World of Wanderlust

Virtual Museums: 10 Museums you can visit online

Every day we spend indoors is beginning to feel like the point of no return. Rather than wallowing in the sadness of life in isolation, now is a great time to make use of endless resources that will leave you more connected with the world, rather than less. These virtual museums are providing just that: a unique look into the world’s most famous museums. Best of all, you don’t even have to leave home!

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Virtual Museums around the world

1. the british museum.

With more than 8 million objects, the British Museum is one of the most fascinating collections. The museum teamed up with Google streetview to offer a virtual experience to museum goers so you can view the collection right from home.

2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The MET will forever be among my favourite collection to explore. But the good news is for art lovers, the Metropolitan Museum of Art offers dome really great tours through the museum and its collections without leaving home. Check them out here .

3. The Vatican Museums

One of the most incredible places I have visited that has exceeded my expectations was the Vatican Museum. It was way back over a decade ago when I first stepped inside the Vatican and after touring the museums online , I find them just as impressive now as I did back then. More importantly you can tour Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel – a sight to behold!

Along with a tour of the NASA facilities in Virginia and Ohio, NASA also have their own app to tour their facilities. Now I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember the last time I downloaded an app that didn’t make my iPhone photos look better, so I’m guessing you’d be more interested in a tour of the Langley Research Centre .

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5. The Louvre, Paris

Not only is the Louvre one of the world’s largest art collections, it is also one of my favourite attractions in Paris . The halls are filled with endless exhibitions to discover and the architecture alone makes it worth visiting. The Louvre is accessible in 360 degrees so you really feel like you’re visiting in person. Visit the free online tour here .

6. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea

Opened in 2013, this museum offers a great insight into Korean art. This is one of the most unique displays of modern and contemporary art and in conjunction with Google Arts and Culture, you can now tour the museum virtually .

7. The Anne Frank House

Anyone who has been to Amsterdam will know this is the must visit museum in the city. You can now take a virtual tour of Anne Frank’s secret annex and the house in which she lived by taking a virtual tour .

8. The London National Gallery

You can now tour 18 gallery rooms inside the London National Gallery which houses an impressive 2,300 works of art. My personal highlight is Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.

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9. The Guggenheim

The architecture of the Solomon R Guggenheim museum is reason enough to visit but the collection is the cherry on the cake. The museum has made some of its collections and exhibitions available to view online, including works from Franz Marc, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, and Jeff Koons. Visit the Guggenheim museum by virtual tour here .

10. De Young Museum, San Francisco

One of the newest additions on the scene is the De Young Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The museum houses American art dating from the 17th to 21st centuries. You can step inside select exhibits here .

Brooke Saward

Brooke Saward founded World of Wanderlust as a place to share inspiration from her travels and to inspire others to see our world. She now divides her time between adventures abroad and adventures in the kitchen, with a particular weakness for French pastries.

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Virtual Museum Tours, Performances, and Tutorials to Keep You (and Your Kids) Entertained at Home

Here’s how to stay entertained while you remain home in the midst of the coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak..

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Virtual Museum Tours, Performances, and Tutorials to Keep You (and Your Kids) Entertained at Home

Google Arts and Culture provides digital tours of more than 2,500 museums and galleries around the world, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Photo by Tinnaporn Sathapornnanont/Shutterstock

As people in countries around the world are being asked to practice social distancing —to stay home and avoid crowded places—in order to help “ flatten the curve ” of the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), an increasing number of museums, theaters, and tourist attractions have closed their doors (temporarily), and large public gatherings, such as concerts and festivals, have been canceled or postponed.

While we all learn to adjust to the realities of self-quarantine, a number of cultural institutions and individual artists are bringing their shows to the streaming-sphere so you can feel like you’re venturing beyond home, even though now is truly the time to stay put . These virtual museum tours, live performances, and digital broadcasts—most of which are being offered for free—will help keep you (and any youngsters) entertained while we all do our part to ensure that these trying times are one day behind us.

Where to find virtual museum tours

Moma, rijksmuseum, the louvre and more.

While major Paris museums such as the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay are closed until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak, you can still virtually explore parts of these art institutions, and many others, thanks to Google Arts and Culture . The online platform provides digital tours of more than 2,000 museums and galleries around the world, among them New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, and London’s Tate Britain, all of which have temporarily closed to help halt the spread of the virus.

The platform’s featured collections for each museum vary, but most include digital exhibits (London’s National Gallery offers 10 separate Monet collections ), as well as a “street view” that lets you explore inside the institutions, so you can see paintings such da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery (currently shuttered), or Van Gogh’s The Starry Night at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which is also closed until further notice.

Some art institutions, such as the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, and the San Diego Museum of Art also offer a few virtual tours of their own.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In addition to online exhibit tours, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan is giving free public access to more than 200 art books from its digital archives (until the museum reopens). Available titles focus on a range of renowned artists from late 19th-/early 20th-century abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky to contemporary conceptual artist Jenny Holzer. Other books in the collection examine more general artistic movements, from American pop icons to the history of Italian art.

American Museum of Natural History

Similarly, New York City’s American Museum of Natural History is making its previously recorded tours of the museum halls available on Facebook Live every day at 2 p.m. (EST) throughout its closure. The virtual tours, which are led by museum guides, take viewers through collections in the museum’s Hall of African Mammals, Hall of the North American Forests, Hall of Meteorites, and more. A collection of the museum’s educational materials (for children and adults) has also been made available to the public for free; you can find scientific articles and videos on topics including climate change and human health, as well as science classes, games, and quizzes for kids, on the museum’s website .

Baltimore Museum of Art

The Baltimore Museum of Art is offering virtual gallery walks of several exhibitions currently installed as part of the museum’s year-long 2020 Vision initiative , which is dedicated to highlighting the works of female-identifying artists. Virtual tours of various museum exhibits are available on BMA’s website, including Baltimore-born artist SHAN Wallace’s exhibit, 410 , which the photographer describes as a love letter to the beauty, complexity, and resilience of her hometown.

Live performances and concerts to watch

Nightly met opera streams.

After canceling all performances through the remainder of its 2019–2020 season due to concerns around the coronavirus outbreak, New York City’s Metropolitan Opera announced that it would stream a performance from its archives for every night through the duration of the closure, starting Monday, March 16. The Nightly Met Opera Streams , which start at 7:30 p.m. (EST), pull from the renowned opera house’s award-winning Live in HD series, which includes encore presentations such as 19th-century French composer Georges Bizet’s Carmen . The recordings remain available to view for free on the Met Opera’s website until 6:30 p.m. (EST) the following day after they’re streamed.

92Y online archives

Another New York City arts institution, 92Y, has made its online archives —which contain hundreds of recordings of readings, concerts, and educational talks—free to the public during this time. On Wednesday, March 18, the cultural organization also livestreamed the last recital from its 2019/20 vocal series, featuring mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron and pianist Myra Huang performing songs by Beethoven and Mahler. You can watch the free livestream online.

Broadway performances

Theater-streaming service BroadwayHD is offering a seven-day free trial (before a monthly or yearly subscription) so users can livestream full-length shows from Broadway, which will now remain dark in New York City through Labor Day, at least . The site has a hefty archive of Broadway performances with everything from Cats (1998) and Swan Lake (2015) to Sweeney Todd (1982).

New York City Ballet’s spring 2020 season

New York City Ballet (NYCB) is going digital for its now-canceled spring 2020 season by streaming recorded performances from its repertory every Tuesday and Friday at 8 p.m. (EST) through May. The virtual performances spotlight classic works filmed during recent seasons at the Lincoln Center, including classic ballets such as George Balanchine’s Apollo (filmed in January 2019). Each performance will be available on NYCB’s YouTube channel , Facebook , and homepage for 72 hours after it streams.

National Theatre Live at Home

Every Thursday at 2 p.m. (EST) through May, the United Kingdom’s National Theatre is streaming a different stage production from its archives as part of its “National Theatre Live” program, also called “National Theatre at Home.” The London institution’s online offerings have included popular British plays such as One Man, Two Guvnors (which features a Tony Award–winning performance by James Corden). Full-length plays are uploaded to the National Theatre’s YouTube channel each week and remain available for seven days after they air.

The Berlin Philharmonic, Paris Opera, and more

The Berlin Philharmonic, also temporarily closed to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, dropped the subscription fee to its online video streaming service, known as its Digital Concert Hall . The legendary German orchestra is currently offering archival performances to home audiences for free through April 30. Other major opera houses and concert halls around the world are similarly streaming free archival performances, among them the Paris Opera , London’s Wigmore Hall , Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera , and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra .

Where to stream TV shows and movies for free

This live TV streaming service is offering new users in the United States free access to more than 50 cable channels and 50,000 on-demand movies every night during “primetime hours,” from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. (EST). All you have to do is create a Sling TV account with your email and zip code—unlike most other free trials , you don’t have to enter payment details for access.

Amazon Prime Video (for kids)

Amazon has also lifted its Prime Video paywall for more than 40 children’s shows, including Amazon originals, such as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie , as well as popular PBS Kids series, such as Arthur .

Rent new theatrical releases at home

Even if you’ve already prepared a long list of TV shows and movies to stream during this time of social distancing, there might’ve been an upcoming movie release you were really hoping to see when it hit theaters. On Monday, March 16, Universal Pictures made a groundbreaking announcement : Due to coronavirus, the studio is making movies available at home on the same day as the films’ global theatrical releases, starting with DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour (which opened April 10 in the United States). The movies will be available for a 48-hour rental period on a variety of on-demand services such as iTunes and Google Play at a price of $20.

Free online dance parties and workouts

Virtual museum tours and movie marathons can help pass the time, but it’s important to stay healthy by moving your body, which proves more difficult for some from the confines of home. To blow off some steam and get your endorphins going, tune into a daily Instagram Live dance party hosted by Lady Gaga’s former backup dancer (follow him at @mkik808 ), or try these livestream workout classes and virtual dance parties.

