• Corrections

18 Free Online Museum Tours To Enjoy Without Leaving Your Couch

Culture up your day without leaving the comfort of your home with these free online museum tours from around the world.

free-online-museum-tours

As the history of museums is entering its digital age, more and more art institutions are choosing to expand their online services. Most large museums today offer online access to their collections. Other online resources such as videos, podcasts, games, etc, are also quite common. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, virtual tours of museums have become a popular substitute for physically visiting museum exhibitions. As a result, free online museum tours are becoming more and more available to the international audience.

From Paris to Seoul, and from Moscow to Mexico City, this is our list of 18 free online museum tours. For additional online art experiences, don’t forget to check our 9 Amazing Online Art Resources To Enjoy At Home .

Free Online Museum Tours

1. the louvre museum, france.

murilo-silva-louvre-museum-photograph

The Louvre’s Petite Gallerie offers virtual tours in the famous museum of Paris. This is the best way to explore the architecture, the exhibits, and the history of France’s leading museum without leaving the comfort of your home.

You can also watch 800 Years of History , a short documentary on the history of the museum, or a series of YouTube videos offering guided tours. In addition, the Louvre offers a VR experience of the Mona Lisa as well as a closer look at its masterpieces through multiple audiovisual supplements.

Get the latest articles delivered to your inbox

Please check your inbox to activate your subscription, 2. musée d’orsay, france.

musee-d-orsay-impressionists-gallery

See works by famous Impressionist and Expressionist artists like Monet , Renoir , Van Gogh , Degas , Claudel and so many more with a virtual visit at Paris’ Musée d’Orsay.

Worth exploring is also the research program The digital worlds of Orsay, where historian Pierre Singaravélou offers a new text three times a week on famous or unknown works from the museum’s collection.

3. Rijksmuseum, Netherlands

rijksmuseum-masterpieces-free-online-museum-tours

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is one of the leading museums in Europe offering a rich variety of online resources . At the center of its home services, lies the Rijkstudio , which allows you to dive into the museum’s vast collection of 707,967 works of art.

Take a free online tour of the museum through Google’s Art and Culture project. Worth exploring is also the Discover Masterpieces virtual tour which takes you through the most prized exhibits of the Dutch museum.

Among the museum’s most famous artworks is without a doubt Rembrandt’s Night Watch.  The Rijksmuseum offers a virtual tour explaining all the details you need to know about the famous painting.

You can also play Key Challenges , an interactive game set in the museum’s main exhibition.

Rijksmuseum from Home is a series of videos where museum employees share their favorite objects from the collection.

If you are still not satisfied with these tours and resources, then have a look at “10 ways to visit Rijksmuseum without leaving home.”

4. Van Gogh Museum, Netherlands

van-gogh-museum-free-online-museum-tours

One of Europe’s most popular attractions, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is a true monument to the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh . Take a full virtual tour of the museum’s exhibition and immerse yourself in the post-impressionist art of Van Gogh.

If you are a fan of the Dutch painter, you should also check out Van Gogh Worldwide , the most complete resource of Van Gogh paintings and archival material.

5. Vatican Museums, Vatican

raphael-rooms-vatican-museum-virtual-tour-min

The Vatican Museums consist of 54 galleries or sale. These received 6 million visitors in 2019 making the Vatican Museums the third largest museum in the world.

You can explore the galleries at the Vatican Museums website . The institution also offers 360 virtual tours of some of its most iconic monuments like the Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s Rooms with painted decoration by Michelangelo and Raphael respectively.

6. Uffizi Galleries, Italy

uffizi-galleries-florence-interior

Florence’s leading museum that started as the collection of the Medici family in the Renaissance , is home to some of the most famous artworks in the world.

If you visit the museum’s website you will be able to explore its online collections and take a free virtual tour of its new gallery, as well as other exhibitions like the one on Saint Francis. The Uffizi can also be explored via Google Art and Culture .

7. Reina Sofia, Spain

reina-sofia-museum

If you like 20th-century Spanish artists like Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali , then the Reina Sofia in Madrid is the museum for you. However, if Spain is out of your reach, why not check out this virtual tour and the museum’s online resources.

Reina Sofia’s Rethinking Guernica is an online space devoted to material related to Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica. Also, the museum’s Gigapixel is a project offering a selection of hi-resolution artworks by artists like Dali, Miro, Mason, Picasso, Santos, and more.

Other multimedia like podcasts, lectures, and short video documentaries on the Reina Sofia are available here .

8. Acropolis Museum, Greece

acropolis-museum-athens-online-museum-tours

The Acropolis Museum is home to the archaeological treasures of the Acropolis of Athens . The museum offers a series of online activities and resources.

You can browse through its collection and discover the history of the Parthenon marbles thanks to the museum’s collaboration with Google Art and Culture .

Also, the museum offers a series of online interactive games that are ideal for young explorers interested in the secrets of classical antiquity.

9. The State Hermitage Museum, Russia

state-hermitage-museum

The Hermitage in St Petersburg is one of the richest museums in the world with more than three million items in its collections. The museum’s exhibition includes everything from Egyptian and Greek, to Renaissance and Modern art.

You can visit all of the museum’s rooms with a virtual tour and experience the Hermitage without wearing your wintertime clothes to go to Russia.

10. Pergamon Museum, Germany

pergamon-museum

Berlin’s world-famous institution offers a comprehensive range of online and virtual material. You can take a virtual tour of the museum or play around with a 3d model of the Pergamon altar , the jewel of the museum and a marvel of Hellenistic art .

Worth seeing is also the colorful Ishtar Gate from Babylon.

11. British Museum, United Kingdom

wong-british-museum-free-online-museum-tour

The British Museum grew out of the cabinet of curiosities of the British collector Hans Sloane and now includes a massive collection of more than eight million items.

There are many ways to experience the museum online. The best are to take a virtual tour  or visit its virtual galleries .

The British Museum also offers other resources like online access to its collections, podcasts, audio tours, videos, and more.

If you are interested in finding more ways to explore the British Museum from the comfort of your home, then you should read this British Museum blog .

12. Tate Britain, United Kingdom

tate-britain-museum-exhibition

Tate Britain houses one of the largest collections of J.W. Turner’s paintings which you can now explore with this virtual tour.

The museum’s website provides audio tours of the museum and various online tours on various themes.

13. National Museum Of Anthropology, Mexico

national-museum-anthropology-mexico

The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City is devoted to the history of Mexico’s prehispanic civilizations.

Explore the past of the American continent and take a virtual walk at the museum’s rooms with this free online virtual tour .

14. The Met, U.S.A.

met-museum-entrance

The Metropolitan Museum is another institution that has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to offer free online museum tours to a worldwide audience.

Also on the museum’s website, you will find multiple online resources like The Met 360° , a series of six short videos inviting viewers to virtually experience the Met’s architecture and art.

Worth exploring is also the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History offering more than 1,000 essays on art and global culture using the Met’s collection as a point of reference.

15. MoMA, U.S.A

van-gogh-starry-night

New York’s leading institution on modern and contemporary art is also offering free online museum tours and resources.

There is a comprehensive virtual tour of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) available on Google Arts and Culture.

Furthermore, the museum has a series of online resources and projects available on its website that allow you to explore its collections and exhibitions. An absolute highlight is the 3D model of Van Gogh’s Starry Night .

16. J. Paul Getty Museum, U.S.A.

paul-getty-villa-california

Los Angeles is only a second away. Just click here and you will immediately teleport to the virtual tour of the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Take a look at the museum’s website for other online resources and access to its collection.

17. National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea

national-museum-modern-contemporary-art-seoul

Dive into the history of Korean modern art with this virtual tour of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and travel to Seoul without buying a plane ticket.

Don’t forget to check the Online Museum section at the museum’s website which offers interviews with artists and curators, exhibition guides, and more.

18. Museu National, Brazil: A Virtual Tour Against Destruction

marajoara-globular-beaker-museum-nacional-brazil

Brazil’s National Museum made headlines in 2018 when a good part of its building was destroyed in a fire.

However, thanks to a Google Arts and Culture virtual tour , you can still travel in space and time to take a virtual peek at the museum and its collections before the destruction of 2018.

Double Quotes

History of Museums: A Look at The Learning Institutions Through Time

Author Image

By Antonis Chaliakopoulos MSc Museum Studies, BA History & Archaeology Antonis is an archaeologist with a passion for museums and heritage and a keen interest in aesthetics and the reception of classical art. He holds an MSc in Museum Studies from the University of Glasgow and a BA in History and Archaeology from the University of Athens (NKUA) where he is currently working on his PhD.

7-wonders-ancient-world

Frequently Read Together

metropolitan museum of art

Free Art Online: 9 Amazing Resources To Enjoy At Home

impressionist art beginners guide

Impressionist Art for Dummies: A Beginners Guide

The Dessert: Harmony in Red by Henri Matisse (also known as Red Room or Harmony in Red), 1908, Hermitage Museum

Expressionism: 10 Iconic Paintings & Their Artists

virtual art museum tours for students free

Best free virtual tours for art students

Best free virtual tours for art students

Emily in Paris? More like Emily-sad-and-stuck-at-home. Coronavirus, vaccine trials, restrictions, pandemic, lockdown — we are sick and tired of hearing of these words. This virus has definitely got all of us on a tightly-wound leash. Not one to just complain and do nothing, we thought we could help you make the most of it with our list of free virtual tours of famous museums. 

They are in 12 countries and full of unique and individual art and history, perfect if you’re an art student or an enthusiast. Most of the virtual exhibits mentioned in this article are available through Google Arts and Culture as the online platform has collaborated with said museums, showcasing high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from over 2,000 museums throughout the world and all from the comfort of your sofa.

Netherlands

Everyone knows who Vincent Van Gogh is. He was the Dutch post-impressionist painter who cut off his ear and got famous after he died — which is the case for most artists. One of Van Gogh’s stellar pieces, “The Starry Night” in watercolour is still used today as a  fine example of what true art is with his style of naturalistic rendering of light and colour. You can take a look at his work at the Van Gogh Museum here . Also, if you’re interested in Dutch history and culture and love good free virtual tours, you can also explore Rijksmuseum from your home. 

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Rijksmuseum (@rijksmuseum)

Some of the world’s best museums are located in the UK. The Victoria and Albert Museum boasts over 2.27 million objects and the British Museum has eight million works of human history, art and culture with more than 60 free galleries to be explored.

Sir David Attenborough as narrator to a self-guided tour of the Natural History Museum ? Yes, please. While at it, why not binge-watch some of his documentaries? 

Tate Modern , one of London’s most iconic art galleries, is also offering a 360-degree tour following the director Frances Morris and TV presenter Nick Grimshaw — it will feel like a private personal tour. 

South Korea is best known for k-pop , which is not only a music genre, but a culture that draws in people from all over the world. Aside from this huge music culture, Korea is also known for kimchi, soju and contemporary art. Check out the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art through the Google Arts and Culture platform, and traverse through modern Korean art with online exhibitions and 3D tours in and outside the museum. Free virtual tours are the new way to see the world digitally. 

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by 박기호 (@miki_hh)

United States

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum , more commonly known as The Guggenheim, is a must-see that visitors to New York often put at the top of their checklist. Add The Metropolitan Museum of Art to your list too, globally known for its architecture, art and host of the Met Gala organised by Anna Wintour from Vogue. You’ll want to check out their free virtual tours, even if you’re sitting at home in your baggy casual clothes. 

