ancient world virtual tours

Virtual Field Trips: Ancient & Natural World Wonders

Originally published in TEACH Magazine, May/June 2021 Issue

The Earth is full of incredible wonders—both man-made and natural—that normally wouldn’t be visited on a class trip. But as virtual field trips continue to increase in popularity, suddenly such faraway places seem a lot closer. Check out these 10 suggested virtual field trips to take students on a journey beyond their wildest dreams.

Ancient Wonders

These tours of iconic UNESCO World Heritage Sites are guaranteed to excite and engage students by sending them back in time to past civilizations and ancient worlds.

1. Machu Picchu (Peru)

This ancient Inca citadel was built in the 15 th century and is located atop a mountain ridge in the Andes. In 2007 it was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World through an online poll.

2.  Stonehenge (England)

A prehistoric, circular stone monument that sits in an open field. Its history and meaning remain one of the world’s greatest enigmas. ( HistoryView and Great Big Story’s Uncharted video series also offer plenty of insights into the architectural marvels of the world.)

3. The Great Pyramid of Giza (Egypt)

The oldest and largest of the pyramids in Giza, it was the tallest man-made structure in the world for nearly 4,000 years. It’s also the only wonder of the ancient world to still exist.

4. Petra (Jordan)

Often referred to as the “Lost City,” Petra is an ancient city that was carved into rock. In its heyday around the 1st century, Petra was a major trading hub that was inhabited by around 30,000 Nabataeans (an ancient Arab people). It was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. (For more virtual tours of cultural and historic sites, take a look at other Treks from Google.)

5. Angkor Wat (Cambodia)

The largest religious structure in the world (by land area). When it was built in the 12th century, Angkor Wat was originally dedicated to Vishnu, the Hindu god, but was later converted to a Buddhist temple. Today it is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists in Southeast Asia. (Be sure to use the website’s Teaching Modules , designed to immerse students in the city of Angkor at its height during the 13 th century.)

Natural Wonders

Nothing is more wondrous, or mysterious, than nature itself. Our planet is full of countless natural wonders—from the breathtaking aurora borealis to the majestic Grand Canyon to the letters of the English alphabet written across different landforms around Earth. With so many wonders to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start. These field trips take students to some of the most incredible landmarks the world has to offer.

1. Everglades National Park (United States)

This UNESCO World Heritage Site is also the largest tropical wilderness in the U.S. with over 1.5 million acres of wetland. (Take advantage of the website’s lesson plans and activities , designed for use both in the classroom and in the park.)

2. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (China)

Zhangjiajie was recognized as China’s first national park in 1982, and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site ten years later. The park contains unique vertical rock pillars, which inspired scenery in the movie Avatar . (Check out the corresponding gallery from AirPano that shows other 360° photos and videos of the park.)

3. Sơn Đoòng Cave  (Vietnam)

The world’s largest natural cave (by volume) which also contains the tallest known stalagmites on Earth. Discovered only in 1991, the cave is believed to be around 2-5 million years old and has a subterranean river that flows through it. Sơn Đoòng cave has only been open to tourists since 2013, but is a fast-emerging travel destination in Vietnam.

4. Ulu r u-Kata Tju t a National Park (Australia)

This national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to Ulu ṟ —an enormous sandstone monolith—and Kata Tju ṯ a, a group of large rock formations. The traditional owners of Ulu ṟ u-Kata Tju ṯ a are the Ana ṉ gu Indigenous people. To the Anaṉgu, Kata Tjuṯa (meaning “many heads”) is a sacred place that is both powerful and dangerous. Uluṟ has become known as both Australia’s most natural icon, and as a symbol for the acknowledgement Australia’s Indigenous culture.

5. The Great Barrier Reef (Australia)

The world’s largest coral reef system, the Great Barrier Reef can actually be seen from space. It is made up of nearly 3,000 reefs and over 900 islands, and is also the biggest single structure on Earth that has been made by living organisms. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, and is considered one of the seven wonders of the natural world.

(Want to learn even more about coral reefs? Give this virtual tour of the Bahamian Coral Reef a try! It even comes with a Teacher’s Guide and plenty of educational resources . The Nature Conservancy also offers two virtual field trips that focus on corals: The Secret Life of Corals and The Coral Reefs of Palau. Find them, and several other nature-centred virtual trips, here .)

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10 Virtual History Museums and Experiences to Explore From Home

By: Missy Sullivan

Updated: June 1, 2023 | Original: March 26, 2020

The need for social distancing may have forced museums and historic sites around the world to close their doors for now, but many have made their spaces, exhibits and collections available to anyone with a digital device and a decent web connection. Some offer 360-degree tours, like the one that takes you into every nook and cranny of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. Others present virtual exhibits or browsable online archives, such as the dozens on Google Arts & Culture’s site, where partner museums share treasures like the Rosetta Stone and ancient Egyptian artifacts ( The British Museum , London)...iconic 20th century photos (the LIFE Magazine archive)...or troves of sports history (the Olympic Museum , Lausanne, Switzerland). Here are 10 standout virtual history sites worth exploring:

Xi'an Warriors

It was one of the most stunning archaeological finds of the 20th century. In 1974, farmers digging a well stumbled across a life-sized clay figure that, government archaeologists later discovered, belonged to a vast army of terra cotta soldiers created to protect China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, in the afterlife. The massive mausoleum, created around 210 B.C., houses some 8,000 warriors, along with hundreds of chariots and horses—all arranged in battle formation. In 2017, a Chinese company, inspired by Google Street View, created an awe-inspiring virtual experience that lets visitors swoop down into the tomb and “walk” among the soldiers, viewing their unique facial expressions and traces of their original colorful paint at close range. You don’t need to read Chinese to appreciate the enormity of it all.

Click  HERE for the experience.

READ MORE: 5 Things You May Not Know About the Terra Cotta Army

Smithsonian Museum of American History

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History bills itself as the greatest single collection of U.S. history in the world, home to more than 1.8 million objects that each, in some fundamental way, defines the American experience. The museum offers about 100 online exhibits from its encyclopedic collections, each with a mix of photos, video, graphics and text on topics ranging from the life of Abe Lincoln (yep, they’ve got the stovepipe hat) to the development of the first artificial heart to the evolution of voting machines and even an array of vintage lunch boxes. 

READ MORE: 9 of the Most Collectible School Lunch Boxes, 1935 to Now

The Museum of Flight

War planes. Spy planes. Spacecraft. Gliders. Kit planes. Eccentric contraptions. This sprawling museum, adjacent to the Boeing complex south of Seattle, Washington, is considered one of the world’s largest and best air and space museums, with more than 150 aircraft, 25,000-plus aviation-related artifacts and a huge array of exhibits that collectively chronicle man's quest to take to the skies. Flight geeks could easily get lost in its vast searchable and browsable database of those collections while 360-degree tours let you step inside a dozen iconic aircraft—including the Boeing 747, the Concorde and the museum’s full-scale model of the space shuttle orbiter used for training astronauts.

Click HERE for the experience.

READ MORE: Who Was the First President to Fly on Air Force One?

National Women's History Museum

Come for the deep well of biographies and digital classroom resources , stay for the wide array of virtual exhibits , many of which are enabled by Google Arts & Culture. For two decades, the National Women’s History Museum has been the largest online cultural institution telling the stories of women who helped transform the U.S. Heavy with slide shows and graphics, the virtual exhibits document women making waves in politics, sports, civil rights, science and technology and more. Check out its collection of oral histories from the American Rosie Movement, relaying women's contributions to the nation’s defense production.

READ MORE: Women’s History Milestones: A Timeline

Anne Frank House

Anne Frank ’s diary, chronicling her life in hiding during World War II, remains one of the most powerful testimonies to the horrors of the Holocaust. If a trip to Amsterdam to visit the Anne Frank House isn’t in the cards, AnneFrank.org offers the next best thing. In addition to tons of informative content about the teen, her diary and the war, there are bells and whistles galore: an interactive timeline, videos about her life, a 360-degree tour of the house, a virtual reality tour of the secret annex where she and her family hid for 761 days, and a companion exhibit on Google Arts & Culture.

READ MORE: How Anne Frank’s Private Diary Became an International Sensation

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

FDR , America’s only four-term president , presided over the nation during two of its most trying ordeals: the Great Depression and World War II . This online experience walks users room by room through the exhibits in his extensive presidential library and museum in Hyde Park, New York, drawing together a wealth of original documents, artifacts, videos, 360-degree tours and more. Together, they illustrate everything from FDR’s little-known assassination attempt to his New Deal policies and wartime decisions to Eleanor ’s significant role. It’s easy to lose track of time clicking through all the fascinating letters, whether it’s from a constituent exhorting him to “discontinue being a smiling, wasteful and fickle prima donna politician” to one from Albert Einstein strenuously detailing his objections to the atomic bomb.

READ MORE: How FDR Became the First—and Only—President to Serve Four Terms

Calling all space geeks: Report to the NASA site for ultimate fun in the final frontier. Get the full scoop on all the key NASA programs past and present, from the Hubble Telescope to the Mars Rover to the upcoming Parker Solar Probe. Check out the History hub to dive deep into photos, videos and articles about all their historic missions. Enjoy a motherlode of space images with the cache of ultra-high-def videos taken from various missions—like the virtual tour of the moon in 4K, enabled by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Spacecraft. For astronaut wannabes, virtual tours abound of NASA’s various research and training facilities—putting users right inside a supersonic wind tunnel, a zero-gravity lab, flight simulators, a space environments complex and much more.

READ MORE: The Space Race

American Battlefield Trust Virtual Battlefield Tours

Most on-site battlefield tours require a leap of imagination: the ability to walk around a perfectly peaceful open field and overlay a mental movie of smoke and combat and fallen warriors, all the while considering the military strategy and broader political stakes. ABT’s website may not offer the sunshine on your back, but it marries the setting, action and context far more seamlessly, with its 360-degree virtual tours of more than 20 American Revolution and Civil War battlefields. In the Gettysburg tour alone, there are 15 different stops—no walking required—each of which features clickable icons with granular detail about all the whos, whats and whys. And when you’re done touring, be sure to explore the site’s other robust resources, from battle summaries to generals’ biographies.

READ MORE: 7 Important Civil War Battles

National Museum of African American History and Culture

While there are plenty of current and past exhibits to explore online here, the real draw is the collections. In the site’s Collections Stories area, museum staff members share objects that resonate for them historically or culturally, whether it’s Muhammad Ali’s training gear...the dress Carlotta Walls, one of the so-called Little Rock Nine , wore when she walked the gauntlet of angry mobs on her first day integrating Little Rock Central High School ...or shards of stained glass from the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four little girls. And if you’ve got lots of time to explore, browse the museum’s vast open-source collections, brimming with letters, documents, photos and artifacts. They convey the wide-ranging African American experience—from a slave ship manifest to a poster of Sidney Poitier’s film To Sir, With Love . 

READ MORE: One of the Last Slave Ship Survivors Describes His Ordeal in a 1930s Interview

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. presents powerful online exhibits brimming with resources such as videos, timelines, glossaries and image galleries rich with potent original artifacts. Themes include Collaboration & Complicity, Nazi Propaganda, Americans and the Holocaust, Racial Health Policies and more. Elsewhere on the museum’s site: a deep archive of survivor interviews , moving artifacts like a gallery of 600 ID cards of Holocaust victims and a place to browse the museum’s huge, sobering collections.

READ MORE: American Response to the Holocaust

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The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

About this tour.

Visit the sites of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as described by Herodotus, come across many noteworthy cities along the way.

This is a tour of 11,902 nm (22,042 km) divided into twelve legs.

To complete this tour, you will need to fly at least one route of each of the legs listed below.

You will need to fly all legs of this tours between 1 Jan 1900 00:01 and 31 Dec 2024 23:59 . Your last leg should have been submitted no later than 31 December 2024 23:59:00 UTC .

Leg 1: HECA-LGAV

Start near the Great Pyramid of Gisa, the only Ancient wonder still in existence.

This is a leg of 599 nm (1,109 km) from Cairo International Airport (CAI/HECA) (Hub) to Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (ATH/LGAV) (Hub) .

Eligible routes

Choose any one of the routes below.

Leg 2: LGAV-LGRP

View the site of the Colossus of Rhodes.

This is a leg of 219 nm (405 km) from Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (ATH/LGAV) (Hub) to Diagoras Airport (RHO/LGRP) .

Leg 3: LGRP-LGTS

Visit the site of the Statue of Zeus.

This is a leg of 345 nm (639 km) from Diagoras Airport (RHO/LGRP) to Thessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (SKG/LGTS) (Hub) .

