINK Traveller takes you on a tour of twenty stunning natural spots, across thirteen locations. That may not sound like a lot when you can run Google Earth on most headsets, but BRINK Traveller’s locales are more than just 360° videos or shots.

Instead, you get to roam around each lookout spot, gazing down into the Grand Canyon, for example, watching the odd bird soar overhead. Should you be so inclined you can pick up a rock and pitch it into the water or take photographs. Or why not pull up a chair and just relax? It’s not 100% photorealistic but it’s convincing enough that it’s almost as good as being there.

The locations are, mostly, American but the developers are slowly adding more international locations. Besides which, (virtually) taking in California’s Death Valley, Arizona’s The Wave rock formation and more, you’re bound to come away impressed.

Buy BRINK Traveller on Steam .
Buy BRINK Traveller on Meta Quest Store .

Platforms: Oculus, Steam, Google Play
Price: $9.99

Speaking of space, this VR experience is also out of this world as it allows you to explore the solar system in a beautiful rendering of a real-time space simulation. You can take a closer look at all the planets in our galaxy whether its Saturn’s rings or the moons that orbit it. This is a great way to educate yourself in what the solar system has to offer and see how these constellations are formed in the night sky. Choose from different Star Chart modes to give you some choices in your star gazing activity.

There’s also tons of experiences like Moments in Time that take you throughout history in space expedition like the moon landing and the rover’s exploration in Mars. No matter what you choose, you’ll enjoy what our solar system has to offer thanks to this one-of-kind VR experience.

Buy Star Chart VR on Steam.
Buy Star Chart VR on Oculus .
Buy Star Chart VR on Google Play Store .

National Geographic Explore VR_National Geographic

Price: $9.99

There are plenty of discoveries to be made in this world, and National Geographic help make this possible with their app called Explore VR. There are countless experiences to uncover and it’s a nice educational tool to see what this world has to offer regarding culture and exploration.

Users can explore the old ruins of Machu Picchu or even scale the icebergs in the far-off region of Antarctica. It’s perfect for the whole family to travel the world without ever leaving the house. The main goal is to capture photos on these exhibitions, so the National Geographic Explore VR experience is a nice way to discover these vast locations to get to know the landscape and learn its history.

Buy National Geographic Explore VR for $9.99 at Oculus store .

Platforms: Steam VR, Meta (including Meta Quest 2)

It’s estimated that 80% of the ocean’s depths remain unexplored and while Ocean Rift is based on what we do know, it still offers some amazing encounters. Swimming around one of several sub-aquatic areas, you’ll get to gawp at humpback whales, play with dolphins and, should you so choose, swim with a handful of prehistoric animals.

Ocean Rift isn’t the only application to offer a similarly watery experience, but what’s impressive is the freedom it grants you. You can roam to your heart’s content, assuming you’ve not chosen the shark cage area, and, occasionally, stumble on some unsettling aquatic items. Ocean Rift doesn’t set out to kill you, but we still got the chills when we stumbled across an abandoned submersible.

Buy Ocean Rift on Steam .
Buy Ocean Rift on Meta Quest Store .

Platforms: All
Price: £6/$8

Live theater still draws in a big crowd with the likes of Broadway shows, concerts, and other types of entertainment. If you would rather see live entertainment from your own home, look no further than the performers behind All Kinds of Limbo. The musical performance is developed by artists Raffy Bushman and Nubiya Brandon alongside the NuShape Orchestra in the U.K.

Using just a VR headset on a mobile device or PC, audiences can take part in this immersive experience that brings the Caribbean culture to life in a story of a life in limbo across different genres of music. Called All Kinds of Limbo XR, this special production from the National Theater utilizes VR technology to create a place for audiences to watch these musicians perform with the tunes of the Caribbean.

See upcoming All Kinds of Limbo events here.

Platforms: Steam VR
Price: $29.99 (via Steam Store, also includes non-VR version)

Universe Sandbox happily caters to those who just want to watch the planets leisurely orbit the sun or, with the click of a button or two, watch days pass in seconds. Even without touching the extensive and sometimes silly Steam Workshop items (space whale included), just poring over solar systems (ours and a handful of others) will keep stargazers happy.

