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10 Virtual History Museums and Experiences to Explore From Home

By: Missy Sullivan

Updated: June 1, 2023 | Original: March 26, 2020

Smithsonian National Museum of American History

The need for social distancing may have forced museums and historic sites around the world to close their doors for now, but many have made their spaces, exhibits and collections available to anyone with a digital device and a decent web connection. Some offer 360-degree tours, like the one that takes you into every nook and cranny of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. Others present virtual exhibits or browsable online archives, such as the dozens on Google Arts & Culture’s site, where partner museums share treasures like the Rosetta Stone and ancient Egyptian artifacts ( The British Museum , London)...iconic 20th century photos (the LIFE Magazine archive)...or troves of sports history (the Olympic Museum , Lausanne, Switzerland). Here are 10 standout virtual history sites worth exploring:

Xi'an Warriors

Qin Dynasty Terracotta Warriors

It was one of the most stunning archaeological finds of the 20th century. In 1974, farmers digging a well stumbled across a life-sized clay figure that, government archaeologists later discovered, belonged to a vast army of terra cotta soldiers created to protect China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, in the afterlife. The massive mausoleum, created around 210 B.C., houses some 8,000 warriors, along with hundreds of chariots and horses—all arranged in battle formation. In 2017, a Chinese company, inspired by Google Street View, created an awe-inspiring virtual experience that lets visitors swoop down into the tomb and “walk” among the soldiers, viewing their unique facial expressions and traces of their original colorful paint at close range. You don’t need to read Chinese to appreciate the enormity of it all.

Click  HERE for the experience.

READ MORE: 5 Things You May Not Know About the Terra Cotta Army

Smithsonian Museum of American History

virtual tour historical museum

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History bills itself as the greatest single collection of U.S. history in the world, home to more than 1.8 million objects that each, in some fundamental way, defines the American experience. The museum offers about 100 online exhibits from its encyclopedic collections, each with a mix of photos, video, graphics and text on topics ranging from the life of Abe Lincoln (yep, they’ve got the stovepipe hat) to the development of the first artificial heart to the evolution of voting machines and even an array of vintage lunch boxes. 

READ MORE: 9 of the Most Collectible School Lunch Boxes, 1935 to Now

The Museum of Flight

Boeing 707-120, U.S. Air Force One

War planes. Spy planes. Spacecraft. Gliders. Kit planes. Eccentric contraptions. This sprawling museum, adjacent to the Boeing complex south of Seattle, Washington, is considered one of the world’s largest and best air and space museums, with more than 150 aircraft, 25,000-plus aviation-related artifacts and a huge array of exhibits that collectively chronicle man's quest to take to the skies. Flight geeks could easily get lost in its vast searchable and browsable database of those collections while 360-degree tours let you step inside a dozen iconic aircraft—including the Boeing 747, the Concorde and the museum’s full-scale model of the space shuttle orbiter used for training astronauts.

Click HERE for the experience.

READ MORE: Who Was the First President to Fly on Air Force One?

National Women's History Museum

Come for the deep well of biographies and digital classroom resources , stay for the wide array of virtual exhibits , many of which are enabled by Google Arts & Culture. For two decades, the National Women’s History Museum has been the largest online cultural institution telling the stories of women who helped transform the U.S. Heavy with slide shows and graphics, the virtual exhibits document women making waves in politics, sports, civil rights, science and technology and more. Check out its collection of oral histories from the American Rosie Movement, relaying women's contributions to the nation’s defense production.

READ MORE: Women’s History Milestones: A Timeline

Anne Frank House

Anne Frank ’s diary, chronicling her life in hiding during World War II, remains one of the most powerful testimonies to the horrors of the Holocaust. If a trip to Amsterdam to visit the Anne Frank House isn’t in the cards, AnneFrank.org offers the next best thing. In addition to tons of informative content about the teen, her diary and the war, there are bells and whistles galore: an interactive timeline, videos about her life, a 360-degree tour of the house, a virtual reality tour of the secret annex where she and her family hid for 761 days, and a companion exhibit on Google Arts & Culture.

READ MORE: How Anne Frank’s Private Diary Became an International Sensation

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

FDR

FDR , America’s only four-term president , presided over the nation during two of its most trying ordeals: the Great Depression and World War II . This online experience walks users room by room through the exhibits in his extensive presidential library and museum in Hyde Park, New York, drawing together a wealth of original documents, artifacts, videos, 360-degree tours and more. Together, they illustrate everything from FDR’s little-known assassination attempt to his New Deal policies and wartime decisions to Eleanor ’s significant role. It’s easy to lose track of time clicking through all the fascinating letters, whether it’s from a constituent exhorting him to “discontinue being a smiling, wasteful and fickle prima donna politician” to one from Albert Einstein strenuously detailing his objections to the atomic bomb.

READ MORE: How FDR Became the First—and Only—President to Serve Four Terms

Icing Research Tunnel at NASA

Calling all space geeks: Report to the NASA site for ultimate fun in the final frontier. Get the full scoop on all the key NASA programs past and present, from the Hubble Telescope to the Mars Rover to the upcoming Parker Solar Probe. Check out the History hub to dive deep into photos, videos and articles about all their historic missions. Enjoy a motherlode of space images with the cache of ultra-high-def videos taken from various missions—like the virtual tour of the moon in 4K, enabled by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Spacecraft. For astronaut wannabes, virtual tours abound of NASA’s various research and training facilities—putting users right inside a supersonic wind tunnel, a zero-gravity lab, flight simulators, a space environments complex and much more.

READ MORE: The Space Race

American Battlefield Trust Virtual Battlefield Tours

Gettysburg National Military Park

Most on-site battlefield tours require a leap of imagination: the ability to walk around a perfectly peaceful open field and overlay a mental movie of smoke and combat and fallen warriors, all the while considering the military strategy and broader political stakes. ABT’s website may not offer the sunshine on your back, but it marries the setting, action and context far more seamlessly, with its 360-degree virtual tours of more than 20 American Revolution and Civil War battlefields. In the Gettysburg tour alone, there are 15 different stops—no walking required—each of which features clickable icons with granular detail about all the whos, whats and whys. And when you’re done touring, be sure to explore the site’s other robust resources, from battle summaries to generals’ biographies.

READ MORE: 7 Important Civil War Battles

National Museum of African American History and Culture

National Museum of African-American History and Culture

While there are plenty of current and past exhibits to explore online here, the real draw is the collections. In the site’s Collections Stories area, museum staff members share objects that resonate for them historically or culturally, whether it’s Muhammad Ali’s training gear...the dress Carlotta Walls, one of the so-called Little Rock Nine , wore when she walked the gauntlet of angry mobs on her first day integrating Little Rock Central High School ...or shards of stained glass from the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four little girls. And if you’ve got lots of time to explore, browse the museum’s vast open-source collections, brimming with letters, documents, photos and artifacts. They convey the wide-ranging African American experience—from a slave ship manifest to a poster of Sidney Poitier’s film To Sir, With Love . 

READ MORE: One of the Last Slave Ship Survivors Describes His Ordeal in a 1930s Interview

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

virtual tour historical museum

The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. presents powerful online exhibits brimming with resources such as videos, timelines, glossaries and image galleries rich with potent original artifacts. Themes include Collaboration & Complicity, Nazi Propaganda, Americans and the Holocaust, Racial Health Policies and more. Elsewhere on the museum’s site: a deep archive of survivor interviews , moving artifacts like a gallery of 600 ID cards of Holocaust victims and a place to browse the museum’s huge, sobering collections.

READ MORE: American Response to the Holocaust

virtual tour historical museum

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The 75 Best Virtual Museum Tours Around the World [Art, History, Science, and Technology]

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The 75 Best Virtual Museum Tours Around the World [Art, History, Science, and Technology]

Google Arts and Culture

1. the albertina museum (vienna, austria), 2. art institute of chicago (chicago, illinois), 3. benaki museum (athens, greece), 4. the broad (los angeles, california), 5. centre pompidou (paris, france), 6. the dalí theatre-museum (figueres, spain), 7. detroit institute of arts (detroit, michigan), 8. frick collection (new york city, new york), 9. galleria dell’accademia (florence, italy), 10. georgia o’keeffe museum (sante fe, new mexico), 11. grand palais (paris, france), 12. hermitage museum (saint petersburg, russia), 13. high museum of art (atlanta, georgia), 14. the j. paul getty museum (los angeles, california), 15. kunsthaus zürich (zürich, switzerland), 16. la galleria nazionale (rome, italy), 17. los angeles county museum of art (lacma) (los angeles, california), 18. mauritshuis (the hague, netherlands), 19. the metropolitan museum of art (new york city, new york), 20. musée du louvre (paris, france), 21. musée d’orsay (paris, france), 22. museo nacional del prado (madrid, spain), 23. museo frida kahlo (mexico city, mexico), 24. museo nacional centro de arte reina sofía (madrid, spain), 25. museu de arte de são paulo (são paulo, brazil), 26. museum of broken relationships (los angeles, california and zagreb, croatia), 27. museum of fine arts, boston (boston, massachusetts), 28. museum of fine arts, houston (houston, texas), 29. the museum of modern art (moma) (new york city, new york), 30. national gallery (london, england), 31. national gallery of art (washington, d.c.), 32. national gallery of victoria (victoria, melbourne, australia), 33. national museum of china (beijing, china), 34. national museum of korea (seoul, south korea), 35. national museum, new delhi (new delhi, india), 36. national museum of modern and contemporary art (seoul, south korea), 37. national palace museum (taipei, taiwan), 38. national portrait gallery (washington, d.c.), 39. pergamonmuseum (berlin, germany), 40. picasso museum (barcelona, spain), 41. rijksmuseum (amsterdam, netherlands), 42. san francisco museum of modern art (san francisco, california), 43. sistine chapel at the vatican museums (vatican city), 44. solomon r. guggenheim museum (new york city, new york), 45. tate modern (london, england), 46. thyssen-bornemisza museum (madrid, spain), 47. tokyo national museum (tokyo, japan), 48. uffizi gallery (florence, italy), 49. van gogh museum (amsterdam, netherlands), 50. victoria and albert museum (london, england), 1. american museum of natural history (new york city, new york), 2. the british museum (london, england), 3. national museum of anthropology (mexico city, mexico), 4. national museum of natural history (washington, d.c.), 5. natural history museum (london, england), 1. london science museum (london, england), 2. museo galileo (florence, italy), 3. the museum of flight (seattle, washington), 4. the museum of natural sciences of belgium (brussels, belgium), 5. museum of science, boston (boston, massachusetts), 6. national aeronautics and space administration (nasa) (washington, d.c.), 7. national air and space museum (washington, d.c.), 8. national museum of computing (bletchley park, england), 9. national museum of the united states air force (riverside, ohio), 10. oxford university’s history of science museum (oxford, england), 1. acropolis museum (athens, greece), 2. american battlefield trust virtual battlefield tours, 3. anne frank house (amsterdam, netherlands), 4. franklin d. roosevelt presidential library and museum (hyde park, new york), 5. national museum of african american history and culture (washington, d.c.), 6. national museum of american history (washington, d.c.), 7. national museum of scotland (edinburgh, scotland), 8. national women’s history museum (alexandria, virginia), 9. terra cotta warriors of xi’an at emperor qinshihuang’s mausoleum site museum (xi’an, china), 10. u.s. holocaust memorial museum (washington, d.c.), final thoughts.