Leg 4: LGTS-LGKL

This is a leg of 212 nm (393 km) from Thessaloniki Macedonia International Airport (SKG/LGTS) (Hub) to Kalamata Airport (KLX/LGKL) .

Leg 5: LGKL-EDDM

This is a leg of 814 nm (1,507 km) from Kalamata Airport (KLX/LGKL) to Munich International Airport (MUC/EDDM) (Hub) .

Leg 6: EDDM-LTFM

This is a leg of 837 nm (1,550 km) from Munich International Airport (MUC/EDDM) (Hub) to Istanbul Airport (IST/LTFM) (Hub) .

Leg 7: LTFM-ORNI

Visit the site where the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built.

This is a leg of 937 nm (1,735 km) from Istanbul Airport (IST/LTFM) (Hub) to Al Najaf International Airport (NJF/ORNI) .

Leg 8: ORNI-VIDP

This is a leg of 1,704 nm (3,155 km) from Al Najaf International Airport (NJF/ORNI) to Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL/VIDP) (Hub) .

Leg 9: VIDP-LSZH

This is a leg of 3,323 nm (6,155 km) from Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL/VIDP) (Hub) to Zürich Airport (ZRH/LSZH) (Hub) .

Leg 10: LSZH-LTBJ

Visit the site where the Temple of Artemis and the Halcarnassus once stood.

This is a leg of 984 nm (1,822 km) from Zürich Airport (ZRH/LSZH) (Hub) to Adnan Menderes International Airport (ADB/LTBJ) (Hub) .

Leg 11: LTBJ-OEJN

This is a leg of 1,175 nm (2,177 km) from Adnan Menderes International Airport (ADB/LTBJ) (Hub) to King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED/OEJN) .

Leg 12: OEJN-HEBA

End the journey at the site of the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria.

This is a leg of 753 nm (1,395 km) from King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED/OEJN) to Borg El Arab International Airport (HBE/HEBA) .

Archaeology

🌆 Constantinople: Turkey’s Timeless Gem 🇹🇷

Explore the captivating history and vibrant culture of Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, a city that embodies Turkey’s rich heritage. With its iconic landmarks, cultural fusion, and geographical significance, Istanbul stands as a testament to centuries of evolution. Dive into its historical tapestry and modern allure through virtual exploration.

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Exploring the Timeless Epic: Homer’s Odyssey

Embarking on Homer’s Odyssey, readers traverse seas of myth and human triumph. The epic tale of Odysseus, navigating perilous waters and confronting mythical beings, mirrors our own journey through life’s trials. It’s a testament to resilience and the unyielding human spirit. Join the odyssey, explore its wisdom, and discover echoes of timeless adventure.

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Exploring Petra and the Wonders of Jordan: A Journey through History and Natural Beauty in 3 points

Nestled in the heart of the Middle East, Jordan is a country that boasts a rich tapestry of history, culture, and natural wonders. From the ancient rose-red city of Petra to the mesmerizing landscapes of the Wadi Rum desert, Jordan offers travelers an unforgettable experience. In this article, we will embark on a journey to discover the wonders of Jordan, with a special focus on the awe-inspiring Petra.

Exploring Petra and the Wonders of Jordan: A Journey through History and Natural Beauty in 3 points Read More »

Egyptian Obelisks Around the World: Guardians of Ancient Wisdom

Egyptian obelisks, tall, slender, four-sided monoliths, have their origins rooted in ancient Egyptian culture. These monumental structures were erected as symbols of divine power and were often placed in pairs at the entrances of temples or to commemorate significant events, especially during the New Kingdom period (1550–1070 BCE). The iconic shape of obelisks is thought to represent rays of the sun, connecting them to the worship of sun gods like Ra.

Egyptian Obelisks Around the World: Guardians of Ancient Wisdom Read More »

Ramses the Great: The Colossus of Ancient Egypt

Ramses II, often referred to as Ramses the Great, reigned over Egypt for an astonishing 66 years, from 1279 to 1213 BCE. He is celebrated not only for his exceptional leadership and military prowess but also for his impressive architectural endeavors that have endured for millennia.

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World Virtual Tours is proud to present “the FREE Academy Project”, the first place in the world to follow Academic Level insights on History, Art, Archaeology. Totally free!

World Virtual Tours is proud to present “the FREE Academy Project”, the first place in the world to follow Academic Level insights on History, Art, Archaeology. Totally free! Read More »

5 Experiences to do in Egypt you CAN’T miss

From exploring ancient pyramids to cruising down the Nile River, Egypt offers a wealth of unforgettable experiences. Discover 5 Experiences to do in Egypt

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Halloween vs Day of the Dead

Halloween History Halloween originates from an ancient Gaelic celebration known as Samhain, the first day of November, celebrated by the ancient Celts as a festival marking the beginning of winter. Halloween is celebrated on October 31st (All Hallows Eve) the evening before All Saints Day on November 1st. Bad spirits

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The Ancient Civilizations of the Americas

In the past, the ancient civilizations of the Americas were among the most advanced on Earth.

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Tutankhamun fashion style

Tutankhamun fashion style. The sandals of the young pharaoh.

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Around the world with wmf, join us for a series of virtual tours of some of our most iconic sites around the globe..

Heritage from Home takes viewers behind the scenes of extraordinary heritage sites where World Monuments Fund (WMF) has worked since 1965. Be the first to learn about new tours by signing up for our newsletter: 

WMF members also have special access to members-only live virtual screenings and post-video discussions with WMF staff and guests. Not a member? Learn more and join today. 

Upcoming Tours

Osmania University College for Women, India

Virtual Tour

Osmania University College for Women , the first institute of higher education for women in what is now the state of Telengana, was not always a college; it was once an official British Residence and one of the earliest examples of the classical revival style in India. Join WMF India Executive Director Amita Baig as she explores the site’s stunning design and the story behind its restoration.

Bears Ears National Monument, USA

The cultural and archaeological resources of Bears Ears National Monument , located in modern-day southeastern Utah, include thousands of ancient cliff dwellings, community centers, works of rock imagery, and traditional items. In this tour, led by WMF Regional Director for North America Ann Cuss, explore this sacred site and learn about the political, social, and practical challenges to its preservation.

Cerro Sechín, Peru

Thursday, September 14, 2023 Virtual Tour

Among the earliest known ornamented sites in the Americas, Cerro Sechín once served as the ceremonial center for one of the oldest coastal Andean civilizations in Peru. In this tour, WMF Project Conservation Leader Ingrid García will introduce you to our work to preserve Cerro Sechín’s dramatic carved stones, which date back thousands of years and contain vivid imagery of ritual combat and human sacrifice. 

Ishtar Gate, Iraq

Thursday, September 15, 2022 Virtual Tour

The ancient city of Babylon, once the capital of a vast, sophisticated empire, today represents one of the most important archaeological sites in the world. Program Director Jeff Allen will lead viewers through the city to uncover the hidden secrets of the ancient world and go behind the scenes of one of its most iconic sites: the  Ishtar Gate .

Koutammakou, Benin and Togo

Thursday, August 25, 2022 Virtual Tour

Traditional Batammariba settlements are composed of clusters of earthen structures, known as sikien , that are both functional dwellings and vibrant expressions of cultural identity. This tour through the cultural landscape of  Koutammakou  will showcase the incredible traditional building knowledge of the Batammariba people and the unparalleled importance of ensuring its transmission from one generation to another.

Bunce Island, Sierra Leone

Thursday, July 28, 2022 Virtual Tour

Between the late 1600s and 1807, Bunce Island ’s fortified British trading post and ancillary buildings served as an international center for the trade and transport of enslaved Africans. Taking viewers behind-the-scenes at the site and exploring its unique historical and social significance, Project Manager Isatu Smith will consider the question of how our built environment bears witness to the difficult truths of the past and the present.

Traditional Houses of Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Thursday, June 30, 2022 Virtual Tour

Home to an isolated part of the Jewish Diaspora for over two millennia, the Uzbek city of Bukhara is characterized by its traditional houses  embellished with exceptional woodworking developed by Bukharian Jews over centuries. With a focus on the historical and cultural significance of Bukhara’s old Jewish mahallah , or neighborhood, this tour will introduce the beautiful aesthetic of these buildings and some of the challenges that threaten their continued existence.

Babylon Iraq

Thursday, December 9, 2021 Virtual Tour

Babylon , once the capital of a vast empire, is today one of the most important archaeological sites in the world. After thousands of years, Babylon's remains continue to yield insight into Babylonia's complex past. Join WMF Regional Director Jeff Allen on a virtual journey to uncover the secrets of the ancient world. With a visit to the elegant Ishtar Gate and the popular Lion of Babylon, discover the threats to Babylon’s heritage and learn about WMF’s 12-year project to address them.

La Garma, Spain

Thursday, October 28, 2021 Virtual Tour

The cave of La Garma hides an extraordinarily well-preserved collection of rock art and archaeological remains which serves as evidence of human activity spanning over 300,000 years. Plunge into the depths of the earth in Cantabria to explore the cave's unique ecosystem with Pablo Longoria, Executive Director of WMF Spain, and learn about how La Garma is challenging conservators to find innovative ways to preserve its remarkable archaeological wealth.

Alhambra, Spain

Thursday, September 23, 2021 Virtual Tour

Make your way to the top of one of Granada’s most well-known hills, where the characteristic rich ornamentation of the  Alhambra will take your breath away. The pride and jewel of Andalusia, the Alhambra is the most important surviving remnant of the period of Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula. Follow Pablo Longoria, Executive Director of WMF Spain, as he introduces you to WMF's work to address the unique conservation conundrums of this thirteenth-century palace and fortress.

The Qianlong Garden, China

Thursday, August 26, 2021 Virtual Tour

Across its four courtyards and 27 pavilions and structures, the centuries-old Qianlong Garden boasts flawlessly preserved spaces and interiors straight from Imperial China. Join us for a virtual visit of the site’s extravagant decors, delving into the history and complexity of Qianlong Garden’s pavilions and outlining WMF’s nineteen-year effort to preserve them. 

Castle Howard, Strawberry Hill and Stowe House, UK

Thursday, June 24, 2021 Virtual Tour

From the Georgian ducal palace of Stowe House and the baroque Castle Howard to the world’s first Gothic revival building, Strawberry Hill , this tour will take you in the footsteps of some of the United Kingdom's greatest architects, pioneer landscape designers, and intriguing personalities. Follow WMF Britain Executive Director John Darlington as you visit historic estates along the English countryside and discover WMF's projects there. 

Erbil Citadel, Iraq

Thursday, May 27, 2021 Virtual Tour

Over 6,000 years old,  Erbil Citadel is considered one of the longest continuously inhabited sites on Earth. Near the site of Alexander the Great's famed victory in 331 BCE over Persian king Darius III, Erbil Citadel is an impressive architectural feat located on an archaeological tell rising around 98 ft (30 m) above the surrounding plains. Join WMF Regional Director Alessandra Peruzzetto as she introduces you to this ancient wonder and ongoing efforts to recover its economy and vibrant cultural life.

Chankillo, Peru

Thursday, March 25, 2021 Virtual Tour

This ancient observatory and its thirteen towers once allowed its inhabitants to determine the date with an accuracy of two or three days. Built over 2,300 years ago in the coastal desert of Peru, Chankillo is truly a wonder of the world. Under the guidance of WMF Peru Vice President Martha Zegarra and Chankillo Program Director Dr. Iván Ghezzi, listen to what Chankillo can tell us about life in ancient South America and learn about the challenges the site faces today. 

Mughal Gardens of Agra

Wander along the banks of the Yamuna River in Agra, India, and discover lush gardens surrounding graceful pavilions reminiscent of the legendary Taj Mahal. With an analysis of the surrounding urban context and an overview of the gardens’ potential for community development, Executive Director of WMF India Amita Baig will guide you through WMF’s five-year project to ensure the preservation of the Mughal Gardens of Agra goes hand in hand with a wider strategy for urban planning and social equity.

Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia

Friday, February 26, 2021 Virtual Tour

One of the most iconic and inspiring archaeological sites in the world, Angkor Archaeological Park is characterized by its stunning Hindu and Buddhist temple complexes, some still hidden under the overgrown vegetation of a creeping jungle. In an in-depth virtual tour, explore Angkor’s grandiose temples under the expert guidance of Dr. Ginevra Boatto, Representative for Southeast Asia, and dive deep into WMF’s three-decade long project there.