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Guggenheim Museum (@guggenheim)

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is one of the world’s largest influential museums with the biggest collection of avant-garde paintings, sculptures, films, and multi-media art. For those who like artists such as Takashi Murakami, Damien Hirst, and Cindy Sherman, they should check out the free virtual tour from The Broad with the coolest exhibitions. 

Siesta, fiesta, and more importantly, los artistas! Spain is fun, and home to priceless art museums and one-of-a-kind architecture. Speaking about architecture, Antoni Gaudi is known for his Catalan Modernism portrayed through his architectural work mostly in Barcelona, such as in the church of “Sagrada Familia”.

Another quite popular spot that offers a free virtual tour is the Dalí Theatre-Museum , home to all things bizarre and surreal by Salvador Dali. Then if you’re up to digitally transport yourself to a magnificent 15th-century old building in Valladolid, which is known for its medieval history, click here . This museum, which was once used as a centre for theologians, mystics and inquisitors, is now known as the National Sculpture Museum. 

Finally the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum , famous for its paintings and art from the 19th century including Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces, is part of the variety of free virtual tours in Spain and worth checking out!

Tequila: one shot, two shots, three shots, floor. Line up your salt, ready your slices of orange, we’re heading to the land of tacos! Frida Kahlo, a global icon known for her unibrow, self-portraits and works inspired by her country has a museum (more of a colonial house) full of her art that you can check out here .

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Frida Kahlo (@fridakahlo)

Are you into pre-Hispanic history and archaeology? The National Museum of Anthropology is Mexico’s largest museum with several ancient artifacts dating back to the country’s pre-Columbian heritage. These free virtual tours are easily accessible from your own home!

Dim sum, want some? You could order dim sum, and then check out the Palace Museum for your fill of the Chinese arts and history. Ancient history can be fascinating. 

Bonjour, you might as well buy yourself some pastries (whatever your nearest grocer’s has that is similar enough to French ones) and sit tight at home while you explore every corner of the Louvre where some of the world’s finest art is. Oh, not to mention that Beyonce and Jay-Z shot a music video here. Not only are there several free virtual tours to choose from here, but you have the power to choose from “The Body in Movement” — about performing arts — to “Egyptian Antiquities” which is all about ancient Egypt.

Arrivederci. Please make yourself a giant bowl of pasta as you make the most of the following free virtual tours. From the Uffizi Gallery to the Vatican Museums , Italy is known to have taken art to entirely new levels, even as far back as the Ancient Roman days. 

When you think of Greece, do you think of Greek gods? Then the free virtual tour to the  Acropolis Museum is just right for you with its exhibitions of modern and ancient history on one of Greece’s most famous archeological sites. 

You’re stuck at home but you can still order some sushi to be delivered home and imagine you’re touring some of Japan’s finest museums. Kyoto National Museum is a must-see, as is another cool private museum featuring Western art — also the oldest in Japan —  called the Ohara Museum of Art .

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by 砂の美術館 the Sand Museum (@tottori_sandmuseum)

The Sand Museum is an open air museum showing sand sculptures, strategically located at the Tottori Sand Dunes. Another two museums to check out while in Japan — but really from your own home — are Adachi Museum of Art and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum .

Popular stories

Calling more smart girls to study abroad.

Calling more smart girls to study abroad

5 A*s, 4 rejection letters: How an international student beat the competition to study medicine in the UK

5 A*s, 4 rejection letters: How an international student beat the competition to study medicine in the UK

Indonesian earthquake researcher pivots into business with INSEAD’s MIM degree

Indonesian earthquake researcher pivots into business with INSEAD’s MIM degree

The beauty queen with 2 master’s degrees and 2 PhDs

The beauty queen with 2 master’s degrees and 2 PhDs

  • Grades 6-12
  • School Leaders

FREE Pi Day Worksheets! News, Vocab, Fractions, and More ✨

20 Famous Art Museums You Can Visit from Your Living Room

Art from around the world has never been closer to home.

Best Virtual Museum Tours for Kids & Families

Did you know that you can access art museum virtual field trips, tours, and resources from around the world for free ? Why not take your students on virtual museum tours to the lavish Louvre in Paris? Or the majestic Metropolitan Museum of Art? Or any one of these historic art museums from around the world? Check out the list below to get started!

1. Benaki Museum

Benaki Museum

Located in Greece, the Benaki Museum features European and Asian pieces of artwork dating all the way back to prehistoric ages. In addition to having a massive collection of art you can explore virtually, the Benaki also offers audio tours for several of their larger exhibits. Our favorites include Chinese and Korean Art, Historic Heirlooms, and Childhood, Toys, and Games.

2. The Frick Collection

The Frick Collection

Frick, yeah! Click your way through this interactive map for a tour of the beautiful building and collections of art from the likes of Bellini, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and more.

3. The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum

Explore thousands of items in the Getty’s collection  with help from Google Arts & Culture. The J. Paul Getty Museum specifically has several interactive options for exploring their collection: a “museum view” virtual tour, three ebook-style online exhibits, and the library of over 15,000 collected pieces of art.

[contextly_auto_sidebar]

4. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

The largest art museum in the western United States is offering art museum virtual field trips. Watch videos and museum walkthroughs, listen to soundtracks and live recordings, learn with online teaching resources and courses, browse their art collection, and more on LACMA’s redesigned website.

5. The Louvre

The Louvre art museum virtual field trips

One of our favorite art museum virtual field trips—and the world’s large museum—is the Louvre with options for some of their best exhibition rooms and galleries. Explore rare Egyptian artifacts, iconic paintings, the beautiful structure of the building, and much more through their 360-degree viewing feature.

(NOTE: Several of these virtual tours require Flash Player.)

6. Metropolitan Museum of Art’s #MetKids

Metropolitan Museum of Art's #MetKids

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (aka the Met) developed #MetKids for, with, and by kids—but we think parents and teachers will have just as much fun using it. Our favorite features include a fun and highly interactive map, a “time machine” search function, informational and how-to videos, and so much more.

7. Musée d’Orsay

Musée d’Orsay

Instantly transport to the middle of Paris with the Musée d’Orsay and their online tours and art collection. Here you can explore art history with the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces from renowned artists such as Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and many more.

8. Museo Frida Kahlo

Museo Frida Kahlo

Also known as La Casa Azúl (the Blue House), this historic art museum was developed where renowned artist Frida Kahlo lived and created masterpieces. While there, you can learn about her life, her art, and more as you take a virtual tour through her former residence.

9. The Museum of the World

The Museum of the World

The British Museum and Google Cultural Institute teamed up to create one of our favorite interactive projects: The Museum of the World. The British Museum’s digital art collection lets users travel through time—starting with 2,000,000 BC—while seeing how each historical piece in their collection connects with others. Wow!

10. The National Gallery

The National Gallery

Click and scroll your way around the National Gallery in London with their three interactive virtual tour options. The National Gallery has hundreds of paintings in its collection ready to be viewed online, many of which are from the Renaissance period.

11. The National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art

Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art has a wide variety of great educational resources,  including video tours of their exhibitions, in-depth looks at the best pieces of their collection, downloadable learning resources and exercises, pre-recorded lectures by artists and curators, and more.

12. Pergamon Museum

Pergamonmuseum exhibit

One of Germany’s largest museums, Pergamon is home to a variety of ancient artifacts, including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and the Pergamon Altar.

13. Rijksmuseum

Rijksmuseum -- art museum virtual field trips

The Rijksmuseum is the museum of the Netherlands and contains an online collection of well over 160,000 items. Not only is their digital collection incredibly stocked, but it’s also one of the more immersive collections online today. In addition, we highly recommend you try their “stories” feature (shown above), which walks users through the story and emotions behind the artwork created.

14. San Diego Museum of Art

San Diego Museum of Art 360 exhibit

Step inside the San Diego Museum of Art from anywhere! Enjoy 360-degree scans of your favorite galleries, zoom in to see art details, and read full label text in both English and Spanish, all from the comfort of home.

15. San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts

San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts -- art museum virtual field trips

The San Francisco MoMA offers exclusive content featuring artists and their work online. Watch videos, read articles, and more right on their website.

16. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum -- art museum virtual field trips

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has several art museums around the world, which means more history to absorb virtually! Their Collection Online has over 1,700 diverse artworks by over renowned 600 artists—and it is definitely worth checking out as one of our top art museum virtual field trips!

17. Tate Modern: Andy Warhol Exhibit

Tate Modern: Andy Warhol Exhibit -- art museum virtual field trips

The Tate Modern put together this video tour of their famous Andy Warhol exhibit. Museum curators Gregor Muir and Fiontán Moran talk in-depth about Andy Warhol and his work through the lens of the immigrant story, his LGBTQ identity, and more.

18. Uffizi Gallery

Uffizi museum exhibitions

Here you’ll find the art collection of one of Florence, Italy’s most famous families, the de’Medicis. Wander the halls from any classroom!

19. The Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum

With an obvious focus on Vincent van Gogh, the Van Gogh Museum is home to the largest collection of van Gogh pieces in the world. The museum, virtual tours, ebook “stories,” and online collection dive into the life of van Gogh and the inspiration behind his art. Moreover, we think teachers everywhere will appreciate how big a fan he was of reading books!

20. The Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums

You can finally say you’ve seen the Sistine Chapel thanks to this online program! And, you can also virtually visit the Raphael Rooms, the Chiaramonti Museum, and more historic sites through these virtual tours by the Vatican Museums.

Did we miss one of your favorite art museum virtual field trips? Share them with us, and we might just add it to this list!

Also, check out the best field trip ideas for every age and interest (virtual options too).

20 Famous Art Museums You Can Visit from Your Living Room

You Might Also Like

Students on field trips to the local theater and a fire station.

260+ Field Trip Ideas for Grades Pre-K Through 12 (In-Person and Virtual)

Get out of the classroom and explore the world! Continue Reading

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

Advertiser Disclosure

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). However, the credit card information that we publish has been written and evaluated by experts who know these products inside out. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market. See our advertising policy here where we list advertisers that we work with, and how we make money. You can also review our credit card rating methodology .

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

Jarrod West's image

Jarrod West

Senior Content Contributor

Countries Visited: 21 U.S. States Visited: 24

Keri Stooksbury's image

Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

Countries Visited: 45 U.S. States Visited: 28

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.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

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!

Was this page helpful?

About Jarrod West

Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.

INSIDERS ONLY: UP PULSE ™

Deluxe Travel Provided by UP Pulse

Get the latest travel tips, crucial news, flight & hotel deal alerts...

Plus — expert strategies to maximize your points & miles by joining our (free) newsletter.

We respect your privacy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. Google's privacy policy and terms of service apply.

Related Posts

All Our Best Travel Product Reviews – In One Place

UP's Bonus Valuation

This bonus value is an estimated valuation calculated by UP after analyzing redemption options, transfer partners, award availability and how much UP would pay to buy these points.

Resilient Educator logo

ChatGPT for Teachers

Trauma-informed practices in schools, teacher well-being, cultivating diversity, equity, & inclusion, integrating technology in the classroom, social-emotional development, covid-19 resources, invest in resilience: summer toolkit, civics & resilience, all toolkits, degree programs, trauma-informed professional development, teacher licensure & certification, how to become - career information, classroom management, instructional design, lifestyle & self-care, online higher ed teaching, current events, virtual museum tours for students.