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You can now access collections from many of the world’s top museums without ever leaving home! We’ve put together an ultimate list of 75 world-class museums that offer virtual tours you can visit from the comfort of your couch.

Many of the virtual tours include exhibit walk-throughs and the ability to examine some of the world’s best paintings, sculptures, and other pieces up close and personal. These virtual tours are jam-packed with enough details to make you feel like you’re really visiting the museum. The experiences are sure to entertain the whole family, an art or history buff, or even those who want to imagine the joys of travel!

We’ve broken our list into 4 easy-to-review sections, including art, natural history, science and technology, and history museums. So whether you prefer to take in a painting at the Van Gogh Museum, check out an SR-71 Blackbird at the Museum of Flight, or gaze upon the Rosetta Stone, this list has it all!

Many of the virtual exhibits in this article are offered through a collaboration with Google Arts and Culture. If you’re not familiar, Google Arts and Culture is an online platform that showcases high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from more than 2,000 museums throughout the world. You can zoom in and out of images in great detail and view some of the best pieces of artwork ever created without leaving your couch.

The platform is available in 18 languages and has been praised internationally for increasing access to art to those who may have not had the opportunity otherwise. It’s available for web , iOS , and Android .

50 Art Museums With Virtual Tours

Albertina

Year Opened:  1805

The Albertina Museum features one of the most important European collections of international modern art and houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and 1 million old master prints. Hundreds of the works housed in the museum, like “Study for the Last Supper” by Da Vinci and “The Water Lily Pond” by Monet, can be viewed online thanks to a partnership with Google Arts and Culture.

To view the online exhibits, click here .

Art Institute of Chicago

Year Opened: 1879

The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the U.S., hosting approximately 1.5 million people annually. Its collection features more than 5,000 years of human expression from cultures around the world and contains more than 300,000 works of art in 11 curatorial departments.

The online tour allows you to view major pieces from the museum’s collection, such as “American Gothic,” “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte,” and “Nighthawks.” The site also offers projects to get creative at home, educator resources, and JourneyMaker, a digital tool that allows visitors to create unique, personalized tours of the museum.

To view the online tour, click here .

Benaki Museum Athens

Year Opened: 1930

Established in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, the Benaki Museum houses Greek works of art from prehistoric to modern times and an extensive collection of Asian art. It also hosts periodic exhibitions and maintains a state-of-the-art restoration and conservation workshop.

The entire museum can be viewed virtually in great detail.

To view the online virtual tour, click here .

The Broad

Year Opened: 2015

The Broad is a contemporary art museum named for philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad. The Broad houses a nearly 2,000-piece collection of contemporary art, featuring 200 artists including works by Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol. Notable installations include Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Mirrored Room” (pictured above) and Ragnar Kjartansson’s expansive 9-screen video “The Visitors.”

The Broad has put together a series of YouTube videos to give you a first-hand look at the museum.

Centre Pompidou

Year Opened : 1977

The Centre Pompidou, named after the president of France from 1969 to 1974, is the largest museum for modern and contemporary art in Europe and the second-largest in the world. The museum has more than 12,000 pieces of artwork on display, including works by Kandinsky, Dalí, and Valadon.

The Centre has dozens of videos available on its YouTube channel that provide walk-throughs of the museum and explanations of its most important works.

To view the video tours, click here .

Salvador Dali Mae West

Year Opened : 1974

Dedicated to the life and work of the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, the Dalí Theatre-Museum displays the single largest and most diverse collection of works by the artist. In addition to Dalí paintings from all decades of his career, there are Dalí sculptures, 3-dimensional collages, mechanical devices, and other curiosities from Dalí’s imagination. Through the website, guests can take a virtual tour in 360-degree of the entire museum.

To view the virtual tour, click here .

Detroit Institute of Arts

Year Opened: 1885

With more than 100 galleries covering over 658,000 square feet, the Detroit Institute of Arts has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the U.S. Its collection features works spanning from ancient Egypt and Europe all the way to modern contemporary art.

The museum has put together “ At Home With DIA ” to offer school field trips from home, weekly film screenings, senior resources, and home projects. DIA also has a partnership with Google Arts and Culture to provide online exhibits including:

  • Frida Kahlo in Detroit
  • Ordinary People by Extraordinary Artists
  • Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry
  • Self Portrait on the Borderline between Mexico and the United States

Frick Collection

Year Opened: 1935

Located in the Henry Clay Frick House, the Frick Collection houses the art collection of industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The collection features some of the best-known paintings by major European artists, including Bellini, Rembrandt, and Vermeer, as well as numerous works of sculpture and porcelain.

The entire museum can be viewed virtually.

Statue of David

Year Opened : 1784

The Galleria dell’Accademia, while small compared to other museums featured, is still the second most visited museum in Italy. Its command of visitors is in large part due to its display of perhaps the most famous sculpture in history — Michaelangelo’s statue of David.

You can view a short, video-guided tour of the museum, which includes 360-degree viewing, allowing you to get a close look at the museum’s offerings.

To view the video tour, click here .

Georgia OKeeffe Museum

Year Opened: 1997

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is dedicated to the artistic legacy of Georgia O’Keeffe and her contributions to American Modernism. The museum’s collection includes many of O’Keeffe’s key works, ranging from her innovative abstractions to her iconic large-format flower, skull, and landscape paintings, to paintings of architectural forms, rocks, shells, and trees. Initially, the collection was made of 140 O’Keeffe paintings, watercolors, pastels, and sculptures, but now includes nearly 1,200 objects.

The museum website offers creative activities, stories, and education about Georgia O’Keeffe’s life, along with several virtual exhibits available through Google Arts and Culture, including:

  • Georgia O’Keeffe
  • American Modernism
  • United States

Grand Palais

Year Opened : 1900

The Grand Palais is a large historic site, exhibition hall, and museum dedicated to the organization of exhibitions, publishing books, art workshops, photographic agency, and hosting major fairs and events. The museum receives 2.5 million visitors each year. The partnership with Google Arts and Culture brings extensive online exhibits to life, from the construction of the building to the masterpieces that lie within it.

Hermitage Museum

Year Opened : 1764

The Hermitage Museum is the second-largest and eighth-most visited art museum in the world. The Hermitage has more than 60,000 pieces of artwork on display, including the “Peacock Clock” by James Cox, “Madonna Litta” by Leonardo Da Vinci, and works by Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Antonio Canova.

The online tour is extremely comprehensive and allows you to virtually walk through all 6 buildings in the main complex, treasure gallery, and several exhibition projects.

High Museum of Art HeartMatch

Year Opened : 1905

The High Museum of Art offers over 15,000 works of art in its collection and is the leading art museum in the southeastern U.S. The museum focuses on 19th- and 20th-century American art, historic and contemporary decorative arts and design, European paintings, modern and contemporary art, photography, folk and self-taught art, and African art.

The museum’s partnership with Google Arts and Culture also offers online exhibits for viewing including:

  • Bill Traylor’s Drawings of People, Animals, and Events
  • How Iris van Herpen Transformed Fashion
  • Incredible, Innovative, and Unexpected Contemporary Furniture Designs
  • Photos From the Civil Rights Movement

The J. Paul Getty Museum

Year Opened: 1953

The J. Paul Getty Museum is made up of 2 campuses — the Getty Center and Getty Villa — that receive more than 2 million visitors per year. The Getty Center features pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts and photographs from the 1830s through present-day from all over the world. The Getty Villa displays art from Ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria.

The museum has put together online resources like art books, online exhibitions, podcasts, and videos, all viewable on its website .

It has also partnered with Google Arts and Culture to showcase online exhibits including:

  • 18th Century Pastel Portraits
  • The Art of Three Faiths: Torah, Bible, Qur’an
  • Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
  • Getty Museum Acquisitions 2019
  • Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well

To view the online galleries, click here .

Kunsthaus Zürich

Year Opened : 1910

The Kunsthaus Zürich features one of Switzerland’s most important art collections from the 13th century to the present day. While the museum places an emphasis on Swiss artists, including Alberto Giacometti, you’ll also find work from the likes of Monet, Picasso, and Warhol.