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Greece Gallery Tour

Discover almost 1,000 years of Greek history, from the 8 th century BCE to the 1 st century CE. This tour looks at burial goods, pottery, coins, and marble sculptures to address themes such as representations of women, burial practices, and the intersections of archaeology, myths, and literature. Learn about the ancient Olympic Games, Greek social practices, and the development of coinage.

Mediterranean Galleries Tour Introduction

The Penn Museum’s Mediterranean section has more than 30,000 objects ranging from the Early Bronze Age, around 5,000 years ago, to 19th century reproductions of ancient Roman artifacts from Pompeii.

People in the ancient world were often buried with objects that exemplified their lives and cultural values. Archaeologists can learn about ancient people by studying their burial assemblages.

Greek Coins

The first coins appeared in the Mediterranean more than 2,500 years ago but evolved from much earlier methods of bartering. The ancient Greeks marked their coins with gods and animals that represented their city-states.

Birth of Athena

The Greeks painted well-known mythological scenes on their ceramic vases. Much like movie posters, these stories are represented with a single scene and are recognizable to those who know the myth.

The ancient symposium, or drinking party, was an important part of life for upper-class Greek men. We can use images of the symposium and the sympotic vessels themselves to reconstruct many elements of this social event.

Greek Athletics

The first Olympic games are said to have taken place in 776 BCE at the site of Olympia, but athletics took place all year long and all around the Greek world.

Grave Markers

Like today, the ancient Greeks often marked the graves of their deceased loved ones with elaborately carved marble headstones.

Birth of Venus

Images of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, were found all over the ancient world. These images still influence artistic representations of women today.

The Greek playwright Menander wrote more than 100 comedic plays in his lifetime. He was so well-loved that a statue of him was erected in the Theater of Dionysus in Athens and was copied many times over hundreds of years.

Book a live Q&A session with a Graduate Guide and allow your family, group, or class to participate in a deeper discussion with one of our experts!

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15 Best INTERACTIVE Virtual Tours of HISTORIC SITES

Eager to explore the world? So am I! I started going on a bunch of virtual tours of famous places and loved them so much that I thought I’d share my favorites with you. Here are the 15 BEST virtual tours of historic sites around the world. ALL are interactive 360 videos or photos. These top tourist destinations will wow you! 

This post is part of a best-of series of virtual tours. Find more incredible  virtual tours , including national parks and waterfalls around the world, wildlife encounters, awesome cities, and crazy adventure travel. 

Historic sites make for the best museums and the best storytellers, hey? By simply standing in a room or overlooking the ruins of days past, you’re immediately transported to another time. Another person’s experiences. And these interactive virtual tours take you right there … past the throngs of tourists and face to face with history. I hope you find these virtual tours of historic sites as inspiring as I do!

Now, if you don’t see the historic site virtual tour you’re looking for, continue to the Summary and Resources section at the bottom. There you’ll find links to more virtual tours of historic sites and other amazing tourist destinations. 

As you read through this list, start creating your travel bucket list … you’ll feel very productive getting all that drooling down in ONE place.

Or, go ahead and plan your next trip . (Or a few … I have!)

This is my list of the best virtual tours of historic sites out there. Enjoy!

1. Xian Warriors Historic Site Virtual Tour (China)

Oh. My. Goodness. Let’s start this list of the BEST virtual tours of historic sites with one incredible famous place.

Even in Chinese, this Xian Warriors virtual tour is AMAZING. Jump down from the tourist walkways to “walk” among the 8,000 some warriors and hundreds of chariots and horses, all in battle position. Zoom in to see traces of colorful paint on their unique expressions. Pan around to the rock and ponder what lies beyond.

This massive mausoleum was created around 210 B.C. All of this was to protect China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, in the afterlife. WOW. 

2. Great Wall of China Virtual Tour (China)

Here’s another top tourist destination in China. Given how famous the Great Wall of China is, it isn’t surprising that you can find a few virtual tours. AirPano’s Great Wall of China virtual tour is my favorite. 

Start at Dragon’s Head and click on the informational markers to learn more about this famous place. Move up the incredible climb at Sky Stairs. Enjoy incredible aerial views of destroyed towers and pan around to the great mountain ranges surrounding you. And “look” down to the incredible, ancient wall ruins beneath your feet. 

Want  more  of China? Explore The Forbidden City and Hong Kong in virtual tours of cities , and the Avatar mountains in virtual tours of national parks !

3. Angkor Wat Historic Site Virtual Tour (Cambodia)

Cambodia’s Angkor Wat complex is incredible . It’s one of my happy places, and was a must for this list of best virtual tours of historic sites.

The Angkor Wat virtual tour from Google Maps Street View is pretty great. Explore a number of the Angkor Wat temples and learn a bit about them through the information icons. There’s a bit of a glitch when I try to zoom in with my mouse, but the +/- buttons work.

If you’d prefer a video tour of Angkor Wat, check out this 360 video virtual tour from VR Gorilla. They walk you through a few of the temples, take you on a boat tour past floating villages, and then give you a taste of Siem Reap’s night life.

Interested in Cambodia? Check out my related articles:

• Experiencing Cambodia’s Genocide Sites
• Donating Blood in Cambodia  
• 5 Trusted Charities in SE Asia Every Tourist Should Visit

4. The White House Virtual Tour (United States)

Okay. Let’s jump aaaall the way across the Pacific Ocean to the most famous home in the world: the White House. Google Maps takes us inside this top tourist destination with the White House virtual tour . Sadly, it only includes the public rooms on the main floor. I was really curious about the stairs heading down, but no luck. This virtual tour is pretty basic, but the location is pretty cool to make the list of best virtual tours of historic sites.

Don’t think this is cool enough? How about 360-degree videos of Washington DC’s top tourist destinations ? Open these up in your YouTube app and have fun!

You may also like Hotels for Romantic Getaways in USA

Interested in getting a CHEAP VR headset? Check out Google Cardboard!

5. Anne Frank’s House Virtual Tour (Netherlands)

Now we’ll jump again … over the Atlantic Ocean for virtual tours of historic sites in EUROPE.

And my goodness, this historic site virtual tour is such a treasure. The Anne Frank House virtual tour takes you into the house to see what their lives looked like before and during the Second World War. Climb up to the bookshelf that disguises the Secret Annex. This is where the young girl lived for more than two years, before being discovered. She was sent to the concentration camp, where she died.

Wander through the Anne Frank House virtual tour online. Or, download the free virtual reality app for a more intimate virtual tour of this historic site.

6. Palace of Versailles Virtual Tour (France)

WOW. The Palace of Versailles is certainly among the most grand palaces in the world. And now Google Arts and Culture takes you on a Palace of Versailles virtual tour ! Stroll along the stunning Hall of Mirrors tucked in between the War Room and Peace Room (use the Street View in the link above to enter the side rooms). Don’t forget to look UP!

Then check out the Royal Opera and wander through the gardens. Videos help round out this incredible historic site virtual tour. 

7. Prague Castle Virtual Tour (Czech Republic)

The Prague Castle virtual tour takes you up the hill overlooking the most beautiful city in the world. There are lots of 360-degree images to fall in love with, making this one of the best virtual tours of historic sites!

Explore the gardens and courtyards. Pan up to the buildings towering all around you and zoom in for more detail. Make yourself dizzy spinning in circles under St Vitus Cathedral’s stained glass windows or the Old Royal Palace ceiling. Enjoy the views from the East Gate and Southern Gardens. It’s too bad they didn’t include the view from the steps near Hradcany Square.

Even wandering through the Prague Castle virtual tour leaves me turned around. This is one of the things I really didn’t like when visiting Prague . If you’re planning a real-life visit to this famous place, study the map!

8. Vatican Museum Virtual Tour (Italy)

Have you dreamed of seeing the Vatican’s stunning rooms for yourself? The Vatican Museum virtual tour takes you through Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s Rooms, along with other incredible halls and museums. When I took a tour of this famous place in person, I fell in love with Raphael’s Rooms. Can you find him watching you wherever you stand? He’s in all of his rooms. (Like a much more sophisticated Where’s Waldo!)

Just standing on the doorstep looking into the Sistine Chapel is spectacular. Pan up, spin around and zoom in for a closer look of everything that intrigues you. It’ll be a LOT! The only negative to having it all to yourself? No audio, at least what I could find.

Note: The Vatican Museum virtual tour is compatible with WebVR. So put on a virtual reality headset for an even more epic historic site virtual tour! 

9. Roman Colosseum Virtual Tour (Italy)

One of the most stunning architectural feats of its time, and one of the most gut-wrenching historical sites to visit in person. In nearly 400 years of providing “entertainment,” it’s estimated that nearly 400,000 people died here. Plus almost 1 million animals.

Courtesy of Google Maps, the Roman Colosseum virtual tour takes you inside this top tourist destination. Although you can’t sit on the crumbling steps and absorb the heavy atmosphere, you can “walk” around the public areas and imagine what it would’ve been like. Thundering with cheers and chants of the crowd, lion roars and screams cut short. 

A list of best virtual tours of historic sites wouldn’t be complete without the Roman Colosseum.

Want more of Italy? Check out inspiring virtual tours of cities ! Naples, Pompeii … Old Town Taormina in Messina. WOW.

10. Acropolis Virtual Tour (Greece)

Now how about a trek out to Greece? The Acropolis virtual tour takes you up the ancient steps to this historic site overlooking Athens. Not all images give you 360-degree views and some of my favorite real-life views are missing, but it’s still the Acropolis. And there are detailed descriptions with each image … in English, yay! You also get to see it lit up at night.

My favorite real-life and virtual view from this historic site is looking back over your shoulder as you climb up. Can you find Mars Hill? Step carefully on the uneven paths, especially as you near the East Facade of the Parthenon. And take a deep breath as you gaze out over Athens from the Parthenon Through Time spot (near the West Facade).

But I must confess that I found the Acropolis virtual tour a bit frustrating to navigate. Instead of finding a “next” button, I kept going back to the map. But, the detailed descriptions and zooming function still make it fun, and one of the best virtual tours of historic sites you should check out.

11. Holy Land Historic Sites Virtual Tour (Israel/Palestine)

The Holy Land virtual tour takes you through a long list of 45 amazing historic sites. With so many famous places, I found it a little overwhelming. But if you know where you want to go, choose from the drop-down menu (top center) or images (top left).

The Holy Land virtual tour of historic sites is SO insightful. Bright, colorful churches. Lovely architecture. Vivid colors of the River Jordan. I was surprised by how tall the wailing wall is. You can almost imagine walking those sandy stone paths and running your hand along the stone walls. And feeling the Dead Sea mud squishing through your toes! 

12. Petra Virtual Tour (Jordan)

Ahhh … yes!! You HAVE to check out the Petra virtual tour from Google Maps. Definitely one of the BEST virtual tours of historic sites out there. 

Start your Petra virtual tour at the gateway, and wander all the way into the famous monastery at the end. Google’s Street View gives you an audio tour, ambient sounds of the area, and informational icons to learn more. Pan around and move along the path’s arrows (but you can’t zoom in). Climb up the sandy rock steps, gaze down at the desert canyon below and wander in and out of ancient temples.

My only complaint is that I can’t figure out how to stand back from the monastery for that classic photo op. Or find a camel. Can you?

13. Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb Virtual Tour (Egypt)

Okay, this site is very cool. Check out the Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb virtual tour . It takes you along a beautiful, ornately decorated tunnel into a room dedicated to Pharaoh Ramesses VI. Step over the railing to look closer at the broken tomb and hieroglyphics on the wall. SO. COOL.

Now, you can also take a virtual tour of the Pyramids . You’d think it’d have to be one of the best virtual tours of historic sites, right? But I found Google Maps’ Street View virtual tour disappointing. I couldn’t figure out how to get inside! (If you know the trick, please share in the comments!)

14. Taj Mahal Virtual Tour (India)

Here’s another incredible historic site to explore online. The Taj Mahal virtual tour takes you around the grounds and inside this top tourist destination. You can pan around and zoom in for a closer look. Listen to videos for information on various pieces. And the views of the gardens and Yamuna River are wonderful. 

But I’m sad to report that the Taj Mahal virtual tour has disappointing limitations. You can’t pan up to look at the ceilings nor down when you’re on top of the buildings. The most annoying thing for me, though, was not finding a “next” button and having to go back to the map every time. That said, I still love that I could “see” this famous place for myself. So, it still makes the list of best virtual tours of historic sites!

15. Machu Picchu Historic Site Virtual Tour (Peru)

One of the top tourist destinations in the world, Machu Picchu is definitely on my bucket list. Yours, too? The Machu Picchu virtual tour will make you want to go now ! 