Virtual Museum Tours for Students

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessarily prevented students from visiting physical destinations like museums and having the enhanced learning experiences that these field trips provide. Fortunately, there are still opportunities to gain enriching experiences from ‘virtual’ travel. Many museums feature world-class websites with online tours that students can attend right from their classroom or home if they’re learning remotely. The following ten museums feature collections that will not only inspire students but are conveniently accessible online.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History features multiple virtual tours, including narrated tours and online visits to some of the museum’s most popular exhibits. What’s great about this museum is that there are so many meaningful exhibits for students to enjoy, no matter their grade level. Students will enjoy these online tours, including the Hall of Fossils, Insect Zoo, Seamonsters Unearthed, and Objects of Wonder exhibits.

The Art Institute of Chicago

As one of the oldest art museums in the U.S., the Art Institute of Chicago features exceptional permanent and temporary exhibits. More than a million people have visited the institute (pre-COVID) to witness its celebrated attractions like Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” and Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.” Along with online tours, the Art Institute of Chicago provides art activities to do at home and creative lesson plans for teachers.

The Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg, Russia, is one of the most illustrious museums on the planet. Its collection includes over 60,000 works of art by many of the world’s greatest artists, such as Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and da Vinci. The online tour is extensive, which makes this online visit suitable for older students. Or, teachers may want to confine their visit to just one of the tour’s galleries.

British Museum

Located in London, the British Museum is one of the most renowned museums in the world. Its collections hold more than eight million objects from all over the globe, from nearly every epoch of human existence. When visiting the museum online, students can witness virtually some of the most incredible artifacts ever discovered, such as the Rosetta Stone, the Standard of Ur, and Elgin Marbles. Of course, teachers can really impress students by encouraging them to visit the museum’s Harry Potter exhibit!

Virginia Air & Space Center

The Virginia Air & Space Center is the official visitor center for NASA. As such, it’s a venue that brims with wow factor. The center displays exhibits that chronicle more than 100 years of flight and incredible space flight artifacts. One of the center’s most famous holdings is its Apollo 12 Command Module. For science and technology students, this center is a definite must-visit attraction. Pair your online visit with specific class lessons about the history of flight or the first space explorations.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

As one of the most renowned museums in the world, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has invested considerably in its online platforms, making it easy for people to enjoy its collections from virtually anywhere. Students can explore the Met’s outstanding collections of paintings, fashions, musical instruments, and more. Teachers should check out its “MetKids” online platform to find out more about its online features. The Met’s holdings are substantial. Consequently, teachers can pair a virtual visit to this venue with a wide range of curriculum subject matter.

Home to the “Mona Lisa,” the Louvre is filled with world treasures. As it’s located in Paris, it’s not easily accessible at any time unless you happen to be traveling to France. The Louvre features online tours and collections that virtual visitors can explore. From Egyptian antiquities to Renaissance art, the collections span centuries. Be sure to encourage students to check out Hammurabi’s Code and the Lamassu.

National Museum of China

Students don’t need to know Chinese to enjoy a virtual visit to the National Museum of China. The Museum’s information is also presented in English. Students can visit it virtually to learn about China’s vast history, its emperors, its incredible cultural achievements, and everyday life for the Chinese throughout the centuries. Teachers can find many ways to relate artifacts in the collections with topics that students are currently studying.

Museo Galileo

Located in Florence, Italy, the Museo Galileo features a highly notable online platform where students can learn about one of history’s most celebrated scientists and astronomers. The museum features exhibits devoted to Galileo showcasing over 5,000 ancient scientific artifacts and instruments, including Galileo’s telescope. This museum visit is perfect for complementing studies in astronomy, science, and history.

Anne Frank House

Anne Frank, one of the best-known young writers of the last century, is also tragically known for her death at the hands of the Nazis. The Anne Frank Museum pays homage to this young girl, her family, and all the victims of the Holocaust. The museum offers a virtual tour as well as many online resources for anyone interested in learning more about this tragic period in time.

Your students will be blown away by the online exhibits. When your class can’t visit in person, visiting online from the comfort of home is the next best thing.

You may also like to read

  • 3 Interactive Virtual Field Trips for Social Studies Students
  • Students Evaluating Teachers: What Educators Need to Know
  • 7 Cooperative Math Games Teachers and Students Will Love
  • Three Resources for Learning Style Tests for Students
  • How Teachers Can Increase the Impact of Essay Writing for Students
  • How Teachers Can Impart the Benefits of Students Working in Groups

Categorized as: Tips for Teachers and Classroom Resources

Tagged as: Art

  • Online & Campus Master's in TESOL and ESL
  • Certificates in Special Education
  • Online & Campus Bachelor's in Elementary Educ...

Virtual reality tours

Step inside world-class museums.

Virtual Field Trips

Bring the cma to your students.

The 21 st -century museum, much like the 21 st -century classroom, is a dynamic space that is changing constantly. Whether welcoming your students into our physical space, or providing online options, CMA school programs are developed to align with classroom goals and meet standards across the curriculum to ensure a well-rounded, engaging learning experience. 

CMA virtual field trip options include:

  • in-gallery pre-recorded video tours
  • live experiences with trained educators

Read more below, or reach out to us at 803-343-2163 or [email protected] .

Title 1 Schools

The Art for All program is designed to offer Title I schools the opportunity to enjoy a field trip to the Columbia Museum of Art free of charge, whether in-person or virtually. In 2021-2022, Title I schools are eligible to take advantage of this opportunity while funds remain.

This program is supported by the Lipscomb Family Foundation, the Coles Family Foundation of Central Carolina Community Foundation, and the Sonoco Foundation.

Pre-Recorded Video Gallery Tours

These 30-minute videos follow an educator through the galleries, replicating a CMA visit experience. The educator will incorporate inquiry-based discussion techniques that allow the teacher to further the conversation by pausing the video and facilitating discussion. Each purchase includes a video link and an introduction for teachers on how to facilitate image-based discussion.

$25 per video.

Studio Kit Add-On These kits can be added on to any virtual field trip option for an additional charge. These sets include materials for students to complete the studio lesson that connects with their virtual discussion. $3 per student. Kits can be mailed out for an additional $10 fee or picked up from the CMA for no additional charge. 

Book Yours Today

Program Choices

Animal Nature Come with us on an animal safari! We’ll be on the lookout for creatures of all kinds and learning about the natural environments they inhabit. In the studios we’ll make our own artful animals and habitats. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Sense-ational Art In this tour we’ll be using our senses to make discoveries about the art we see and the world around us. Join us as we explore texture, sound, and smell throughout the galleries and create multimedia masterpieces in the studios. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Rock, Paper, Silver In this tour we’ll explore natural resources and how they make up the materials used in works of art. We’ll use scientific and mathematical skills to discuss three-dimensional works of art from sculpture to architecture. In the studios we’ll create our own 3D creations. Download Pre-Visit Guide

How Art Works From a hammer and chisel to a well-oiled machine, art can be created with all sorts of things. In the studios we’ll learn the ins and outs of how art is made and the impact that art has in society. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Visions of the United States American life has been shaped by so many forces, from Native American tribes and African cultures to European fashions and popular culture. In the galleries we will discuss how art reflects American values and changing ways of life. In the studios students will create their own interpretation of Americana. Download Pre-Visit Guide

The Imaginative Worlds of M.C. Escher February 6 – June 6, 2021 Get a closer look at one of the most masterful printmakers of all time in The Imaginative Worlds of M.C. Escher. On this tour we’ll explore geometry, perspective, world cultures, and more as we delve into to the intricate and intriguing work of this graphic artist. Download the Pre-Visit Guide

30 Americans Explore some of the most dynamic and thought-provoking works from major Black artists from the last four decades. The varied works in this exhibition touch on historical events, identity, media, and materiality. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Ways of Life Art doesn’t just tell us about the artist’s own ideas; it can tell us about what life is like in a certain time and place. In this tour we’ll explore art spanning from ancient Mesopotamia to the modern-day United States as we discuss how art shapes our understanding of cultures around the world. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Visions from India Was on view October 16, 2020 – January 10, 2021 Explore the diverse and incredibly varied works of 20 contemporary Indian artists, ranging from the meticulously detailed to soaring installations. The tour delves into Indian politics and history as well as current cultural touch points. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Balance of Power Art is one of many ways people have demonstrated prestige and privilege over time. In the galleries we’ll examine figures and symbols in works of art from the powerful to the powerless, discussing who is and is not being depicted and why. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Making a Modern World Being modern has meant different things in different eras. In this tour we’ll explore the notion of modernity through both history and art, from the Renaissance up to the present day. In the studios students will explore modernity and what it means in their daily lives through their own creations. Download Pre-Visit Guide

virtual art museum tours for students free

Pre-Recorded Video Gallery Tour: Black Is Beautiful

Please enjoy this free video tour of the exhibition Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite .

In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, Kwame Brathwaite used photography to popularize the political slogan “Black Is Beautiful.” This exhibition—the first ever dedicated to Brathwaite’s remarkable career—tells the story of a key figure of the second Harlem Renaissance.

This discussion of Black Is Beautiful is an example of what you'll see in a recorded video tour.

Live Virtual Field Trips

These 40-minute live virtual field trips provide access to high-resolution images of objects in the CMA collection along with live discussions facilitated by trained educators. Supplemental images are included, and in some cases video or audio components. Each virtual discussion comes with a cross-curricular studio art lesson plan that teachers can use to further enhance their classroom experience and reinforce the big ideas of the virtual discussion. 

Virtual discussions with a CMA educator cost $75.

Show Me a Story Art can tell all sorts of stories. Join us in the galleries to unravel these tales, discovering stories about famous figures and everyday events. Along the way we’ll explore ways artists use shape, color, and other elements of art to create new worlds before creating our own in the studios. Download Pre-Visit Guide

All Around Our State While art can tell us about cultures around the world, it can also give vital information about our own region. In this tour we’ll span centuries of South Carolina history and culture, from one of the first Colonial artists to Native American art all the way up to the 21st century. In the studios students will explore how art and the written word intersect to inform historical understanding by creating their own periodicals. Supported by the South Carolina Arts Commission . Download Pre-Visit Guide

Balance of Power Art is one of many ways people have demonstrated prestige and privilege over time. In the galleries we’ll examine figures and symbols in works of art from the powerful to the powerless, discussing who is and is not being depicted. Download Pre-Visit Guide

AP Art History: East/Central Asia This super-sized session (1 hour 15 minutes, or two 35 minute sessions) will cover a range of art from China, Tibet, and Afghanistan. Join us for an interactive discussion as students examine works from the 250 and the CMA collection while also gaining an understanding of Buddhism, the Silk Road, and how politics impact art. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Image Sets and Lesson Plans

These pre-existing image sets and editable lesson plans provide teachers with resources they can use to build their own options.

See Them Here

Visit Us Virtually

  • Explore the Collection
  • Read and Reflect
  • Watch and Listen

Wherever you are, whatever the time, our online resources are always here to connect you to our collection of art from around the world—whether you’re seeking inspiration, community, or a little adventure.

Spend time with old favorites and find new surprises in the collection through a variety of search options, themed highlights tours, or interactive features.

From personal reflections to scholarly discoveries, our various written offerings will keep you learning, thinking, and growing.

Enjoy virtual visits to the galleries, go behind the scenes, and engage with art from anywhere with our virtual events, videos, and themed audio tours.

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

  • News and Exhibitions Career Opportunities Families
  • Public Programs K-12 Educator Resources Teen Opportunities Research, Publishing, and Conservation

Gallery actions

Image actions, suggested terms.