However, it’s the option to experiment that really elevates Universe Sandbox. You can move planets, alter their size, their composition, blow them up – the Solar System is your oyster. Yes, there’s nothing to stop you swapping the Sun out for a black hole and the resultant planetary chaos is really something. But you can have just as much fun making little tweaks and observing the knock-on effects.

Buy Universe Sandbox VR on Steam (Early Access)

Price: Free (via Steam Store)

Perspectives: Paradise starts with a bang and ends with a whimper which, given the subject matter is entirely appropriate. It’s a virtual reality dive into the 1952 test detonation of the first hydrogen bomb and the effect it had at Enewetak/Bikini Atoll, both upon the environment and the original inhabitants.

Aside from a spectacular VR recreation of the detonation of the bomb, you get to delve into the unsettling aftermath, standing atop the sealed mound where radioactive materials were buried. On top of that, there are 360° views of the island, interviews (including with the people who live there now) and more.

The subject is treated with an appropriate level of dignity – it’s not a fist-pumping celebration of America’s might, thanks in part to the involvement of some Finnish journalists. And it’s absolutely going to leave you with food for thought.

Get Perspectives: Paradise on Steam .

Platforms: Steam VR, Meta
Price: Free (via Steam Store, Meta Quest Store)

Aside from visiting remote locations, VR allows you to experience other people’s stories. The Book of Distance tells just one such story, about a Japanese man who emigrated to America. That might be an interesting tale in its own right, but what makes his story so significant is that he was one of the many, many Japanese American citizens who spent some or all of WWII in American internment camps .

What makes this such an impactful experience is that it has such a narrow, personal focus. It was produced with the involvement of Randall Okita, the man’s grandson, and it lets you delve into various aspects of his life. It’s presented as sort of a play, one that will absolutely hold your attention, and it’s the perfect way to illuminate an important but often glossed over chapter of America’s history.

Get The Book of Distance on Steam .
Get The Book of Distance on Meta Quest Store .

Platforms: Oculus, Steam, Google Play, Apple
Price: Free

For those in need of a cinematic experience at home, Within VR can make that happen. Get immersed in some amazing stories in different genres like documentaries, horror, music videos, animation, and so much more. What’s great is that these are viewed at no charge at all.

You can catch the best from indie filmmakers and studios from around the world. These videos are also available to download in high-resolution, so you can take it anywhere you go if you don’t have an internet connection to stream it. If you’re up for some video content, then you’ll find plenty of that through Within.

Best of all, there are no platform limitations, as the Within website proudly states that it's "available everywhere fine VR is served".

Check out Within VR on Steam , Oculus, Google Play , or Apple .

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Chris is a freelance journalist who, aside from covering games and gaming-related tech, has a taste for horror, sci-fi and the post-apocalyptic. As well as Live Science, you can find his work at Space.com, The Escapist, GameSpew (where he’s the morning news writer) and more. You can follow him on Twitter @MarmaladeBus .

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Best VR space experiences

The best VR space experiences puts space travel within reach of everyone - with the right hardware.

Travel the cosmos and explore the ISS in the best VR space experiences.

VR gaming is great but there are also a wealth of smaller VR “experiences” that let you explore places and situations that would otherwise be beyond your reach. Space has its own subset of experiences which range from letting you board the International Space Station to giving you the power to bend planets to your will.

Yes, space exploration is still the domain of a select few, based on their skill sets, celebrity status or bank balances. Most of us won’t get to escape Earth’s gravitational pull, let alone live on the moon. But, thanks to the best VR headsets , all you need to do to take to the stars (or demolish them) is to don a headset and enter virtual reality.

It’s not absolutely the same, your feet will remain firmly planted on Earth, but VR experiences can be the next best thing to actually going to space and with VR more affordable than it’s ever been, there’s no better time to blast off. So, to give you a head start, we’ve rounded up six of the best VR space experiences.