This Machu Picchu virtual tour is easy to navigate and the narration is short and pleasant. The disadvantage of this setup, though, is you can’t just go wherever you want (like you kinda can with Google Maps Street View). I really wanted to go inside the ruined buildings. And sit on the edge and run my fingers through that sand! This historic site virtual tour really only makes me want to go more .

INCREDIBLE. What a way to end this post of the best virtual tours of historic sites!

Want more of South America? Visit incredible waterfalls like Angel Falls and Iguazu Falls, national parks and the Galapagos wildlife !

Summary and Resources

Which of these virtual tours of historic sites make your best-of list? Which top tourist destination are you eager to travel to next?

Other posts you may be interested in:

• 25 virtual tours of beautiful NATIONAL PARKS around the world
• 15 virtual tours of WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS  
• 17 inspiring virtual tours of CITIES

If the famous place YOU were looking for isn’t among my best virtual tours of historic sites, here are two other fun websites to explore:

• AirPano has tons of virtual tours of historic sites and other amazing locations around the world, both by 360-degree photos and HD videos (built for VR headsets). Germany’s famous Neuschwanstein Castle. The Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge in China. Russia’s Saint Petersburg. AWESOME. 
• Google Arts & Culture has a huge variety of virtual tours of historic sites and others for you to explore. More palaces, castles and museums. Aquariums. Melbourne Cricket Ground. Many historic sites can be toured with Google Maps Street View, but not all with audio or information icons.

Interested in getting a VR headset? If you’re into gaming or want a good one, reviewers praise the Oculus brand . Otherwise, you CAN get a cheap VR headset. Just check out Google Cardboard !

Know someone who’d enjoy this post? SHARE with a friend!

And now that you’re feeling the travel bug …

• Finally start your travel bucket list (FREE template!)
• Or, start planning your next trip!

Feature photo credit (Xian Warriors): Aaron Greenwood from Unsplash.

6 Responses

Enoued these very much. If anyone is interested, I have a website with over 50 tours. The photography and execution is certainly not as professional as thes 15, bit as a world history teacher I have added accurate historical audio tracks, offering a comprehensive tour of famed sights (as well as those off the beaten path) supplemented by photos I have taken as well as curated videos. The link is: https://tracyanddale.com/VirtualTraveler/index.html

Am I missing something (I’m visually impaired)? I can’t find links to the tours…

I had a virtual tour of the Holy Land. It led me to more than 36 sites with their own spiritual significance. Of course, the original site where a certain event took place are now protected and kept under the church buildings built around them.

Even though the original site was invisible, I could see so many well preserved churches and the people with deep thought on what God has done in those specific places.

The land was somewhat barren with much desert. But I believe it is still a land flowing with milk and honey as God said, over all. Seeing the site, churches and people led me to renew how great God is and how great salvation is through Jesus Christ, as a Christian myself.

Amen. There is something special about this area of the world, that is for sure.

Hi, great site with amazing links which I would love to use with my history student. Only think is that the Holy Land is in Palestine, not stotel territory of İsrael.

I’m so glad you’re enjoying the links! I agree … these virtual tours are pretty incredible.

Thank you for your comment. I’ve updated the post to reflect this.

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The best virtual tours to explore the world from home

Oct 8, 2020 • 5 min read

The Sistine Chapel is just one wonder offering a virtual museum tour ©Rajesh Gathwala/500px

We live in an age of unprecedented access to digital technology – and with it, brand new ways of exploring the world around us.

While it's not quite the same as seeing, say, the Mona Lisa or Christ the Redeemer in person, some of the world’s most popular and remote destinations have created libraries of online images and video, as well as 360 degree virtual tours that let you virtually explore museums, galleries, world wonders and even national parks.

Here a just a few of the best digital tours that let you wander the world from wherever you may be social distancing.

See the seven wonders of the world

If there’s anything capable of whetting your appetite for world travel, it is the new seven wonders of the world:  the Great Wall of China , the ancient city of Petra , the Taj Mahal , the Colosseum , Machu Picchu , Christ the Redeemer , and Chichen Itza . Thankfully there are impressive virtual tours of each from The New York Times , AirPano , Google , and Panoramas .

With modern technology, you can even see the last standing wonder of the ancient world— The Pyramids of Giza . There are a few other wonders that might not make it into to the top seven but are still worth a digital peek, like the Alhambra , Seville's La Giralda , and even Easter Island.

Best virtual museum tours

In recent years, Google has partnered with over 2,5000 art museums to upload high-resolution versions of millions of pieces of art. Highlights include New York’s MoMA , DC’s National Gallery of Art , Chicago’s Art Institute , the Casa Battl ó, and Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum to name a few.

In addition, The Louvre offers a virtual tour , as do The Vatican Museums , many of the Smithsonian Museums , the Russian Museum , the top-rated British Museum , the Minneapolis  Museum of Russian Art , and the Palace Museum in Beijing.

You may not be able to kiss the Blarney Stone right now, but you can tour the Blarney Castle from afar. You can also visit the Museum of Flight,  the Museum of Science, the Museum of Natural History,  the National Women's History Museum  and Boston's History of Science Museum .

While museums are often an inherently visual experience, there's a lot to be learned from archives of past lectures and tours like the ones preserved online by Nashville's Frist Museum , the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Smithsonian American Art Museum,  the Frick , and others.

You might also like:  Broadway might be closed, but here’s how to stream the best performances from your home

Explore national parks

While travel to National Parks is best avoided for the time being, you don't need to miss out on the scenery. Virtual Yosemite is absolutely stunning and one of the best, replete with audio. Both Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmore offer virtual tours as well. 

Google has similar 360 degree audio-visual tours of five select national parks, including Kenai Fjords, Hawai'i Volcanos , Carlsbad Caverns, Bryce Canyon , and Dry Tortugas, as well as 31 more on Google Earth . You can also get an up-close look at almost 4,000 pieces of artwork, artifacts, and other treasures related to the history and culture of the national parks, and view online exhibits .

Digital safaris

Wildlife is a big draw for travelers, whether it's sighting some of the Big Five in Africa, glimpsing whales in North America, or introducing your children to new animals in person on a family safari . But if you're forays into the bush are grounded for now, many zoos and aquariums have created digital access to their habitats.

You can easily watch several live webcams of some of the nation’s greatest zoos and aquariums, including the  San Diego Zoo , Houston Zoo , Zoo Atlanta , the Tennessee Aquarium , and the Georgia Aquarium . Additionally you can see Canadian farm animals doing their thing , or you could watch Stella the Dog jump endlessly into huge piles of Maine leaves.

You may also like:  These nine wildlife web cams offer access to your favorite animals

Virtual hiking

Thanks to panoramic video, you can get a really good idea of what a hike looks like well before you arrive at the trailhead. For example, you can experience all of the following top-rated hikes right now from your computer or tablet:  Bryce Canyon , Grand Canyon , GR20 , Inca Trail , and the death-defying Angel's Landing . For even more great hikes, simply YouTube one of Lonely Planet’s top 10 treks or any other hike that suits your fancy. Bonus points if you follow along during a workout to enhance the realism.

Famous landmarks

You can visit many wonders of nature, including the Amazon Rainforest , Iguazu Falls , the Komodo Islands , or Table Mountain , using virtual tours. Or you can explore the Statue of Liberty , the Sahara Desert , Niagara Falls , or even a guided tour of the Eiffel Tower . For even more virtual tours, search your bucket list of adventures with  AirPano , Google Earth , or YouTube .

Travel to outer space

The moon hasn't made it to Lonely Planet's Best In Travel list (yet!), and even without self-isolation and shelter-in-place measures for COVID-19, many of us may never travel to space. But thanks to technology, now is as good of a time as any to do so virtually. Before blasting off, considering touring some of NASA’s offices first. Then relive the last lunar missions and moon walks in stunning HD. Or take a virtual tour of Mars with the help of Google. 

You might also like:

Listen to the sounds of forests around the world Cook your way around the world with these travel-inspired kitchen essentials Rome watchlist: films to see before your trip

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) is now a global pandemic. Find out what this  means for travelers . 

This article was originally published March 2020 and was last updated October 2020.

This article was first published March 2020 and updated October 2020

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Virtual Travel

A Smithsonian magazine special report

Take a Free Virtual Tour of Five Egyptian Heritage Sites

The sites include the 5,000-year-old tomb of Meresankh III, the Red Monastery and the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Barquq

Theresa Machemer

Correspondent

Earlier this month, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the release of five new virtual tours of historic sites, adding to the range of online adventures that you can now embark on from home.

The tours explore the tomb of Meresankh III , the tomb of Menna , the Ben Ezra Synagogue , the Red Monastery and the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Barquq . Each virtual experience features detailed 3-D imagery through which users can “walk” by clicking hotspots along the structures’ floors.

As James Stewart reports for the Guardian , the tours boast “beefed up” 3-D modeling made by experts with Harvard University’s Giza Project . Unlike their real counterparts, most of which charge a small entry fee, the virtual renderings are free to all.

“The virtual tours target both [international] tourists and Egyptians, a ministry spokesperson tells Al-Monitor ’s Amira Sayed Ahmed. “They serve the double purpose of promoting Egyptian tourism nationwide and increasing Egyptians' awareness of their own civilization.”

Two of the tours—the tombs of Meresankh III and elite Egyptian official Menna —include background information accessible by clicking circles overlaid atop specific features. The former’s tomb, dated to some 5,000 years ago, is the oldest of the Egyptian sites available as a virtual walkthrough. Meresankh, a queen wed to King Khafre, was the daughter of Prince Kawab and Hetepheres II of the fourth dynasty, and the granddaughter of Great Pyramid builder Cheops, also known as Khufu.

Harvard archaeologist George Andrew Reisner discovered the queen’s tomb in 1927. He later stated that “None of us had ever seen anything like it.” Today, the burial place’s paintings and carvings remain well-preserved, showcasing hunters catching water birds, bakers making triangular loaves of bread and servants holding offerings.

In the northern chamber, along the wall furthest from the virtual tour’s starting point, ten statues of women stand shoulder to shoulder—an unusual sight among Gaza tombs. The statues “serve to emphasize Meresankh’s position among her queenly relatives,” the tour explains. Along the path to the 16-foot-deep burial shaft, users pass a pair of statues depicting Meresankh and her mother, Hetepheres II, with their arms around each other.

The path leads down a spiraling staircase into the burial shaft, where Meresankh’s black granite sarcophagus—originally created for her mother but re-engraved upon the queen’s death in 2532 B.C., according to the History Blog —was originally found. The tour includes a reconstructed image of the chamber with the sarcophagus in place, but the actual coffin is now kept at the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo.

The tomb of Menna, dated to the 18th dynasty (about 1549 B.C to 1292 B.C.), is “one of the most visited and best preserved” from the era, the ministry writes in a statement quoted by Live Science ’s Laura Geggel. The tomb’s decorations suggest the elite official was a scribe in charge of the pharaoh’s fields and the temple of sun god Amun-Re.

Menna’s tomb also includes informational blurbs highlighting such features as paintings of the scribe’s family, including his wife Henuttawy and their five children. Curiously, all of the paintings of Menna have been defaced.

“The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of a person inhabited paintings of them and destroying the face would ‘deactivate’ the image,” the tour notes. “Why would someone want to destroy the memory of Menna?”

The tomb also served as a point of communication with the dead. It once featured life-size statues of Menna and Henuttawy that family members could make offerings to, ask for favors or visit during festivals.

The other three tours do not offer information blurbs at this time, but they still have plenty of detailed 3-D imagery for virtual visitors to explore. The Red Monastery , a Coptic church in Upper Egypt, features ornate frescoes, while the 14th-century Mosque-Madrassa is known for its immense size and innovative architecture. The Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo is alleged to be the site where baby Moses was found.

“Experience Egypt from home,” says the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Facebook . “Stay home. Stay safe.”

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Theresa Machemer | READ MORE

Theresa Machemer is a freelance writer based in Washington DC. Her work has also appeared in National Geographic and SciShow. Website: tkmach.com

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Ostia Antica Virtual Tour: The Ancient Port of Rome Frozen in time

Experience the ancient world come to life on our virtual tour of ancient Rome's amazingly preserved port

• tour overview
• tour description
• tour reviews

duration 1.5 hours

Tour Overview

Embark on a fascinating virtual voyage back in time to Ostia Antica and explore the magnificently preserved remains of ancient Rome’s bustling port. Join expert guide Gracelyn for a virtual stroll through the ancient city’s dense web of streets, and discover what it was really like to live in an ancient Roman town over two millennia ago. Thanks to high quality photos, videos and reconstructions we’ll be painting a fascinating portrait of ancient life in the harbour city, visiting restaurants and bathhouses, temples, bakeries, theatres and more. Discover how goods of every kind imaginable passed through Ostia’s marketplace and warehouses, feeding the greatest metropolis in antiquity. Our virtual Ostia tour will immerse you in the world of ancient Rome from the comfort of your own home – book your place today! If the day of the week or start time of this group tour doesn't work for you, please email us at [email protected] to arrange a suitable alternative date.