  • Free Admission
  • What to See in an Hour
  • Search Please fill out this field.
  • Manage Your Subscription
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Sweepstakes
  • Attractions
  • Museums + Galleries

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 art museum tours for students free

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 .

AFAR Logo - Main

Virtual Museum Tours, Performances, and Tutorials to Keep You (and Your Kids) Entertained at Home

Here’s how to stay entertained while you remain home in the midst of the coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak..

  • Copy Link copied

Virtual Museum Tours, Performances, and Tutorials to Keep You (and Your Kids) Entertained at Home

Google Arts and Culture provides digital tours of more than 2,500 museums and galleries around the world, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Photo by Tinnaporn Sathapornnanont/Shutterstock

As people in countries around the world are being asked to practice social distancing —to stay home and avoid crowded places—in order to help “ flatten the curve ” of the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), an increasing number of museums, theaters, and tourist attractions have closed their doors (temporarily), and large public gatherings, such as concerts and festivals, have been canceled or postponed.

While we all learn to adjust to the realities of self-quarantine, a number of cultural institutions and individual artists are bringing their shows to the streaming-sphere so you can feel like you’re venturing beyond home, even though now is truly the time to stay put . These virtual museum tours, live performances, and digital broadcasts—most of which are being offered for free—will help keep you (and any youngsters) entertained while we all do our part to ensure that these trying times are one day behind us.

Where to find virtual museum tours

Moma, rijksmuseum, the louvre and more.

While major Paris museums such as the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay are closed until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak, you can still virtually explore parts of these art institutions, and many others, thanks to Google Arts and Culture . The online platform provides digital tours of more than 2,000 museums and galleries around the world, among them New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, and London’s Tate Britain, all of which have temporarily closed to help halt the spread of the virus.

The platform’s featured collections for each museum vary, but most include digital exhibits (London’s National Gallery offers 10 separate Monet collections ), as well as a “street view” that lets you explore inside the institutions, so you can see paintings such da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery (currently shuttered), or Van Gogh’s The Starry Night at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which is also closed until further notice.

Some art institutions, such as the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, and the San Diego Museum of Art also offer a few virtual tours of their own.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In addition to online exhibit tours, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan is giving free public access to more than 200 art books from its digital archives (until the museum reopens). Available titles focus on a range of renowned artists from late 19th-/early 20th-century abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky to contemporary conceptual artist Jenny Holzer. Other books in the collection examine more general artistic movements, from American pop icons to the history of Italian art.

American Museum of Natural History

Similarly, New York City’s American Museum of Natural History is making its previously recorded tours of the museum halls available on Facebook Live every day at 2 p.m. (EST) throughout its closure. The virtual tours, which are led by museum guides, take viewers through collections in the museum’s Hall of African Mammals, Hall of the North American Forests, Hall of Meteorites, and more. A collection of the museum’s educational materials (for children and adults) has also been made available to the public for free; you can find scientific articles and videos on topics including climate change and human health, as well as science classes, games, and quizzes for kids, on the museum’s website .

Baltimore Museum of Art

The Baltimore Museum of Art is offering virtual gallery walks of several exhibitions currently installed as part of the museum’s year-long 2020 Vision initiative , which is dedicated to highlighting the works of female-identifying artists. Virtual tours of various museum exhibits are available on BMA’s website, including Baltimore-born artist SHAN Wallace’s exhibit, 410 , which the photographer describes as a love letter to the beauty, complexity, and resilience of her hometown.

Live performances and concerts to watch

Nightly met opera streams.

After canceling all performances through the remainder of its 2019–2020 season due to concerns around the coronavirus outbreak, New York City’s Metropolitan Opera announced that it would stream a performance from its archives for every night through the duration of the closure, starting Monday, March 16. The Nightly Met Opera Streams , which start at 7:30 p.m. (EST), pull from the renowned opera house’s award-winning Live in HD series, which includes encore presentations such as 19th-century French composer Georges Bizet’s Carmen . The recordings remain available to view for free on the Met Opera’s website until 6:30 p.m. (EST) the following day after they’re streamed.

92Y online archives

Another New York City arts institution, 92Y, has made its online archives —which contain hundreds of recordings of readings, concerts, and educational talks—free to the public during this time. On Wednesday, March 18, the cultural organization also livestreamed the last recital from its 2019/20 vocal series, featuring mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron and pianist Myra Huang performing songs by Beethoven and Mahler. You can watch the free livestream online.

Broadway performances

Theater-streaming service BroadwayHD is offering a seven-day free trial (before a monthly or yearly subscription) so users can livestream full-length shows from Broadway, which will now remain dark in New York City through Labor Day, at least . The site has a hefty archive of Broadway performances with everything from Cats (1998) and Swan Lake (2015) to Sweeney Todd (1982).

New York City Ballet’s spring 2020 season

New York City Ballet (NYCB) is going digital for its now-canceled spring 2020 season by streaming recorded performances from its repertory every Tuesday and Friday at 8 p.m. (EST) through May. The virtual performances spotlight classic works filmed during recent seasons at the Lincoln Center, including classic ballets such as George Balanchine’s Apollo (filmed in January 2019). Each performance will be available on NYCB’s YouTube channel , Facebook , and homepage for 72 hours after it streams.

National Theatre Live at Home

Every Thursday at 2 p.m. (EST) through May, the United Kingdom’s National Theatre is streaming a different stage production from its archives as part of its “National Theatre Live” program, also called “National Theatre at Home.” The London institution’s online offerings have included popular British plays such as One Man, Two Guvnors (which features a Tony Award–winning performance by James Corden). Full-length plays are uploaded to the National Theatre’s YouTube channel each week and remain available for seven days after they air.

The Berlin Philharmonic, Paris Opera, and more

The Berlin Philharmonic, also temporarily closed to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, dropped the subscription fee to its online video streaming service, known as its Digital Concert Hall . The legendary German orchestra is currently offering archival performances to home audiences for free through April 30. Other major opera houses and concert halls around the world are similarly streaming free archival performances, among them the Paris Opera , London’s Wigmore Hall , Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera , and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra .

Where to stream TV shows and movies for free

This live TV streaming service is offering new users in the United States free access to more than 50 cable channels and 50,000 on-demand movies every night during “primetime hours,” from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. (EST). All you have to do is create a Sling TV account with your email and zip code—unlike most other free trials , you don’t have to enter payment details for access.

Amazon Prime Video (for kids)

Amazon has also lifted its Prime Video paywall for more than 40 children’s shows, including Amazon originals, such as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie , as well as popular PBS Kids series, such as Arthur .

Rent new theatrical releases at home

Even if you’ve already prepared a long list of TV shows and movies to stream during this time of social distancing, there might’ve been an upcoming movie release you were really hoping to see when it hit theaters. On Monday, March 16, Universal Pictures made a groundbreaking announcement : Due to coronavirus, the studio is making movies available at home on the same day as the films’ global theatrical releases, starting with DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour (which opened April 10 in the United States). The movies will be available for a 48-hour rental period on a variety of on-demand services such as iTunes and Google Play at a price of $20.

Free online dance parties and workouts

Virtual museum tours and movie marathons can help pass the time, but it’s important to stay healthy by moving your body, which proves more difficult for some from the confines of home. To blow off some steam and get your endorphins going, tune into a daily Instagram Live dance party hosted by Lady Gaga’s former backup dancer (follow him at @mkik808 ), or try these livestream workout classes and virtual dance parties.

Down Dog Yoga

The Down Dog iOS and Android app is offering its virtual workout classes (yoga, HIIT, and Barre) for free to new users until June 1. The fitness app is also extending completely free access for students and teachers (K-12 and college) and healthcare professionals until July 1.

“Dance Church Go!”

Dance Church is a free, biweekly fitness class that’s part aerobic workout, part virtual dance party. Led by Dance Church founder, Kate Wallich, and two other instructors, the “Dance Church Go!” livestreams take place every Wednesday at 8 p.m. (EST) and Sunday at 1 p.m. (EST) and often have up to 12,000 people in virtual attendance.

DJ D-Nice’s “Club Quarantine”

DJ D-Nice started his “Club Quarantine” Instagram Live dance parties with an eight-hour live DJ set on Wednesday, March 18. Within a few days, word about the livestream spread around the internet, and by that Saturday the live DJ session hosted over 100,000 viewers on Instagram Live. Previous attendees have included Rihanna, Drake, Jennifer Lopez, Ava DuVernay, Dave Chapelle, and Oprah Winfrey—even Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Mark Zuckerberg. Follow DJ D-Nice on Instagram ( @dnice ) for scheduling updates about his hugely popular nightly jams.

#BareFeetLIVE with PBS TV host Mickela Mallozzi

Mickela Mallozzi, professional dancer and Emmy Award–winning host of PBS’s Bare Feet TV series, offers a weekly #BareFeetLIVE at-home edition featuring interviews with musicians and dancers from around the world. Every Tuesday on Facebook Live and Thursday on Instagram Live —at 1 p.m. (EST) for both—you can tune in for real-time lessons on global dances including the Irish sean nos , a Haitian folk dance, and the Brazilian samba.

Quarantine cooking classes

Chef massimo bottura’s “kitchen quarantine”.

Another important aspect of staying healthy under quarantine is to prepare nutritious meals with the food you have available. Renowned Italian chef Massimo Bottura—the restauranteur behind the three-Michelin-star Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy—is offering up his culinary insights through daily cooking classes on Instagram Live for self-isolated viewers. During the English-language livestreams, which Bottura named “Kitchen Quarantine,” the chef demonstrates how he’s preparing his own dinners while under quarantine. Head to his Instagram ( @massimobottura ) to catch each livestream at 2:30 p.m. (EST); after he prepares his dinner, Bottura addresses recipe questions from tuned-in viewers.

“Quar Eye: Cooking Lessons in Quarantine” with Netflix’s Antoni Porowski

In mid-March, Antoni Porowski from Netflix’s Queer Eye launched a similar cooking tutorial series dubbed “Quar Eye: Cooking Lessons in Quarantine.” During the roughly 10-minute videos, which Porowski posts to his Instagram ( @antoni ) weekly, the Fab Five’s food guru teaches viewers how to prepare simple meals while staying at home in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The first episode, for example, shows Porowski making an omelette using canned foods and pantry staples, a dish he dubbed “The Keep Calm-lette” in the caption.

Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi’s “Baking Club”

Christina Tosi, founder of the popular bakery chain Milk Bar , hosts a “Baking Club” Instagram Live series on her personal account ( @christinatosi ) at 2 p.m. (EST) daily. The day before each livestream baking class, Tosi posts a “shopping list” of the ingredients you’ll need to whip up her sweet snacks, such as french toast muffins and oat cookie bars. (Most of the ingredients are staple pantry items that you might already have.) You can watch the step-by-step classes on Tosi’s IGTV after they air and also find the recipes on her website .

“Quarantine Quitchen” with Food Network’s Alton Brown

Food expert and TV personality Alton Brown is hosting live cooking classes on his YouTube channel every Tuesday at 7 p.m. (EST). The livestreams involve two series: “Pantry Raid,” which sees Brown outline recipes that use pantry staples for easy-to-make snacks such as onion dip. The other videos, “Quarantine Quitchen,” bring at-home viewers along with Brown and his wife as they livestream cooking escapades from their kitchen.

Free virtual art classes for adults

Moma’s free online art courses.