Down Dog Yoga

The Down Dog iOS and Android app is offering its virtual workout classes (yoga, HIIT, and Barre) for free to new users until June 1. The fitness app is also extending completely free access for students and teachers (K-12 and college) and healthcare professionals until July 1.

“Dance Church Go!”

Dance Church is a free, biweekly fitness class that’s part aerobic workout, part virtual dance party. Led by Dance Church founder, Kate Wallich, and two other instructors, the “Dance Church Go!” livestreams take place every Wednesday at 8 p.m. (EST) and Sunday at 1 p.m. (EST) and often have up to 12,000 people in virtual attendance.

DJ D-Nice’s “Club Quarantine”

DJ D-Nice started his “Club Quarantine” Instagram Live dance parties with an eight-hour live DJ set on Wednesday, March 18. Within a few days, word about the livestream spread around the internet, and by that Saturday the live DJ session hosted over 100,000 viewers on Instagram Live. Previous attendees have included Rihanna, Drake, Jennifer Lopez, Ava DuVernay, Dave Chapelle, and Oprah Winfrey—even Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Mark Zuckerberg. Follow DJ D-Nice on Instagram ( @dnice ) for scheduling updates about his hugely popular nightly jams.

#BareFeetLIVE with PBS TV host Mickela Mallozzi

Mickela Mallozzi, professional dancer and Emmy Award–winning host of PBS’s Bare Feet TV series, offers a weekly #BareFeetLIVE at-home edition featuring interviews with musicians and dancers from around the world. Every Tuesday on Facebook Live and Thursday on Instagram Live —at 1 p.m. (EST) for both—you can tune in for real-time lessons on global dances including the Irish sean nos , a Haitian folk dance, and the Brazilian samba.

Quarantine cooking classes

Chef massimo bottura’s “kitchen quarantine”.

Another important aspect of staying healthy under quarantine is to prepare nutritious meals with the food you have available. Renowned Italian chef Massimo Bottura—the restauranteur behind the three-Michelin-star Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy—is offering up his culinary insights through daily cooking classes on Instagram Live for self-isolated viewers. During the English-language livestreams, which Bottura named “Kitchen Quarantine,” the chef demonstrates how he’s preparing his own dinners while under quarantine. Head to his Instagram ( @massimobottura ) to catch each livestream at 2:30 p.m. (EST); after he prepares his dinner, Bottura addresses recipe questions from tuned-in viewers.

“Quar Eye: Cooking Lessons in Quarantine” with Netflix’s Antoni Porowski

In mid-March, Antoni Porowski from Netflix’s Queer Eye launched a similar cooking tutorial series dubbed “Quar Eye: Cooking Lessons in Quarantine.” During the roughly 10-minute videos, which Porowski posts to his Instagram ( @antoni ) weekly, the Fab Five’s food guru teaches viewers how to prepare simple meals while staying at home in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The first episode, for example, shows Porowski making an omelette using canned foods and pantry staples, a dish he dubbed “The Keep Calm-lette” in the caption.

Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi’s “Baking Club”

Christina Tosi, founder of the popular bakery chain Milk Bar , hosts a “Baking Club” Instagram Live series on her personal account ( @christinatosi ) at 2 p.m. (EST) daily. The day before each livestream baking class, Tosi posts a “shopping list” of the ingredients you’ll need to whip up her sweet snacks, such as french toast muffins and oat cookie bars. (Most of the ingredients are staple pantry items that you might already have.) You can watch the step-by-step classes on Tosi’s IGTV after they air and also find the recipes on her website .

“Quarantine Quitchen” with Food Network’s Alton Brown

Food expert and TV personality Alton Brown is hosting live cooking classes on his YouTube channel every Tuesday at 7 p.m. (EST). The livestreams involve two series: “Pantry Raid,” which sees Brown outline recipes that use pantry staples for easy-to-make snacks such as onion dip. The other videos, “Quarantine Quitchen,” bring at-home viewers along with Brown and his wife as they livestream cooking escapades from their kitchen.

Free virtual art classes for adults

Moma’s free online art courses.

MoMA is offering a series of free online art courses for at-home audiences amid the coronavirus pandemic. The nine courses, which are available through the online learning platform Coursera, explore everything from photography and fashion to postwar abstract painting, as well as more general examinations of contemporary art. New sessions begin every four weeks and can be completed at your own pace.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by wendy macnaughton (@wendymac) on Mar 17, 2020 at 11:07am PDT

Daily drawing lessons for kids

New York Times bestselling illustrator and graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton is offering free, weekday drawing classes on Instagram Live through the rest of the school year. “The class is for kids of all ages, parents of kids, parents of parents, aunties/uncles, friends, and pets,” the artist shared on her Instagram ( @wendymac ) in an announcement post.

The livestreams air at 10 a.m. (PST) and last about 30 minutes—which is “long enough for parents to get a little work done or take a shower and take a couple deep breaths,” MacNaughton wrote. After each class, you can check out the #drawtogether hashtag, where MacNaughton has asked that participants post photos of their drawings so that everyone can check out one another’s work. The live drawing lessons are also uploaded to MacNaughton’s Youtube channel 24 hours after they air.

Educational courses for at-home kids

School closures across the nation due to the coronavirus mean millions of students and young children are out of classes and at home. Because of this, the educational company Scholastic launched a “Learn at Home” website that offers daily courses for students from pre-kindergarten to grade 9, providing online educational content such as virtual field trips, writing and research projects, and geography challenges. The website, which is accessible on any device that has internet, will remain free and open indefinitely.

This article originally appeared online on March 16, 2020; it was updated on April 29, 2020, to include current information.

>>Next: Puffins, Koalas, and Pandas: Wildlife Webcams to Watch During Quarantine

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The 19 best virtual museum tours in the world

Words:  Bea Mitchell

| 1 min read

With a virtual tour , visitors can view world-class collections from the comfort of home

The global outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 prompted something of a digital revolution. Schools went online, employees worked from home, and museum tours became virtual.

Blooloop takes a look at some of the top virtual tours from France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, the Netherlands and China, as well as the US and UK. Keep reading for the best online offerings from the likes of the Louvre, British Museum , Rijksmuseum and MoMA.

1 Louvre Museum, Paris, France

As well as virtual tours , the Louvre recently put its entire art collection of more than 480,000 works online . The interactive database boasts rare items and iconic artworks, including the Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa and Winged Victory of Samothrace. Users can explore the museum via an interactive map .

“Today, the Louvre is dusting off its treasures, even the least-known. For the first time, anyone can access the entire collection of works from a computer or smartphone for free, whether they are on display in the museum, on loan, even long-term, or in storage,” said Jean-Luc Martinez , president of the Musée du Louvre.

“The Louvre’s stunning cultural heritage is all now just a click away. I am sure that this digital content is going to further inspire people to come to the Louvre to discover the collections in person.”

2 Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy

Founded in the early 16th century by Pope Julius II, the Vatican Museums house one of the world’s biggest art collections of around 70,000 works. The Vatican Museums showcase artworks from the Catholic Church’s collections, including Roman sculptures and Renaissance art. Highlights include Egyptian mummies, old masters, statues, rooms painted by Raphael and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.

Virtual visitors can enjoy tours of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Library’s great hall, the Salone Sistino. Also available are tours of the Profane Museum, Pio Clementino Museum, Raphael’s Rooms and the Niccoline Chapel.

3 Natural History Museum, London, UK

London’s Natural History Museum has various virtual exploration tools , including a self-guided tour of the galleries, access to 300,000 specimens from the collection, and audio guides narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature , which recently opened in London, is also available as a virtual exhibition on Google Arts & Culture.

Guests can explore an online world brimming with real and magical beasts, alongside highlights, stories and games. The online exhibit is a social offering with quizzes, facts and videos, while augmented reality (AR) is used to ‘invite animals into your living room’.

“We really explore the storytelling aspect of science and discovery,” said exhibition lead Louis Buckley . “With some mythical beings like dragons, unicorns, mermaids, there are clearly parallels between real things people have seen, and these mythical beings have roots in interpretations of things that haven’t been understood at that point in time, so it’s a great way to draw out messages of discovery and the evolution of knowledge.”

4 The National Gallery, London, UK

The National Gallery in London offers various virtual tours , allowing armchair visitors to step inside the gallery and experience the vast collections of paintings from their computer, smartphone or VR headset. Users will immerse themselves in Renaissance art from Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, including works by Titian, Veronese, and Holbein.

The Director’s Choice is a virtual exhibition for 2021 showing a selection of paintings chosen and narrated by Dr Gabriele Finaldi. Also available from the National Gallery is a virtual reality (VR) tour of the Sainsbury Wing , showing off its collection of early Renaissance paintings from 1200 to 1500.

5 Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico

The Frida Kahlo Museum offers a virtual tour of Frida Kahlo’s colourful house in Mexico City, known as the Blue House (La Casa Azul). Located in the Del Carmen neighbourhood of Coyoacán, the residence is where Kahlo lived for most of her life. It became a museum in 1958 following her death in 1954.

The online tour takes visitors through the house and gardens and offers a look at a selection of Kahlo’s art. The Blue House showcases the artist’s personal belongings, paintings, sculptures, photographs, documents and furniture.

6 Picasso Museum, Barcelona, Spain

The Picasso Museum, which opened in Barcelona in 1963, houses one of the world’s biggest collections of artworks by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, with 4,251 works in its permanent collection.

Virtual offerings include an interactive exploration of the museum’s courtyards for a journey through the history of Barcelona, as well as a tour of the various places where Picasso lived, worked and visited. This includes the Picasso family’s first lodgings in Barcelona, other family apartments, and Picasso’s first and last studios.

7 The British Museum, London, UK

The British Museum was founded in 1753 and opened its doors in London in 1759. The institution’s vast collection spans two million years of history and culture and attracts more than 6 million visitors each year.

