Curb the frustration of staying in and take it as an opportunity to visit museums from the comfort of your own sofa! We’ve already started diving into these virtual tours to break up our days by ‘visiting’ one museum at a time - in between binge-watching box sets and ticking off various DIY jobs of course! We’d love to hear of more ways your getting a cultural fix - let us know!
1. The Lourve
Not only is The Lourve one of the biggest museums in the world but it proudly houses some of the world’s most famous works of art in one of Paris’s iconic monuments. Enjoy free online tours and discover artworks from Delacroix, Rembrandt or Tintoretto as well as the Egyptian Antiquity collections.
2. National Gallery
During the temporary closure, the Gallery offers a fulfilling virtual experience for its visitors through video tours exhibitions showcasing highlights of the collection. If homeschooling, there are also online learning opportunities including teacher resources and a family interactive section. Audio and video recordings of lectures by artists and curators, are also available on their website. Visit here.
3. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Discover the treasures The Smithsonian has to offer with their virtual tours that allow you to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from your desktop or mobile. From the Hall of Mammals, the Insect Zoo, and Dinosaurs to the Hall of Paleobiology, you could easily loose a whole morning or more exploring! Visit here.
4. The MET
Have you heard the of MET 360 project? Already viewed more than 11million times, this award-winning series of six short videos invites viewers around the world to virtually visit The Met's art and architecture in a fresh, immersive way. Created using spherical 360° technology, viewers can experience the magic of standing in an empty gallery after-hours (with protective covers removed from works of art) so you can explore The Met as never before. Visit here.
5. The TATE Britain
Delve into online exhibitions featuring works from Turner, sculptor Henry Moore, and their popular ‘Walk Through British Art’ exhibit. We would also recommend the collection of insightful audio highlight tours of featured exhibitions at the TATE. Visit here.
As it’s not live yet, so we can’t include it in our top 5 but stay tuned as the famous Dali Theatre Museum in Catalonia, Spain prepares it’s unique museum for online viewing and we can’t wait. Did you know Salvador Dali himself is actually buried here? Stay tuned to the website for updates.
And if this whets your appetite for more, Google has partnered with more than 1200 cultural institutions from around the world to archive and document priceless pieces of art and to provide virtual tours of museums using Google Street View technology. Here’s a complete list of museums you can visit virtually.