MoMA is offering a series of free online art courses for at-home audiences amid the coronavirus pandemic. The nine courses, which are available through the online learning platform Coursera, explore everything from photography and fashion to postwar abstract painting, as well as more general examinations of contemporary art. New sessions begin every four weeks and can be completed at your own pace.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by wendy macnaughton (@wendymac) on Mar 17, 2020 at 11:07am PDT

Daily drawing lessons for kids

New York Times bestselling illustrator and graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton is offering free, weekday drawing classes on Instagram Live through the rest of the school year. “The class is for kids of all ages, parents of kids, parents of parents, aunties/uncles, friends, and pets,” the artist shared on her Instagram ( @wendymac ) in an announcement post.

The livestreams air at 10 a.m. (PST) and last about 30 minutes—which is “long enough for parents to get a little work done or take a shower and take a couple deep breaths,” MacNaughton wrote. After each class, you can check out the #drawtogether hashtag, where MacNaughton has asked that participants post photos of their drawings so that everyone can check out one another’s work. The live drawing lessons are also uploaded to MacNaughton’s Youtube channel 24 hours after they air.

Educational courses for at-home kids

School closures across the nation due to the coronavirus mean millions of students and young children are out of classes and at home. Because of this, the educational company Scholastic launched a “Learn at Home” website that offers daily courses for students from pre-kindergarten to grade 9, providing online educational content such as virtual field trips, writing and research projects, and geography challenges. The website, which is accessible on any device that has internet, will remain free and open indefinitely.

This article originally appeared online on March 16, 2020; it was updated on April 29, 2020, to include current information.

>>Next: Puffins, Koalas, and Pandas: Wildlife Webcams to Watch During Quarantine

Malibu Creek State Park

Education During Coronavirus

A Smithsonian magazine special report

The World’s First Entirely Virtual Art Museum Is Open for Visitors

VOMA—the Virtual Online Museum of Art—is a free and fully immersive art experience

Jennifer Nalewicki

Travel Correspondent

lead image VOMA

As museums have been forced to close their doors in the midst of Covid-19, many of these cultural institutions have proven just how nimble they can be, temporarily shifting their exhibitions from in-person events to online-only experiences. However, one museum in particular is waging its bets that virtual programming will be the new way of presenting art to a wide audience.

Launched just last week, the Virtual Online Museum of Art (VOMA) is the world’s first museum of its kind. More than just an online gallery, VOMA is 100 percent virtual, from the paintings and drawings hanging on the walls to the museum’s computer-generated building itself, giving viewers an entirely new way of experiencing art that transports them to an art space without having to leave their computers.

The idea for VOMA came about during the early stages of the internet—1999 to be exact—when Stuart Semple, the museum’s creator and an artist himself, dreamt up the concept to create an online museum. “When I was a teenager, I decided to make an online gallery,” Semple says, quickly admitting that the idea soon failed, chalking it up to the fact that his vision was a little bit too early for its time. Plus, back in the late '90s virtual technology was nothing like it is today.

Born in Bournemouth, England, Semple grew up having an eye for art. He studied fine arts at Bretton Hall College at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and built a successful career as an artist, showing his body of work, which contains paintings, drawings, multimedia and print, in 15 international solo exhibitions and more than 40 group shows . Now, at the age of 40, he's shifting his focus back to where he started 20 years ago by giving hi s idea for a virtual museum a second go.

“I was thinking about how art should be accessible online, but was disappointed with what I was seeing,” he says. “Because of Covid-19, I was seeing artwork grabbing onto tech in different ways, like taking a virtual walk in a park. I started thinking about putting my original idea back out there. And with CGI, I can make an experience you can live right now.”

This isn’t the first time one of Semple’s wild ideas has made headlines. In 2016, he made waves by creating a paint pigment dubbed “the world’s pinkest pink.” Teaming up with Emily Mann, an architect, and Lee Cavaliere, an art consultant and former curator of the London Art Fair, the trio built VOMA from the ground up in about six months’ time with the help of a team of programmers, architects and video game designers.

“We were seeing all these museums uploading their offerings to digital spaces, such as the [ Google Arts & Culture project],” he says. “I don’t want to be rude, but it didn’t feel like it was really there. I’d be looking at a Monet and the head would be chopped off. I was inspired, because I think we could do better.”

The result is a cultural experience unlike anything else online today. VOMA's creating some media buzz, with Cat Olley of Elle Decoration describing it as a space with “ a grounded, familiar feel ” that can “ hold [its] own alongside conventional cultural centers. ” Gabrielle Leung of Hypebeast commends VOMA for “not only [addressing] the problems of attending museums with social distancing measures in place, but also more complex issues about who has access to major cultural institutions in the first place.”

Visiting VOMA is simple. First viewers must install the free VOMA program onto their computers. From there, they can explore two galleries featuring works by nearly two dozen artists, including Henri Matisse, Édouard Manet, Li Wei, Paula Rego, Luiz Zerbini, Lygia Clark, Jasper Johns and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Cavaliere, the museum’s director and curator, worked closely with some of the world’s most prestigious museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Using high-res images provided by each institution, the VOMA team made 3-D reproductions of each piece. “We don't need to transport any paintings [on loan],” Semple says. “We're literally taking the photos and using computers to create 3-D reproductions, which adds in depth and lets viewers see [the reproduction] from all angles.”

The result is a 360-degree, fully immersive experience that lets museumgoers get as close as they want to, say, Manet’s Olympia or Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights . Using a computer's arrow buttons, a visitor can virtually “walk” around the museum, zooming in on different works of art. The user-friendly setup feels much like a computer game.

VOMA is one of the latest examples of how museum content is going digital, joining the likes of other popular sites and apps like Smartify . Dubbed the “Shazam for the art world,” Smartify offers free audio tours from a database of more than two million artworks from some of the world's most esteemed museums and cultural institutions. Anna Lowe, the app's co-founder, says that being able to access art digitally is important, especially when it comes to reaching a global audience.

“ The advantage of something like VOMA or [other virtual museum experiences] is the reach and engagement you can have with a global audience, ” Lowe says. “ But I think the key thing about physical museums, and the main reason that people go to museums, isn't for a learning experience, but to be social. I think that's the biggest challenge for [virtual visits] is how do you move people through a space without it feeling like you're just scrolling through a site. ”

hallway

This point is one of the things that VOMA's creative team took into account when building its user experience, making it as lifelike as possible.

“[VOMA’s] zoom functionality is crazy,” Semple says. “Normally, you can’t get your nose right up to the canvas, because there’s a line of tape and a security guard watching you. We recreate each artwork so that it’s 3-D. You can look around and see the sides of each work, which you can’t do [in other online art galleries].”

Not only are the displays interactive and provide in-depth information about each artwork, but the museum building and its waterfront surroundings change.

“[Architect Emily Mann] built VOMA so that the museum experience changes depending on the weather and the time of day,” he says. “VOMA is her vision of what a space for an art museum should look like. Every single tree leaf she created from scratch, and the light of each gallery changes throughout the day and plays into the space. It’s fantasy, but it’s also real.”

architecture

Another aspect that makes VOMA stand out from other museums is its mission to be more inclusive. While many museums have been accused of a severe lack in representation of work by women and BIPOC artists, VOMA intends to feature a diverse group of artists on a regular basis.

“We want to highlight voices that haven’t been heard and seen,” he says. “We are featuring artists from around the world, and not just Western artists.”

As the months progress, VOMA plans to open additional galleries to help accommodate such a diversity of artists. The museum, which boasts a permanent collection of more than 20 works, will also feature temporary exhibitions, such as the current “ Degenerate Art ,” which, according to the museum, “is a recreation of an exhibition held by the Nazis in Munich in 1937 denouncing the work of ‘degenerate’ artists.” It features pieces by Otto Dix, George Grosz and Max Beckmann, to name a few, shining a light on the lingering effects of oppression in the art world.

VOMA’s new take on the art experience has proven so popular that, during the September 4 launch, the website’s servers completely crashed while the first visitors tried “entering” the museum.

“At one point there were over 130,000 people trying to access it at the same time,” Semple says, “and we had to make the sad decision to take it down.”

Luckily, the kinks were worked out and VOMA is up and running again.

Semple believes that VOMA is just a taste of the future of art museums. “We are at an unprecedented moment in time,” he writes on VOMA's Kickstarter page. “Due to [Covid-19], we have seen the art world have to adjust, and as a result, we are able to enjoy online viewing rooms, zoom visits to artist studios and see a plethora of museums bringing images of their collections to their websites.” While he admits these changes have been exciting, Semple feels the need for a whole new kind of museum—“one that is born digitally,” he adds.

“VOMA has been designed from the ground up to work in a digital future,” he writes. “A future that is open and accessible to all.”

Get the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.

Jennifer Nalewicki | | READ MORE

Jennifer Nalewicki is a Brooklyn-based journalist. Her articles have been published in The New York Times , Scientific American , Popular Mechanics , United Hemispheres and more. You can find more of her work at her website .

  • International edition
  • Australia edition
  • Europe edition

Bilbao, the Guggenheim Museum of modern and contemporary art museum designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry.

10 of the world’s best virtual museum and art gallery tours

The originals are out of reach for now, but you can still see world-class art – without the queues or ticket prices – with an online tour of these famous museums

A rt lovers can view thousands of paintings, sculptures, installations and new work online – many in minute detail – as well as explore the museums themselves. There are various platforms: from interactive, 360-degree videos and full “walk-around” tours with voiceover descriptions to slideshows with zoomable photos of the world’s greatest artworks. And many allow viewers to get closer to the art than they could do in real life.

So, take a break from the news, enter full-screen mode and start your art adventure in sunny California …

J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Getty Center, LA

With more than 6,000 years worth of creative treasures, the Getty is one of the best places for art on the west coast of the US. Go from neolithic clay figures to Van Gogh’s Irises and Renoir’s La Promenade – just two of many artworks that feature in the virtual tour . As with several of our selection, Google Arts and Culture offers a “ museum view ” tool to look inside gallery spaces, with clickable artworks presenting further information. The Getty’s sunny sculpture plaza and garden terrace are worth adding to your digital trip, via another viewing platform, Xplorit . getty.edu

Vatican Museums, Rome

Vatican Museums’ virtual tour

Soaring vaulted ceilings, intricate murals and tapestries, the Vatican’s museums are creatively rich sites. Don’t forget to look up when exploring the seven spaces in the museum’s virtual tour, to gawp at a series of 360-degree images, including the Sistine Chapel. Wander around the rest of Vatican City with a You Visit tour that takes in Saint Peter’s Basilica and Square, complete with a tour guide narrating each interactive space. museivaticani.va

Guggenheim, Bilbao

Frank Gehry’s sculptured titanium and steel building, on the banks of the Nervión River, is one of the world’s most distinctive art spaces. The interactive tour takes viewers around its collection of postwar American and European painting and sculpture – Rothko, Holzer, Koons, Kapoor – and even down between the weathered curves of Serra’s Matter of Time (turn left at the entrance). guggenheim-bilbao.eus

Natural History Museum, London

Hintze Hall at Natural History Museum, London.

From the diplodocus to the dodo, botany to butterflies, giant crystals to specimens in jars … the Natural History Museum’s vast collection has long been a favourite of both Londoners and tourists. Get lost in the corridors and gallery spaces – one treat is Dippy the dino, who despite recently going on tour still makes an appearance in the entrance hall in this interactive online guide . nhm.ac.uk

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Rembrandt’s The Night Watch at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.