Virtual tours are available via Google Arts & Culture, with objects in the collection including the Rosetta Stone, Parthenon sculptures and Egyptian mummies. Online guests can explore the outdoor and indoor areas of the museum and enjoy a detailed look at 7,301 items. Online exhibits include ‘Buddhist art in Myanmar’, ‘Egypt: faith after the pharaohs’ and ‘Celtic life in Iron Age Britain’. 

The British Museum was offering virtual visits before the outbreak of COVID-19 . In 2019, it expanded its ‘virtual visits’ programme, which allows school pupils to experience the collection remotely.

“Pupils from Andover to Aberdeen and Brecon to Belfast can now experience some of the museum’s incredible treasures from their own classroom, potentially sparking a lifelong curiosity in the history of the world,” said Hartwig Fischer , director of the British Museum.

8 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain

Designed by architect Frank Gehry, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao building boasts 24,000 square metres of space, 9,000 square metres of which is dedicated to exhibitions. Google Arts & Culture is home to plenty of virtual offerings from the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, including online exhibits, videos and images.

It also includes highlights from the collection and a guided tour through four paintings by Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, James Rosenquist, and Sigmar Polke. Users can get a closer look at iconic contemporary artworks and take a virtual tour around the spaces and terraces of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

9 Anne Frank House, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Anne Frank House is a museum dedicated to Jewish diarist Anne Frank. Located on a canal called the Prinsengracht, Anne Frank House can be found in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Virtual visitors can explore the Secret Annex , the place where Anne lived in hiding for more than two years during WWII, and where she wrote her diary.

This is also available in virtual reality with the free ‘Anne Frank House VR’ app. In addition, a video diary offers a look at Anne’s life in the Secret Annex, and digital guests can tour the house where she and her family lived before going into hiding on Google Arts & Culture.

“We feel that this is an appropriate destination for Anne Frank’s former home. It is a place where freedom, tolerance, and free speech are given free rein. The 360-degree images allow us to share this special place with the public,” said Ronald Leopold , executive director of the Anne Frank House.

10 Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, US

Founded in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York houses a vast collection of more than 150,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, models and objects. Highlights include Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night and Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

The collection can be viewed online , while 129 artworks from the collection are on Google Arts & Culture. MoMA also launched ‘Virtual Views’, which offers virtual explorations with curators. On June 24, Virtual Views is hosting a live Q&A with artist Julie Mehretu, in conjunction with the Cézanne Drawing exhibition.

11 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Rijksmuseum is located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and boasts famous works of art such as The Milkmaid by Vermeer and Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. The museum’s 80 galleries feature 8,000 objects exploring 800 years of Dutch history and art.

Google Arts & Culture has plenty of digital Rijksmuseum offerings , including 164,511 items from the collection and tours of the museum’s interior spaces. The Rijksmuseum i s located at the Museum Square in Amsterdam, close to the Van Gogh Museum. The main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened in 1885.

12 Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France

Situated on the banks of the Seine in Paris, the Musée d’Orsay can be found in the former Orsay railway station, built between 1898 and 1900. The museum in France displays art from 1848 to 1914, including works by Monet, Cézanne, Van Gogh and Renoir. As well as exhibits and 277 items from the Musée d’Orsay’s collection, Google Arts & Culture includes a virtual tour of the museum itself.

The Art Newspaper recently unveiled the world’s top 100 art museums in its survey for 2020, revealing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on museums as physical attendance dropped by 77 percent globally. The Musée d’Orsay welcomed 867,274 visitors in 2020, a decline of 76 percent from 2019.

13 São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), Brazil

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) was founded in 1947 as Brazil’s first modern museum. MASP’s collection contains more than 8,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, objects, photographs, and costumes from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Art fans who can’t currently get to Brazil can head to Google Arts & Culture to take a virtual tour of the São Paulo Museum of Art . Virtual guests can also check out MASP’s online exhibits, as well as 1,011 items from the collection. In addition, MASP offers digital programming such as home drawing, live events with guests, lectures and seminars.

14 National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

The National Gallery of Victoria, also known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, the NGV is the oldest and largest art museum in Australia. In addition to the NGV Triennial 2020 virtual tours, the National Gallery of Victoria allows visitors to explore a wealth of exhibits and collections online .

This includes the modern and contemporary art and design collection, the British and European collections, and the 19th century and 20th-century Australian art collections. Virtual self-guided tours of exhibits include ‘Big Weather’ and ‘Marking Time: Indigenous Art from the NGV’.

15 National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, US

The National Gallery of Art is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The US museum preserves, collects and exhibits works of art, and is home to more than 150,000 items, from paintings, prints and drawings to sculptures, photographs and decorative arts. The National Gallery of Art covers two buildings, as well as a sculpture garden.

Virtual visitors can enjoy 42,462 items on the museum’s Google Arts & Culture site, grouped under categories such as Renaissance, Impressionism and Art Nouveau. Guests also have the option to explore the NGA collection on the museum’s website, where they will also find a blog, podcast and virtual cinema.

16 Hong Kong Heritage Museum, China

The Hong Kong Heritage Museum, which launched in December 2000, is a space to explore Hong Kong culture. This includes art, design, pop culture and photography, as well as Cantonese opera. The destination is located in Sha Tin, adjacent to the Shing Mun River.

It houses a wide range of exhibitions and programmes, some of which are available on Google Arts & Culture. Virtual collections encompass digital art and Hong Kong , while 144 items from the museum’s collections are accessible. Users can also take a virtual tour of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.

17 Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, Spain

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is an art museum in Madrid, Spain. Located near the Prado Museum, the institution is named after its founder, Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, and his son Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza. The museum offers an overview of art from the 13th century to the late 20th century and includes works from the Renaissance and Impressionists, as well as Pop Art and much more.

The website includes an extensive virtual tour , with users able to select which floors and rooms they would like to visit. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is also on Google Arts & Culture , which offers a tour, online exhibits and items from the collection .

18 National Palace Museum, Taipei City, Taiwan

The National Palace Museum is located in Taipei, Taiwan. It boasts a vast permanent collection of nearly 700,000 artefacts and artworks, covering 8,000 years of Chinese history. The museum has been working on making its national treasures more accessible globally through online offerings.

The National Palace Museum website includes a large-scale virtual tour of the museum grounds and exhibits, as well as online routes for digital visitors. It’s also on Google Arts & Culture, where users will discover online exhibits, virtual tours, collections, and 831 items to explore in greater detail.

19 J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, US

The J Paul Getty Museum opened at the $1.3 billion Getty Center in Los Angeles, California in December 1997. It boasts works of art dating from the 8th century to the 21st century, as well as gardens and incredible views of LA. The collection includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, decorative arts and photographs. The J Paul Getty Museum has another location at the Getty Villa in Malibu.

Online exhibits such as ‘Faces of Roman Egypt’ and ‘Contemporary Voices in Asian American Photography’ are on Google Arts & Culture, as is a tour of the museum in LA . Virtual visitors can also check out 71,190 items from the Getty’s collection. The Getty Museum is active online; it previously launched a social media challenge and put more than 70,000 artworks on Nintendo’s Animal Crossing .

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Bea Mitchell

More from this author, exploring the future of museums at cta 2024: sustainability, inclusivity & engagement, history attracts a new crowd: the immersive revolution in museums, 5 best-practice ticketing recommendations for museums & heritage attractions in 2024, immersive art and the ecosystem it lacks, university museums are experiencing a renaissance, a covid inquiry for visitor attractions: are we better prepared now, enjoying this article, search for something, eden project's event lets guests co-create new morecambe site, smithsonian museum's new ar experience brings history to life, therme group partners with sk ecoplant on new south korea site, wales' national museums to axe at least 90 jobs after budget cut, related content, a journey through the king's legacy at direct from graceland: elvis, exhibits development group takes bookings for sell-out evolution dinosaur exhibition, digitickets improves booking experience for west somerset railway with new integrated website journey, beckhoff automation drives citroën 2cv installation at classic car house.

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Get Outside Without Leaving Your Home Through These Virtual Tours

Social distancing can't stop you from exploring.

Utah, Moab, Arches National Park, Delicate Arch

Take A Hike

Have you always wanted to visit the National Parks? Now's your chance to do so, virtually. Google partnered with the National Parks Service to create breathtaking 360° tours of terrains ranging from Hawaii's active volcanos to Utah's canyons. The tours are interactive and accompanied by narration from park rangers, perfect for kids and adults alike.

Google also offers virtual tours of international natural monuments. Scale Japan's Mt. Fuji from your living room and take a journey through Gombe, Tanzania , exploring Jane Goodall's famed chimpanzee reserve. There, you can even follow a day in the life of a chimpanzee, tracing a female chimp named Glitter through the Gombe forests.

Finally, through the Nature Conservancy, you can stroll through Oklahoma's landscapes . Relax as you're transported through vast, open fields, plains, and prairies. The interactive site also offers more information on certain aspects of the landscape, so you can learn while you tour.

If you miss the ocean, but can't get there at the moment, satisfy your cravings with a virtual dive . The Natural Marine Sanctuaries offer immersive diving experiences for a variety of underwater locales, including American Samoa and the Florida Keys. There, you can see sea lions swimming through kelp, massive coral reefs, and much more.

For some real-time excitement, the New England Aquarium is broadcasting live presentations on Facebook every day at 11a.m. EST. Their site also has many prerecorded videos to browse, from penguin feeding to at-home projects for families.

Once again, Google has your online nature covered with their sea tours. With Google Earth, you can use Street View underwater , through imagery provided by Underwater Earth and the Ocean Agency.

Coral Reefs In Danger

Meet Some Furry Friends

Many zoos now offer live streams of their animals, so you can feel as though you are right there with these exotic critters. The San Diego Zoo and the Smithsonian National Zoo both offer this feature on their websites. So spend your day with some penguins, giraffes, or lions—you won't regret it.