• Live broadcast from Rome
• Immersive webinar with expert guide Gracelyn
• High-res imagery, videos and reconstructions brings ancient Ostia come to life
• Have your questions answered in live Q and A

Tour Description

Meet your guide: gracelyn.

Hi I’m Gracelyn! A native New Yorker with qualifications in Speech Communications Studies, classical theater, voice and drama, I’ve been living and working in Rome since 2006. After 13(!) trips to Rome over the years during which I couldn’t get enough of the city’s history, beauty, art and architecture, I decided to follow my heart, quitting my job in New York and pitching up in the Eternal City with 3 suitcases. I began my life in Rome by volunteering with the Pantheon choir and at Rome’s famous cat sanctuary (the site of Julius Caesar’s assassination!), where I gave tours showcasing the sanctuary’s mission. A licensed tour guide of Rome, I was introduced to Through Eternity in 2007 and have been happily collaborating and guiding with them ever since.

What Exactly is a Through Eternity Virtual Tour?   

The world of travel might be on hold right now, but just because we're all staying at home to help the world overcome a common enemy doesn't mean we have to put our wanderlust on the back burner. Frustrated with not being able to get our travel fix, we decided to transform our award-winning tours into immersive virtual experiences, meaning you can still explore Italy’s spectacular archaeological sites and jaw-dropping museums from the comfort of your own home. 

* Please note that the booking times are in US Eastern Standard Time and Rome, Italy CET is 6 hours ahead *

Fun and informative , our virtual tours take the form of online  real-time presentations  led by our  expert guides . Combining videos, high-definition photos and more, our guides will be sharing their wealth of knowledge and experience with you on these interactive walkthroughs of Italy’s most fascinating sites. The  live format  of our virtual tours means you’ll be able to ask your guide anything you wish, just like on a normal tour. We really believe it's the next best thing to being here!

As a sign of our gratitude to those who are on the front line fighting the Coronavirus, we would be more than happy to invite all  first responders ,  health workers  and  NHS workers  to join our Virtual Tours for free. Please message our office staff directly!

Please note that the proceeds from our online tours go directly to our guides, providing them with a valuable lifeline in these tough times for the world of travel. Thank you for your support!  

Explore the incredible remains of Ostia Antica from home on our virtual tour

The vast ruins of Ostia Antica rival Pompeii for their size and incredible state of preservation, but are fare less known to visitors. Spectacularly sited in the Roman countryside surrounded by umbrella pines and swaying cypress trees, our virtual tour is the perfect opportunity to learn why the harbour city of Ostia was a vital cog in the massive machinery of the Roman empire.

Thanks to the wonders of technology we’ll be recreating the lives of the people who once lived and worked in this bustling port. Discover the mysteries of complex pagan rites in Ostia’s countless temples, and visit some of antiquity’s best preserved baths decorated with fabulous mosaics and learn all about the trade networks that sustained the metropolis that was ancient Rome in Ostia’s atmospheric marketplace.

As we pick our virtual way through the ruins, you’ll get a vivid sense of the massive logistical challenges involved in managing the largest empire the world had ever known. Goods of all kinds arrived here daily from the furthest flung corners of the known world: grain from Sardinia and wine from Greece; marble from Egypt and olive oil from Tunisia. More sinisterly, slaves from Turkey and exotic animals from India all passed through Ostia on their way to certain death in the Roman arena. In the city’s marketplace you’ll learn all about the economics and trade networks that sustained the city, deciphering incredible mosaics that represent the different kinds of goods traded here.

At Ostia the smallest details of daily life in the ancient world can be recreated with astonishing precision, and you might be amazed to discover how little some things have changed. Discover an ancient bakery and get a close-up look at the grain mills and ovens that churned out vast quantities of bread for a hungry populace, and admire mosaics that pay homage to the sea’s bounty at a fishmonger’s. Best of all, pop in to the extraordinary thermopolium - the ancient world’s equivalent of a fast-food restaurant - where the menu is advertised in vibrant mosaics on the walls. You can still practically smell the pungent aroma of fishy garum sauce lingering in the air.

Our virtual trip to the ancient world’s most important port is a unique opportunity to experience the distant age of antiquity come to life. Book your place on our online tour today, and get to know the ancient world’s best kept secret!

Tour Reviews

5.0 (13 reviews)

This tour was very good and took me to a place I wouldn’t be able to enjoy in person as I have some mobility issues. My tour guide was excellent! Highly recommended.

Carol Ann - Feb 01, 2021

I love Italy and pride myself on getting to know it, but I explored a new world with Gracelyn in this tour and it was SO COOL. I have been to Pompeii and other "ancient" sites and had heard about Ostia, but thought it was not really worth it for a special trip. Well, I was dead wrong. For those who are interested in ancient Rome/Italy, history, archaeology, myths and the gods and goddesses of the ancient past, this virtual tour is made for you.!I'm not sure we can say definitely that this site was founded prior to the founding Rome (need to check with Gracelyn on that!) but the fact that it was settled during the time of the 7 Kings of Rome, and the fact that it is so well preserved, make it a spectacular site. The pictures, videos, and narrative were excellent. Gracelyn is an outstanding guide, she knows so much! Learning from someone as knowledgeable as she is truly a great opportunity. Plus, taking this virtual tour makes it easy for me to plan my actual "in person" trip as soon as we can all get back to Italy. Highly recommended! :)

Susan Glimcher - Nov 27, 2020

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Inclusions and Exclusions

• The Location

Know before you book

Delphi self-guided virtual experience: the google of the ancient world.

€  12,99 per person

• Important Information

Experience the archeological site of Delphi from the comfort of your home with an engaging self-guided virtual tour, narrated in English, from your PC or smartphone browser. It’s so simple! You will receive an email with the tour link with instructions and, in a couple of minutes, you will travel back in time and enjoy a virtual journey from the comfort of your couch!

Through the power of storytelling combined with street and satellite views, you will learn not only about historical facts but also discover unknown stories and tales of ancient and modern times that will amaze your family and friends. The tour’s content is the result of in-depth research, squeezed into brief intriguing stories that will make your virtual visit both engaging and informative. The tour is only available online and you can access it repeatedly and anytime.

This is an unmissable opportunity to gain valuable insights into the Google of the Ancient World and immerse yourself in the surroundings in an entirely innovative way.

Masters and slaves

60% of the more than 800 manumission inscriptions concern female slaves. This is a typical one: “When Kleon was archon, in the month of Poitropios, Theodora daughter of Polyon...sold to Pythian Apollo a homebred female slave whose name is Damarchis, for the price of four minas of silver... Damarchis shall remain with Theodora for as long as Theodora lives, doing everything possible that she is told to do. Whatever Damarchis acquires while she is staying with Theodora shall belong to Damarchis. Similarly, if Damarchis has any offspring while Theodora is alive and she is staying with Theodora, the offspring shall be free and unseizable by anyone for all their life, in the same way as Damarchis, both if she has one child and if she has several children".

• Virtual Self-guided Tour for the archeological site of Delphi with satellite & street views
• Audio content with engaging & original stories in English.
• Transportation
• Offline access

Mandatory items

• Desktop, laptop or smartphone device
• Internet connection

The location

Castalian Fountain: Before entering the archaeological site, quench your thirst in the Castalian Spring and learn about the adventures of  Apollo, the founder god of the sanctuary and how Delphi became the most famous shrine of the antique world. What terrible crime had he committed to be purified here?

Sacred Way: The votive offerings, lush memorials and the countless treasures that powerful cities and rulers of proverbial wealth left behind them will haunt your imagination as you stroll along the Sacred way. Feel free to imagine yourself as someone who takes the way that leads to the famous Temple of Apollo in the quest of his destiny. 

Temple of Apollo: The Temple of Apollo will cast a spell on you with its mysterious legends. Was Apollo’s Oracle the Google of the ancient world? Who was Pythia, the famous priestess of the god? Let the site give you the answers you’re seeking for as you take in the mesmerizing view of the mountainous landscape.

Important information

• This is a virtual tour for Delphi that you can take from the comfort of your home and feel like you were there
• No live guide or meeting point required
• You will receive an email with instructions on how to access your tour via a link. Check your spam folder as well
• No special equipment is needed (i.e. special glasses). However, earphones or headphones are highly recommended to enjoy the experience.
• This product can be accessed from any web browser and requires internet connection. The tour is available only online. The virtual tour doesn’t require a visit to the site

Cancellation Policy : This product cannot be refunded once activated.

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The 75 Best Virtual Museum Tours Around the World [Art, History, Science, and Technology]

Jarrod West

Senior Content Contributor

440 Published Articles 1 Edited Article

Countries Visited: 21 U.S. States Visited: 24

Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

33 Published Articles 3134 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 47 U.S. States Visited: 28

Google Arts and Culture

1. the albertina museum (vienna, austria), 2. art institute of chicago (chicago, illinois), 3. benaki museum (athens, greece), 4. the broad (los angeles, california), 5. centre pompidou (paris, france), 6. the dalí theatre-museum (figueres, spain), 7. detroit institute of arts (detroit, michigan), 8. frick collection (new york city, new york), 9. galleria dell’accademia (florence, italy), 10. georgia o’keeffe museum (sante fe, new mexico), 11. grand palais (paris, france), 12. hermitage museum (saint petersburg, russia), 13. high museum of art (atlanta, georgia), 14. the j. paul getty museum (los angeles, california), 15. kunsthaus zürich (zürich, switzerland), 16. la galleria nazionale (rome, italy), 17. los angeles county museum of art (lacma) (los angeles, california), 18. mauritshuis (the hague, netherlands), 19. the metropolitan museum of art (new york city, new york), 20. musée du louvre (paris, france), 21. musée d’orsay (paris, france), 22. museo nacional del prado (madrid, spain), 23. museo frida kahlo (mexico city, mexico), 24. museo nacional centro de arte reina sofía (madrid, spain), 25. museu de arte de são paulo (são paulo, brazil), 26. museum of broken relationships (los angeles, california and zagreb, croatia), 27. museum of fine arts, boston (boston, massachusetts), 28. museum of fine arts, houston (houston, texas), 29. the museum of modern art (moma) (new york city, new york), 30. national gallery (london, england), 31. national gallery of art (washington, d.c.), 32. national gallery of victoria (victoria, melbourne, australia), 33. national museum of china (beijing, china), 34. national museum of korea (seoul, south korea), 35. national museum, new delhi (new delhi, india), 36. national museum of modern and contemporary art (seoul, south korea), 37. national palace museum (taipei, taiwan), 38. national portrait gallery (washington, d.c.), 39. pergamonmuseum (berlin, germany), 40. picasso museum (barcelona, spain), 41. rijksmuseum (amsterdam, netherlands), 42. san francisco museum of modern art (san francisco, california), 43. sistine chapel at the vatican museums (vatican city), 44. solomon r. guggenheim museum (new york city, new york), 45. tate modern (london, england), 46. thyssen-bornemisza museum (madrid, spain), 47. tokyo national museum (tokyo, japan), 48. uffizi gallery (florence, italy), 49. van gogh museum (amsterdam, netherlands), 50. victoria and albert museum (london, england), 1. american museum of natural history (new york city, new york), 2. the british museum (london, england), 3. national museum of anthropology (mexico city, mexico), 4. national museum of natural history (washington, d.c.), 5. natural history museum (london, england), 1. london science museum (london, england), 2. museo galileo (florence, italy), 3. the museum of flight (seattle, washington), 4. the museum of natural sciences of belgium (brussels, belgium), 5. museum of science, boston (boston, massachusetts), 6. national aeronautics and space administration (nasa) (washington, d.c.), 7. national air and space museum (washington, d.c.), 8. national museum of computing (bletchley park, england), 9. national museum of the united states air force (riverside, ohio), 10. oxford university’s history of science museum (oxford, england), 1. acropolis museum (athens, greece), 2. american battlefield trust virtual battlefield tours, 3. anne frank house (amsterdam, netherlands), 4. franklin d. roosevelt presidential library and museum (hyde park, new york), 5. national museum of african american history and culture (washington, d.c.), 6. national museum of american history (washington, d.c.), 7. national museum of scotland (edinburgh, scotland), 8. national women’s history museum (alexandria, virginia), 9. terra cotta warriors of xi’an at emperor qinshihuang’s mausoleum site museum (xi’an, china), 10. u.s. holocaust memorial museum (washington, d.c.), final thoughts.