The museum’s partnership with Google Arts and Culture has digitized several of the museum’s best collections for viewing.

La Galleria Nazionale

Year Opened: 1883

La Galleria Nazionale displays about 1,100 paintings and sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries — the largest collection in Italy. It features work from famous Italian artists including Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Alberto Burri, and foreign artists including Cézanne, Monet, Pollock, Rodin, and Van Gogh.

It has teamed up with Google to offer 16 virtual exhibits for online viewing.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Year Opened: 1910

LACMA is the largest art museum in the western U.S., attracts nearly a million visitors annually, and holds more than 150,000 works spanning the history of art from ancient times to the present.

The website (click LACMA @ Home ) includes exhibition walkthroughs, soundtracks and live recordings, online teaching resources, and courses.

To view the LACMA’s online virtual tour from Google Arts & Culture, click here .

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Year Opened : 1822

The Mauritshuis is home to some of the best Dutch paintings from the Golden Age of Art. The museum consists of 854 works by artists like Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt Van Rijn, and Jan Steen. Famous works include “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (pictured above) and “View of Delft” by Vermeer, and “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp” by Rembrandt.

The museum has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to bring several of its best works to life for virtual viewing.

To view the Mauritshuis’ online exhibits, click here .

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Year Opened: 1870

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, also known as “The Met,” is the largest art museum in the U.S. and the fourth most visited museum in the world with more than 6 million visitors each year. The permanent collection contains more than 2 million works from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all of the European masters (including Monet’s Water Lillies), and an extensive collection of American and modern art. It also has extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art.

The museum has extensive different online exhibits available for viewing through Google and its own Art at Home website .

Louvre Museum

Year Opened:  1793

The Louvre Palace, which houses the museum, began as a fortress under Philip II in the 12th century to protect the city from English soldiers that were in Normandy. It wasn’t repurposed as a museum until 1793. Now, the Louvre is easily one of the most historic art museums in the world. Not only is the Louvre the largest art museum in the world at 782,910 square feet (72,735 square meters), but it also had 9.6 million visitors in 2019, making it the most visited museum in the world as well. Featured masterpieces include “Mona Lisa,” “Winged Victory of Samothrace,” “Venus de Milo,” and “Hammurabi’s Code.”

The Louvre has several virtual galleries on display, including:

  • The Advent of the Artist, including works from Delacroix, Rembrandt, and Tintoretto
  • Egyptian Antiquities, featuring collections from the Pharaonic period
  • Remains of the Louvre’s Moat — visitors can walk around the original perimeter moat and view the piers that supported the drawbridge dating back to 1190
  • Galerie d’Apollon, destroyed by fire in 1661 and recently rebuilt for viewing

To view the Louvre’s virtual tour page, click here .

Musée d’Orsay

Year Opened: 1986

The Musée d’Orsay is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It is one of the largest art museums in Europe and had more than 3.6 million visitors in 2019. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, including works by Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Seurat, Sisley, and Van Gogh.

The museum allows you to virtually walk through one of its popular galleries, featuring hundreds of paintings from French artists.

To view the Musée d’Orsay online gallery, click here .

Museo Del Prado

Year Opened : 1819

The Museo Nacional del Prado is considered to have one of the greatest collections of European art in the world and offers guests the single largest collection of Spanish art. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings, 7,600 paintings, 4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures. Well-known works include “Las Meninas” by Diego Velázquez, “The Third of May 1808” by Francisco De Goya, and “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch.

The museum’s online gallery allows you to get a close look at over 10,000 different pieces of art. The Prado also offers a 1-hour live show on Instagram every morning at 4 a.m. EST.

To view the online gallery, click here .

Museo Frida Kahlo

Year Opened: 1958

The Frida Kahlo Museum, also known as the Blue House due to its blue walls, is a historic museum dedicated to the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The building was Kahlo’s birthplace, the home where she grew up, lived with her husband Diego Rivera for many years, and where she later died in a room on the upper floor. The museum contains a collection of artwork by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and other artists, along with the couple’s Mexican folk art, pre-Hispanic artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, personal items, and more. Find out more in our guide to the best museums in Mexico City .

guernica

Year Opened: 1990

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, also called the Museo Reina Sofía, is one of the most popular art museums in the world. The museum includes large collections of Spain’s 2 most popular artists, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. Famous works on display include “Guernica” and “Woman in Blue” by Picasso and “Cubist Self Portrait” by Dalí.

You can view collections of artwork at the Reina Sofía through its partnership with Google Arts and Culture.

Museu de Arte de São Paulo

Year Opened: 1947

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is Brazil’s first modern art museum. The museum is internationally recognized for its collection of European art, as it’s considered the finest museum in Latin America and all of the Southern Hemisphere. The museum primarily features Brazilian art, prints, and drawings, as well as smaller collections of African and Asian art, antiquities, decorative arts, and others, amounting to more than 8,000 pieces. MASP also has one of the largest art libraries in the country.

You can now take a virtual tour of online galleries the museum has to offer, including:

  • Art from Brazil until 1900
  • Art from Italy: Rafael to Titian
  • Art from France: from Delacroix to Cézanne
  • Art in Fashion
  • Histories of Madness: The Drawings of Juquery
  • Picture Gallery in Transformation

Museum of Broken Relationships

Year Opened: 2010

The Museum of Broken Relationships is dedicated to failed love relationships. Its exhibits include personal objects left over from former lovers, accompanied by brief descriptions. The museum was founded by 2 Zagreb-based artists, film producer Olinka Vištica and sculptor Dražen Grubišić, after their 4-year relationship came to an end.

The virtual tour includes a close-up collection of dozens of the museum’s most interesting pieces.

Museum of Fine Arts Boston

The 17th largest art museum in the world, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) hosts one of the most extensive art collections in the U.S. It houses over 8,000 paintings, surpassed only by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and exceeds 1 million visitors each year. Pieces by world-renowned artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Monet are featured alongside sculptures, mummies, ceramics, and other artifacts from ancient civilizations.

There are currently 16 online exhibits available for viewing.

Museum of Fine Art Houston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) is one of the largest museums in the U.S., and its collection features over 64,000 works from 6 continents. The collection places emphasis on pre-Columbian and African gold, Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture, 19th- and 20th-century art, photography, and Latin American art. Read our guide to the best museums in Houston for more information.

The museum has 14 online exhibits available for viewing in collaboration with Google Arts and Culture.

The Museum of Modern Art

Year Opened: 1929

Regarded as one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world, MoMA’s art collection features an overview of modern and contemporary art, including works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated books, and artist’s books, film, and electronic media. MoMA’s holdings include more than 150,000 individual pieces including Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans” and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” in addition to approximately 22,000 films and 4 million film stills.

MoMA’s website offers 86,000 works of art that can be viewed online, along with a partnership with Google Arts and Culture to create a virtual display of its Sophie Taeber-Arp exhibit.

To view the website’s collection, click here . To view the Google exhibit, click here .

National Gallery London

Year Opened : 1824

The National Gallery features more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900, including works such as “Sunflowers” by Van Gogh, “The Virgin on the Rocks” by Da Vinci, and “The Arnolfini Portrait” by Jan Van Eyck.

Its website offers a few virtual tours, showcasing many rooms in the museum, the Sainsbury Wing, and a Google Virtual tour.

National Gallery of Art

Year Opened: 1937

The National Gallery of Art and its attached Sculpture Garden are located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and are open to the public free of charge. The museum was privately established in 1937 for the American people by a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress.

The National Gallery is widely considered to be one of the greatest museums in the U.S. It ranks second in total visitors of all American museums, 10th in the world, and features incredible pieces including Jackson Pollock’s “Number 1,” Leonardo da Vinci’s “Ginevra de’ Benci,” and Degas’ “Little Dancer Aged 14.”

The museum has put together a collection of educational resources on its website for teachers, families, and children. It also features online exhibits through Google Arts and Culture including:

  • American Fashion — highlights from 1740 to 1895
  • Johannes Vermeer — Dutch Baroque painter

To view the National Gallery of Art online collection page, click here .

National Gallery of Victoria

Year Opened: 1861

The National Gallery of Victoria is Australia’s oldest, largest, and most visited art museum. The museum offers a wide variety of international and Australian art in its collection, including paintings, drawings, photography, and sculptures.

The online tour includes walk-throughs of exhibits, including highlights from the NGV Triennial 2020 and Chinese Collection, as well as exhibits featuring Goya and KAWS.

Resplendence of the Tang Dynasty National Museum of China

Year Opened : 2003

The National Museum of China covers Chinese history from 1.7 million years ago to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Notable works include the “Houmuwu” Rectangle Ding, a rectangular bronze sacrificial vessel made in the late Shang Dynasty, the heaviest piece of ancient bronze ware in the world, and a Han Dynasty jade burial suit laced with gold thread. It is one of the largest museums in the world, and the second most visited art museum in the world, just after the Louvre.

The museum has virtual exhibits available for 360-degree viewing including:

  • Resplendence of the Tang Dynasty
  • Sunken Silver

National Museum of Korea

Year Opened : 1909

The National Museum of Korea is the top museum of Korean history and art and has been committed to various studies and research activities in the fields of archaeology, history, and art, continuously developing a variety of exhibitions and education programs.

The museum’s virtual tour provides a 3D walk-through of exhibits, including 1,000 years of Korean design and 500 years of the Joseon Dynasty.

National Museum New Delhi sculpture

Year Opened: 1949

The National Museum, New Delhi is one of the largest museums in India. The museum has around 200,000 works of art, both of Indian and foreign origin, including paintings, sculptures, jewelry, ancient texts, armor, and decorative arts ranging from the pre-historic era to modern works — covering over 5,000 years.