Walk A City's Streets

Google is back at it again with the immersive virtual experiences. With the site's Street Art Tours , you can walk through cities ranging from Buenos Aires to New York to Amsterdam and explore the city's street art and graffiti. The collection also includes audio tours and artist stories so you can engage with the art as you (virtually) stroll.

Tour A Castle

Go full throttle on the escapism and pretend to be royal by virtually exploring a palace. Whether you want to wander Buckingham Palace or see the beauty of Versailles , many castles around the world now offer extensive and interactive online tours.

Into the British royals? You can now take an inside look at many of the Royal Family homes including Windsor Castle , The Palace of Holyroodhouse (the Queen's official Scottish residence), and, of course, Buckingham Palace . If you want a more global royal approach, take a look at these virtual tours of iconic palaces worldwide.

Grande Galerie or Galerie des Glaces (The Hall of Mirrors) in Palace of Versailles

See the Vatican

Few spaces are as breathtaking as the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican as a whole. Now, you can experience all of it from the comfort of your own home with the Vatican's virtual tours . On the site, you can take a 360° look at the Vatican's most popular sites, including the New Wing , Raphael's Rooms , and, of course, the Sistine Chapel . Michelangelo's masterpiece is something to be enjoyed slowly and carefully, as the chapel's complex art reveals more the longer you look.

Looking for more? On YouTube, you can watch a livestream of the Vatican , which includes the Pope's daily mass. Indeed, if you're craving a trip to Italy, you can satisfying some of your wanderlust virtually.

Vatican's Sistine Chapel is ready for the conclave and the election of the new Pope by the cardinals in Rome, Italy on April 16th, 2005.

Explore the Catacombs of Paris

In the mood for something a little spookier? Tour Paris's famed Catacombs, virtually . The Catacombs of Paris is an underground quarry home to the skeletal remains of over six million 18th-century Parisians. While lines for the actual site can be remarkably long, you can now visit the historic landmark online, without the wait time or the airfare.

On the Catacombs' website, you can take a 360° look at five different portions of the famed ossuaries. This, of course, includes the Alcôve de l'Ossuaire, perhaps what many people envision when they think of the Catacombs. This portion of the tour showcases the skull and bone-lined walls of the tunnels, and allows you to zoom in for striking detail. You can also virtually view the Atelier, Galerie de Port-Mahon, Cloche de Fontis, and Lampe Sepulcrale de l'Ossuaire (another skull-filled maze).

So save yourself a trip, and see part of the Catacombs' 200 miles of underground tunnels. This interactive journey will be sure to please history buffs and Francophiles alike.

catacombs

Visit A Museum

A wide variety of museums have collections and tours online. Google Arts & Culture has the largest assortment of offerings, ranging from London's National Gallery to Los Angeles's Getty Museum to Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum.

Independently, some museum websites have their own digital resources and interactive features. Paris's Louvre museum and New York's Guggenheim both have extensive offerings online, including touring their iconic buildings and accessing artist profiles and interviews. New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art both have art commentary on their websites. The Met's Artist Project , where famous artists discuss their favorite parts of the museum's collection, and MoMA's YouTube channel are great places to start if you're looking for an arts fix.

For a more complete list of cultural institutions with notable online resources, take a look here .

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The Walters Art Museum

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  • Exhibitions & Installations
  • Programs & Events
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  • Get Involved
  • Lunar New Year
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  • Evening at the Walters

Virtual Tours

Adult and College Virtual Tours are an immersive way to experience the Walters Art Museum and to engage with our collection, exhibitions, and installations from the comfort of your home, classroom, or wherever you may be.

Registration is required . Virtual tours are 60 minutes and take place on the museum’s Zoom account led by docent educators. We ask that your group have a minimum of 5 and maximum of 30 participants per tour.

Accessibility resources and accommodations are available for tours and you can request them via our registration form or you can email [email protected] . Please note, we ask for 2 weeks advance notice for ASL Interpretation requests and 3 weeks for Spanish Language Interpretation requests. Visit our accessibility webpage for more information on accessibility across the museum.

Questions? Please contact [email protected] with your request.

Discover our Virtual Tour Themes

Ethiopia at the Crossroads

Opening December 2023, the Walters Art Museum presents an extraordinary exhibition celebrating the artistic traditions of Ethiopia from their origins to the present day. Ethiopia at the Crossroads will be the first major art exhibition in America to examine Ethiopian art in a global context. Tours begin December 6, 2023. Check back here for more information on tour offerings.

Across Asia – Hand of the Artist

Across Asia features stunning objects that highlight the skill of artists and artisans spanning centuries and vast geographies. Examine the metal work, enameling techniques, wooden joinery, or intricate jeweling displayed in this exhibit as you learn more about the stories of the people and cultures that created them.

Across Asia – Face of the Divine

Objects of devotion, especially those featuring deities, holy individuals, and sacred spaces, have touched the heights of human artistic achievement. Explore the ways that different cultures and spiritual traditions across Asia have given form and shape to beings beyond earthly experience.

The Art of Looking

How do we look at a work of art? Practice your skill at close looking to gain a deeper understanding of works from the Walters collection. What will you notice? And, what does it mean?

Highlights of the Walters Collection

The Walters Art Museum is among America’s most distinctive museums, with a collection spanning seven millennia. Choose from one of the below themes through which to explore the unique collection of the Walters.

  • The Walters Art Museum Collection Overview
  • Japanese Art
  • Chinese Art
  • Renaissance & Baroque Art
  • European Landscapes
  • Art of the Ancient Americas
  • Gems and Jewelry

Virtual tours from the Walters are free. Please consider supporting the mission of the Walters to connect the community with art with a suggested donation of $7 per participant

Ready to register?

Please email [email protected] .

Cancellation

Please cancel your registration at least 48 hours prior to your scheduled tour by emailing [email protected] .

museums online tours

Ready to Register?

Sign up for a virtual tour of the Walters Art Museum.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, United States

The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in three iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Since it was founded in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. Every day, art comes alive in the Museum's galleries and through its exhibitions and events, revealing both new ideas and unexpected connections across time and across cultures.

Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room

The metropolitan museum of art, celebrating asian american and pacific islander heritage, rei kawakubo/comme des garçons: art of the in-between, making the met, coco chanel: modernism, christian dior: the new look, christian dior: ball gowns, elsa schiaparelli: jackets, pierre yantorny, pieter bruegel’s harvesters, the art of music through time, a new look at vermeer, the millicent rogers collection of schiaparelli at the brooklyn museum, symbols in vermeer, celebrate native american indigenous heritage month, rodin's portraits, charles frederick worth, twenty-seven poems from the flowers of evil, album of sea and mountains (haesan-docheop), in this collection, 45,465 items, 41,630 items, 29,979 items, 26,814 items, 20,842 items, 18,277 items, 201,173 items, 2 museum views, what's on.

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Washington DC Virtual Tour: Online Museums & Virtual Field Trip

Virtual Travel: 150+ Washington DC Virtual Field Trip Tours, Online Museums & Resources

150+ Ways to Explore the U.S. Capitol from Home with Virtual Tours, Online Museums and Experiences

Although travel is limited right now, there are more ways than ever to explore the world from home.  Luckily, virtual travel to Washington DC is no exception: the museums, galleries and institutions of my city have been hard at work for years to make their collections and experiences available online.  In fact, the volume of information and resources available for a Washington DC virtual tour is seriously impressive!  I’ve discovered more than 150 ways for you to experience the U.S. capital from home.  

For travelers, I hope this Washington DC virtual tour guide fuels your wanderlust until you can travel again.  And for locals, this is a great resource for staycations and local exploration once the museums reopen their doors.  This list can also be used by teachers who are preparing for a DC class trip or as a virtual Washington DC field trip.

Washington DC virtual tour

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Google Arts and Culture Project and Virtual Reality Tours

Information

Many of the sites in my list below participate in the Google Arts and Culture project , which is content from over 2,000 organizations that have partnered with Google to bring their collections and galleries online.  You can view virtual tours of many of the museums, galleries and sites, and also explore details of their collections as well as cultural and historical contexts through their online “exhibits.” For some online experiences, a virtual reality viewer can be used to immerse yourself in the tour. The simplest virtual reality headsets use a smartphone for this, with an inexpensive viewer like Google Cardboard which you can order from Amazon .  You can use it with the Google Arts & Culture app (downloadable from the Apple Store or Google Play ) or other websites with virtual reality media.

Click to skip ahead to different sections in this guide:

Museums   |   Art Galleries   |   Kennedy Center   |   Zoo & Gardens   |  National Mall & Fireworks |  Historic Sites   |  Universities   |  American Presidents

Washington DC Virtual Museum Tours and Online Collections

First on our virtual tour: Washington DC is home to more than 70 world-class museums, many of which are Smithsonian Institutions.  I’ve compiled the best online collections, virtual reality experiences, videos, podcasts and more for a comprehensive virtual tour of Washington DC museums.

Washington DC virtual tour: Smithsonian Institution Castle

Smithsonian Museum “Open Access”

This year, the Smithsonian Institution released millions of images into the public domain.  With Open Access to the Smithsonian Museums online, you can download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images.  This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo.

  • View the Smithsonian’s main collections online as well
  • Did you know that the Smithsonian Institution was established because a British scientist left his estate to the United States for that express purpose? Learn about the history of the Smithsonian here .

National Museum of Natural History

This Smithsonian Museum has collections that 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.  No Washington DC virtual tour is complete without the Museum of Natural History: it’s the most-visited natural history museum in the world, and the 11th most-visited museum overall!

  • View self-guided, room by room virtual tours of exhibits
  • Start in the iconic Rotonda and take a virtual tour of the Museum of Natural History
  • View their online Google Arts & Culture virtual museum collection 
  • Discover their fascinating Human Origins exhibit online
  • Check out their fun and informative video series “The Dr. is In”
  • Explore their Ocean Portal
  • Examine early American history through the forensic anthropology exhibit Written in Bone and a 3-D tour of an excavation site in Jamestown

Virtual Tour: Smithsonian Natural History Museum

National Air and Space Museum 

This Smithsonian Museum has two locations: on the National Mall in Washington DC and the Udvar-Hazy Center annex near Dulles Airport.  Both exhibit aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, rockets, and other flight-related artifacts. It’s also a center for research into the history and science of aviation and spaceflight.  