1. Space Explorers: The ISS Experience

Best VR Space Experiences: image shows ISS VR Experience

Headsets : Oculus Quest, Oculus Quest 2
Price: $2.99 for each of 4 episodes (via Oculus Store)

One the best VR space experiences, Space Explorers: The ISS Experience was filmed aboard the International Space Station, over the course of two years. Exclusive to the Oculus Quest it’s an absolutely fascinating look at life aboard the station and, while only two of the four half-an-hour episodes have been released, it offers some insights you’re unlikely to find elsewhere.

It is largely non-interactive; you’re limited to jumping back and forth through each mini documentary’s timeline. But Space Explorers: The ISS Experience is well worth your time, not just because of how astonishing it feels to “be” on the ISS (even if you can’t freely explore), but also because it happily delves into the mundane.

Yes, there are interviews and so forth, and the final episode is set to contain a spacewalk. But the quieter moments are just as vital; a crew member’s sorrow over her comrades’ imminent departure is framed by an extended scene of them all dining together. And, thanks to the VR close-ups, it feels like you’re right there with them; I had the urge to grab a can of tuna as it drifted by.

Two years of footage has, naturally, been edited down but it still has an air of honesty and if you’ve the slightest interest in the ISS it’s a must-see.

Get Space Explorers via the Oculus store for free .

2. Mission: ISS

Best VR Space Experiences: image shows Mission ISS VR game

Headsets : Oculus Quest, Oculus Quest 2
Price: Free (via Oculus Store)

Ever wanted to roam around the International Space Station? Mission: ISS lets you do just that and the freedom it bestows upon you is really something. You can “cheat” and navigate the ISS using the controller’s joystick, but pushing yourself along using the various wall-mounted bars makes for a more authentic, if slightly chaotic outing.

Mission: ISS’s attention to detail is real a joy; you can’t go around just flipping switches, but chances are you’ll spend ages poring over buttons, reading labels and batting ketchup bottles about. You get to play with the ISS’s docking arm, but if you’d prefer a truly harrowing experience, spacewalking is where it’s at.

The stars are quite clearly textures but once you’re out there it still feels disquietingly real. In your head the only thing keeping you in the vicinity of the ISS is a few metal hand-grips and your SAFER pack . And this is all from a free game, with not an in-app purchase in sight; short of drifting off into the void, you really can’t go wrong.

Download Mission: ISS for Oculus Quest 2 or Oculus Rift S .

3. Spheres

Best VR Space Experiences: image shows Spheres Space VR

Headset: Oculus Rift & Oculus Quest
Price: $9.99 (via Oculus Store)

Spheres is not so much a scientifically-accurate exploration of space as it is a semi-interactive art piece. It’s split into three ten minute chunks, narrated by Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith respectively. Their presence, compared to regular voice actors, doesn’t elevate Spheres but, for the most part, the narration (and writing) comes across as sincere, only once edging into near-parody.

The voice-overs serve to set the scene, but it’s the stunning visuals and subdued but haunting soundtrack that make Spheres such a memorable meditation on the cosmos. All three chapters, Chorus of the Cosmos, Songs of Spacetime and Pale Blue Dot are excellent but Songs of Spacetime is worth the asking price alone.

Writer Eliza McNitt’s interpretation of a black hole is breathtaking enough but Spheres briefly puts you in control of this galactic sinkhole, letting you reach out to slowly devour a doomed sun. Then, just when you’ve seen the most Spheres has to offer, it takes things to a whole other level, but it wouldn’t be fair to spoil the surprise.

Buy Spheres for $9.99 on Oculus Quest 2 or Oculus Rift S .

4. Discovering Space 2

Best space VR experiences: image shows Discovering Space VR 2

Headset: Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift (Oculus Quest via air link or cable)
Price: $9.99 (via Oculus Store), $9.99 (via Steam Store)

The bad news is Discovering Space 2 , which sees you soaring around the Solar System in a sci-fi ship, sometimes resembles a theme park ride rather than a real space voyage. The good news is it feels like the kind of cutting edge computer-assisted ride you’d have to wait two years to get tickets for.