The museum has partnered with Google to bring its online exhibits to life, including:

  • Art of Caligraphy
  • Cadence and Counterpoint
  • Indian Bronzes
  • Nauras: The Many Arts of the Deccan
  • Pottery from Ancient Peru
  • Treasures of National Museum, India
  • Radha and Krishna in the Boat of Love

Museum of Modern Contemporary Art Seoul

Year Opened: 1969

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art was first established in 1969 as the only national art museum in South Korea, accommodating modern and contemporary art of Korea and international art of different time periods. The museum features over 7,000 pieces of artwork, including works of contemporary Korean artists such as Go Hui-dong, Ku Bon-ung, Park Su-geun, and Kim Whan-ki.

Google’s virtual tour takes you through 6 floors of contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.

Garden of Compassion and Tranquility at National Palace Museum Taipei

Year Opened : 1965

The National Palace Museum has a collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese imperial artifacts and artworks. The collection encompasses 8,000 years of history of Chinese art, including jade, paintings, bronzes, and porcelain that were formerly held in the Forbidden City of Peking.

The museum offers 360-degree virtual tours of many different exhibits.

To view the virtual tours, click here .

National Portrait Gallery

Year Opened : 1962

The National Portrait Gallery has a collection of over 21,000 works of art. The collection focuses on images of famous Americans and how they’ve shaped U.S. culture. A major attraction of the National Portrait Gallery’s collection is the Hall of Presidents, which contains portraits of nearly all American presidents. It is the largest and most complete collection in the world, except for the White House collection itself.

The museum has several collections featured on Google Arts and Culture, but also offers digital workshops, and distance learning resources for children and teachers.

To view the online resources, click here .

Pergamon Altar, view of the Gigantomachy frieze / north risalit

The Pergamonmuseum houses monumental buildings, such as the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the Market Gate of Miletus reconstructed from the ruins found in Anatolia, as well as the Mshatta Facade. The museum is subdivided into the antiquity collection, the Middle East museum, and the museum of Islamic art. It is visited by over 1 million people every year.

The museum has dozens of structures and other artifacts that can be viewed online.

Museu Picasso

Year Opened: 1963

The Picasso Museum, located in the heart of Barcelona’s Latin Quarter, is visited by millions every year. They come to marvel at the best works of Picasso, perhaps the most famous painter of all, but stay to marvel at the best-preserved medieval architecture in Barcelona. With 4,251 works by the painter exhibited, the museum has one of the most complete permanent collections of his works.

The online tour offers a large selection of Picasso’s finest works, as well as virtual tours of the museum’s beautiful courtyards.

Rijksmuseum

Year Opened: 1798

The Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague in 1798 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, where it was first located in the Royal Palace. The current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened in 1885. The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history from the years 1200 to 2000, and a total collection of 1 million objects. The museum features masterpieces including Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” and “The Jewish Bride,” plus works by Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer, who are known to have been major contributors to the Golden Age of Dutch art.

Google offers a street view tour of some excellent art pieces located in the museum, and the museum has put together an entire virtual tour of all of the museum’s masterpieces viewable on its website.

To view the Google street view tour, click here . You can also view the museum’s From Home microsite and masterpieces tour .

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art SFMOMA

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is composed of over 33,000 works of art spread throughout 7 gallery floors and 45,000 square feet of space. Following a 3-year closure for expansion, the museum reopened in 2016 and is now one of San Francisco’s must-see destinations.

SFMOMA’s website is updated regularly with videos and articles regarding current exhibits, projects, and artist showcases and provides behind-the-scenes looks of the museum. 

To view the museum’s multimedia features, click here .

Read our guide to the best museums in San Francisco to find out more.

Sistine Chapel

Year Opened: 1483

The Sistine Chapel, located inside of the Apostolic Palace (the official residence of the pope in Vatican City), is easily the most popular chapel in the world. The chapel is famous for its magnificent ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, and is considered to be one of the best artworks to come out of the Italian Renaissance. The primary panels of the ceiling showcase 9 scenes from the Book of Genesis, of which “The Creation of Adam” (pictured above) is the best known and most recognized.

Its website offers a virtual tour of the chapel’s most stunning sites, including the ability to marvel at Michelangelo’s ceiling from the comfort of your couch.

Guggenheim NYC

Year Opened: 1939

The Guggenheim Museum was established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1939. It is the permanent home of a continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year.

Google’s  Street View feature lets you tour the Guggenheim’s famous spiral staircase and some of its art pieces. It also offers a handful of online collections on its website .

Tate Modern

Year Opened: 2000

Tate Modern is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world, consisting of art dating from 1900 until today. The gallery receives over 5 million visitors a year, making it the sixth most visited art museum in the world and the most visited in the U.K.

The Tate Modern has published dozens of videos on its YouTube channel that give you an in-depth look at many of its exhibits, including the Andy Warhol exhibit and the Aubrey Beardsley exhibit.

To view the Tate Modern’s YouTube channel, click here .

Thyssen Bornemisza Museum

Year Opened: 1992

Located in Madrid, the Thyssen has over 1,600 paintings inside its walls and was once the second-largest private collection in the world after the British Royal Collection. It includes works from the Italian primitives, the English, Dutch, and German schools, Impressionists, Expressionists, and European and American paintings from the 20th century. It also features pieces from the continent’s most celebrated artists including Rembrandt and Dalí.

The virtual tour includes a detailed look at the permanent collection, along with exhibits including the Rembrandt and Impressionist galleries.

Tokyo National Museum

Year Opened : 1872

The Tokyo National Museum is the oldest and largest art museum in Japan, and one of the largest art museums in the world. At the museum, you’ll find a collection of artwork and cultural objects from Asia, ancient and medieval Japanese art, and Asian art along the Silk Road.

The museum has teamed up with Google’s Arts and Culture to provide an inside look at what the museum has to offer.

Uffizi Gallery

Year Opened: 1581

The Uffizi was designed by Giorgio Vasari for Cosimo I de’ Medici, whose family members were by far the largest patrons of art in Renaissance Italy. The museum now spans over 139,000 square feet with 101 different rooms that house its art pieces, including famous pieces such as “The Birth of Venus.” Over 2 million people visit the Uffizi each year, making it the most viewed art museum in Italy.

The museum has teamed up with Google to showcase online galleries including:

  • Piero di Cosimo, Perseus Freeing Andromeda
  • The Santa Trinita Maestà, Cimabue
  • The Creative Process Behind Federico Barocci’s Drawings
  • Drawings by Amico Aspertini and other Bolognese artists

Van Gogh Museum

Year Opened: 1973

The Van Gogh Museum is dedicated to perhaps one of the most famous artists of all time — Vincent Van Gogh. The museum contains the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters. The museum has over 2 million visitors each year and is the 23rd most visited art museum in the world. Find out more in our review to the best museums in Amsterdam .

The museum has teamed up with Google to create online exhibits on Vincent Van Gogh’s love life and the books he loved to read. You can also visit the museum’s website for a selection of things to do for young children, including school lessons and coloring pages.

Dior Exhibit Victoria and Albert Museum

Year Opened : 1852

The Victoria and Albert Museum collection spans 5,000 years of art from Europe, North America, Asia, and North Africa. The collection of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewelry, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings, and photographs is among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.

The virtual tour, in partnership with Google Arts and Culture, offers several online exhibits ranging from fashion to surrealism.

5 Natural History Museums With Virtual Tours

American Museum of Natural History

Year Opened : 1869

One of the largest natural history museums in the world, the American Museum of Natural History contains 34 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts.

The museum’s 360-degree virtual tours offer an up-close look at permanent exhibits, current exhibits, past exhibits, and research stations.

British Museum

Year Opened: 1759

The British Museum is one of the largest in the world and houses over 8 million works within its walls. Established in 1759, it was the first public national museum in the world. Visitors can tour the great court and view some of the most famous objects in history, like the Elgin Marbles of Greece and the Rosetta Stone of Egypt.

The Museum is the world’s largest indoor space on Google Street View and you can go on a virtual visit to more than 60 galleries.

The British Museum also has virtual galleries on display, including:

  • Prints and Drawings

To visit the British Museum’s virtual tour page, click here .

National Museum of Anthropology Sun Stone

Year Opened: 1964

The National Museum of Anthropology is the largest and most visited museum in all of Mexico. The museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from Mexico’s pre-Columbian heritage, such as the Stone of the Sun (or the Aztec calendar stone) and the Aztec Xochipilli statue.

The museum has made more than 100 items available for Google visitors to explore from home.

To view the museum’s online collection, click here .

Smithsonian Natural History

Located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is the 11th most visited museum in the world and the most visited natural history museum in the world. With over 325,000 square feet of exhibition space, the museum’s collections 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. Highlights of the collection include the Hope Diamond and the Star of Asia Sapphire.

You can view all of these specimens from the comfort of your home as the museum has dozens of different online exhibits that can all be accessed on its website.

To view the museum’s virtual tour, click here .

Natural History Museum London

Year Opened: 1881

Undoubtably one of the best Museums in London , the Natural History Museum in London showcases 80 million life and earth science specimens of great historical and scientific value, even housing pieces collected by Charles Darwin. There are 5 categories within the museum: botany , entomology , mineralogy , paleontology , and zoology . Over 5 million people visit this museum each year, making it the most visited natural history museum in Europe.

One of the museum’s most prominent displays is the skeleton of an 82-foot long blue whale named Hope, which you can learn more about through a self-guided virtual tour, along with several other galleries. 

10 Science and Technology Museums With Virtual Tours

London Science Museum

Year Opened : 1857

The London Science Museum holds a collection of over 300,000 items, including famous items such as Stephenson’s Rocket, Puffing Billy (the oldest surviving steam locomotive), the first jet engine, some of the earliest remaining steam engines, and documentation of the first typewriter.