This grand museum has a vast collection of art and historical objects across 80 galleries. A 10-year renovation project was completed in 2013, transforming the space and combining elements of 19th-century grandeur with modern lighting and a new glass-roofed atrium. The interactive tour helps viewers get up close to every brush stroke by Vermeer, Rembrandt and other Dutch masters while exploring the Great Hall and beyond. rijksmuseum.nl

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea

installation view, Park Myung-rae, 2015, From the collection of National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

There are several sites making up this museum: the main gallery in Gwacheon and branches in Deoksugung, Seoul and Cheongju. The virtual tours explore an inspiring mix of print, design, sculpture, photography, new media and other large-scale installations. From Joseph Beuys to Warhol and Nam June Paik, the collection includes an international lineup of established artists, contemporary Korean artworks and emerging names. mmca.go.kr

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Musee d’Orsay virtual tour screenshot

In the former Gare d’Orsay, a Paris railway station and hotel, the musée is home to Cézanne, Monet and other French masters. Under a 138m-long curved glass roof, sits the largest collection of impressionist and post-Impressionist works in the world. The virtual tour also includes an online exhibition charting the history of the building. And over on Tourist Tube there’s a 360-degree view of the magnificent exterior. m.musee-orsay.fr

British Museum, London

British Museum’s History Connected infographic platform.

There are 3,212 panes of glass in the domed ceiling of the British Museum’s Great Court, and no two are the same – and the 360-degree view in this virtual tour lets viewers examine each and every one. Beyond this magnificent space, viewers can find the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies and other ancient wonders. The museum’s interactive infographic platform, History Connected , goes into further depth of various objects with curators, along a timeline. britishmuseum.org

MASP, São Paulo, Brazil

Screenshot from MASP, Sao Paulo, online virtual tour.

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo has one of the broadest historical collections available to view via its virtual gallery platform , spanning from the 14th to 20th centuries. Paintings appear suspended in the air around the open-plan space, on glass panels or “crystal easels” as the museum calls them. There’s also a temporary retrospective exhibition by Brazilian pop artist Teresinha Soares beside the building’s statement red staircase. The glass and red-beam structure, built in 1968, is worth a look from the outside too, via Google Street View . masp.org.br

National Gallery, London

A woman walks through The National Gallery minutes before it closes until further notice, in London.

  • Cultural trips
  • Travel websites
  • Virtual reality

More on this story

virtual art museum tours for students free

Favourite UK museums and galleries: readers' travel tips

virtual art museum tours for students free

Where to get spooked this Halloween in the UK

virtual art museum tours for students free

12 of the best city museums in Europe: readers’ travel tips

virtual art museum tours for students free

10 of the best museums close to railway stations in Europe: readers’ tips

virtual art museum tours for students free

10 holiday highlights of this strange summer: readers’ tips

virtual art museum tours for students free

Shetland: an epic landscape with a Viking soul

virtual art museum tours for students free

The UK’s best forgotten ruins: readers’ travel tips

virtual art museum tours for students free

20 of the best autumn getaways around the UK

virtual art museum tours for students free

UK parks and free public gardens: readers’ travel tips

virtual art museum tours for students free

10 great UK coastal walks: readers' tips

Comments (…), most viewed.

The Walters Art Museum

  • Plan Your Visit
  • Directions & Parking
  • Food, Drink, & Shop
  • Free Admission
  • Accessibility
  • Visitor Promise
  • Exhibitions & Installations
  • Programs & Events
  • Collections
  • Get Involved
  • Lunar New Year
  • Mission & Vision
  • Strategic Plan
  • Land Acknowledgment
  • Director’s Message
  • Support the Walters
  • Corporate Partnerships
  • Institutional Funders
  • Evening at the Walters

Virtual Museum

Explore seven millennia of art from cultures around the world anywhere online. The Walters Art Museum was a leader among museums in digitizing our collection and manuscripts . As an open access institution, we believe that making our artwork available digitally extends the reach of our museum.

Free access to the Walters Art Museum, online and in person, is made possible through the combined generosity of individual members and donors, foundations, corporations, and grants from the City of Baltimore, Maryland State Arts Council, Citizens of Baltimore County, and Howard County Government and Howard County Arts Council.

Support our digital resources

Stay connected to us through social media on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .

Summer Art Activities

Art Adventures

virtual art museum tours for students free

Public Programming

Art Making DIY Videos

Art-Making Videos

Look at Art, Make Art

coloring book art

Fun For Everyone

Color the Collection

virtual art museum tours for students free

Digital Resources

1 west mount vernon place app.

Explore 1 West, also known as Hackerman House, through our free, digital app. Take a virtual tour of the exquisite 19th-century mansion and learn about its history and the people who lived and worked within its walls. Download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

virtual art museum tours for students free

Art Education Online

Virtual School Tours

virtual art museum tours for students free

Remote Learning

Art Lessons

Open to All

Give to the walters.

Raising a family with sense on cents

in Kids Activities

12 Virtual Art Museum Walk Throughs for Free

When visiting a museum in real life is difficult, you can still spend time looking at art online with free virtual art museum walk throughs. Check out this great list of 12 art museums who offer free virtual tours.

When visiting a museum in real life is difficult, you can still spend time looking at art online with free virtual art museum walk throughs. Check out this great list of 12 art museums who offer free virtual tours.

If you believe we are made in the image of God and He is the Creator of all things, then you understand that creativity is part of who we are a humans.

While our creativity may have different focuses, learning about art by visiting museums can help bring each of us a dose inspiration. Plus, as we study the different types of art, we can consider the creativity of God.

If you have not visited a museum in a while or want your children to have a similar experience but cannot travel to the museum, take a virtual tour through an art museum for free.

Free Virtual Art Museum Walk Throughs

Whether you are a student or just an art enthusiast, many museums are adapting to a post-pandemic society and making their exhibitions available through virtual tours. Many museums offer walk throughs using Google Earth while others are experimenting with augmented reality. (A special app may be required for viewing with augmented reality.)

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Virtually walk through the halls of the Musée d’Orsay using the available Google Street View or choose to view the paintings by collection. This museum features art between 1848 and 1914, including several paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas. View the museum.

Louvre Museum, Paris

While many museums are using Google Arts & Culture, Louvre has invested in a different virtual touring software (which I personally found easier to navigate than many others.) Just take note that while the art descriptions on the wall are provided in both French and English, the info bubbles for each piece seem to be only available in French. View the museum.

Check out this great list of 12 art museums with free virtual tours.

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

The Van Gogh Museum is home to the largest collection of works by Vincent Van Gogh including over 200 paintings. Four virtual tours of the museum are available for free, one tour of each floor of the museum. You can also view the art by collection (based on the material used,) popularity, time, and color. When you click to view an individual painting, you can also view the paintings using the designated app and augmented reality. Visit the museum.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

In collaboration with Google Arts & Culture, the Met offers a free walkthrough tour as well as stories on art in fashion and music. Click to view the available pieces and get in depth details about the art. Some of the pictures can even be downloaded. Visit the museum.

When visiting a museum in real life is difficult, you can still spend time looking at art online with free virtual art museum walk throughs.

Museum of the World, a collaborative project of the British Museum and Google Arts & Culture

Navigate a timeline using the point and click of your computer mouse to explore artifacts from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Click on a specific artifact and learn more about the item, including a map, related objects, and an educational audio. Visit the museum.

Mori Art Museum, Tokyo

The Mori Art Museum has a unique virtual museum walk through available for free. Begin in the museum’s lobby or point and click your way through the various exhibits including artificial intelligence and robotics. You can even view the museum in virtual reality using an Oculus headset. Visit the museum.

The Vatican Museum, Vatican City

Featuring a 360 degree virtual tour of the Sistene Chapel, The Vatican Museum offers thirteen additional free virtual walk throughs. View the work of Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, and Bernini. Visit the museum.

Take a free virtual tour of the Guggenheim museum.

Solomon Guggenheim, New York

Using Google Earth, walk through the Guggenheim in New York City, New York and view the contemporary art housed within. To begin the tour, click on the Google Earth street view icon on the right side of the page.) See exhibits up close by clicking on the small pop up boxes that will appear on the left-bottom portion of the screen. (Note: Not all exhibits inside the museum have this feature.) Visit the museum.

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

With a focus on art from the 21st century, the J. Paul Getty Museum features the photography of Julia Margaret Cameron and Ogawa Kazumasa as well as art in the rococo style. Since this online museum tour is hosted by Google, you can organize the exhibits by popularity, timeline, and color. You can also click to view the individual pieces in augmented reality. View the museum.

Take a free virtual tour in an interactive art museum walk through

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

The MMCA has four different locations in Korea with each museum having its own focus. Several virtual museum walk throughs are available for free using Google street view with a sampling from each of the locations. The museum also host two collections from Yoo Youngkuk, a pioneer in Korean art. Visit the museum.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Rijksmuseum offers several online exhibits and features the works of Jan Luyken, the Dutch poet and illustrator, as well as works by Vermeer and Rembrandt. Either different virtual tours are available with one for each floor of the museum. You can also click to organize the paintings and sculptures by popularity, time, and color. Visit the museum.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Also available in the Google Arts & Culture collection, The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston offers a diverse collection of art from the prehistoric era to modern times. One free virtual tour is available. Visit the museum.

Other Online Art Museum Tours

Some museums do not have a walk through available online but have an amazing variety of free resources for studying artists and their works.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

While I could not find a walkthrough of the museum on the website, this is my favorite online museum for studying painting. Upon my visit to the website, there was a click-through study on Johannes Vermeer. You can also view the art by choosing what is popular, on a timeline, or by color. Using an app and projector, you can view the painting in its original size right in front of you. View the museum.

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas

Even without a free virtual walk through, these resources available online from the Dallas Museum or Art are extensive. I personally enjoy the diverse collections of art and the way you can view based on type of apparel, climate, motif, object and more. The museum also includes extended information, linking to artist biographies, teaching ideas, and more. View the museum.

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis

Although the Minneapolis Institute of Art does not offer a virtual tour, they do have a video tour, teaching resources, and several ideas for experiencing art at home including video and projects. View the museum.

Other Free Art Museum Resources

Make the most of your free virtual art museum tours with these additional resources:

  • National Gallery of Art –  If you need a resource for teaching art or just having some artistic family fun, the National Gallery of Art offers several suggestions. You can even enroll in online classes (using EdX) for free.
  • Smithsonian Learning Lab – Navigate through collections of art in related subjects at the Smithsonian Learning Lab. Also, if you have never visited their website before, notice there are resources for other subjects too, including science, social studies, and language arts.
  • Art History Resources – While a virtual tour is much different from a in person tour of a museum, they have a great post about preparing for your visit that could be adapted to apply to only museum visits.

More Fun Art for Kids

  • Easy Preschool Color Mixing Experiment with Printable
  • Field Trip: The Art Museum
  • Creating Lessons with the STEM Approach

' src=

About Tabitha

Hi! I'm Tabitha! But, I bet you expected someone named "Penny." Long story made short, Penny is the coupon binder I started in 2010 when we were totally broke... as in BANKRUPT. Now, as a mom of five, I make 6-figures a year working at home and share ways to help you move from penny to profit while you raise a family with sense on cents.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notice: It seems you have Javascript disabled in your Browser. In order to submit a comment to this post, please write this code along with your comment: 748dd547a1a7b2a8b6a4f61cc521a172

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Have you met Penny?

virtual art museum tours for students free

Hi! I'm Tabitha. Yes, I know that you expected someone named "Penny," but there is a bit of a story … [READ MORE]

  • Metropolitan

South Street Seaport Museum Jobs

Latest posts, hotels near national museum of the air force, parking near museum of illusions nyc, ice cream museum nyc phone number, museum of life and science durham nc, free virtual art museum tours, google arts & culture virtual museum tours.