You can follow one of several guided tours, or just explore the Solar System at will. The latter is where Discovering Space 2 comes into its own because it manages to convey the vastness of the distance between planets. Yes, you can throttle up and travel at currently unattainable speeds if you want to reach Mars in minutes. But just pointing yourself at a planet and being informed it’ll take 79 days to reach is hugely sobering, as you gaze at the blackness through your cockpit.

The icing on the cake is you can fly down to each planet (there’s an optional autopilot) and while their surface textures are fairly low resolution, it’s a welcome addition. Once you get used to the fact that a few planets, the Earth in particular, don’t quite sell their size, Discovering Space 2 is a worthy exploration.

Buy Discovering Space 2 on via Oculus store or Steam .

5. SpaceEngine

Best Space VR Experiences: image shows SpaceEngine on Steam

Headset (not required): Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift (Oculus Quest via air link or cable), Windows Mixed Reality, can run without headset.
Price: $24.99 (Early Access, via Steam Store)

SpaceEngine, while still in Early Access, is a vast interactive planetarium where the sky definitely isn’t the limit. It’s an impressive experience, more so when you strap on a VR headset and find yourself surrounded by the stars. You can explore Earth’s planetary neighbours or select a distant system and, in a matter of seconds, be standing (or floating) in unfamiliar space. Half of the fun of playing SpaceEngine is clicking away at stars, not knowing what you’re going to discover when it takes you there.

It does incorporate actual astronomical data, so you can soar off to Trappist-1 or any number of known systems. Some systems and planets are procedurally generated and are labelled as such; the more you explore the uncharted regions of space, the more SpaceEngine has to give you its best guess or make something up entirely.

However, as immersive as SpaceEngine is, the VR interface is pretty clunky. For example, if you want to enter the name of a system you need to lift your visor and use the keyboard. As a work in progress, it’s well worth diving into but overhauling the VR controls should be next on the developers’ to-do list.

Buy SpaceEngine for $24.99 via Steam.

6. Universe Sandbox

Best VR Space Experience: image shows Universe Sandbox

Headsets (not required): Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift (Oculus Quest via air link or cable), Windows Mixed Reality
Price: $29.99 (via Steam Store)

Universe Sandbox is less a planetarium and more an opportunity for you to perform your own experiments on an unsuspecting system. These experiments range from the low key (if potentially prophetic) - raising Earth’s temperature a few degrees - to the malevolent – dropping the blue supergiant Rigel into the Solar System and watching everything fall apart.

However, donning a compatible VR headset takes Universe Sandbox’s stellar shenanigans to a sublime new level. Zoom into Earth and it’ll float so close you’ll swear you could grab it. Launch the Moon towards our precious planet and watch awe-struck as the annihilation unfolds before your eyes. Planetary events that are striking when viewed on a monitor become absolutely spectacular when witnessed in VR and, unlike SpaceEngine, the VR controls are entirely intuitive.

Is Universe Sandbox accurate? Creators Giant Army state they “strive to keep the results as realistic as possible”, though they admit it doesn’t take account of relativity . So we wouldn’t recommend you use it to support your dissertation, but if you’ve ever contemplated our solar system and thought “What if?”, Universe Sandbox will give you hours of planet-meddling joy.

Buy Universe Sandbox for $29.99 via Steam.

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Chris is a freelance journalist who, aside from covering games and gaming-related tech, has a taste for horror, sci-fi and the post-apocalyptic. As well as Space.com, you can find his work at The Escapist, GameSpew (where he’s the morning news writer) and more. You can follow him on Twitter @MarmaladeBus .

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VR headset deals: Meta Quest 2 and VIVE XR

W hile VR may not be as big as was predicted back in the early 2000s when the original Oculus Go was released, there is still a considerable market these days, and some great VR games like Half-Life: Alyx that you can have fun with. Of course, VR headsets remain expensive, and while options like the Meta Quest don’t necessarily require a high-end gaming PC , they can still be a bit pricey for those who just want to put a foot in the hobby. Luckily, there are some good deals you can take advantage of, even on some of the best VR headsets , so be sure to check out all your options below.