  • Check out their online Google Arts & Culture virtual museum collection including museum views (which is the next best thing to being there!)
  • View their current exhibitions
  • Don’t miss their Apollo 11 exhibit , Outside the Spacecraft , and virtual model of the Neil Armstrong Spacesuit (use the icons on the left to view an overlay with features and information)
  • View past webcasts including the Women of Apollo
  • Listen to their podcasts including an (amusing and informative!) podcast on how women’s underwear design made space suits possible :

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)

The newest addition to the Smithsonians, the African American History and Culture Museum explores the richness and diversity of the African American experience and how it helped shape the nation.

  • NMAAHC has excellent online resources for talking about race including targeted resources for educators , parents and caregivers and others committed to equality
  • View the museum’s online open access collection
  • Discover their online Google Arts & Culture virtual museum collection
  • Learn through the stories of NMAAHC staff as they tell what collections they find most powerful
  • Explore the museum’s Learning Lab
  • Learn about the museum’s vision, planning and design  

National Museum of the American Indian

The National Museum of the American Indian cares for one of the world’s most expansive collections of Native objects, photographs, and media, covering the entire Western Hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego. 

  • Explore the National Museum of the American Indian online  
  • Check out their online Google Arts & Culture collection
  • Don’t miss their art and history collections online, grouped by region of the Americas
  • Learn about the engineering feats of the Inka Empire with a fascinating online exhibit
  • View the exhibit of Patriot Nations: Native Americans in the Armed Forces
  • This museum’s cafeteria, the Mitsitam Cafe, is renowned for its menu, which features Native-inspired cuisines from five regions of the Western Hemisphere. You can actually order the chef’s cookbook and prepare the recipes at home!  Or try this wild rice salad recipe from Epicurious which is one of my favorites.  (“Mitsitam” means “Let’s Eat!” in the Native language of the Delaware and Piscataway peoples.)

Virtual tour: Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian

Smithsonian Museum of American History

The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history.

  • Explore the museum resources online , including a multimedia site dedicated to its Star-Spangled Banner exhibit (I make everyone who visits me in DC go to this exhibit!)
  • Discover the museum’s multimedia content
  • Explore their Stories From the Museum blog including the first female military doctor Mary Walker , conservation efforts for the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz , and the American flag that flew on the craft that guided vessels to Utah Beach on D-Day

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States’ official memorial to the Holocaust. The USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history. It is dedicated to helping leaders and citizens of the world confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy.

  • Browse the Holocaust Memorial Museum’s online collection
  • View their online Google Arts & Culture virtual museum collection  

National Museum of Women in the Arts

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is the only museum in the world solely dedicated to celebrating the diverse artistic achievements of women.

  • Explore their online museum collection of works by women artists including virtual exhibits for Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico and Delita Martin: Calling Down the Spirits
  • Browse their online Google Arts & Culture collection

National Geographic Museum

The National Geographic Society (NGS) is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.  Its museum in Washington DC features changing exhibitions featuring the work of National Geographic explorers, photographers, and scientists. 

  • Explore their current exhibit Becoming Jane: The Evolution of Dr. Jane Goodall

Dumbarton Oaks

Dumbarton Oaks is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection was founded here by Robert Woods Bliss and his wife Mildred Barnes Bliss, who gave the property to Harvard University in 1940.  It also has extensive gardens, which are one of my favorite places in the city.

  • View their online Google Arts & Culture collection
  • Explore virtual tours of the Dumbarton Oaks Garden

Formal terraced garden at Dumbarton Oaks with an urn statue and wisteria

National Building Museum

The National Building Museum is a museum of architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning in Washington DC.

  • Explore with a National Building Museum virtual tour
  • View their new online exhibit Documenting Crossroads: The Coronavirus in Poor Minority Communities

National Women’s History Museum

The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM), is a proposed museum and an American history organization that researches, collects and exhibits the contributions of women to the social, cultural, economic and political life of our nation in a context of world history.  The museum is currently online, with plans to establish a physical museum on the National Mall.

  • Explore the National Women’s History Museum collection online

Postal Museum 

The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum is devoted to presenting the colorful and engaging history of the nation’s mail service and showcasing one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of stamps and philatelic material in the world.

  • Explore with a virtual museu m tour

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens 

Hillwood is a decorative arts museum in Northwest Washington DC. The former residence of businesswoman, socialite, philanthropist and collector Marjorie Merriweather Post (of the Post cereal empire), Hillwood is known for its large decorative arts collection including Fabergé eggs, 18th and 19th century French art, and one of the country’s finest orchid collections. 

  • Explore the Hillwood Museum collection from home , including virtual museum collection and video library
  • See what’s in bloom in the Hillwood Gardens

Jump back up to the table of contents menu

Washington DC Art Galleries: Online Collections & Virtual Experiences

No virtual tour of Washington DC would be complete without exploring the city’s art galleries. Check out the best online museum collections and experiences from DC’s world-class galleries.

Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden

The Hirshhorn Museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution, and was endowed in the 1960’s with the permanent collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn.  It currently focuses its collection-building and exhibition-planning mainly on the post–World War II period, with particular emphasis on art made during the last 50 years.

  • Experience the Hirshhorn from home with the #HirshhornInsideOut including artist and curator-led insights and art activities for all ages
  • Explore virtual tours of the the Hirshhorn’s Sculpture Gardens  
  • Listen to their Artist Talks lecture series on Soundcloud
  • Check out their online events on Facebook

Washington DC - Hirshhorn Museum virtual tour

National Portrait Gallery

Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Portrait Gallery’s collections focus on images of famous Americans. 

  • Explore their Google Arts & Culture collection online including the exhibit Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence
  • Don’t miss their Presidential Portrait Collection and Portraits of African Americans
  • Listen to the National Portrait Gallery podcast PORTRAITS: Real People, Real Stories
  • No visit here is complete without a moment in the Kogod Courtyard (use the navigation menu to look around!)

National Gallery of Art (NGA)

The National Gallery of Art preserves, collects, exhibits, and fosters an understanding of works of art.  The Gallery’s collection of paintings, drawings, photographs, sculpture, and other arts traces the development of Western Art from the Middle Ages to the present, including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas.

  • Discover highlights of the National Gallery’s collections
  • View the NGA’s online Google Arts & Culture collection including Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting
  • Explore the NGA’s online editions 
  • Learn about the design of the Gallery’s East Building by architect I.M. Pei 
  • Experience their virtual museum tour of Degas at the Opera
  • No visit to the NGA is complete without reflecting in the Rothko room: experience a virtual tour
  • Explore their open-source library of images including their 
  • View their collection of 40,000 photographs dating from the 1850’s to today
  • Listen to the story of how Marc Chagall’s mosaic Orphée made its way from a private garden in Georgetown to the NGA’s Sculpture Garden:

National Gallery of Art - Rothko

Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) & Renwick Gallery

The Smithsonian American Art Museum  holds one of the world’s largest and most inclusive collections of American art, from the colonial period to the present, with more than 7,000 artists represented. Explore their collection 

  • Experience Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collections online 
  • Check out SAAM’s Google Arts & Culture collection online
  • Explore the many meanings of art with Smithsonian historians and researchers through SAAM’s video series Re:Frame
  • Watch all of the museum’s videos online
  • Experience a Renwick Gallery exhibition in Virtual Reality

The Phillips Collection

The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington DC.

  • While the Riffs and Relations exhibit is on hiatus, The Phillips Collection has published a YouTube series that allows users to engage with the exhibit and its galleries
  • View other featured multimedia online

National Museum of Asian Art (Freer-Sackler Galleries)

Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the Freer and Sackler Galleries make up the National Museum of Asian Art and house the largest Asian art research library in the country.

  • Explore the Museum’s collections online
  • View the Museum’s online Google Arts & Culture collection
  • Listen to the their podcast archive and Silk Road Stories of volunteers from the Washington DC community who have cultural ties to various sites along the ancient Silk Road
  • Explore the Museum’s music series

National Museum of African Art 

The National Museum of African Art is the Smithsonian Institution’s African art museum, located on the National Mall.  Its collections include 9,000 works of traditional and contemporary African art from both Sub-Saharan and Arab North Africa, 300,000 photographs, and 50,000 library volumes.

  • Explore the Museum online
  • View the Museum’s Google Arts & Culture collection online 

Art Museum of the Americas 

Art Museum of the Americas is the first art museum in the United States primarily devoted to exhibiting works of modern and contemporary art from Latin America and the Caribbean. 

  • The Museum is currently open on a limited basis: learn more 

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The Kennedy Center is a vibrant campus of theaters and other artistic spaces that is also a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.  It is home to the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, the Washington Ballet and thousands of annual performances of theater, dance, ballet, and orchestral, chamber, jazz, popular, and folk music.

  • Explore the Kennedy Center online , including remote performances
  • View a virtual historical and artistic tour of the Kennedy Center including performance spaces, terrace views and notable performances
  • See the Kennedy Center’s online Google Arts & Culture listing
  • Take a virtual tour of the Kennedy Center lobby and pretend you’re enjoying a glass of sparkling wine at an intermission
  • Attend the Kennedy Center’s performances virtually with Kennedy Center at Home including new releases daily on their Digital Stage
  • See live “Couch Concert” performances from musicians’ homes live every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4PM and see encore Millennium Stage performances on-demand
  • Take a guided tour of Jazz in DC and get inspired with a seasonal playlist of classical music

Virtual Washington DC: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

National Zoo & Washington DC Gardens

Next on our Washington DC virtual tour: let’s explore the green spaces of the city with a stop at the National Zoo and beautiful DC gardens.

