For the spectator
Virtual Tours from your Sofa
The effects of social distancing have left many feeling a little stir-crazy. Though we all try to stay busy by keeping active during the COVID-19 outbreak, it's easy to fall into a rut. Luckily, there's more than one way to stave off boredom while staying indoors. Instead of binging the best of what Netflix has to offer for the second time, it's time to broaden your horizons with some virtual tours. Here's a List of Museums and Zoos, Offering Virtual Tours and what's even better is they are for free!
Galleries
- The National Gallery of Victoria have a selection of self-guided tours from Japanese Modernism to Indigenous Art. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/virtual-tours/
- The Louvre: You don't have to book a ticket to Paris to check out some of the famous pieces in the world's largest art museum. The Louvre has free online tours of three famous exhibits, including Egyptian Antiquities.
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: The works of Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Jeff Koons, and Franz Marc are just some of the 625 artists whose work are a part of the Guggenheim's Collection Online.
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: Move at your own pace through the 360-degree room-by-room tour of every exhibit in the museum.
- Van Gogh Museum: You can get up close and personal with the impressionist painter's most famous work thanks to Google Arts & Culture.
- Getty Museum: Los Angeles's premiere gallery has two virtual tours, including "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry," which is a closer look at food in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
- The Vatican Museum: The Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, and Raphael's Room, are just some of the sites you can see on the Vatican's virtual tour.
- British Museum, London: The Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies are just a couple of things that you're able to see on a virtual tour of the museum.
- NASA: Both Virginia's Langley Research Centre and Ohio's Glenn Research Centre offer online tours for free. Also, you can try some "augmented reality experiences" via The Space Centre Houston's app.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art: Though the Met Gala was cancelled this year, you can still have a peak at the The Costume Institute Conversation Lab, which is one of the institution's 26 online exhibits.
- MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art): New York's extensive collection is available for view online.
Zoos and Aquariums
- Taronga Zoo, Sydney. Taronga Zoo, Sydney and Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo can now also be explored through exciting Virtual Reality experiences using Google Expeditions. To do this, just download the Google Expeditions app on your mobile device or tablet, search for Taronga, and get ready to for your virtual field trip!
- Houston Zoo: There are plenty of different animals you can check in on with this zoo's live cam, but we highly recommend watching the playful elephants.
- San Diego Zoo: With what may be the most live cam options, this zoo lets you switch between koalas, polar bears, and tigers in one sitting.
- Monterey Bay Aquarium: It can be Shark Week every week thanks to live online footage of Monterey Bay's Habitat exhibit.