Thanks to Google Street View, guests can take a virtual tour of the entire museum, or watch curator gallery guides on the museum’s YouTube channel.

To view the virtual tour or videos, click here .

Museo Galileo

Dedicated to the scientist and astronomer Galileo Galilei, the Museo Galilei is housed in an 11th-century palace known as the Palazzo Castellini. The museum has a collection of over 5,000 ancient scientific instruments dating back to the 13th century, and among its most notable items is the telescope Galileo used to discover the satellites of Jupiter.

Visitors from around the world have the opportunity to explore the inside of the museum and can access more than 1,000 permanent exhibition objects through the online catalog.

The Museum of Flight

Year Opened: 1965

The Museum of Flight is the largest private air and space museum in the world and attracts over 500,000 visitors every year. The museum has more than 150 aircraft in its collection, including the Lockheed Model 10-E Electra (the aircraft Amelia Earhart was piloting when she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean), Boeing 747s, and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (pictured above).

The museum offers 360-degree tours that let you step inside dozens of these iconic aircraft.

The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium

Year Opened: 1846

The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium is dedicated to natural history and is part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The dinosaur hall of the museum is the world’s largest museum hall completely dedicated to dinosaurs, and its most important pieces are 30 fossilized Iguanodon skeletons, which were discovered in 1878 in Bernissart.

It has partnered with Google to set up virtual exhibits for viewing, including:

  • 360-degree guided tour
  • The Bernissart Iguanodons
  • From Salehanthropus to Homo Sapiens
  • Over 250 Years of Natural Sciences
  • Past, Present, Future: The Marvels of Evolution

To view the museum’s online exhibits, click here .

Museum of Science Boston

Year Opened: 1830

The Museum of Science, Boston, receiving over 1.5 million visitors annually, is a museum and indoor zoo with more than 700 interactive exhibits and over 100 animals, many of which have been rescued and rehabilitated.

The museum offers a phenomenal virtual tour full of digital exhibits, videos, and audio presentations.

NASA Astronaut Edward White during first EVA performed during Gemini 4 flight

NASA, founded in 1958, was created by the federal government to develop the civilian space program, as well as to conduct aeronautics, space, and astrophysics research. Since its inception, NASA has been responsible for historic space missions including the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the space shuttle.

NASA has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to bring many online exhibits to life to showcase the beauty of space exploration.

Air and Space Museum

Year Opened : 1946

The National Air and Space Museum is a center for the history and science of aviation, spaceflight, planetary science, terrestrial geology, and geophysics. It is the fifth most visited museum in the world (the second most visited in the U.S.), and contains the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, the Friendship 7 capsule, the Wright brothers’ Wright Flyer airplane, and Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis.

The virtual tour offers a 360-degree walk-through of the entire museum.

National Museum of Computing

Year Opened: 2007

The National Museum of Computing is dedicated to collecting and restoring historic computer systems. The museum is home to the world’s largest collection of working historic computers dating back to the 1940s, including a rebuilt Mark 2 Colossus computer, alongside an exhibition of the most complex code-cracking activities performed at the Park.

In the 3D virtual tour, viewers can move around the galleries looking at the machines and their descriptions with the added bonus of hyperlinks to video and text explanations providing further detail and history of the exhibits.

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Year Opened: 1923

Located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Riverside, Ohio, the National Museum of the United States Air Force is the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world, with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display.

The virtual tour allows visitors to take a virtual, 360-degree, self-guided tour of the entire museum by navigating from gallery to gallery.

Oxford University's History of Science Museum

Year Opened: 1683

Oxford’s History of Science Museum holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

The museum, ever ahead of the times, has offered virtual tours since 1995. You’ll get to explore the fantastic exhibits and artifacts of some of the most important scientific discoveries in science history.

10 History Museums With Virtual Tours

West and South Frieze Acropolis Museum

Year Opened : 2009

The Acropolis Museum is centered around the archaeological findings at the site of Athens’ most important structure — the Acropolis. The museum was built to house every artifact found on the rock and surrounding slopes, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece.

The museum has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to bring the museum to life virtually. Now you can view rock, marble, and sculptures certificates, all of which are thousands of years old, all from the comfort of your couch!

American Battlefield Trust Virtual Battlefield Tours

The American Battlefield Trust Virtual Battlefield Tours offers the incredible opportunity to experience 360-degree virtual tours of more than 20 American Revolution and Civil War battlefields. You can explore Gettysburg, with 15 different stops, each of which features icons that discuss in great detail the history and significance of the battle.

Anne Frank House

Year Opened: 1957

What was once the house where Anne Frank went into hiding during WWII is now a museum dedicated to increasing awareness of Anne’s story and life in the attic. The Anne Frank House was established in cooperation with Anne Frank’s father, Otto Frank, and now welcomes over 1 million visitors from around the world each year.

The museum’s website offers a virtual reality tour of the annex, along with other educational resources about Anne’s life.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library Museum

Year Opened: 1941

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum holds the records of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd U.S. president (1933 to 1945). The museum showcases the history behind FDR’s story, his presidency, New Deal policies, assassination attempt, and wartime decisions.

The 360-degree online tour gives you a close look at original documents, artifacts, and videos from FDR’s life.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Year Opened: 2003

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, history, and culture. It was established by an Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African-Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts.

The museum website offers more than 15 different online exhibits covering African American history and culture.

Check out its online virtual tour  and digital resources guide .

Smithsonian Museum of American History

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has more than 1.8 million objects that highlight the history of the U.S — including the original Star-Spangled Banner, Julia Child’s kitchen, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, Indiana Jones’ fedora and whip, and more!

The museum offers about 100 online exhibits from its encyclopedic collections, each with a mix of photos, video, graphics, and text on topics ranging through the nation’s entire history.

Dolly the Sheep at National Museums Scotland

Year Opened : 1866

The National Museum of Scotland is dedicated to Scottish antiquities, culture, and history. The museum contains artifacts from around the world, encompassing geology, archaeology, natural history, science, technology, art, and world cultures. Popular items from the collections include Dolly the Sheep, the Arthur’s Seat coffins, and the Cramond Lioness sculpture.

The Museum’s galleries have been captured digitally in partnership with Google Arts & Culture, along with a virtual walk-through thanks to Google Street View.

National Women's History Museum

Year Opened: 1996

Founded in 1996 by Karen Staser, the National Women’s History Museum researches, collects, and exhibits the contributions of women to the social, cultural, economic, and political life of our nation in the context of world history.

Its website currently features 29 different online exhibits!

terra cotta warriors of xian

Year Opened: 1974 (created third century B.C.)

The Terracotta Army at Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210 to 209 B.C. to protect the emperor in his afterlife. The sculptures include warriors, chariots, and horses. Estimates from 2007 were that the 3 pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits near Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum.

The online experience allows you to get up close and personal with the sculptures in a full 360-degree experience!

To view the online virtual experience, click here .

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Year Opened: 1980

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is the country’s official memorial to the Holocaust. It is located on the National Mall alongside other monuments dedicated to freedom. Each year, the museum encourages its 1.6 million visitors to promote human dignity, confront hatred, prevent genocide, and strengthen democratic values. The museum’s collection includes millions of archival documents, artifacts, photographs, footage, and a list of over 200,000 registered survivors and their families, among other historical items.

Its website offers a wide selection of educational resources, including a virtual tour, and is available in 16 languages.

There you have it — 75 amazing #MuseumsAtHome options filled with one-of-a-kind artifacts covering art, science, history, and natural history, all of which can be “visited” virtually while you lounge in your pajamas! So whether you’re a massive fan of art, looking for an educational experience for your children, or simply need a way to keep yourself entertained, you can’t go wrong with a virtual tour of any of these world-class museums.

Frequently Asked Questions

What museums have virtual tours.

There are dozens of museums worldwide offering virtual tours — we have 75 on this list alone! But some of our favorites are the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the British Museum!

How much do virtual tours cost?

Every single virtual tour included on our list is completely free of charge!

What is a virtual museum tour?

A virtual museum tour is, in essence, a simulation of what you might experience when visiting the museum in person. Virtual tours are usually comprised of a collection of videos, still images, 3D walkthroughs, and narration that help you feel as though you’re visiting the museum — without actually doing so!

How do you do a virtual tour?

Doing a virtual tour is easy! Often, the museum will have a dedicated website page allowing you to view all of their virtual resources on 1 page.

In the case of museums that have a 3D walkthrough, you can “walk” yourself through the museum by clicking from artwork to artwork, and exhibit to exhibit, as if you were actually visiting the museum in person!

Are virtual tours worth it?

Absolutely! If you’re currently not able to visit a museum in person, but want to experience all it has to offer, a virtual tour allows you to do just that — all from the comforts of your home!

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Virtual Travel

A Smithsonian magazine special report

At the Smithsonian | March 18, 2020

How to Virtually Explore the Smithsonian From Your Living Room

Tour a gallery of presidential portraits, print a 3-D model of a fossil or volunteer to transcribe historical documents

Tian Tian the panda munching on bamboo (mobile)

Meilan Solly

Associate Editor, History

Beyond the brick-and-mortar buildings that make up the 19 museums at the Smithsonian Institution, there is much available in the digital sphere, making it easy for armchair travelers, creatives and lifelong learners alike to experience this vast organization's offerings from the comfort of their homes.

To help readers narrow down their search, Smithsonian magazine has compiled a list of virtual experiences that cater to an array of interests. Whether you’re in the mood to peruse the National Portrait Gallery’s presidential portrait collection , explore the engineering marvels of the Inka Empire or remix one of the 2.8 million images available through Smithsonian Open Access , this roundup has you covered.