Smithsonian National Zoo

The National Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in the United States and part of the Smithsonian Institution.   Founded in 1889, its mission is to provide engaging experiences with animals and create and share knowledge to save wildlife and habitats.

  • View the Zoo’s online Google Arts & Culture collection including Cheetah Conservation Station
  • Take a virtual tour of National Zoo highlights (select a language, click “begin tour” and scroll down to start)
  • Experience the Zoo from home with their live zoo webcams including the live cheetah cub cam and famous DC panda cam

Love zoos and wildlife? Be sure to check out my feature guide to virtual field trips of the best zoos and live safaris around the globe , including how you can livestream a free guided safari every day!

U.s. botanic garden.

The United States Botanical Garden is a botanic garden on the grounds of the United States Capitol near Garfield Circle. The garden includes a nearly 30,000-square foot conservatory, the National Garden, and Bartholdi Park. It’s the oldest continually-operating botanic garden in the United states, and is known for its rare and endangered plants, 5,000 orchid specimens and its annual holiday display.

  • Learn about their gardens and plant species
  • Take a virtual tour of the U.S. Botanic Garden
  • Check out their online events on Facebook , like free guided yoga sessions from inside the garden

Washington DC Gardens: United States Botanic Garden virtual tour

Smithsonian Gardens 

The Smithsonian Gardens are landscapes, interiorscapes, and horticulture-related collections and exhibits, which extend the Smithsonian museum experience into a public garden setting, with over 180 acres of green space and 13 gardens.

  • Learn about the Smithsonian Gardens
  • Take a virtual reality tour of the Enid A. Haupt Garden and the Moongate Garden at the Smithsonian Castle
  • Find out about their current and past exhibitions

U.S. National Arboretum

The United States National Arboretum is a public garden, research facility, and urban green space located in Northeast Washington DC. Comprised of 446 acres, the Arboretum is a place of research, education, and discovery as well as an oasis of open space in the Nation’s capital. It was established in 1927 and is operated by the United States Department of Agriculture.

  • Learn about the garden’s collections
  • See Google street view photos of the arboretum , including their bonsai, azalea and the famous National Capitol Columns which were part of the Capitol building from 1828 to 1958

National Arboretum: Washington DC Garden

Tudor Place

Tudor Place is a Federal-style mansion in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC that was home to 6 generations of descendants of George Washington’s wife Martha Custis Washington.  Tours here explore the family stories and the histories of the servants and enslaved workers.  The estate’s collections include more than 15,000 decorative arts items, archival, historic and archaeological artifacts, including the largest collection of Washington artifacts outside Mount Vernon.

  • Take a virtual tour inside Tudor Place with ABC News and explore their gardens
  • Learn more about Tudor Place with educational resources

Looking for more ways to explore Washington DC’s green spaces? Check out my guide to the best Washington DC gardens by blooming season .

National Mall & Capitol Hill Sights

The National Mall is home to monuments including the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. At the eastern end is the U.S. Capitol, with the White House to the north. The long grassy lawns of the Mall are flanked by Smithsonian museums and other iconic Washington DC sights. Nearby, the Tidal Basin reservoir is home to the Jefferson Memorial as well as the famous DC cherry blossoms. Don’t miss these sights on your virtual tour of Washington DC, especially the 4th of July celebrations!

4th of July Fireworks on the National Mall

1812 Overture by Jack Everly and the National Symphony - July 4th 2014

The Independence Day holiday has always felt extra special to me in Washington DC! Check out some of the best online videos of 4th of July fireworks in our nation’s capital below.

  • The 1812 Overture & Fireworks by the National Symphony (2014)
  • 2020 4th of July Fireworks view from the National Mall (pretend you’re there having a picnic!)
  • 2019 4th of July Fireworks from the Washington Post (skip ahead to the 43:00 minute mark when the action starts!)
  • 2018 4th of July Fireworks from the Associated Press

The White House

  • View the online White House Google Arts & Culture collection
  • Take a 360-degree White House virtual tour and a “guided” virtual tour
  • Learn about The White House

United States Capitol

The United States Capitol Building is the home of the United States Congress and the seat of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. It’s located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall.  The original building was completed in 1800.

  • Explore with an amazing virtual tour of the U.S. Capitol
  • View the Capitol’s online Google Arts & Culture collection
  • Plan a visit and see virtual tours from the U.S. House of Representatives

United States Architect of the Capitol

The Architect of the Capitol is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the Capitol complex. 

  • Explore the Capitol campus with an immersive virtual field trip and virtual exhibits
  • Learn about the history of the Capitol complex with the Architect’s Virtual Capitol

Summerhouse at the US Capitol

Jefferson Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial built in Washington, D.C. between 1939 and 1943 to Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence.

  • Take a virtual reality 360-degree tour of the Jefferson Memorial and learn about its history
  • Explore the Jefferson Memorial with a virtual Google Arts & Culture tour

Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall built to commemorate George Washington, the first President of the United States. Located almost due east of the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial,the monument is both the world’s tallest predominantly stone structure and the world’s tallest obelisk.

  • Find out what’s inside the Washington Monument

Washington DC National Mall virtual field trip

Tidal Basin

The Tidal Basin is a partially man-made reservoir between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel and the spotlight of the annual spring Cherry Blossom Festival.  Memorials here include Jefferson, the Martin Luther King, Jr., the Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and George Mason Memorial. 

  • Explore the Tidal Basin with a virtual tour
  • Experience the Virtual Cherry Blossoms Festival
  • Step back in time with imagined views of Washington DC from 1800-2016

If your bucket list includes seeing Washington DC for our spring cherry blossoms, don’t miss my guide to planning a visit including a detailed Tidal Basin blossom-spotting map! And get my tips on the best Washington DC Airbnbs for your trip.

Library of Congress 

The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is commonly considered the national library of the United States. The Library of Congress is one of the largest libraries in the world, and its collections include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages.

  • Learn about the Library with history and online tours
  • Explore the Library’s current exhibitions
  • Tour the Library in 360 degrees
  • Explore the Library’s video vault

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National Archives 

The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records.  The National Archives exhibits include the original United States Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, United States Bill of Rights, and many other historical documents.

  • View the Rotonda of the National Archives in 360 degrees
  • Explore the National Archives’ digital resources  
  • Discover the Archives’ exhibits online

Free Bill of Rights Lesson Plan & Activities

Get a free Bill of Rights lesson plan and activities for grades 4-8 from We are Teachers.

Folger Shakespeare Library

The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It has the world’s largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period.

  • Explore the Library online including their Shakespeare Unlimited podcast
  • Listen to audio recordings of seven Shakespeare plays

Want to know an adorable secret about the National Mall? The reflecting pools are home to baby ducks in spring! Check out my Washington DC ducklings guide and see photos.

More Washington DC Historic Sites

We’re not done with this Washington DC virtual tour yet! We’ve got several historic sites and more attractions still to go.

National Cathedral 

Washington National Cathedral is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is of Neo-Gothic design closely modeled on English Gothic style of the late fourteenth century. 

  • Explore the special architectural features of the Cathedral online including the rose window, peal bells and Darth Vader grotesque.

National Cathedral virtual tour

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site 

The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service, is located in a neighborhood east of the Anacostia River in Southeast DC.  The site preserves the home and estate of Frederick Douglass, one of the most prominent African Americans of the 19th century. 

  • View a virtual tour of the site
  • Explore the Frederick Douglass Google Arts & Culture listing
  • Watch the moving short film by National Public Radio of young descendants of Frederick Douglass reading and discussing his famous speech, “ What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? “
  • Watch past Facebook Live videos while the site is closed, including reading and discussing The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass with Ranger Kevin

Universities

Explore these Washington DC universities with virtual tours.

  • Catholic University of America
  • Georgetown University 
  • Gallaudet University
  • American University

American Presidents

Learn more about two of America’s most notable presidents with these online resources and virtual Washington DC tours.

George Washington

Mount Vernon was the plantation of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and his wife Martha Washington. And it’s a must-see for this Washington DC virtual tour! The Mount Vernon estate is situated on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, a half hour from DC near Alexandria.

  • Explore and learn about Mount Vernon with a really cool virtual tour
  • Learn about George Washington through notes and personal items as well as his most famous portrait
  • Learn about the day-to-day lives of the enslaved people at Mount Vernon including known biographies

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States (1861–1865). Lincoln led the nation through its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis in the American Civil War. On April 14, 1865, just days after the war’s end, he was assassinated while enjoying a night at the theater by Confederate sympathizer and spy John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln is consistently ranked as the greatest U.S. president. 

  • Explore the Ford’s Theater Google Arts & Culture listing, including a fascinating online exhibit about Lincoln’s funeral train procession
  • View the digital resources of Lincoln’s Cottage  
  • Read about Lincoln’s writings and views on slavery
  • Take a virtual reality tour of the Lincoln Memorial
  • Take an online tour of the Lincoln Memorial and listen to insights from a National Park Service ranger
  • View an online Smithsonian exhibition Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life
  • Listen to a Smithsonian podcast and explore a little-known side of this president with Abraham Lincoln: Prankster-in-Chief
  • Explore a Google Arts & Culture exhibition Lincoln from Postmaster to President

Lincoln Memorial virtual tour

Thomas Jefferson

Monticello was the plantation home of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. Located about 2.5 hours from Washington DC, it’s often visited as a day trip from the city.

  • Explore all of Monticello’s online resources
  • Take a virtual tour of Monticello ; there are both paid guided tours and free options, including a cool 360-degree tour
  • View the Google Arts & Culture Monticello Tour with video insights from historians, curators and guides
  • Learn about slavery at Monticello including tours and exhibits and known biographies of the people enslaved at Monticello
  • Read about the fascinating life and family history of Sally Hemings , an enslaved woman who is believed to have had six of Jefferson’s children, after negotiating for her future children’s freedom when she was just 16
  • Listen to stories from the “Getting Word” oral history project, which began at Monticello in 1993 to capture stories from descendants of Monticello’s African American community

I hope that this Washington DC virtual tour guide helps fuel your wanderlust until you can travel again! Pin it for later or share with someone who needs a Washington DC virtual field trip.