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You can now access collections from many of the world’s top museums without ever leaving home! We’ve put together an ultimate list of 75 world-class museums that offer virtual tours you can visit from the comfort of your couch.

Many of the virtual tours include exhibit walk-throughs and the ability to examine some of the world’s best paintings, sculptures, and other pieces up close and personal. These virtual tours are jam-packed with enough details to make you feel like you’re really visiting the museum. The experiences are sure to entertain the whole family, an art or history buff, or even those who want to imagine the joys of travel!

We’ve broken our list into 4 easy-to-review sections, including art, natural history, science and technology, and history museums. So whether you prefer to take in a painting at the Van Gogh Museum, check out an SR-71 Blackbird at the Museum of Flight, or gaze upon the Rosetta Stone, this list has it all!

Many of the virtual exhibits in this article are offered through a collaboration with Google Arts and Culture. If you’re not familiar, Google Arts and Culture is an online platform that showcases high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from more than 2,000 museums throughout the world. You can zoom in and out of images in great detail and view some of the best pieces of artwork ever created without leaving your couch.

The platform is available in 18 languages and has been praised internationally for increasing access to art to those who may have not had the opportunity otherwise. It’s available for web , iOS , and Android .

50 Art Museums With Virtual Tours

Year Opened:  1805

The Albertina Museum features one of the most important European collections of international modern art and houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and 1 million old master prints. Hundreds of the works housed in the museum, like “Study for the Last Supper” by Da Vinci and “The Water Lily Pond” by Monet, can be viewed online thanks to a partnership with Google Arts and Culture.

To view the online exhibits, click here .

Year Opened: 1879

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the U.S., hosting approximately 1.5 million people annually. Its collection features more than 5,000 years of human expression from cultures around the world and contains more than 300,000 works of art in 11 curatorial departments.

The online tour allows you to view major pieces from the museum’s collection, such as “American Gothic,” “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte,” and “Nighthawks.” The site also offers projects to get creative at home, educator resources, and JourneyMaker, a digital tool that allows visitors to create unique, personalized tours of the museum.

To view the online tour, click here .

Year Opened: 1930

Established in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, the Benaki Museum houses Greek works of art from prehistoric to modern times and an extensive collection of Asian art. It also hosts periodic exhibitions and maintains a state-of-the-art restoration and conservation workshop.

The entire museum can be viewed virtually in great detail.

To view the online virtual tour, click here .

Year Opened: 2015

The Broad is a contemporary art museum named for philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad. The Broad houses a nearly 2,000-piece collection of contemporary art, featuring 200 artists including works by Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol. Notable installations include Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Mirrored Room” (pictured above) and Ragnar Kjartansson’s expansive 9-screen video “The Visitors.”

The Broad has put together a series of YouTube videos to give you a first-hand look at the museum.

Year Opened : 1977

The Centre Pompidou, named after the president of France from 1969 to 1974, is the largest museum for modern and contemporary art in Europe and the second-largest in the world. The museum has more than 12,000 pieces of artwork on display, including works by Kandinsky, Dalí, and Valadon.

The Centre has dozens of videos available on its YouTube channel that provide walk-throughs of the museum and explanations of its most important works.

To view the video tours, click here .

Year Opened : 1974

Dedicated to the life and work of the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, the Dalí Theatre-Museum displays the single largest and most diverse collection of works by the artist. In addition to Dalí paintings from all decades of his career, there are Dalí sculptures, 3-dimensional collages, mechanical devices, and other curiosities from Dalí’s imagination. Through the website, guests can take a virtual tour in 360-degree of the entire museum.

To view the virtual tour, click here .

Year Opened: 1885

With more than 100 galleries covering over 658,000 square feet, the Detroit Institute of Arts has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the U.S. Its collection features works spanning from ancient Egypt and Europe all the way to modern contemporary art.

The museum has put together “ At Home With DIA ” to offer school field trips from home, weekly film screenings, senior resources, and home projects. DIA also has a partnership with Google Arts and Culture to provide online exhibits including:

• Frida Kahlo in Detroit
• Ordinary People by Extraordinary Artists
• Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry
• Self Portrait on the Borderline between Mexico and the United States

Year Opened: 1935

Located in the Henry Clay Frick House, the Frick Collection houses the art collection of industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The collection features some of the best-known paintings by major European artists, including Bellini, Rembrandt, and Vermeer, as well as numerous works of sculpture and porcelain.

The entire museum can be viewed virtually.

Year Opened : 1784

The Galleria dell’Accademia, while small compared to other museums featured, is still the second most visited museum in Italy. Its command of visitors is in large part due to its display of perhaps the most famous sculpture in history — Michaelangelo’s statue of David.

You can view a short, video-guided tour of the museum, which includes 360-degree viewing, allowing you to get a close look at the museum’s offerings.

To view the video tour, click here .

Year Opened: 1997

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is dedicated to the artistic legacy of Georgia O’Keeffe and her contributions to American Modernism. The museum’s collection includes many of O’Keeffe’s key works, ranging from her innovative abstractions to her iconic large-format flower, skull, and landscape paintings, to paintings of architectural forms, rocks, shells, and trees. Initially, the collection was made of 140 O’Keeffe paintings, watercolors, pastels, and sculptures, but now includes nearly 1,200 objects.

The museum website offers creative activities, stories, and education about Georgia O’Keeffe’s life, along with several virtual exhibits available through Google Arts and Culture, including:

• Georgia O’Keeffe
• American Modernism
• United States

Year Opened : 1900

The Grand Palais is a large historic site, exhibition hall, and museum dedicated to the organization of exhibitions, publishing books, art workshops, photographic agency, and hosting major fairs and events. The museum receives 2.5 million visitors each year. The partnership with Google Arts and Culture brings extensive online exhibits to life, from the construction of the building to the masterpieces that lie within it.

Year Opened : 1764

The Hermitage Museum is the second-largest and eighth-most visited art museum in the world. The Hermitage has more than 60,000 pieces of artwork on display, including the “Peacock Clock” by James Cox, “Madonna Litta” by Leonardo Da Vinci, and works by Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Antonio Canova.

The online tour is extremely comprehensive and allows you to virtually walk through all 6 buildings in the main complex, treasure gallery, and several exhibition projects.

Year Opened : 1905

The High Museum of Art offers over 15,000 works of art in its collection and is the leading art museum in the southeastern U.S. The museum focuses on 19th- and 20th-century American art, historic and contemporary decorative arts and design, European paintings, modern and contemporary art, photography, folk and self-taught art, and African art.

The museum’s partnership with Google Arts and Culture also offers online exhibits for viewing including:

• Bill Traylor’s Drawings of People, Animals, and Events
• How Iris van Herpen Transformed Fashion
• Incredible, Innovative, and Unexpected Contemporary Furniture Designs
• Photos From the Civil Rights Movement

Year Opened: 1953

The J. Paul Getty Museum is made up of 2 campuses — the Getty Center and Getty Villa — that receive more than 2 million visitors per year. The Getty Center features pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts and photographs from the 1830s through present-day from all over the world. The Getty Villa displays art from Ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria.

The museum has put together online resources like art books, online exhibitions, podcasts, and videos, all viewable on its website .

It has also partnered with Google Arts and Culture to showcase online exhibits including:

• 18th Century Pastel Portraits
• The Art of Three Faiths: Torah, Bible, Qur’an
• Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
• Getty Museum Acquisitions 2019
• Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well

To view the online galleries, click here .

Year Opened : 1910

The Kunsthaus Zürich features one of Switzerland’s most important art collections from the 13th century to the present day. While the museum places an emphasis on Swiss artists, including Alberto Giacometti, you’ll also find work from the likes of Monet, Picasso, and Warhol.

The museum’s partnership with Google Arts and Culture has digitized several of the museum’s best collections for viewing.

Year Opened: 1883

La Galleria Nazionale displays about 1,100 paintings and sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries — the largest collection in Italy. It features work from famous Italian artists including Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Alberto Burri, and foreign artists including Cézanne, Monet, Pollock, Rodin, and Van Gogh.

It has teamed up with Google to offer 16 virtual exhibits for online viewing.

Year Opened: 1910

LACMA is the largest art museum in the western U.S., attracts nearly a million visitors annually, and holds more than 150,000 works spanning the history of art from ancient times to the present.

The website (click LACMA @ Home ) includes exhibition walkthroughs, soundtracks and live recordings, online teaching resources, and courses.

To view the LACMA’s online virtual tour from Google Arts & Culture, click here .

Year Opened : 1822

The Mauritshuis is home to some of the best Dutch paintings from the Golden Age of Art. The museum consists of 854 works by artists like Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt Van Rijn, and Jan Steen. Famous works include “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (pictured above) and “View of Delft” by Vermeer, and “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp” by Rembrandt.

The museum has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to bring several of its best works to life for virtual viewing.

To view the Mauritshuis’ online exhibits, click here .

Year Opened: 1870

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, also known as “The Met,” is the largest art museum in the U.S. and the fourth most visited museum in the world with more than 6 million visitors each year. The permanent collection contains more than 2 million works from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all of the European masters (including Monet’s Water Lillies), and an extensive collection of American and modern art. It also has extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art.

The museum has extensive different online exhibits available for viewing through Google and its own Art at Home website .

Year Opened:  1793

The Louvre Palace, which houses the museum, began as a fortress under Philip II in the 12th century to protect the city from English soldiers that were in Normandy. It wasn’t repurposed as a museum until 1793. Now, the Louvre is easily one of the most historic art museums in the world. Not only is the Louvre the largest art museum in the world at 782,910 square feet (72,735 square meters), but it also had 9.6 million visitors in 2019, making it the most visited museum in the world as well. Featured masterpieces include “Mona Lisa,” “Winged Victory of Samothrace,” “Venus de Milo,” and “Hammurabi’s Code.”

The Louvre has several virtual galleries on display, including:

• The Advent of the Artist, including works from Delacroix, Rembrandt, and Tintoretto
• Egyptian Antiquities, featuring collections from the Pharaonic period
• Remains of the Louvre’s Moat — visitors can walk around the original perimeter moat and view the piers that supported the drawbridge dating back to 1190
• Galerie d’Apollon, destroyed by fire in 1661 and recently rebuilt for viewing

To view the Louvre’s virtual tour page, click here .

Year Opened: 1986

The Musée d’Orsay is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It is one of the largest art museums in Europe and had more than 3.6 million visitors in 2019. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, including works by Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Seurat, Sisley, and Van Gogh.

The museum allows you to virtually walk through one of its popular galleries, featuring hundreds of paintings from French artists.

To view the Musée d’Orsay online gallery, click here .

Year Opened : 1819

The Museo Nacional del Prado is considered to have one of the greatest collections of European art in the world and offers guests the single largest collection of Spanish art. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings, 7,600 paintings, 4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures. Well-known works include “Las Meninas” by Diego Velázquez, “The Third of May 1808” by Francisco De Goya, and “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch.

The museum’s online gallery allows you to get a close look at over 10,000 different pieces of art. The Prado also offers a 1-hour live show on Instagram every morning at 4 a.m. EST.

To view the online gallery, click here .

Year Opened: 1958

The Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as the Blue House due to its blue walls, is a historic museum dedicated to the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The building was Kahlo’s birthplace, the home where she grew up, lived with her husband Diego Rivera for many years, and where she later died in a room on the upper floor. The museum contains a collection of artwork by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and other artists, along with the couple’s Mexican folk art, pre-Hispanic artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, personal items, and more. Find out more in our guide to the best museums in Mexico City .

Year Opened: 1990

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, also called the Museo Reina Sofía, is one of the most popular art museums in the world. The museum includes large collections of Spain’s 2 most popular artists, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. Famous works on display include “Guernica” and “Woman in Blue” by Picasso and “Cubist Self Portrait” by Dalí.

You can view collections of artwork at the Reina Sofía through its partnership with Google Arts and Culture.

Year Opened: 1947

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is Brazil’s first modern art museum. The museum is internationally recognized for its collection of European art, as it’s considered the finest museum in Latin America and all of the Southern Hemisphere. The museum primarily features Brazilian art, prints, and drawings, as well as smaller collections of African and Asian art, antiquities, decorative arts, and others, amounting to more than 8,000 pieces. MASP also has one of the largest art libraries in the country.