Online Tours and Exhibitions

Elephant in Natural History Museum rotunda

Nothing quite compares with the feeling of standing in front of an artistic masterpiece or a towering Tyrannosaurus rex fossil, but virtual exhibitions and museum tours are about as close as you can get to recreating the experience. Science lovers can survey the National Museum of Natural History’s permanent , current and past exhibitions, including the Butterfly Pavilion , the Deep Time Hall of Fossils and the Hall of Human Origins , while arts and culture fans can tour the Smithsonian American Art Museum , the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of Asian Art . Other options range from founder James Smithson’s Smithsonian Castle crypt to the Enid A. Haupt Garden , the Smithsonian Marine Station Wet Laboratory and the National Air and Space Museum ’s Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center .

In addition to highlighting virtual views, many Smithsonian museums offer exhibitions optimized for digital audiences. The National Museum of the American Indian has exhibitions on “ The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire ,” “ Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections ,” and “ Patriot Nations: Native Americans in Our Nation’s Armed Forces ,” among others. You can also check out the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s “ A Look at the Black Fashion Museum Collection and Designer Peter Day ,” the National Portrait Gallery’s “ One Life: Marian Anderson ” ASL tour and “ Outwin: American Portraiture Today ” portal, Smithsonian Libraries’ “ Exploring the Meaning of Place in ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro ,’” the National Museum of American History’s “ Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life ,” the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s “ Willi Smith Community Archive ,” the Air and Space Museum ’s “ Outside the Spacecraft ,” the Smithsonian Latino Center’s “ D.C. Latino Street Murals ,” and the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service’s “ Men of Change .”

The Great Inka Road exhibition

These online exhibitions vary greatly in scale and style. The National Portrait Gallery’s “ Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence ” exhibition, for instance, is typical of many Smithsonian offerings found on Google Arts and Culture: Users click through a slideshow-esque narrative, reading short blurbs on suffragists like Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone and Victoria Woodhull, as depicted in images from the gallery’s collections. Others, like the National Museum of the American Indian’s “ Americans ” show, require more digital bandwidth to fully appreciate their immersive interactives.

See museums’ websites or Google Arts and Culture pages—many of which feature online exhibits , subject-specific compilations and browsable collection records —for more options, or search the Smithsonian’s main collections catalog .

Sparking Creativity

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Thanks to Smithsonian Open Access , anyone with an internet connection can not only browse, but “use, transform and distribute” some 2.8 million high-resolution images from the collections without restrictions. Among the artifacts highlighted on the Open Access portal are Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Vega 5B plane , a portrait of Pocahontas , a chunk of Smithsonite and the Apollo 11 command module . For inspiration on remixing these and other artifacts in the public domain, visit the Open Access Remix page, which lists projects including Georgetown University students’ laser-cut clocks, a three-part sculpture titled Mediated and the How to Make a Collagasaurus workbook.

Another option for makers and creatives is the Smithsonian’s 3-D digitization portal, which features interactive models from a pantheon of fields . Take a closer look at Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit , a pair of boots from Broadway musical The Wiz and fossils found on National Park Service lands , then print your very own scale models of a T. rex skull , a coral skeleton and a “ Cosmic Buddha ” sculpture. For tips on 3-D printing from home, check out Smithsonian magazine’s November 2019 guide , which features historical background on various digitized offerings, tips for printing specific models and more.

Smithsonian coloring page

For those in search of low- or no-tech activities, consider the following: Interview family members and friends to record their oral histories, as outlined in the Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide ; volunteer to transcribe historical documents and biodiversity data with the Smithsonian Transcription Center ; join virtual meditation sessions hosted by the National Museum of Asian Art (to participate, visit this link at 12:15 p.m. every weekday besides Wednesday); or download free coloring pages from Smithsonian Libraries.

Learning Resources

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The Smithsonian’s virtual presence comprises millions of educational resources for learners of all ages. Younger students (and their teachers or caregivers) can visit the Smithsonian Learning Lab’s newly launched distance learning resources hub , which highlights offerings from STEM games and simulations to American Women’s History Initiative’s Because of Her Story articles and comprehensive lesson plans .

Find the latest updates by checking the #SmithsonianEdu hashtag, and browse Smithsonian magazine’s roundup of educational resources for ideas on where to start. Though many of these tools are geared toward pre-K-12 students, older learners will also find them engaging; examples of adult-friendly activities circulating on social media include reading “ rare and notable editions ” of classic books via Smithsonian Libraries’ Digital Library , checking out the National Museum of Natural History ’s Ocean and Human Origins portals, and watching a collection of narrated short stories from around the world.

Other avenues of exploration include the Smithsonian Transcription Center’s database of ongoing and completed projects, from “personal diaries and scientific fieldbooks to playbills and sound recordings,” and the Because of Her Story campaign, which draws on articles, quizzes, videos and book excerpts to “create, disseminate, and amplify the historical record of the accomplishments of American women”—a mission that holds particular resonance during Women’s History Month. The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Collection Stories , meanwhile, invites staff to “share their interpretation of the collections they find most powerful from a variety of perspectives.”

Podcasts, videos and lecture recordings also hold valuable lessons for listeners. The Hirshhorn Museum has an “Artist Talks” lecture series, while the Air and Space Museum offers an archive of recorded lectures like “ Women of Apollo ” and “ The Future of Lunar Exploration .” Five seasons of the Smithsonian’s “ Sidedoor ” podcast, including episodes on the “ worst video game of all time ” and underwear in outer space , are available for streaming at any time. Other Smithsonian podcasts range from the Museum of American History ’s “History Explorer” and “Prototype Online: Inventive Voices” shows to “ AirSpace ,” “ Portraits ” and “ Freer Thinking . The Smithsonian Channel has a diverse catalog of television and web series—among others, “ Spy Wars With Damian Lewis ,” “ Wild Inside the National Zoo ” and “ Humboldt: Epic Explorer .”

Finally, every Friday at 11 a.m., visitors can tune in via the National Portrait Gallery’s Facebook page for Open Studio lessons with artist Jill Galloway. Storytime for children ages 3 and up will be livestreamed on Facebook Wednesdays at 11 a.m.

Currently, to support the effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, all Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C. and in New York City, as well as the National Zoo, are temporarily closed. Check listings for updates.

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Meilan Solly

Meilan Solly | | READ MORE

Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history.

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Virtual Museum: 13 ways to explore from home

Delve into the Museum from home with a virtual self-guided tour of the galleries, an interactive experience about Hope the blue whale and audio guides narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

1. Stroll around the Fantastic Beasts™: The Wonder of Nature exhibition

Although the exhibition at the Museum closed on 3 January 2022, you can still step into an online world full of fantastic real-life and magical beasts. There are highlights, stories and games galore. 

Walk around the exhibition from home with a 360° virtual tour on Google Arts & Culture.

The entrance to the Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature exhibition.

2.  Take a deep dive into the life of a blue whale

Explore the rich history of Hope, the blue whale suspended from the ceiling in Hintze Hall. In this online interactive, see what her life was like in the ocean, find out how she got to her home in the Museum and get a behind-the-scenes peek of the Museum's collections.

Go one step further by viewing the skeleton in augmented reality (AR) with Google Arts & Culture. 

A spliced image showing the blue whale skeleton in the middle surrounded by tall shelves storing other taxidermy specimens.

3. Hang out with scientists online

Catch up on all the Nature Live Online talks featuring topical discussions with our scientists and cutting-edge research. 

Free event recordings. 

View of Earth from space.

Image:  NASA .

4.  Sound choices: listen to these podcasts

Every year the Museum attracts millions of curious visitors eager to learn about the natural world.

Bring that curiosity home, and learn more about natural history, science, and the world around you with these great podcasts. 

Khalil and Sandy looking at botanical specimens on the Museum's podcast, Wild Crimes.

5.  Let Sir David Attenborough guide you around Hintze Hall

Sir David's unmistakable voice and expertise on all things nature make him the perfect person to take you on a tour of Hintze Hall's star specimens (including the blue marlin), all from the comfort of home.

A large blue marlin specimen preserved in a tank in Hintze Hall.

6.  Go on a virtual tour of the Museum

Google Arts & Culture gives you access to 300,000 specimens within the Museum's collections, along with 35 digital exhibitions , virtual tours and an interactive gigapixel photo (so enormous you can zoom in on the tiniest detail) of Hintze Hall's gilded canopy. 

A screenshot of a 360 video of Hintze Hall showing thumbnail images of other galleries along the bottom.

7.  Flick through Wildlife Photographer of the Year images

Explore the exhibition at your own pace in this online gallery filled with stunning nature photographs. 

A photograph of a jellyfish with purple tentacles by Fabien Michenet.

8.  Watch us on the small screen

The Museum's stunning architecture has made it a popular choice as a filming location for everything from blockbuster movies to TV dramas.

Discover which films and television shows feature the Museum.

Paddington Bear at the Museum with Dippy in Hintze Hall.

Paddington (2014)

9. Examine a 3D model of Dippy's skull

Get up close to the skull of the Museum's iconic Diplodocus cast produced by our Imaging and Analysis Centre. See more 3D models on Sketchfab , including Darwin's fossil mammals and the Crystal Palace sculptures .

A 3D scan of Dippy's skull.

10. See illustrations from HMS Endeavour

Our collection of botanical illustrations from HMS Endeavour make up some of the most scientifically significant artworks in our archive. It features works by Sydney Parkinson .

A watercolour illustration parkinson

11.  Browse the Library and Archives digital collections

Dig deep into the archives, where you'll find scientifically important art, books, prints and manuscripts, including drawings by William Smith and brothers Franz and Ferdinand Bauer.

Illustration of two lorikeets perched on a branch by the Bauer brothers.