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The Haphazard Traveler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Looking for more virtual travel experiences ? Check out my virtual travel guide for kids , zoo and safari field trips feature (including how to see a free live guided safari every day!) and guide to the best aquarium livefeeds and ocean webcams !

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I was a travel hot mess, but I got better! I kept the name and now blog my best tips for culture + adventure travel from around the globe. Follow along for travel advice, destination guides, and photography from faraway lands and at home in Washington, DC.

Travel Writer | Photographer | Licensed Drone Pilot Member, Society of American Travel Writers (SATW)

  • Revolutionizing Education: A Comprehensive Review of HistoryView VR
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  • Matterport Launches Social Impact Program to Help Nonprofits and Public Education Institutions
  • Bringing History to Life with Virtual Field Trips on HistoryView.org
  • Enhance Your Virtual Field Trip Experience with Histora: ChatGPT AI Teacher Assistant, Historian, and Tour Guide on HistoryView
  • Exploring the Benefits for Museums, Art Galleries, Historical Sites, and Educators

HistoryView

HistoryView

Free Educational Virtual Tour Platform of Museums, Art Galleries, National Parks and Historic Sites

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Welcome to the enhanced experience of historyview.org’s virtual tours.

Embark on a thrilling journey through time with HistoryView.org’s immersive 3D virtual field trips! Marvel at the beauty of world-class museums, art galleries, and historic treasures, all from the comfort of your home or classroom. Our cutting-edge Matterport 3D technology whisks you away, placing you in the midst of history’s greatest wonders. Feel the excitement of strolling through captivating exhibits and admiring breathtaking art as if you were there.

Meet Histora, your AI-powered companion, enhancing your adventure with engaging, personalized stories and facts at every turn. Dive into the past with us at HistoryView.org, where history isn’t just learned, it’s experienced. Join our mission to make history an accessible, lively adventure, vital for understanding our world. History is not just a subject, it’s a journey — and with us, it’s a journey you won’t forget.

Please use this clickable table of contents to explore museums, art galleries, historic heritage sites, zoos, and aquariums across different regions and topics:

Our virtual tours work well for classrooms and individual exploration. They create an immersive experience that brings history alive. With Matterport 3D virtual tours, you can:

  • Visit famous landmarks and historic sites from around the world.
  • Zoom in to see details and read descriptions.
  • Learn about each location’s history and significance.
  • Go at your own pace, which suits different learning styles.

Our virtual tours are completely free, making them accessible to all, no matter where you are or what your financial situation is. Whether you’re a student, educator, or just curious, our virtual tours are a great way to uncover the stories behind iconic landmarks. Start exploring now and join us on a journey through history!

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The Burghers of Calais in the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden

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Online Catalogue

Online Catalogue

The Online Catalogue of the Vatican Museums presents essential information regarding the mobile works of art on display along the tour itinerary as well as the collection of images housed in the Vatican Photo Library. The buildings, spaces as well as their decorations, may instead be accessed and visited by means of the numerous virtual tours of the web section dedicated to them. The Online Catalogue  – still in the implementation phase and available at present only in Italian – is periodically updated, revised and expanded. Currently it is possible to consult the data relating to the Photo Library (part) and to the collections on display in the following museum sectors:

  • Gregorian Egyptian Museum
  • Gregorian Etruscan Museum (part)
  • Pio Clementino Museum
  • Lapidary Gallery
  • Gregoriano Profano Museum (part)
  • Pius-Christian Museum
  • Ethnological Museum (part)
  • Carriage Pavilion (part)
  • Christian Museum
  • Collection of Contemporary Art
  • Tapestries Collection
  • Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo
  • Antiquarium of Villa Barberini in Castel Gandolfo

For each work on display, it is possible to find the essential information, accompanied by one or more photographic images. The routine activities of the Museums include the movement of the works on display for temporary exhibitions , restoration, new layouts, studies and research projects. The Online Catalogue is updated and implemented by the different scientific Departments and Services   on the basis of the information recorded in the Collections Registry and in the Photo Library   of the Vatican Museums.

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Your 48-hour tour guide of Moscow this winter!

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9 am – Visit the Red Square 

Christmas market on Red Square

Christmas market on Red Square

The first thing that every tourist should do by default is visit the very heart of Moscow – it’s main and most beautiful (which ‘krasnaya’ actually meant in Old Russian) square! 

There are several ways to explore it:

  • Take a selfie with Spasskaya Tower
  • Have a warm drink at the Christmas market (which lasts until mid-January)
  • Visit Lenin’s Mausoleum
  • Shop in the gorgeous adjacent GUM department store
  • Visit St. Basil’s Cathedral (and learn that it’s actually several churches under one roof).           

11 am – It’s Kremlin time! 

Inside the Moscow Kremlin

Inside the Moscow Kremlin

Entering the Kremlin is, actually, a bit of a quest, as it’s a presidential facility with no general access. You need to buy a ticket or, better still, book a guided tour. Inside the Kremlin’s walls, you will find ancient cathedrals, in which Russian tsars used to be crowned and buried, as well as explore the magnificent architecture of the Kremlin that reflects the rich history of the country. And, finally, you could also make a quick visit to the Moscow Kremlin Museums and admire artifacts from various Russian tsarist eras: carriages, thrones, crowns and the most incredible armory and jewelry. 

For more information, visit the official website of the Kremlin . It’s open from 10 am to 5 pm (and it’s closed on Thursdays) in winter.

2 pm – Watch the changing of the Guard

The honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

A very spectacular (and free) thing to do is watch how the honor guard does their ceremonial change at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal Flame, situated in Alexander Garden, right next to the Kremlin wall. Every hour, from 8 am to 8 pm, the 1st Company of the Kremlin (Presidential) Regiment performs this rather old and beautiful tradition. But, be warned, it's often overcrowded. 

3 pm – Enjoy a green oasis just in the center

Florarium in Zaryadye

Florarium in Zaryadye

Just a few steps from the Red Square, you will find the fabulous Zaryadye park. Opened in 2017, it is designed by renowned American architect bureau ‘Diller Scofidio + Renfro’. You can walk among the very cozy botanical decorations and explore Russia’s climate zones, as each of them is represented in dedicated areas, complete with flora from those zones.

The floating bridge in Zaryadye Park

The floating bridge in Zaryadye Park

The park also has an underground museum, an “ice cave” and a 3D cinema, where you can take part in a virtual adventure – a flight over Moscow! However, the piece de resistance is a floating boomerang bridge over the Moskva River, one of the best places to take a selfie.

You can also grab a quick lunch or relax with a cup of coffee or tea in the park.

7 pm – Arrange a ballet night

The Bolshoi Theater

The Bolshoi Theater

Of course, the most fancy way to finish your day in Moscow would be to go to the ballet at the Bolshoi Theater (in a perfect world, to see ‘The Nutcracker’!). However, getting tickets to the Bolshoi is not an easy task and should be done well in advance of your visit. 

But, don’t be upset if you don’t manage to get tickets to the Bolshoi. Moscow has dozens of other options to see a ballet (or opera). No less brilliant performances can be seen in the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theater or in The State Kremlin Palace (by the way, this is another way to get a quick glimpse inside the Kremlin!).

10:30 pm – Have a late dinner in a fancy restaurant

Dr Zhivago restaurant

Dr Zhivago restaurant

There are not so many other cities with such a big choice of restaurants in a range of tastes and styles. In 2021, the authoritative Michelin guide announced their pick of the best of Moscow’s restaurants. And here’s our guide to all the places with Russian cuisine for any budget. But, if you happen to be in the area of the Bolshoi or Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater, then ‘Dr. Zhivago’ would definitely be a nice option (and it’s open around the clock).

DAY 2 

9 am – grab a moscow coffee.

Winter festivities mood in Moscow

Winter festivities mood in Moscow

Moscow is definitely a coffee city! You can find coffee shops on every corner and they all offer a huge range of drinks. Try a ‘raf’ coffee, a sweet, creamy drink that was created in Russia, or dare to pick one of the very unusual offers, like cheese coffee or a Soviet candy style one (check out our coffee guide here ).

10 am – Take a river cruise

Winter boating along the Moskva River

Winter boating along the Moskva River

Another exciting way to explore Moscow is to observe it from the water. Boats cruise along the Moskva River all year round. Most begin their route from the Hotel Ukraine, one of Stalin's ‘Seven Sister’ skyscrapers, and will bring you back to the same spot after passing the medieval Novodevichy Convent, Moscow State University and Luzhniki Stadium, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and giant monument to Peter the Great and many other sightseeings. 

It’s always at optimum temperature inside the boat, which also has huge panoramic windows. Select boats also offer a full dining experience, so it is also a nice place to have breakfast or lunch.

If you are not a water person, then discover other, unusual sides of Moscow – pick one of the activities we’ve prepared for you here ! 

1 pm – Visit ‘Russia’ Expo and taste a bunch of Russian regional cuisines

Russia Expo at VDNKh

Russia Expo at VDNKh

Until April 2024, the Soviet-era VDNKh exhibition park is hosting the huge ‘Russia’ expo, with tons of activities and expositions devoted to Russia, its culture, science and nature. Check out our special guide on what to do there!  

An entire ‘House of Russian Cuisine’ has been opened at the expo. You will find 15 food stands with flagship dishes from Kamchatka, Siberia, Karelia and other regions of Russia. Imagine trying a range of cuisines and dishes in one place without even having to travel anywhere, be it Altai pelmeni, Tula kalach or Caucasian pies! A perfect place to grab some lunch.

