We may be stuck indoors for the time being but that doesn't mean we can't broaden our horizons beyond our living room walls, because let's face it, there's only so many thousand-piece jigsaws you can do, and Netflix series you can watch. While we aren’t able to physically travel the globe at the moment, there are ways to do it virtually – and for free.
The Vatican
Home to the Pope, and an absolute trove of iconic art, Roman sculptures and architecture. The Vatican offers seven virtual tours, giving 360-degree views of its museum sites, including the Sistine Chapel – be sure to look up, it’s quite the impressive ceiling courtesy of Michelangelo. You can walk around the rooms and zoom in to get a better look.
The Louvre
Unfortunately you won’t be able to come face-to-face with the Mona Lisa, but this Paris museum does offer virtual tours of four exhibits including Egyptian Antiquities and artwork from Rembrandt.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
The ecology of African elephants, the skeleton of a massive sea turtle, human evolution, and of course dinosaurs are just some of the exhibits in this Washington DC museum. You could spend a lot of time in here as it's a biggie, spanning three floors. As if it were Night at the Museum, you've got the whole place to yourself, even the empty café… which seems a tad odd, but it does contain a jaws-dropping 52-foot-long model of a mega-toothed shark.
The British Museum
Closer to home, London's British Museum covers the history of cultures across the world. You can take a virtual walk through the museum at Google Arts & Culture, or take a look at this interactive timeline dating back to 2,000,000 BC, where you can select various artefacts that are housed in the museum and learn more about them through images, text and audio.
Anne Frank House
Have a wander through the hiding place where Anne Frank spent over two years during World War II and wrote her diary. There are then a further seven settings within the house for you to explore. Even during regular times, if you want to visit this house and museum in Amsterdam, you've got to book weeks ahead.
National Palace Museum
This museum in Taiwan is stunning. Explore the outside and then head inside for a collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese artefacts and artwork. You could spend a long afternoon in here, reading and listening to in-depth descriptions of anything that piques your interest during various guided tour routes.
Home to the Pope, and an absolute trove of iconic art, Roman sculptures and architecture. The Vatican offers seven virtual tours, giving 360-degree views of its museum sites, including the Sistine Chapel – be sure to look up, it’s quite the impressive ceiling courtesy of Michelangelo. You can walk around the rooms and zoom in to get a better look.
The Louvre
Unfortunately you won’t be able to come face-to-face with the Mona Lisa, but this Paris museum does offer virtual tours of four exhibits including Egyptian Antiquities and artwork from Rembrandt.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
The ecology of African elephants, the skeleton of a massive sea turtle, human evolution, and of course dinosaurs are just some of the exhibits in this Washington DC museum. You could spend a lot of time in here as it's a biggie, spanning three floors. As if it were Night at the Museum, you've got the whole place to yourself, even the empty café… which seems a tad odd, but it does contain a jaws-dropping 52-foot-long model of a mega-toothed shark.
The British Museum
Closer to home, London's British Museum covers the history of cultures across the world. You can take a virtual walk through the museum at Google Arts & Culture, or take a look at this interactive timeline dating back to 2,000,000 BC, where you can select various artefacts that are housed in the museum and learn more about them through images, text and audio.
Anne Frank House
Have a wander through the hiding place where Anne Frank spent over two years during World War II and wrote her diary. There are then a further seven settings within the house for you to explore. Even during regular times, if you want to visit this house and museum in Amsterdam, you've got to book weeks ahead.
National Palace Museum
This museum in Taiwan is stunning. Explore the outside and then head inside for a collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese artefacts and artwork. You could spend a long afternoon in here, reading and listening to in-depth descriptions of anything that piques your interest during various guided tour routes.