You can now take a virtual tour of online galleries the museum has to offer, including:

• Art from Brazil until 1900
• Art from Italy: Rafael to Titian
• Art from France: from Delacroix to Cézanne
• Art in Fashion
• Histories of Madness: The Drawings of Juquery
• Picture Gallery in Transformation

Year Opened: 2010

The Museum of Broken Relationships is dedicated to failed love relationships. Its exhibits include personal objects left over from former lovers, accompanied by brief descriptions. The museum was founded by 2 Zagreb-based artists, film producer Olinka Vištica and sculptor Dražen Grubišić, after their 4-year relationship came to an end.

The virtual tour includes a close-up collection of dozens of the museum’s most interesting pieces.

The 17th largest art museum in the world, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) hosts one of the most extensive art collections in the U.S. It houses over 8,000 paintings, surpassed only by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and exceeds 1 million visitors each year. Pieces by world-renowned artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Monet are featured alongside sculptures, mummies, ceramics, and other artifacts from ancient civilizations.

There are currently 16 online exhibits available for viewing.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) is one of the largest museums in the U.S., and its collection features over 64,000 works from 6 continents. The collection places emphasis on pre-Columbian and African gold, Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture, 19th- and 20th-century art, photography, and Latin American art. Read our guide to the best museums in Houston for more information.

The museum has 14 online exhibits available for viewing in collaboration with Google Arts and Culture.

Year Opened: 1929

Regarded as one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world, MoMA’s art collection features an overview of modern and contemporary art, including works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated books, and artist’s books, film, and electronic media. MoMA’s holdings include more than 150,000 individual pieces including Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans” and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” in addition to approximately 22,000 films and 4 million film stills.

MoMA’s website offers 86,000 works of art that can be viewed online, along with a partnership with Google Arts and Culture to create a virtual display of its Sophie Taeber-Arp exhibit.

To view the website’s collection, click here . To view the Google exhibit, click here .

Year Opened : 1824

The National Gallery features more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900, including works such as “Sunflowers” by Van Gogh, “The Virgin on the Rocks” by Da Vinci, and “The Arnolfini Portrait” by Jan Van Eyck.

Its website offers a few virtual tours, showcasing many rooms in the museum, the Sainsbury Wing, and a Google Virtual tour.

Year Opened: 1937

The National Gallery of Art and its attached Sculpture Garden are located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and are open to the public free of charge. The museum was privately established in 1937 for the American people by a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress.

The National Gallery is widely considered to be one of the greatest museums in the U.S. It ranks second in total visitors of all American museums, 10th in the world, and features incredible pieces including Jackson Pollock’s “Number 1,” Leonardo da Vinci’s “Ginevra de’ Benci,” and Degas’ “Little Dancer Aged 14.”

The museum has put together a collection of educational resources on its website for teachers, families, and children. It also features online exhibits through Google Arts and Culture including:

• American Fashion — highlights from 1740 to 1895
• Johannes Vermeer — Dutch Baroque painter

To view the National Gallery of Art online collection page, click here .

Year Opened: 1861

The National Gallery of Victoria is Australia’s oldest, largest, and most visited art museum. The museum offers a wide variety of international and Australian art in its collection, including paintings, drawings, photography, and sculptures.

The online tour includes walk-throughs of exhibits, including highlights from the NGV Triennial 2020 and Chinese Collection, as well as exhibits featuring Goya and KAWS.

Year Opened : 2003

The National Museum of China covers Chinese history from 1.7 million years ago to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Notable works include the “Houmuwu” Rectangle Ding, a rectangular bronze sacrificial vessel made in the late Shang Dynasty, the heaviest piece of ancient bronze ware in the world, and a Han Dynasty jade burial suit laced with gold thread. It is one of the largest museums in the world, and the second most visited art museum in the world, just after the Louvre.

The museum has virtual exhibits available for 360-degree viewing including:

• Resplendence of the Tang Dynasty
• Sunken Silver

Year Opened : 1909

The National Museum of Korea is the top museum of Korean history and art and has been committed to various studies and research activities in the fields of archaeology, history, and art, continuously developing a variety of exhibitions and education programs.

The museum’s virtual tour provides a 3D walk-through of exhibits, including 1,000 years of Korean design and 500 years of the Joseon Dynasty.

Year Opened: 1949

The National Museum, New Delhi is one of the largest museums in India. The museum has around 200,000 works of art, both of Indian and foreign origin, including paintings, sculptures, jewelry, ancient texts, armor, and decorative arts ranging from the pre-historic era to modern works — covering over 5,000 years.

The museum has partnered with Google to bring its online exhibits to life, including:

• Art of Caligraphy
• Cadence and Counterpoint
• Indian Bronzes
• Nauras: The Many Arts of the Deccan
• Pottery from Ancient Peru
• Treasures of National Museum, India
• Radha and Krishna in the Boat of Love

Year Opened: 1969

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art was first established in 1969 as the only national art museum in South Korea, accommodating modern and contemporary art of Korea and international art of different time periods. The museum features over 7,000 pieces of artwork, including works of contemporary Korean artists such as Go Hui-dong, Ku Bon-ung, Park Su-geun, and Kim Whan-ki.

Google’s virtual tour takes you through 6 floors of contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.

Year Opened : 1965

The National Palace Museum has a collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese imperial artifacts and artworks. The collection encompasses 8,000 years of history of Chinese art, including jade, paintings, bronzes, and porcelain that were formerly held in the Forbidden City of Peking.

The museum offers 360-degree virtual tours of many different exhibits.

To view the virtual tours, click here .

Year Opened : 1962

The National Portrait Gallery has a collection of over 21,000 works of art. The collection focuses on images of famous Americans and how they’ve shaped U.S. culture. A major attraction of the National Portrait Gallery’s collection is the Hall of Presidents, which contains portraits of nearly all American presidents. It is the largest and most complete collection in the world, except for the White House collection itself.

The museum has several collections featured on Google Arts and Culture, but also offers digital workshops, and distance learning resources for children and teachers.

To view the online resources, click here .

The Pergamonmuseum houses monumental buildings, such as the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the Market Gate of Miletus reconstructed from the ruins found in Anatolia, as well as the Mshatta Facade. The museum is subdivided into the antiquity collection, the Middle East museum, and the museum of Islamic art. It is visited by over 1 million people every year.

The museum has dozens of structures and other artifacts that can be viewed online.

Year Opened: 1963

The Picasso Museum, located in the heart of Barcelona’s Latin Quarter, is visited by millions every year. They come to marvel at the best works of Picasso, perhaps the most famous painter of all, but stay to marvel at the best-preserved medieval architecture in Barcelona. With 4,251 works by the painter exhibited, the museum has one of the most complete permanent collections of his works.

The online tour offers a large selection of Picasso’s finest works, as well as virtual tours of the museum’s beautiful courtyards.

Year Opened: 1798

The Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague in 1798 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, where it was first located in the Royal Palace. The current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened in 1885. The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history from the years 1200 to 2000, and a total collection of 1 million objects. The museum features masterpieces including Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” and “The Jewish Bride,” plus works by Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer, who are known to have been major contributors to the Golden Age of Dutch art.

Google offers a street view tour of some excellent art pieces located in the museum, and the museum has put together an entire virtual tour of all of the museum’s masterpieces viewable on its website.

To view the Google street view tour, click here . You can also view the museum’s From Home microsite and masterpieces tour .

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is composed of over 33,000 works of art spread throughout 7 gallery floors and 45,000 square feet of space. Following a 3-year closure for expansion, the museum reopened in 2016 and is now one of San Francisco’s must-see destinations.

SFMOMA’s website is updated regularly with videos and articles regarding current exhibits, projects, and artist showcases and provides behind-the-scenes looks of the museum. 

To view the museum’s multimedia features, click here .

Read our guide to the best museums in San Francisco to find out more.

Year Opened: 1483

The Sistine Chapel, located inside of the Apostolic Palace (the official residence of the pope in Vatican City), is easily the most popular chapel in the world. The chapel is famous for its magnificent ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, and is considered to be one of the best artworks to come out of the Italian Renaissance. The primary panels of the ceiling showcase 9 scenes from the Book of Genesis, of which “The Creation of Adam” (pictured above) is the best known and most recognized.

Its website offers a virtual tour of the chapel’s most stunning sites, including the ability to marvel at Michelangelo’s ceiling from the comfort of your couch.

Year Opened: 1939

The Guggenheim Museum was established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1939. It is the permanent home of a continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year.

Google’s  Street View feature lets you tour the Guggenheim’s famous spiral staircase and some of its art pieces. It also offers a handful of online collections on its website .

Year Opened: 2000

Tate Modern is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world, consisting of art dating from 1900 until today. The gallery receives over 5 million visitors a year, making it the sixth most visited art museum in the world and the most visited in the U.K.

The Tate Modern has published dozens of videos on its YouTube channel that give you an in-depth look at many of its exhibits, including the Andy Warhol exhibit and the Aubrey Beardsley exhibit.

To view the Tate Modern’s YouTube channel, click here .

Year Opened: 1992

Located in Madrid, the Thyssen has over 1,600 paintings inside its walls and was once the second-largest private collection in the world after the British Royal Collection. It includes works from the Italian primitives, the English, Dutch, and German schools, Impressionists, Expressionists, and European and American paintings from the 20th century. It also features pieces from the continent’s most celebrated artists including Rembrandt and Dalí.

The virtual tour includes a detailed look at the permanent collection, along with exhibits including the Rembrandt and Impressionist galleries.

Year Opened : 1872

The Tokyo National Museum is the oldest and largest art museum in Japan, and one of the largest art museums in the world. At the museum, you’ll find a collection of artwork and cultural objects from Asia, ancient and medieval Japanese art, and Asian art along the Silk Road.

The museum has teamed up with Google’s Arts and Culture to provide an inside look at what the museum has to offer.

Year Opened: 1581

The Uffizi was designed by Giorgio Vasari for Cosimo I de’ Medici, whose family members were by far the largest patrons of art in Renaissance Italy. The museum now spans over 139,000 square feet with 101 different rooms that house its art pieces, including famous pieces such as “The Birth of Venus.” Over 2 million people visit the Uffizi each year, making it the most viewed art museum in Italy.

The museum has teamed up with Google to showcase online galleries including:

• Piero di Cosimo, Perseus Freeing Andromeda
• The Santa Trinita Maestà, Cimabue
• The Creative Process Behind Federico Barocci’s Drawings
• Drawings by Amico Aspertini and other Bolognese artists

Year Opened: 1973

The Van Gogh Museum is dedicated to perhaps one of the most famous artists of all time — Vincent Van Gogh. The museum contains the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters. The museum has over 2 million visitors each year and is the 23rd most visited art museum in the world. Find out more in our review to the best museums in Amsterdam .

The museum has teamed up with Google to create online exhibits on Vincent Van Gogh’s love life and the books he loved to read. You can also visit the museum’s website for a selection of things to do for young children, including school lessons and coloring pages.

Year Opened : 1852

The Victoria and Albert Museum collection spans 5,000 years of art from Europe, North America, Asia, and North Africa. The collection of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewelry, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings, and photographs is among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.

The virtual tour, in partnership with Google Arts and Culture, offers several online exhibits ranging from fashion to surrealism.

5 Natural History Museums With Virtual Tours

Year Opened : 1869

One of the largest natural history museums in the world, the American Museum of Natural History contains 34 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts.

The museum’s 360-degree virtual tours offer an up-close look at permanent exhibits, current exhibits, past exhibits, and research stations.

Year Opened: 1759

The British Museum is one of the largest in the world and houses over 8 million works within its walls. Established in 1759, it was the first public national museum in the world. Visitors can tour the great court and view some of the most famous objects in history, like the Elgin Marbles of Greece and the Rosetta Stone of Egypt.

The Museum is the world’s largest indoor space on Google Street View and you can go on a virtual visit to more than 60 galleries.

The British Museum also has virtual galleries on display, including:

• Prints and Drawings

To visit the British Museum’s virtual tour page, click here .

Year Opened: 1964

The National Museum of Anthropology is the largest and most visited museum in all of Mexico. The museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from Mexico’s pre-Columbian heritage, such as the Stone of the Sun (or the Aztec calendar stone) and the Aztec Xochipilli statue.

The museum has made more than 100 items available for Google visitors to explore from home.

To view the museum’s online collection, click here .

Located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is the 11th most visited museum in the world and the most visited natural history museum in the world. With over 325,000 square feet of exhibition space, the museum’s collections contain over 145 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts — the largest natural history collection in the world. Highlights of the collection include the Hope Diamond and the Star of Asia Sapphire.

