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Has wanderlust stricken but you are unable to leave you home? Have budget restraints restricted your travel? Or do you simply need something to keep your child’s attention?
Lucky for you, many bucket-list places can be visited virtually. These virtual field trips take you to famous museums, natural wonders, zoos and aquariums, and even out of this world. So please enjoy these 15 Must See Virtual Field Trips.
Museums
1. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Personally one of my favorite museums, and probably the favorite of every high school student’s trip to Washington D.C., the National Museum of Natural History is simply awe inspiring. The virtual tours are some of the highest quality online tours out there.
For example, the Permanent Exhibits tour provides a map that check’s off your history as you travel through the first floor. You can travel through the museum just like you would in person.
I have placed this as number one for a reason. It is a must-do both for parents and children.
2. The Louvre
The virtual tours provided by The Louvre are often utilized by art teachers around the globe. I integrated the virtual tours into the art history section of my high school art class. The Louvre’s virtual tours cover a few collections within the museum. The Remains of the Louvre’s Moat is my favorite. Make sure you watch The Louvre: 800 Years of History before exploring this tour.
Although the virtual tours are great, the best part about a virtual field trip to the Lourve is the Selected Works section. Here, you can view wonderful pictures of most of the works in the museum along with descriptions. The “Masterpieces” section contains such significant art as the Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, and The Winged Victory of Samothrace (Greek-Nike).
3. The Vatican Museums
The 360 degree virtual tours of the Vatican Museums are some of the best virtual art tours. Although I’ve never been to the Sistine Chapel, the virtual tour makes me feel like I am there right now. Make sure you check out the collection descriptions as well.
The virtual tour for Raphael’s Rooms has been updated for use with a VR headset and has high resolution photos.
4. British Museum
The British Museum has a very unique virtual tour where you travel through a timeline sectioned by continents. You can narrow down your options using categories such as art and design or religion and belief.
Although it is not video or room picture based, it provides a different experience from other museum virtual tours.
Zoos and Aquariums
5. The San Diego Zoo
Located in San Diego, California, The San Diego Zoo is one of the most famous zoos in the world. They have a wide variety of animal live streams, but my favorites are the penguins and elephants.
6. Monterey Bay Aquarium
Located in Monterey, California, The Monterey Bay Aquarium provides multiple webcams to view various animals. Live streams include the coral reef, jellies, kelp forest, sea otters, and penguins! Even if it is outside of live streaming hours (10 am – 10 pm Pacific), the site provides recordings of previous footage.
Want a cuteness overload? Watch the sea otters. Want to calm your mind? Watch the moon jelly fish.
7. WildEarth’s safariLive
Twice a day, safariLive Facebook livestreams a safari through the South African bushveld. This live experience even provides you with an opportunity to ask questions to the guide through comments.
This is great for both adults and children. And, if you miss the livestream, there are plenty of previous safari’s in their archives.
National Parks
8. The Hidden Worlds of National Parks
Google Arts and Culture has teamed with the National Parks service to provide virtual tours of some of the U.S. National Parks.
Parks include Kenai Fjords, Hawai’i Volcanoes, Carlsbad Caverns, Bryce Canyon, and Dry Tortugas.
Also, the Google Arts and Culture app is amazing. You can explore artwork in VR inside of your home from your phone! Too cool!
Tours start with an introductory video then continue into an interactive virtual tour.
9. Yellowstone National Park
Famous for the geyser Old Faithfull and located mainly in Wyoming, Yellowstone is one of the most well-known National Parks.
There are multiple live webcam feeds, including on of Old Faithful, but one of the best resources in the Yellowstone in 3D virtual tour.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
10. Taj Mahal
Located in India, the Taj Mahal is a famous and romantic architectural masterpiece. The Taj Mahal can be explored through a photograph tour.
There are also many videos showing the beauty of this site. Many travel vloggers have created videos available on YouTube, but this video by Amazing Places on Our Planet shows the architectural beauty from sunrise to sunset.
Amazing Places on Our Planet has many (many!) other videos showing beauty from all over the world.
11. The Great Wall of China
This aerial virtual tour of The Great Wall of China shows many locations. I love the wonderful views of the mountains and foliage.
As one of China’s most visited attractions, this is a must-see virtual tour since you get to miss the groups of peoples.
Out of This World
12. International Space Station
Explore the International Space Station using Google Earth. Learn the history of the space station and see visuals of different areas.
This is found in Google Earth’s Voyager section, which offers many more explorations for you. Just make sure to use the correct browser (Chrome works best).
13. Mars
The Curiosity Rover landed on Mars in August of 2012 for a two year mission. What’s so neat is that it is still taking photos and recently set a record for its steepest terrain climbed!
You can explore Mars’ surface yourself here. It does use a lot of memory so it may run slow on some computers.
14. Star Atlas
Star Atlas will show you the view of the sky at any time and any location. You can even reverse and forward the time to show movement of the constellations.
Under settings, there are many options for viewing. I unchecked atmosphere and ground which made me feel like I was viewing space as Earth itself.
Anywhere
15. Street View and Earth
With Google’s Street View and Earth, you can go anywhere in the world! You can create a story as you go through Street View and explore locations.
Google Earth provides Knowledge Cards for landmarks, allowing you to discover and learn more information. You can also use the Voyager setting to explore locations and history and even take quizzes on your knowledge!
Bonus
Aurora Borealis
View this live stream from the Churchill Northern Studies Center to see the aurora borealis. Make sure to check it out at night and hopefully you will be seeing green!