House of Russian cuisines at VDNKh

House of Russian cuisines at VDNKh

The VDNKh exhibition park is a great place to visit, in general! Its pavilions are the perfect example of Stalinit Empire style architecture and you can almost feel as if you’ve traveled back in time! You will also find several interesting museums in the park – devoted to space exploration, Russian history and even a ‘Special Purpose Garage’, which showcases the various vehicles used by the country’s leaders. 

'Sun of Moscow' wheel

'Sun of Moscow' wheel

And, finally, you can ride Europe's tallest panoramic wheel – ‘Sun of Moscow’ – that will give you panoramic views of the city – from a height of 140 meters!

5 pm – Ice skate with view & mulled wine

Ice skating rink on Red Square (GUM department store on the background)

Ice skating rink on Red Square (GUM department store on the background)

Ice skating is one of the most popular and affordable activities in Moscow. There are several great ice skating rinks in picturesque locations that are open all winter long. One of the biggest rinks in Europe is also at the aforementioned VDNKh or you can visit the one in Gorky Park, another very popular Moscow spot, or the small, but fancy rink – right on Red Square! 

All the parks offer ice skate rental, so the only things you need are warm clothes, a charged phone to record your memories and a good mood!  Moscow also gets dark at 4:30 pm in winter and hundreds of lights are switched on, turning the city into a giant fairy tale! 

A mulled wine with a view

A mulled wine with a view

And, if you are not a sports person, we’ve picked several other unusual activities that you could do in Moscow instead. For example, did you know that there is an entire district of dacha (countryside) houses, just 10 minutes from the center, surrounded by giant new highrises? How about taking a stroll there and feeling the early Soviet atmosphere?

8 pm – Warm up & laugh out loud

After all these outdoor activities, what could be better than a warm cozy bar with a hot drink and nice company? Moscow is a city full of entertainment for all tastes. So, if you know the Russian language or want to practice it, go to a theater or catch a stand-up comedy show. Moscow even has comedy shows in English, where you can hear both Russians speaking fluent English or foreigners (including Brits and Americans) who live in Russia speaking in broken or heavily-accented Russian (Check their show dates on the ‘ Moscow English Comedy ’ Telegram channel)!

11 pm – Finish by partying the night away!

Propaganda club in Moscow

Propaganda club in Moscow

Moscow never sleeps, as you might have heard. Which means there are plenty of bars and nightclubs where you can have a drink (or two or three; be sure to check out how Russians make Black Russian and White Russian cocktails) and chat with incredibly different people. Have fun and don’t miss your flight (or miss it and stay longer in the best city in the world!)!

That's it! See you soon in Moscow

That's it! See you soon in Moscow

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museums online tours

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IMAGES

  1. 14 Best Virtual Museum Tours To Satisfy Your Travel Cravings

    museums online tours

  2. Explore Hood Museum Exhibitions through 3D Virtual Tours

    museums online tours

  3. 11 Virtual Museum Tours from Around the World

    museums online tours

  4. The 18 Best Virtual Art Museum Tours You Can Enjoy Online

    museums online tours

  5. Free Virtual Tours of World Museums, Educational Sites & Galleries For

    museums online tours

  6. 25 Best & Famous Virtual Museum Tours

    museums online tours

VIDEO

  1. Museums You Can Visit Online

  2. Inspiring Museums Online Meeting 29th Primary School of Volos Greece Garyfallia Fragogeorgi

  3. Bodleian Old Library, University of Oxford, The UK

  4. Tour museums online for free

  5. The National City Depot Train Museum

  6. Top 10 Virtual Museums Offering Immersive Cultural Experiences

COMMENTS

  1. Virtual Museums: 10 Museums you can visit online

    Visit the free online tour here. 6. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea. Opened in 2013, this museum offers a great insight into Korean art. This is one of the most unique displays of modern and contemporary art and in conjunction with Google Arts and Culture, you can now tour the museum virtually. 7.

  2. Virtual Museum Online

    Take an online tour inside some of our most iconic aircraft. Matterport 3D Tours. Access the cockpits and interiors of our aircraft at your leisure. These 3D self-guided virtual tours were created by scanning the interior of the Museum's aircraft using the Matterport 3D Camera. Explore below, and stay tuned for future tours. 360° Panorama Gallery.

  3. Free Virtual Museum Tours, Livestream Concerts, and Classes

    The online platform provides digital tours of more than 2,000 museums and galleries around the world, among them New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, and London's Tate Britain, all of which have temporarily closed to help halt the spread of the virus. The platform's featured collections for each museum ...

  4. Virtual tour of the Science Museum

    Shop technology. Creative, practical and innovative gadgets from the Science Museum shop. Explore the Science Museum online with a virtual tour on Google Streetview, curator gallery guides, inspiring stories and fun tools to discover hidden gems from our collection.

  5. The 19 best virtual museum tours in the world

    1 Louvre Museum, Paris, France. As well as virtual tours, the Louvre recently put its entire art collection of more than 480,000 works online. The interactive database boasts rare items and iconic artworks, including the Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa and Winged Victory of Samothrace. Users can explore the museum via an interactive map.

  6. 10+ Best Virtual Tours

    Visit A Museum. A wide variety of museums have collections and tours online. Google Arts & Culture has the largest assortment of offerings, ranging from London's National Gallery to Los Angeles's ...

  7. True to Nature Virtual Tour

    The dynamic new virtual tour allows you to explore each room of the exhibition True to Nature: Open-Air Painting in Europe, 1780-1870. Zoom in on the works, click on the different-colored dots to read wall texts, view higher-resolution photos, and see artist biographies. While available on mobile, this tour is best viewed on a desktop or ...

  8. Virtual Tours

    Virtual tours are 60 minutes and take place on the museum's Zoom account led by docent educators. We ask that your group have a minimum of 5 and maximum of 30 participants per tour. Accessibility resources and accommodations are available for tours and you can request them via our registration form or you can email [email protected].

  9. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

    Follow. The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in three iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online. Since it was founded in 1870, The Met has always ...

  10. Moscow culture online. Museums / Projects / Moscow City Web Site

    Virtual tours: Museum Online The virtual tours show the details of Skryabin's flat and relatively unknown exhibits of the composer's museum that are usually not included in sightseeing tours. Each tour is dedicated to one of the museum rooms — the study, the living room, the dining room, and the bedroom Watch → A.N. Skryabin. Musical ...

  11. Washington DC Virtual Tour: Online Museums & Virtual Field Trip

    Washington DC Virtual Museum Tours and Online Collections. First on our virtual tour: Washington DC is home to more than 70 world-class museums, many of which are Smithsonian Institutions. I've compiled the best online collections, virtual reality experiences, videos, podcasts and more for a comprehensive virtual tour of Washington DC museums.

  12. Virtual tour at the Acropolis Museum

    The Acropolis Museum, one of the most important museums in the world, houses the findings of only one archaeological site, the Athenian Acropolis and its slopes. ... The Acropolis Museum invites online visitors to a panoramic tour of its galleries. A VR 360ᵒ video offers users the feeling that they are in the real galleries and the choice to ...

  13. Can't Travel? Here are 45+ of the Best Virtual Tours Around The World

    Here are 45+ of the best virtual tours around the world in the following categories: Table of Contents. MUSEUM VIRTUAL TOURS. The Louvre - Paris, France. Guggenheim Museum - New York, New York, USA. MASP - São Paulo, Brazil. Van Gogh Museum - Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Rijksmuseum - Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

  14. Virtual Library

    Embark on a thrilling journey through time with HistoryView.org's immersive 3D virtual field trips! Marvel at the beauty of world-class museums, art galleries, and historic treasures, all from the comfort of your home or classroom. Our cutting-edge Matterport 3D technology whisks you away, placing you in the midst of history's greatest wonders.

  15. The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Museum Resources

    Palmer Museum of Art: Online Exhibits, Tours, Etc. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology: Online Exhibits; Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre: Northwest Territories Virtual Exhibits; Reina Sofía Museum Radio: Audiovisual resources; an acoustic museum experience; Second Canvas Apps: 30 Museum Apps (Google Sheet) Smithsonian Latino ...

  16. Virtual tours

    Free entry - Possibility of guided tours upon reservation. ... Vatican Museums Openings/Closures 2024; Openings/Closures Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo 2024; Calendar of Events; Where we are Viale Vaticano, 00165 Rome. Getting Here > Contact. General information +39 06 69883145 [email protected]

  17. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

    The Met Fifth Avenue. Over 5,000 years of art from around the world. Hours: Sunday-Tuesday and Thursday: 10 am-5 pm. Extended Hours: Friday and Saturday: 10 am-9 pm. Closed: Wednesday. Closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25, January 1, and the first Monday in May.

  18. #MetKids

    #MetKids is a digital feature made for, with, and by kids.

  19. Moscow culture online / Projects / Moscow City Web Site

    In any case, theatres, museums, concerts, performances, interesting lectures, and tours provided by the mos.ru online cultural platform will stay with you forever! A huge benefit of the online cultural platform is that access to it and the broadcasts of all events will always be free.

  20. English / Музей Москвы

    The museum holds original costumes, accessories, furniture and other everyday objects produced by talented Russian and European masters. Contact us. 2 Zubovsky boulevard, Moscow, Russia. +7 495 739-00-08. [email protected]. The Museum of Moscow open every day but Monday, 11:00-21:00. Buy tickets. Вся история города ...

  21. Other Smithsonian Tours

    The Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden: The Burghers of Calais. Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden 1. Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden 2. Hirshhorn Museum Exterior: Inner Courtyard with Fountain.

  22. Online Catalogue

    The Online Catalogue of the Vatican Museums presents essential information regarding the mobile works of art on display along the tour itinerary as well as the collection of images housed in the Vatican Photo Library. The buildings, spaces as well as their decorations, may instead be accessed and visited by means of the numerous virtual tours of the web section dedicated to them.

  23. Your 48-hour tour guide of Moscow this winter!

    The park also has an underground museum, an "ice cave" and a 3D cinema, where you can take part in a virtual adventure - a flight over Moscow!