12. Uncover highlights from the collections

We've wrapped up some of the highlights from the collections on display including specimens from space , the spirit collection , Charles Darwin and the Treasures gallery .

Discover more stories from the collections  including stories from the Museum at Tring .

Archie the giant squid in the spirit collection.

13. Zoom in on beetles

Open the drawers and zoom in on 16 Coleoptera collections held at the Museum including those from Thomas Broun (1838-1919), David Sharp (1840-1922) and Charles O. Waterhouse (1843-1917).

Find out more about the  Entomology collections .

Coleoptera collection - colourful beetles

Virtual expeditions with our scientists

virtual tour historical museum

What is it like to go on a dino dig?

Explore an interactive story about Museum experts' adventure to Wyoming, USA, when they went off-grid in search of Jurassic dinosaurs.

virtual tour historical museum

Explore a 360 panorama of Antarctica

Join Dr Adrian Glover as he journeys to the site of a collapsed Antarctic ice shelf. Experience the awe-inspiring view from the ship deck.

virtual tour historical museum

Online events

Whether you want to try your hand at crafting or join our virtual yoga - there is something for everyone. 

Find out more

Let the exploration continue.

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Enjoy nature on your doorstep

Find activities and ideas to occupy yourself and family at home, in your garden or local outdoor space.

Try this at home

virtual tour historical museum

Discover more stories from the collections

Uncover colourful stories behind the specimens, meet collectors and curators past and present and read about their contributions to our understanding of the natural world. 

virtual tour historical museum

Teaching resources

A range of downloadable educational curriculum-linked resources that you can adapt for home use.

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These 12 Famous Museums Offer Virtual Tours You Can Take on Your Couch

Experience the best museums — from London to Seoul — from the comfort of your own home.

virtual tour historical museum

While there's nothing like setting foot inside an iconic museum and laying eyes on a world-famous sculpture created by a renowned artist centuries ago, it's not always possible to hop on a plane to New York City , Paris , or Florence to tour the gallery halls in person.

But there is a way to get a little culture and education while you're at home, gaining inspiration and intel for future trips as well. Google Arts & Culture has teamed up with more than 1,200 museums and galleries around the world to bring anyone and everyone virtual tours and online exhibits of some of the most famous museums around the world.

You get to "go to the museum" and never have to leave your couch.

Google Arts & Culture's collection includes The British Museum in London, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Guggenheim in New York City, and literally hundreds more places where you can gain knowledge about art, history, and science.

Take a look at just some of Google's top museums that are offering online tours and exhibits. And if you're seeking more thoughtful inspiration from the comfort of your own home, museums around the world are sharing their most zen art on social media . Or, for a dose of nature, you can go "outside" with incredible virtual tours of some of America's best national parks .

The British Museum, London

This iconic museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. You can also find hundreds of artifacts on The Museum of the World interactive website, a collaboration between The British Museum and Google Cultural Institute.

Guggenheim, New York

Google's Street View feature lets visitors tour the Guggenheim's famous spiral staircase without ever leaving home. From there, you can discover incredible works of art from the impressionist, post-impressionist, modern, and contemporary eras.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

This famous American art museum features two online exhibits through Google. The first is an exhibit of American fashion from 1740 to 1895, including many renderings of clothes from the colonial and Revolutionary eras. The second is a collection of works from Dutch baroque painter Johannes Vermeer.

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

You can virtually walk through this popular gallery that houses dozens of famous works from French artists who worked and lived between 1848 and 1914. Get a peek at artworks from Monet, Cézanne, and Gauguin, among others.

Don Eim/Travel + Leisure

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul

One of Korea's popular museums can be accessed from anywhere around the world. Google's virtual tour takes you through six floors of contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.

Pergamon Museum, Berlin

As one of Germany's largest museums, Pergamon has a lot to offer — even if you can't physically be there . This historical museum is home to plenty of ancient artifacts including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and, of course, the Pergamon Altar.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Explore masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age, including works from Vermeer and Rembrandt. Google offers a Street View tour of this iconic museum, so you can feel as if you're actually wandering its halls.

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Anyone who's a fan of this tragic, ingenious painter can see his works up close (or, almost up close ) by virtually visiting this museum, home to the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 750 personal letters.

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

European artworks from as far back as the eighth century can be found in this California art museum. Take a Street View tour to discover a huge collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, and photographs.

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

This less well-known gallery houses the art collection of one of Florence's most famous families, the de' Medicis. The building was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 specifically for Cosimo I de' Medici, but anyone can wander its halls from anywhere in the world .

MASP, São Paulo

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is a nonprofit and Brazil's first modern museum. Artworks placed on clear, raised frames make it seem like they're hovering in midair. Take a virtual tour to experience the wondrous display for yourself.

National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City

Built in 1964, this museum is dedicated to the archaeology and history of Mexico's pre-Hispanic heritage. There are 22 exhibit rooms filled with ancient artifacts, including some from the Maya civilization.

Not all popular art museums and galleries are included in Google Arts & Culture's collection, but some have taken it upon themselves to offer online visits. For example, the Louvre offers virtual tours on its website .

To see more of Google Arts & Culture's collection of museums, visit its website . There are thousands of museum Street Views on Google as well. Google Arts & Culture also has an online experience for exploring famous historic and cultural heritage sites .

Virtual reality tours

Step inside world-class museums.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Virtual Tour

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Current Exhibits

African bush elephant & rotunda.

Henry the Elephant in the Rotunda

  • Rotunda: South
  • Rotunda: North

African Voices

African chess board, stringed musical instrument, and ceramics

  • African Voices 1 / Entry to Deep Time
  • African Voices 2
  • African Voices 3
  • African Voices 4
  • African Voices 5
  • African Voices 6
  • African Voices 7
  • African Voices 8
  • African Voices 9
  • African Voices 10
  • African Voices 11

Marsupial and Hominid skeletons in cases

  • Bone Hall 1
  • Bone Hall 2
  • Bone Hall 3
  • Bone Hall 4
  • Bone Hall 5
  • Bone Hall 6
  • Bone Hall 7

Butterfly Pavilion

butterfly poster and plants

  • Butterflies 1
  • Butterflies 2
  • Butterflies 3

David H. Koch Hall of Fossils – Deep Time

Tyrannosaurus rex biting a Triceratops

Tyrannosaurus rex  attacking a  Triceratops

  • Deep Time Main Entrance
  • The Not-So-Distant Past
  • Costs and Benefits of Living Large
  • Life in the Neogene Ocean
  • End Cretaceous Mass Extinction Event and View of Early Horse and Green River Fossils
  • Dinosaur Diversity Peaks / Cretaceous Seas 2
  • Bird Origins / Cretaceous Seas 1
  • Stegosaurus Spikes vs. Ceratosaurus Claws
  • Reptiles Move Back to the Ocean in the Jurassic
  • Dinosaur Evolution and Trees of the Triassic
  • A Riot of Evolution after a Mass Extinction
  • Permian Extinction 1
  • Jurassic Dinosaurs, Plants, and Insects
  • Main Circulation Path and Age of Humans Bridge
  • T. rex and the Last American Dinosaurs: 1
  • T. rex and the Last American Dinosaurs: 2
  • Asteroid Impact Triggers Dinosaur Mass Extinction
  • Rainforests Spread Across the Globe
  • Mastodon and the Main Path (Hallway)
  • A Giant Ground Sloth
  • Ice Age Extinction Event: 1
  • Ice Age Mastodon
  • Ice Age Extinction Event: 2
  • A Giant Deer and a Bison Mummy
  • Overlook of the Whole Exhibition
  • Age of Humans
  • Extinction and Evolution Over Deep Time
  • Polar Forests
  • Permian Extinction 2
  • Life Changes in the Permian
  • Importance of Insects
  • Fossils and Coal in the Carboniferous World
  • Your Body Through Time
  • Evolution of Life in the Ocean and On Land
  • Early Life in the Ocean
  • What is Life?
  • Fossil Basecamp Education Center: 1
  • Fossil Basecamp Education Center: 2
  • Secondary Entrance from African Voices
  • Browse the Fossils in the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils

David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins

Lucy the Australopithecus hominid

  • Time Portal
  • Social Life
  • Neanderthal
  • Past Species
  • Reconstruction
  • Hall of Human Origins Entrance

Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt

Painted mummy in a sarcophagus

Garden Lounge

Enjoy plants and recharge yourself while recharging your mobile devices.

  • Garden Lounge 1
  • Garden Lounge 2

Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals

diamonds and sapphires

  • Hope Diamond 1
  • Hope Diamond 2
  • Precious Gems 1
  • Precious Gems 2
  • Minerals Shop

Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals

African lions

  • Hall of Mammals Entrance
  • Entrance (high)
  • North America 1
  • North America 2
  • South America
  • Southern Hemisphere
  • Africa 1 (high)
  • Africa 2 (high)

O. Orkin Insect Zoo

Insects and their terrestrial relatives

  • Insect Zoo 1
  • Insect Zoo 2
  • Insect Zoo 3

Objects of Wonder

Insect diversity

  • Objects of Wonder 1
  • Objects of Wonder 2
  • Objects of Wonder 3
  • Objects of Wonder 4
  • Objects of Wonder 5
  • Objects of Wonder 6
  • Objects of Wonder 7

Q?rius, the Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center / Q?rius jr.