Meta Quest 2 — $199, was $200

Even though the Meta Quest 3 came out quite recently, the Meta Quest 2 is still a pretty powerful contender, especially since it has a wider library and app support than the Quest 3 currently has. Even more so, the Quest 2 is a lot cheaper than the Quest 3, and with the latest permanent discount down to just $200, that’s a whole $300 or so difference from the Quest 3. Of course, the Quest 3 does have more advanced AR and slightly better performance with software and Wi-Fi, but that may not be worth the extra cost for some. Either way, be sure to check out the breakdown between Quest 2 and Quest 3 to get a better sense of what you should pick up.

Meta Quest 2 & Hard Shell Custom Travel Case Bundle — $260, was $310

If you’re the type of person who moves around a lot and likes to share their games and gaming gear with friends, then this bundle that includes this hard-shell custom travel case is the way to go. It has a spot for all the gear, including headphones and cables, and will protect your Quest 2 pretty well. Not only that, but if you end up deciding to upgrade to the Quest 3 at some point down the line, this case also fits that, too, so you won’t have to throw it away once you upgrade.

HTC VIVE XR Elite — $1,022, was $1,100

If you’re not interested in going the Meta Quest route, the HTC VIVE XR Elite is a viable alternative, although it’s much more expensive than the other two options. It’s more comfortable, of course, given the cost, and it has some excellent AR capabilities. It also has a 1920 x 1920 resolution per eye, which is very high, while the 90Hz refresh rate is pretty good, too. Probably one of the best things about the Vive XR Elite, though, is the joysticks, which are a bit more advanced than what the Quest has, making it a much better experience when interacting with a virtual world.

More on VR deals

Just a few years ago, the biggest names in the VR headset market consisted of HTC and Oculus; however, in today’s market, we have numerous head-mount displays across various brands including HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Samsung. Even Sony has thrown its hat in the ring in the form of the PlayStation VR headset. With the increased competition in the VR hardware market, the overall quality of headsets has become more polished, and the increasing number of headset options is excellent news for both gamers and deal hunters.

Typically, some of the best deals are found on third-party retailers, including Amazon and Walmart; however, the biggest names in the market, HTC and Oculus, have special promotions available on their websites. Most notably, both companies are providing drastic price cuts on their newer products, the HTC Vive Cosmos and the Oculus Quest, and in each case they are bundling an additional item alongside the headsets.

This article may contain affiliate links that Microsoft and/or the publisher may receive a commission from if you buy a product or service through those links.

VR headset deals: Meta Quest 2 and VIVE XR

Can’t afford a $3,499 Apple Vision Pro? Meta Quest 2 is an even better alternative now

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Apple’s exciting new Vision Pro headset is now available in several regions, and most people agree that it looks amazing. Unfortunately, most people also agree that the $3,499 price tag is way too insane to even consider. Then there’s the Meta Quest 3, which isn’t nearly as impressive as Apple’s spatial computer. It’s also still pretty pricey at $499 . If you want a VR headset that’s actually affordable, you should definitely check out the Meta Quest 2 instead — especially now that Meta has permanently lowered the price.

Meta’s Quest 2 is nowhere near as advanced as Apple’s Vision Pro headset. That should go without saying, of course. Comparing a $3,499 mixed reality headset to a $199 VR headset is like comparing a Rolls Royce to a Honda Civic. Yes, they both have four wheels and two pedals, but the similarities end there.

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Apple showed off so many cool Vision Pro features during WWDC , and we’ve seen so much more since the headset was released. I haven’t tried one yet myself, but you can read BGR’s Vision Pro review to learn all about it. The mixed reality features look fantastic, and the theater mode with different environments could be so cool. The idea of watching a movie on a 100-inch screen in the middle of a realistic-looking forest is awesome.

I think the Meta Quest 2 is more my speed, and you can currently get one at the newly reduced price from Amazon or Walmart .