You can view all of these specimens from the comfort of your home as the museum has dozens of different online exhibits that can all be accessed on its website.

To view the museum’s virtual tour, click here .

Year Opened: 1881

Undoubtably one of the best Museums in London , the Natural History Museum in London showcases 80 million life and earth science specimens of great historical and scientific value, even housing pieces collected by Charles Darwin. There are 5 categories within the museum: botany , entomology , mineralogy , paleontology , and zoology . Over 5 million people visit this museum each year, making it the most visited natural history museum in Europe.

One of the museum’s most prominent displays is the skeleton of an 82-foot long blue whale named Hope, which you can learn more about through a self-guided virtual tour, along with several other galleries. 

10 Science and Technology Museums With Virtual Tours

Year Opened : 1857

The London Science Museum holds a collection of over 300,000 items, including famous items such as Stephenson’s Rocket, Puffing Billy (the oldest surviving steam locomotive), the first jet engine, some of the earliest remaining steam engines, and documentation of the first typewriter.

Thanks to Google Street View, guests can take a virtual tour of the entire museum, or watch curator gallery guides on the museum’s YouTube channel.

To view the virtual tour or videos, click here .

Dedicated to the scientist and astronomer Galileo Galilei, the Museo Galilei is housed in an 11th-century palace known as the Palazzo Castellini. The museum has a collection of over 5,000 ancient scientific instruments dating back to the 13th century, and among its most notable items is the telescope Galileo used to discover the satellites of Jupiter.

Visitors from around the world have the opportunity to explore the inside of the museum and can access more than 1,000 permanent exhibition objects through the online catalog.

Year Opened: 1965

The Museum of Flight is the largest private air and space museum in the world and attracts over 500,000 visitors every year. The museum has more than 150 aircraft in its collection, including the Lockheed Model 10-E Electra (the aircraft Amelia Earhart was piloting when she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean), Boeing 747s, and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (pictured above).

The museum offers 360-degree tours that let you step inside dozens of these iconic aircraft.

Year Opened: 1846

The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium is dedicated to natural history and is part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The dinosaur hall of the museum is the world’s largest museum hall completely dedicated to dinosaurs, and its most important pieces are 30 fossilized Iguanodon skeletons, which were discovered in 1878 in Bernissart.

It has partnered with Google to set up virtual exhibits for viewing, including:

• 360-degree guided tour
• The Bernissart Iguanodons
• From Salehanthropus to Homo Sapiens
• Over 250 Years of Natural Sciences
• Past, Present, Future: The Marvels of Evolution

To view the museum’s online exhibits, click here .

Year Opened: 1830

The Museum of Science, Boston, receiving over 1.5 million visitors annually, is a museum and indoor zoo with more than 700 interactive exhibits and over 100 animals, many of which have been rescued and rehabilitated.

The museum offers a phenomenal virtual tour full of digital exhibits, videos, and audio presentations.

NASA, founded in 1958, was created by the federal government to develop the civilian space program, as well as to conduct aeronautics, space, and astrophysics research. Since its inception, NASA has been responsible for historic space missions including the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the space shuttle.

NASA has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to bring many online exhibits to life to showcase the beauty of space exploration.

Year Opened : 1946

The National Air and Space Museum is a center for the history and science of aviation, spaceflight, planetary science, terrestrial geology, and geophysics. It is the fifth most visited museum in the world (the second most visited in the U.S.), and contains the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, the Friendship 7 capsule, the Wright brothers’ Wright Flyer airplane, and Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis.

The virtual tour offers a 360-degree walk-through of the entire museum.

Year Opened: 2007

The National Museum of Computing is dedicated to collecting and restoring historic computer systems. The museum is home to the world’s largest collection of working historic computers dating back to the 1940s, including a rebuilt Mark 2 Colossus computer, alongside an exhibition of the most complex code-cracking activities performed at the Park.

In the 3D virtual tour, viewers can move around the galleries looking at the machines and their descriptions with the added bonus of hyperlinks to video and text explanations providing further detail and history of the exhibits.

Year Opened: 1923

Located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Riverside, Ohio, the National Museum of the United States Air Force is the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world, with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display.

The virtual tour allows visitors to take a virtual, 360-degree, self-guided tour of the entire museum by navigating from gallery to gallery.

Year Opened: 1683

Oxford’s History of Science Museum holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

The museum, ever ahead of the times, has offered virtual tours since 1995. You’ll get to explore the fantastic exhibits and artifacts of some of the most important scientific discoveries in science history.

10 History Museums With Virtual Tours

Year Opened : 2009

The Acropolis Museum is centered around the archaeological findings at the site of Athens’ most important structure — the Acropolis. The museum was built to house every artifact found on the rock and surrounding slopes, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece.

The museum has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to bring the museum to life virtually. Now you can view rock, marble, and sculptures certificates, all of which are thousands of years old, all from the comfort of your couch!

The American Battlefield Trust Virtual Battlefield Tours offers the incredible opportunity to experience 360-degree virtual tours of more than 20 American Revolution and Civil War battlefields. You can explore Gettysburg, with 15 different stops, each of which features icons that discuss in great detail the history and significance of the battle.

Year Opened: 1957

What was once the house where Anne Frank went into hiding during WWII is now a museum dedicated to increasing awareness of Anne’s story and life in the attic. The Anne Frank House was established in cooperation with Anne Frank’s father, Otto Frank, and now welcomes over 1 million visitors from around the world each year.

The museum’s website offers a virtual reality tour of the annex, along with other educational resources about Anne’s life.

Year Opened: 1941

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum holds the records of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd U.S. president (1933 to 1945). The museum showcases the history behind FDR’s story, his presidency, New Deal policies, assassination attempt, and wartime decisions.

The 360-degree online tour gives you a close look at original documents, artifacts, and videos from FDR’s life.

Year Opened: 2003

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, history, and culture. It was established by an Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African-Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts.

The museum website offers more than 15 different online exhibits covering African American history and culture.

Check out its online virtual tour  and digital resources guide .

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has more than 1.8 million objects that highlight the history of the U.S — including the original Star-Spangled Banner, Julia Child’s kitchen, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, Indiana Jones’ fedora and whip, and more!

The museum offers about 100 online exhibits from its encyclopedic collections, each with a mix of photos, video, graphics, and text on topics ranging through the nation’s entire history.

Year Opened : 1866

The National Museum of Scotland is dedicated to Scottish antiquities, culture, and history. The museum contains artifacts from around the world, encompassing geology, archaeology, natural history, science, technology, art, and world cultures. Popular items from the collections include Dolly the Sheep, the Arthur’s Seat coffins, and the Cramond Lioness sculpture.

The Museum’s galleries have been captured digitally in partnership with Google Arts & Culture, along with a virtual walk-through thanks to Google Street View.

Year Opened: 1996

Founded in 1996 by Karen Staser, the National Women’s History Museum researches, collects, and exhibits the contributions of women to the social, cultural, economic, and political life of our nation in the context of world history.

Its website currently features 29 different online exhibits!

Year Opened: 1974 (created third century B.C.)

The Terracotta Army at Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210 to 209 B.C. to protect the emperor in his afterlife. The sculptures include warriors, chariots, and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the 3 pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum.

The online experience allows you to get up close and personal with the sculptures in a full 360-degree experience!

To view the online virtual experience, click here .

Year Opened: 1980

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is the country’s official memorial to the Holocaust. It is located on the National Mall alongside other monuments dedicated to freedom. Each year, the museum encourages its 1.6 million visitors to promote human dignity, confront hatred, prevent genocide, and strengthen democratic values. The museum’s collection includes millions of archival documents, artifacts, photographs, footage, and a list of over 200,000 registered survivors and their families, among other historical items.

Its website offers a wide selection of educational resources, including a virtual tour, and is available in 16 languages.

There you have it — 75 amazing #MuseumsAtHome options filled with one-of-a-kind artifacts covering art, science, history, and natural history, all of which can be “visited” virtually while you lounge in your pajamas! So whether you’re a massive fan of art, looking for an educational experience for your children, or simply need a way to keep yourself entertained, you can’t go wrong with a virtual tour of any of these world-class museums.

Frequently Asked Questions

What museums have virtual tours.

There are dozens of museums worldwide offering virtual tours — we have 75 on this list alone! But some of our favorites are the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the British Museum!

How much do virtual tours cost?

Every single virtual tour included on our list is completely free of charge!

What is a virtual museum tour?

A virtual museum tour is, in essence, a simulation of what you might experience when visiting the museum in person. Virtual tours are usually comprised of a collection of videos, still images, 3D walkthroughs, and narration that help you feel as though you’re visiting the museum — without actually doing so!

How do you do a virtual tour?

Doing a virtual tour is easy! Often, the museum will have a dedicated website page allowing you to view all of their virtual resources on 1 page.

In the case of museums that have a 3D walkthrough, you can “walk” yourself through the museum by clicking from artwork to artwork, and exhibit to exhibit, as if you were actually visiting the museum in person!

Are virtual tours worth it?

Absolutely! If you’re currently not able to visit a museum in person, but want to experience all it has to offer, a virtual tour allows you to do just that — all from the comforts of your home!

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Take A Virtual Tour Of The 7 Wonders Of The World

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with the myriad of options for virtual travel, why not start with a virtual tour of the 7 wonders of the world?

Lots of people have really long lists of places they want to visit but don’t know where to start. In these times when we’re all stuck inside this is also probably true with options for virtual travel. So, why not start with the 7 wonders of the world ? Also known as the ‘ New7Wonders ’ the places on the 7 Wonders of the World list were voted on by over 100 million people in 2007, the latest among a series of lists compiled throughout history.

Located across various countries and continents you can explore the wonders of the world from the comfort of your own home. Travel for free and experience the world’s most famous landmarks without the crowds.

Also Read:  See These Alternatives to the Wonders of the World

Visit The 7 Wonders Of The World From Anywhere In The World

Chichen itza, mexico.

Located in the Yucatan Peninsula, Chichen Itza is the perfect embodiment of the ancient Mayan culture. Once a trading centre for cloth, slaves, honey, and salt (between 800 to 1200AD), this city is now in ruins. The most famous ruin is El Caracol, which is said to have been a sophisticated astronomical observatory. You can explore these landmarks on the tour here . 

Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This massive 130-foot-tall statue has been towering over Rio since 1931. Perched on Corcovado Mountain, this awe-inspiring concrete and soapstone statue has become iconic for both Rio and Brazil. Now you can explore this wonder of the world with this virtual tour . 

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy

The Colosseum is one of the most iconic sights of Rome. Built between 70 and 80 AD, it was in use for almost 500 years for gladiatorial matches, executions, battle reenactments, and other public spectacles. Though parts of it are in ruins, you can still visit it on this virtual tour here . 

The Great Wall, China

This stone and earth fortification is China’s most famous attraction and took almost a thousand years to complete. It was primarily constructed to protect the Chinese Empire from invading the Mongols and is actually a succession of walls and fortifications spanning approximately 6,400 kilometres making it the longest man-made structure in the world. You can see it here . 

Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru

Machu Picchu is another major wonder of the world you can visit virtually from your home. This magnificent Incan city is set between two towering peaks in the Andes and was built in the 15th century and later abandoned. Usually, visitors reach it by foot, train, or helicopter, but now you can walk through the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru from your living room here .

Petra, Jordan

Once the capital of the Nabataean Empire of King Aretas, Petra is home to a number of incredible structures that can be seen carved into the spectacular red stone. These include a 4,000-seat amphitheater and the El Deir monastery. Now, thanks to a collaboration between Google and Queen Rania of Jordan, you can now explore Petra on a virtual tour here . 

The Taj Mahal, Agra, India

Standing on the banks of the Yamuna River in Agra, the Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum that was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. The complex includes stunning formal gardens, raised pathways, sunken flower beds, and a reflecting pool. While you can’t go inside, you can explore the rest of the complex here . 

BONUS: Pyramids Of Giza, Cairo, Egypt

The breathtaking Pyramids of Giza were constructed by the Ancient Egyptian pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure between 2550 to 2490 BCE. The pyramid complex is also home to the statue of the Sphinx, several cemeteries, a workers’ village, and many palaces. You can explore all of this on the virtual tour here . 

So, Are You Going To Explore These Wonders Virtually?

With so many of us confined to our homes in this time of social distancing, it can be difficult to find something to keep our minds occupied. One perfect solution is to see a bit of the world, even if it’s just confined to a screen. 

Also read: Have you seen any of these seven natural wonders of the world?

• Chichen Itza
• Machu Picchu
• Pyramids of Giza
• Rio De Janeiro
• Seven Wonders

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