Study collections

Sant Ocean Hall

Right whale

  • Ocean Portal
  • Marine Collections
  • Exploration
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Ocean Surface
  • Shores and Shallows
  • Ocean Diversity 1
  • Ocean Diversity 2
  • Journey Through Time 1
  • Journey Through Time 2
  • Right Whale
  • Right Whale (high)
  • Special Exhibit
  • Special Exhibit (high)
  • Where Does it Live?
  • Ocean Terrace Cafe 1
  • Ocean Terrace Cafe 2

Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas

Fossil "sea monster"

  • Sea Monsters 1
  • Sea Monsters 2
  • Sea Monsters 3

Birds of DC / Ground Floor

An exhibits case containing Birds of DC

  • Constitution Entrance 1
  • Constitution Entrance 2
  • Constitution Entrance 3
  • Atrium Café 1
  • Atrium Café 2
  • D.C. Birds 1
  • D.C. Birds 2
  • Baird Auditorium
  • Shop 1: North
  • Shop 1: South
  • Shop 2: North
  • Shop 2: South

Museum Grounds

Natural History Museum Grounds

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  • Butterfly Habitat Garden 3
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  • Revolutionizing Education: A Comprehensive Review of HistoryView VR
  • Exploring the Past with a New Lens: Virtual Reality in History Education
  • 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

Virtual Library

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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Please note that all conversations are recorded (DO NOT GIVE PERSONAL INFO)

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virtual tour historical museum

Discover Your Roots: Explore Family History During the International African American Museum Virtual Tour

16 may 2024, 11:30 a.m. et.

Mark your calendars for a truly special event on 16 May 2024: the International African American Museum Virtual Tour. This tour will take you on a captivating exploration of the African American journey, uncovering untold stories and shining a light on the impact of African Americans on the nation, and the world.

At the heart of the International African American Museum (IAAM) lies the Center for Family History (CFH), a treasure trove dedicated to inspiring and educating African Americans on discovering their forgotten family stories. Whether you’re a seasoned genealogist or just dipping your toes into the waters of family history research, the CFH is here to support you every step of the way.

virtual tour historical museum

The CFH is not just a research center; it’s a beacon of support, passion, and purpose for African-Americans seeking to weave their family stories into the rich tapestry of American history. With tools, resources, and a community of fellow seekers, the CFH empowers people to connect with their ancestors and unravel the threads of family narrative.

So, join us on this virtual tour of the International African American Museum and embark on a journey of exploration, learning, and connection. Don’t miss this opportunity to discover more about this fantastic new museum and its work to add family stories to the ever-evolving American historical narrative. Let’s uncover the diverse journeys, origins, and achievements of the descendants of the African Diaspora together!

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The 2024 James Dent Walker Memorial Lecture Series

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  2. 14 Best Virtual Museum Tours To Satisfy Your Travel Cravings

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  3. Check Out These Amazing Virtual Museum Tours

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  4. 25 Best & Famous Virtual Museum Tours

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  5. 14 World-Class Museums That Offer Virtual Tours Right From Your Laptop

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  6. Virtual Museum Tours

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  2. Virtual Tour Of Varanasi At Unique Museums

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  4. Discovering the Tower of London: A Virtual Tour Through Centuries of History

  5. "Artful Encounters: A Virtual Museum Experience"👀💁# Doctor #avicenna #medical #medicalstudent

  6. Virtual Tour-Natural History Museum- London//28 April 2024//Birmingham Blogs

COMMENTS

  1. 10 Virtual History Museums and Experiences to Explore From Home

    War planes. Spy planes. Spacecraft. Gliders. Kit planes. Eccentric contraptions. This sprawling museum, adjacent to the Boeing complex south of Seattle, Washington, is considered one of the world ...

  2. Virtual Tour

    Narrated Tours. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at our satellite support and research stations as well as past ...

  3. The 75 Best Virtual Museum Tours

    11. Grand Palais (Paris, France) Image Credit: Perry Talk via Flickr. Year Opened: 1900. The Grand Palais is a large historic site, exhibition hall, and museum dedicated to the organization of exhibitions, publishing books, art workshops, photographic agency, and hosting major fairs and events.

  4. Ten Museums You Can Virtually Visit

    Take a virtual tour of 18 gallery rooms, enjoy a panoramic view of the museum's halls and click through a wide collection of artistic masterpieces using the National Gallery's virtual tools ...

  5. Explore: A World of Discovery

    Explore. Museum exhibits, educational resources, and online events for science enthusiasts of all ages! Visit the Museum or enjoy our online offerings, from materials for families and teachers to virtual field trips and tours, videos, games, digital backgrounds, and more. Today's Highlight: Explore animated videos, articles, and other resources ...

  6. How to Virtually Explore the Smithsonian From Your Living Room

    You can virtually tour the National Museum of Natural History's rotunda, among many other venues. ... but virtual exhibitions and museum tours are about as close as you can get to recreating the ...

  7. Virtual Museum: 13 ways to explore from home

    Walk around the exhibition from home with a 360° virtual tour on Google Arts & Culture. 2. Take a deep dive into the life of a blue whale. Explore the rich history of Hope, the blue whale suspended from the ceiling in Hintze Hall. In this online interactive, see what her life was like in the ocean, find out how she got to her home in the ...

  8. Narrated Virtual Tours

    Videos in This Playlist. Exhibit Introduction. Carcharocles megalodon. North Atlantic Right Whale (Phoenix) Indo-Pacific Coral Reef. Virtual Tour for Students. Join us for narrated video tours of the various exhibits and halls of the Museum, including Objects of Wonder, the Sant Ocean Hall, and Human Origins.

  9. 12 Museums From Around the World You Can Visit Virtually

    The British Museum, London. This iconic museum located in the heart of London allows virtual visitors to tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. You can ...

  10. Virtual Field Trips: Remote Visits to the Museum

    Customizable: You can do a virtual hall tour with a student worksheet that is designed to span about one class period, ... American Museum of Natural History 200 Central Park West New York, NY 10024-5102 Phone: 212-769-5100. Open daily, 10 am-5:30 pm. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

  11. Virtual Museum Tour

    Photography by Ardon Bar-Hama. Enter Tour. We welcome you to explore the Museum of the American Revolution's Virtual Museum Tour. Immerse yourself in the history of the nation's founding through 360-degree panoramic images of our galleries, high-resolution images of objects and artifacts, and a guided audio tour.

  12. Virtual reality tours

    Virtual reality tours. Step inside world-class museums. Google Arts & Culture features content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world's treasures online.

  13. Virtual Tours

    Virtual Tours. Immerse yourself in the sites of Colonial Williamsburg from anywhere in the world. Research underpins the entire Historic Area experience, from how buildings were reconstructed to what artifacts adorn their walls, and now you can explore those layers of knowledge virtually. Explore in 360 degrees, and be sure to click or tap on ...

  14. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Virtual Tour

    Welcome to the 4th revision of the Smithsonian's Virtual Tour of the Natural History Museum. This is a work focused on turning the tours into STEM courseware. The eventual media-rich tour of the new hall is a collaboration between The Smithsonian and Loren Ybarrondo.

  15. Virtual Tour

    Visit our halls anytime. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of several exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at our satellite support and research stations as ...

  16. 360-Degree Virtual Tours

    Liberty Virtual Tour. Immerse yourself in 360-degree panoramic gallery images, high-resolution photos of the art and artifacts, and a guided audio tour of the dramatic, research-based works of nationally renowned historical artist Don Troiani as featured in our special exhibition, Liberty: Don Troiani's Paintings of the Revolutionary War. Explore.

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

    The virtual tour will introduce the history and the best examples of the Russian embroidery from the open-air museum collection ... 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 ...

  18. Current Exhibits

    Main Circulation Path and Age of Humans Bridge. T. rex and the Last American Dinosaurs: 1. T. rex and the Last American Dinosaurs: 2. Asteroid Impact Triggers Dinosaur Mass Extinction. Rainforests Spread Across the Globe. Mastodon and the Main Path (Hallway) A Giant Ground Sloth. Ice Age Extinction Event: 1. Ice Age Mastodon.

  19. 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.

  20. 360° Virtual Tour of the Museum of the American Revolution

    Explore the Museum of the American Revolution's 360-Degree Virtual Museum Tour to immerse yourself in the history of the nation's founding.

  21. ¡Presente!

    Take a 360° self-guided virtual tour; ... Clotilde Arias, 1945. Courtesy of Clotilde Arias Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History; Demonstrators against bilingualism at Metro Center. Dade County, 1987. Courtesy of HistoryMiami Museum [1995-277-5100] Jairo Jaime Graduation Cap and Stole. 2019. National Museum of American ...

  22. North Star

    Learn more about how to navigate the Smithsonian Learning Lab. Watch the video to the right to get a tour of the features in the digital activities to come. / ... National Museum of African American History & Culture 1400 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20560

  23. Moscow City Virtual Tour

    Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961. Created by Leen Thobias P4Panorama. Take the 360° virtual reality tour of Moscow City, Kremlin, Hall of Commanders, Red Square, Moscow River, Victory Park.

  24. Kubinka tank museum Patriot park Guided tours from Moscow

    Kubinka tank museum history. Access for the foreign visitors, the restrictions, usage of photo- video cameras. Winter time tour from Moscow, reviews and advices. Administration house - the personal belonging exhibition. WWII battlefields tanks & AV relic hunting, the vehicles research in Russia.

  25. Discover Your Roots: Explore Family History During the International

    16 May 2024 11:30 a.m. ET. Mark your calendars for a truly special event on 16 May 2024: the International African American Museum Virtual Tour. This tour will take you on a captivating exploration of the African American journey, uncovering untold stories and shining a light on the impact of African Americans on the nation, and the world.

  26. 360 Virtual Tour

    The 360 virtual tour of Moscow city, Kremlin, Red Square, Moscow River, Victory Park, Yuri Gagarin helps online visitors to see the places at any time.

  27. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2024

    The videos will highlight National Museum of American History artifacts related to political history, entertainment, including discussing a K-pop album by artist Eric Nam, and the life-saving heroics of Pentagon law officer Isaac Ho ' opi ' i on Sept. 11, 2001. Viewers will also get a peek into the collecting process as a curator examines ...