I have a ton of fun when I use the Meta Quest 2. It might not show people a digital rendering of my eyes when they walk by, but it does have a ton of fun games and other experiences. There’s also the little difference that it only costs $199 instead of $3,499.

But Meta’s Quest 2 is great for light VR gaming and other fun VR experiences. At $199 in brand-new condition , it’s a fantastic value.

You can see the current Renewed Premium deals down below.

This article talks about:

Maren Estrada has been the Editor of BGR Deals since it launched in 2013. She has more than 20 years of experience testing more than 1,500 products, and reviewing a wide range of consumer electronics including mobile devices, smart home products, computers, and home appliances.

Previously, she was a leading consultant specializing in copywriting, product development, and new product launches.

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COMMENTS

10 of the Best Virtual Reality Travel Experiences
We've picked out 10 of the best virtual reality travel experiences currently on the market. So which VR headset should you go for? Our favourite is the Meta Quest 3, which launched onto the market in mid-2023 and is the successor to the Meta Quest 2. For immersive games and travel experiences, we believe the Meta Quest 3 is destined to become ...
Virtual Vacation: 11 VR Apps and Films That Let You Travel the ...
Virtual Vacation: 11 VR Apps and Films That Let You Travel the World From Home | Meta Quest Blog. With Oculus Quest, you can travel pretty much anywhere you'd like without ever leaving home. Inside, you'll find 11 VR experiences for the adventurous at heart.
Top 10 Virtual Travel Experiences With a VR Headset
10. Visit out-of-this-world places with NASA. Explore our solar system and beyond with these virtual tours and experiences from NASA. Take a virtual tour of the Moon, explore Earth-sized exoplanets, view spacecraft, and walk through the laboratories, mission and operations control centers themselves, and more.
7 Great Virtual Reality Travel Experiences
theBlu ($9.99 from Wevr INC .) is a collection of virtual reality-based underwater experiences that make you feel as if you're literally in the tank of a huge aquarium exhibit. Stand on the deck of a sunken ship while a gargantuan whale swims by and looks you straight in the eye or swim in a sea of bioluminescent jellyfish.
10 Virtual Travel Apps For Oculus/Meta Quest 2
Blueplanet VR Explore. Blueplanet VR Explore is one of the most expensive travel apps, but that's in part because it is so extensive. The app allows its users to travel to 40 different cultural sites, with some offering the ability to interact with the landscape or even hang glide over it. One of the best qualities of this app is the spacial ...
VR Travel: 10 Ways To See the World From Your Living Room
New From: $16.99in Stock. Samsung Milk VR. Primarily a movie app, Milk VR also offers immersive video tours, such as Chicago, romantic Italy, New York's Times Square and many more. However, only the Gear VR version of the app works with a headset, specifically the Gear VR headset.
The Ultimate Guide to the Best VR Travel Apps on Meta Quest
Wander: Roam the Globe with Street View. Wander is one of the best VR travel apps on Meta Quest, providing users with access to Google Street View in a fully immersive environment. Traverse city streets, hike through national parks and visit historical landmarks as you explore the world at your leisure. Key features include: 360-degree panoramas.
Around the World In One Hour
Best VR 360 Videos for any VR Headset With more and more 360° VR videos being produced every day, the options to travel the world are endless. To find any of these videos, simply access the YouTube app on your headset (or on your smartphone in the case of phone-based VR headsets ), and search for wherever you want to go.
Virtual Reality Lets You Travel Anywhere—New or Old
Ceek's VR approach uses customized, branded headphones that retail for $250, and a custom VR headset that retails for $99 and includes a three-month subscription to Ceek's service.
Virtual reality travel: explore the world from anywhere
For more serious gaming, or if you're looking for totally immersive experiences, pick a more professional VR headset, such as Oculus Quest or Oculus Rift S. Bear in mind you'll also need a high-end gaming computer for the latter. the future of virtual reality travel. Virtual reality in tourism has a lot of potential.
The Best VR Headsets for 2024