The first virtual museum tour for kids we want to suggest isnt just a museum! It is a destination for all sorts of amazing works. Google has partnered with over 2000 museums, galleries and associations to bring a curated collection to your home.

Visitors can choose from more than 500 galleries and museums to experience from the comfort and safety of their own couch, thanks to a massive project organized by Google Arts & Culture. We have highlighted several of our favorites in this article.

Choose from a list of over 500 galleries and virtual museum tours at

Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam Netherlands

The Van Gogh Museum boasts the largest collection of paintings by the Post-Impressions master Vincent Van Gogh , whos known for his colorful sunflowers, vivid landscapes, and searing portraits. Online, you can see panoramic views of the museum rooms.

The museum offers almost 1500 images of paintings to inspect. Theres also a 360 virtual tour of its Sunflower Gallery , with paintings from five international museums.

Best Free Virtual Tours For Art Students

Emily in Paris? More like Emily-sad-and-stuck-at-home. Coronavirus, vaccine trials, restrictions, pandemic, lockdown we are sick and tired of hearing of these words. This virus has definitely got all of us on a tightly-wound leash. Not one to just complain and do nothing, we thought we could help you make the most of it with our list of free virtual tours of famous museums.

They are in 12 countries and full of unique and individual art and history, perfect if youre an art student or an enthusiast. Most of the virtual exhibits mentioned in this article are available through as the online platform has collaborated with said museums, showcasing high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from over 2,000 museums throughout the world and all from the comfort of your sofa.

Recommended Reading: Childrens Science Museum Of Minnesota

Museo Frida Kahlo Mexico Virtual Museum Tour

Frida Kahlo is a famous Latin American artist in the world. The museum displays little house of Frida Kahlo. The museum displays art works of Frida Kahlo, and many of old photographs.

In the virtual museum tour, you can explore the Garden, Temporary exhibition about appearances can be deceiving, Frida Kahlos studio, and the kitchen.

National Museums Scotland Virtual Museum Tours For Kids

50 Free Virtual Museum Tours For Homeschooling

National Museums Scotland has been working with Google in exhibiting the museums key objects. With the help of Googles advanced technology Google StreetView, a lot of scenes at the National Museum of Scotland can be explored virtually. The main parts are: Grand Gallery, Roof Terrace, Exploring East Asia, and Ancient Egypt Rediscovered.

In the online Exhibit section, you can explore:

  • Scottish inventions that rocked the world
  • Tele-visionary genius: John Logie Baird
  • How Alexander Graham Bell Invented the Telephone
  • Scotlands Early Silver

Don’t Miss: Air And Space Museum Balboa Park

The Anne Frank House Museum

Im sure you know who Anne Frank is, and her story. She must be one of the most talked about victims of the Holocaust. A young, Jewish girl who wrote in her diary while in hiding with her family during World War II.

You can check out this exhibit about her on Google Arts and Culture in the link above, and learn more. I remember reading the book of her diary, if you havent its a good read and shows you a different view of how it would have been during the Holocaust. You can get the book here or its available for free on audiobook if you have Audible. If you want, you can try it for free for 30 days here .

Visit the house where Anne Frank and her family lived before going into hiding, with this free 360 virtual tour . And explore the secret annex where she and her family hid during the war with this free VR app .

The Spy Museum Washington Dc

The Spy Museum is always a crowd pleaser. But if youd like to avoid crowds, you can just visit online.

The Spy Museum gives you 360 degrees views of every room. Its also got an amazing , featuring photos of its precious artifacts. The Spy Museum even has a list online of the 10 most important pieces in its collection, including the Enigma Machine that Germany used in WWII to secretly communicate.

You May Like: Milton J Rubenstein Museum Of Science And Technology

Educational Museums With Free Virtual Tours

1. NASA Take a virtual tour of NASAs International Space Station ! Theres a series of cool YouTube videos that take you through their station.

2. Google Museum View Google Maps has cool street maps, allowing you to see virtually any place in a 360 degree view as if you were already there. offers the same thing with museums! You can see panoramic views of beautiful places around the world. There are museums from all over the world the United States, France, Spain, Indonesia, South Africa, and more!

3. Smithsonian Museum Move over Night at the Museum and try the Smithsonian Museum virtual tour! The format is a bit like Google Maps, and you can move around and get a 360 degree view.

  • National Air and Space Museum

4. The Louvre

Located in Paris, France, the Louvre is the largest art museum in the world. Use their virtual exhibits to explore a bit of the museum! 5. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC has several of their exhibits online. Pick a subject, and several resources will come up, ready to view.

6. Lincoln Memorial

National Park Services has panoramas of the Lincoln Memorial . Click and drag to experience things up-close, so you can read inscriptions. They also have a map of the whole memorial, which makes it easy to quickly move from location to location.

7. Yad Vashem

8. Martin Luther King Jr.s Home

9. The White House

10. Buckingham Palace

11. Boston Childrens Museum

12. National Womens History Museum

Awesome Free Virtual Museum Tours To Take With Kids Today

There are hundreds of virtual museum tours that you can take with your kids. What a magical thing it is to be able to visit a world class museum from home no standing in line, no bustling around an exhibit to get a closer look and no tired feet at the end of the day. We found the best free virtual museum tours that your kids can visit today!

Read Also: National Museum Of Funeral History

Cookie And Privacy Settings

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

State Hermitage Museum St Petersburg

In addition to being one of the most popular museums in the world, this Russian location claims to be the world’s largest museum by gallery space . The eye-catching green building with gold and white accents houses more than three million artifacts and works of art, and it saw just under one million visitors in 2020.

Recommended Reading: Rochester Museum And Science Center Membership

Monterey Bay Aquarium Exotic Underwater Museum

This aquarium based museum offers exotic way in exploring the museum virtually. It uses LIVE CAM.

Here, you can see Aviary Cam, in which you explore and peek into Aviary for an adventure in bird watching. In the Jelly Cam, you see the breathtaking sea nettles drift and pulse. In the Kelp Forest Cam, you see sardines swirl and leopard sharks glide through gently swaying kelp canopies. In the Monetary Bay Cam, you look at otters, birds and sailboats. In the Moon Jelly Cam, you will witness and be hypnotised by gorgeous glowing moon jellies. In the Open Sea Cam, you view open-ocean animals, like tuna, turtles, sharks, and sardines. In the Penguin Cam, you check the African penguins waddling and nesting. The Sea Otter Cam offers sightseeing of sea otters frolicking and swimming. In the shark cam, you will be amazed by the sharks and other habitats in the bay.

In the official website you can learn further about animals. You can check the Animals A to Z section, Habitats, Animal stories, Animal Care, live cams, and wall papers.

This website is specifically established for charity and educational purposes.

Here is the live Cams of Shark Cam, as broadcasted in youtube:

Want to see more?

J Paul Getty Museum At The Getty Center Los Angeles Us

11 Free Virtual 360° Tours of Popular Museums Throughout the World ...

Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Richard Meier, the world famous Getty Center in southern California opened to the public in 1997.

The Getty Museum has an outstanding online virtual tour with Google Arts & Culture. It even has an outdoor virtual tour , which uses photography and time-lapse videos to enliven the experience.

There are 15,000 paintings and artifacts to see with accompanying audio explanations. Check out the Gettys most famous pieces Van Goghs Irises and Rembrandt Laughing , Renoirs La Promenade , and the Lansdowne Herakles sculpture from Roman antiquity.

Also Check: Children’s Museum In Indianapolis In

The J Paul Getty Museum

Explore thousands of items in the Gettys collection with help from Google Arts & Culture. The J. Paul Getty Museum specifically has several interactive options for exploring their collection: a museum view virtual tour, three ebook-style online exhibits, and the library of over 15,000 collected pieces of art.

Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Washington Dc

Immerse yourself in the Smithsonians expansive National Portrait Gallery, which includes Portraits of African Americans, First Ladies, Votes for Women, and much more. Becoming increasingly bored as the days go by while you are social distancing from society? Scroll the extensive array of online museum collections here and absorb world culture without even leaving your bed.

Recommended Reading: Children’s Museum St Paul Mn

World Class Museums To Enjoy Online For Free

Heres my guide to the best virtual museums you can visit online at home from the comfort of your couch or computer.

Many world class museums have released some or all of their collections online. Or theyve partnered with Google Arts & Culture to make collections accessible in high resolution. Some museums have used the technology that powers Google Street View to let you zoom in to see floor plans or specific art works.

If you cant travel for any reason, this is a splendid time to travel virtually to a museum of your choice. Theres an almost dizzying array of virtual options. Its not quite like walking through a museum. But it has its own strange pleasures.

Virtual Tours Of Theme Parks

The World of Harry Potter

Virtual tours for kids don’t come more magical than Harry Potter’s wizarding world! Using this amazing , you can explore all the places J.K Rowling’s magic world was based on. See the London market that was the inspiration for Diagon Alley and the famous Platform 9 3/4 that whisked the witches and wizards off to Hogwarts.

While you might not be able to enjoy the treats of Honeyduke’s sweet shop or jump on the Hogwarts Express, this tour is the closest thing to it!

Don’t Miss: Miami Children’s Museum Charter School

The Vatican Museums Vatican City

I recently visited the Vatican Museums twice during a trip to Rome . The Vatican Museums are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City complex.

The works in the Vatican are invaluable crowning glories of Western art. They tell stories of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the history of the Catholic Church, and the birth of the Renaissance.

You can take an online virtual tour of the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel , the Pio Clementino Museum, and the Raphael Rooms .

Ive also written a lengthy piece on the Vaticans must see masterpieces . And a piece on Michelangelos Last Judgment , which is on the Sistine Chapel altar wall.

The Canadian Museum Of History In Quebec

The Canadian Museum of History is mainly all about the 20,000 year timeline of human history in Canada. Everything from Aboriginal history in North America to present time.

You cant really see a wholllle lot online, but theres several online exhibits you can check out including the beautiful Morningstar ceiling mural .

Also the worlds oldest ice hockey stick, hand carved in the 1830s has a home here. How very Canadian of us.

You May Like: Philadelphia Museum Of Art Posters

The Frick Collection Virtual Museum Tour

The frick collection virtual museum tour offers unique museum presentation in which the virtual museum tour is arranged into a building map that you can explore by selecting specific room. Once selected, the 360 virtual tour page will load. Wait until it is 100% loaded and you are ready to explore the virtual museum.

Here is a quick view of the map:

You can also check the art gallery that displays photos of Paintings, Sculpture, furniture, ceramics, paper paintings, textiles, clocks, medals, enamels, and many other collections.

The Moai In Easter Island

50+ Amazing Free Virtual Museum Gallery Tours You Can Take At Home

Have you ever watched movies in which big stone statues buried on a remote island suddenly came out? Yes, here is the real place, the MOAI of Easter Island.

As a matter of fact, Rapa Nui, the indigenous name of Easter Island, is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world, separated form the coast of Chile far away.

There, you can also see the Ahu Nau Nau. One of the most recognisable sites in Rapa Nui, Ahu Nau Nau is a restored ceremonial platform site with 7 giant MOAI statues. The google arts and culture remade it in 3D format so that you can explore it from different angles.

The statues are believed to have a source of spiritual power.