HTC Vive Pro 2. Best for the Highest-Resolution VR. Jump To Details. $1,199.00 at Amazon. $1,399.00 Save $200.00. See It. *Deals are selected by our commerce team. Virtual reality is a fascinating ...
The best VR apps for travel
Littlstar. Littlstar is a VR "cinema network" hosting a variety of 360-degree photos and videos, available on the web or via its app for Android or iOS. Its aerial and travel categories ...
Virtual reality tourism ready for takeoff as travellers remain grounded
Oculus launched its Quest 2 headset in October and the most popular experiences include National Geographic VR, which takes users to places such as Antarctica - where they can navigate icebergs ...
The best VR headsets in 2024
Here's a quick overview of the best VR headsets you can buy right now based on our testing and reviews. Best overall. 1. Meta Quest 3. View at Newegg. View at Amazon. View at Best Buy. The best VR ...
BRINK XR
Step into a postcard and explore the amazing places of the world as if you were standing there in person. BRINK XR brings fully-immersive Virtual Travel Experiences of stunning real-world locations to your Phone, Tablet, or Virtual Reality device. Walk along towering mountaintops, explore ancient landmarks, and travel to the furthest reaches of the world from your home.
The best VR headsets for 2024
Fri, Apr 5, 2024, 2:00 AM. Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget. Virtual reality is interesting again. After a few years of stagnation, it's worth considering an immersive VR headset. The Meta ...
Best VR headsets 2024: Explore the cosmos
Best high-resolution VR headset. With 5K resolution support, the HTC Vive Pro 2 presents incredible VR visuals. Quite the investment as you'll need the kit and suitable gear to support it. Read ...
Best VR experiences 2023: Explore, learn, and be entertained in virtual
Star Chart VR. National Geographic Explore VR. Ocean Rift. All Kinds of Limbo XR. Universe Sandbox. Perspectives: Paradise. The Book of Distance. Within - Cinematic VR. With virtual reality well ...
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1. Space Explorers: The ISS Experience. (Image credit: OCULUS VR, LLC) Headsets: Oculus Quest, Oculus Quest 2. Price: $2.99 for each of 4 episodes (via Oculus Store) One the best VR space ...
Russia Travel Moscow City Tour
Thank you for watching my video on Moscow Russia! This was my first time to Moscow. After all my travels, I finally made it to Moscow Russia and couldn't bel...
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Buy Now. More on VR deals. Just a few years ago, the biggest names in the VR headset market consisted of HTC and Oculus; however, in today's market, we have numerous head-mount displays across ...
[4K] Walking Streets Moscow. Moscow-City
Walking tour around Moscow-City.Thanks for watching!MY GEAR THAT I USEMinimalist Handheld SetupiPhone 11 128GB https://amzn.to/3zfqbboMic for Street https://...
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Comparing a $3,499 mixed reality headset to a $199 VR headset is like comparing a Rolls Royce to a Honda Civic. ... 4 wacky travel shows to watch after Conan O'Brien Must Go. Entertainment ...
City. Moscow 2.
Architecture, Places & travel Architecture, Places & travel - City. Moscow 2. - Download Free 3D model by Nikitos & 3130 (@vrcityphoto) Explore ... with a VR headset. Learn more on the immersive web; On Chrome, follow the instructions here; Open this model; Click on the VR icon; More info on Virtual Reality. 0%. Loading 3D model.
Walking Tour: Central Moscow from the Arbat to the Kremlin
This tour of Moscow's center takes you from one of Moscow's oldest streets to its newest park through both real and fictional history, hitting the Kremlin, some illustrious shopping centers, architectural curiosities, and some of the city's finest snacks. Start on the Arbat, Moscow's mile-long pedestrianized shopping and eating artery ...

10 of the Best Virtual Reality Travel Experiences

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Top 10 Virtual Travel Experiences with the HP Reverb G2 VR

1. Virtually visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites

2. Take in online exhibits

3. Partake in cross-cultural virtual experiences steeped in literary and art history

4. Join in virtual castle tours in the UK

5. Take virtual tours of national parks

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7. Take a virtual cooking class

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Virtual reality travel: explore the world from anywhere

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