Read Also: National Jewish Sports Hall Of Fame And Museum

National Palace Museum Taipei City

With almost 700,000 objects, the National Palace Museum in Taiwan is the largest collection of ancient Chinese artifacts in the world. Featuring rare items from the Neolithic period to the present day, the museum was founded in 1965.

Theres a fantastic range of guided virtual tours online, including the exterior as well as the interior of the building. Admire Zhishan Garden, the Pavilions and the Cage Changing Goose sculptue before heading indoors to explore the rest of the collection.

You can take one of four featured routes or simply click around the galleries depending on your interests. Handy floor plans will prevent you from getting lost! Theres also a fun time lapse of the museum.

Smithsonian Museum Of Natural History Washington Dc Us

Washington D.C.s Museum of Natural History is one of the most visited museums in the world. You can inspect some of its wonderful treasures with an online virtual tour of the entire grounds.

Viewers head into its rotunda and receive a comprehensive 360 room by room walking tour of its most exceptional exhibits, including the Hall of Mammals, Insect Zoo, and Dinosaurs and Hall of Paleobiology.

In general, the Smithsonian museums have also released 2.8 million images into the public domain. Theyre searchable, shareable, and downloadable via the museums Open Access platform . The Smithsonian will continue to digitize and publish their collections.

Don’t Miss: Metropolitan Museum Of Art Gift Store

Guggenheim Bilbao Bilbao Spain

Who can argue with the emblematic Guggenheim Museum ? Inaugurated in 1997, Frank Gehrys twisting shimmering museum is the star of the underrated city of Bilbao Spain .

The space age building is an awe-inspiring blend of titanium, glass, and limestone. The scaly exterior evokes a silvery fish and the wings of the building the wind-filled sails of a ship.

Outside, theres a veritable sculpture museum. Inside, the Guggenheims modern art collection is on par with Europes best modern art museums. Youll find works by Robert Motherwell, Yves Klein, Andy Warhol, Eduardo Chillada, and Anselm Kiefer.

Via Google Arts & Culture, you can explore the Guggenheim Bilbao. The online offering includes cinematographic photos, videos, and guided tours of masterpieces from the collection.

What Is A Virtual Museum Tour

Many of the worlds best museums closed for a period of time during 2020, but wanted to offer ways for visitors to safely visit and learn. Virtual museum tours were born as a way to experience the museum from home touring it through your computer or phone and see the exhibits inside the museum just like you were touring on foot.

Read Also: Tickets For Museum Of African American History

Sarah T

RELATED ARTICLES

Is dallas museum of art free, virginia museum of fine arts artworks, american folk art museum nyc, museum of fine arts hours, museum of fine arts houston membership, sioux city children’s museum, african american museum washington dc tickets, 1 hermann museum circle drive, popular articles, parking at museum of the bible, museum of science and industry free days, boston tea party museum military discount, grand rapids art museum wedding, the plaza museum district apartments, norton museum of art palm beach, museum women’s art washington dc, national spy museum washington dc, smithsonian national air and space museum gift shop, japanese american national museum store, national museum of the pacific war, national building museum birthday party, san francisco museum of modern art price, museum of modern art catalog, oakland museum of modern art, museum of modern art website, san fran museum of modern art, houston museum of natural science butterfly exhibit, perot museum of nature and science price, academy of motion picture arts and sciences museum, halloween houston museum natural science, science museum of long island, stay in touch.

To be updated with all the latest news, offers and special announcements.

  • Inspiration
  • Destinations
  • Places To Stay
  • Style & Culture
  • Food & Drink
  • Wellness & Spas
  • News & Advice
  • Partnerships
  • On The Move
  • Travel Tips
  • Competitions

The 13 best virtual museum tours in the world

By Jo Ascherl

The 13 best virtual museum tours in the world

Hands up – who is missing art ? While in early 2021 we can only dream of visiting exhibitions in far-flung destinations, we can experience the next closest thing: being transported to world-class museums and galleries, via European courtyards and faraway sculpture gardens, and lose ourselves in virtual tours and talks. Google Arts and Culture has also collaborated with a whole load of venues to place viewers right at the heart of the action. Here are the 13 virtual museum tours to take now.

LOUVRE PARIS

LOUVRE, PARIS

Initially hesitant to take part in the Covid-induced digitisation that many galleries around the world have launched over the past year, the Louvre has finally succumbed to demand. While not technically offering a virtual tour, the world’s biggest museum has put almost its entire collection online – that’s more than 480,000 works of art. They're available to view for free on the new platform, Louvre Collections, which is updated on a daily basis. Explore by collection and filter to discover some of the world’s most precious paintings, as well as sculptures, inscriptions, objects, textiles and artists until we are able to travel to France and re-experience the museum in all its 4D glory. collections.louvre.fr

Sistine Chapel Vatican Museums Rome

Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, Rome

It may just be that you had always intended to go to Rome and marvel at Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling masterpiece, instead of seeing it endlessly replicated in the media, but you somehow never got round to it. Here you can place yourself in the chapel, which is inside the pope’s official palace residence, and get a more complete impression of how it would be for real. You can even take a tour guide option to wander around the Vatican City and really ramp up the virtual experience. museivaticani.va

NASA Washington DC

NASA, Washington DC

Who isn’t fascinated by NASA and space? Short of getting on a plane to Washington DC (which you can’t do even if you wanted to), this experience gives a glimpse into how the US government agency that deals with National Aeronautics and Space Administration operates. There’s some incredible video footage on it’s website’s Galleries page of test-firing launch systems and missions to the moon, plus you can see a number of exhibitions online via Google Arts and Culture. artsandculture.google.com

Natural History Museum London

Natural History Museum, London

There’s pretty much something for everyone at the Natural History Museum: a 360-degree tour of the Fantastic Beasts exhibition, a gallery full of extraordinary Photographer of the Year images, as well as an up-close experience with Hope the blue whale – with audio guides by the reassuringly knowledgeable Sir David Attenborough . Our top tip: every Tuesday at 3pm you can spend time with a scientist online, and take part in interactive discussions. nhm.ac.uk

The National Gallery London

The National Gallery, London

If you missed the much-talked-about Titian: Love, Desire, Death exhibition when the National Gallery reopened its doors after the first lockdown in 2020, now is your chance to see the glorious works of the Italian Renaissance painter. There are also video highlights from the gallery’s considerable British collection with The Wonderful Everyday tour. While you’re there, sign up for the family half-term Zoom session (Monday 15 February 2021) on decoding paintings with the help of clues. nationalgallery.org.uk

The Frida Kahlo Museum Mexico City

The Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico City

Frida Kahlo’s eventful life has been well documented – along with her eyebrows – but so have her unmistakable colourful masterpieces, from brilliant self portraits to original clothing designs. There is no place more fitting to view her work than in the house where she spent most of her years: La Casa Azul (the Blue House), which was set up as a museum after her death, as she wished. Through this virtual tour, which will transport you straight to Mexico , its possible to explore the house and gardens , as well as view a selection of Kahlo’s art. museofridakahlo.org.mx

Picasso Museum Barcelona

Picasso Museum, Barcelona

A very uplifting way to bring a piece of Spain into your living room. Picasso was born in Málaga, but he spent many of his formative years in Barcelona , so many of his most important pieces are housed in this museum. A heady virtual stroll takes in works from his Blue and Rose periods, as well as his series of insightful reinterpretations of Velázquez’s Las Meninas . There are separate tours of the place’s pretty, plant-strewn courtyard and the various places where Picasso lived and worked. bcn.cat

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, USA

Big, bold flowers will forever be associated with O’Keeffe, along with her other distinctive American modernist works including paintings, sculptures and objects, in this collection entirely dedicated to the artist. You can take a virtual tour, and there are also some excellent online lectures and classes, such as drawing with colour, which is suitable for ages 12+, but make sure to book in advance. okeeffemuseum.org

The British Museum London

The British Museum, London

No stone (literally) has been left unturned when it comes to exploring the British Museum from home, with a staggering 60-plus galleries to visit via Google Street View. Virtual collections on the museum site cover Oceania, with art and artefacts from the South Pacific islands , and a large selection of prints and drawings. Special online shows worth seeing, meanwhile, include the recent Arctic: Culture and Climate exhibition. artsandculture.google.com

The best hotels in Portugal

Abigail Malbon

The new London restaurants to try in March 2024

Olivia Morelli

The best exhibitions in London for March

Connor Sturges

How Belgium became cool

Gurdeep Loyal

Guggenheim Bilbao Museum Spain

Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Spain

So in early 2021 you can't hop over to San Sebastián for some pintxos on a trip to Bilbao , but you will can see this brilliantly designed Frank Gehry museum with an interactive tour that shows a mesmerising video of a photographer catching a free runner scaling the outside of the building before exploring its outstanding modern art collection, with paintings by greats from Mark Rothko and Yves Klein to Willem de Kooning and Anselm Kiefer. artsandculture.google.com

Uffizi Gallery Florence

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

This powerhouse of a gallery is home to too many Renaissance greats to mention, but its selection of curated tours goes some way to conjuring up the magic of the Uffizi experience – and the upside is you don’t have to queue behind hordes of visitors to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation or Botticelli’s The Birth Of Venus . You can look up paintings or take a virtual stroll through various parts of the museum, and there are also video stories on lesser-known artists and educational projects. uffizi.it

The Vasa Museum Stockholm

The Vasa Museum, Stockholm

The behemoth Vasa ship, seen on entering this museum in Stockholm in real life, is one of the most striking pieces of history in the city, and it remains the best preserved example of a 17th-century vessel worldwide – retrieved after it sank in harbour waters in 1628. The audio guides online go through the history of the ship, along with realistic background sounds of the moment it sank, as well as up-close images and a historical timeline of events. stockholm360.net

Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

Anne Frank’s name is indelibly inked in history books as a result of her evocative World War II diaries, published after her death. This is a fascinating, if unsettling, tour around the museum dedicated to her attic hiding place, where she stayed to escape from the Nazis – something she managed until she was found and transported to a concentration camp, aged just 15. The site also has photographic footage of her childhood, along with extracts from her diaries. annefrank.org

MOMA New York

MOMA, New York

Manhattan ’s awe-inspiring museum of modern art has a huge online display of work, from paintings and design to sculpture, architecture and film, including virtual views of Van Gogh’s Starry Night , the Surrealist Women exhibition and the gallery's Sculpture Garden. The New York, Open City video is a must for an immersive and historic NY experience. If you sign up to MOMA’s newsletter you can be updated on specific virtual events and live Q&As. moma.org

Now watch a tour around Milan's Fondazione Prada:

Like this? Now read:

When will galleries open again?

9 entertaining things to do with kids at home during lockdown

The best exhibitions in London

  • Collections,

Virtual Student Guide Tours

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share via Email

At left, a young woman gestures in front of a large expressionist triptych painting. Two people sit on a bench with their backs to the viewer, and a young person is standing at far right. The painting shows many colorful, shadowy figures in a performance.

 Keep an eye on our calendar for tours in the fall. 

Join us live on Zoom for virtual Student Guide Tours! These interactive tours, designed and led by Harvard undergraduates from a range of academic disciplines, focus on objects chosen by each Student Guide and provide a unique, thematic view into our collections. The free, 30-minute tours will be offered live via Zoom. 

The  Ho Family Student Guide Program  at the Harvard Art Museums trains students to develop original, research-based tours of the collections. Participants come from a wide range of backgrounds, including art history, visual and environmental studies, the sciences, history, and literature. Through their training, Student Guides gain knowledge of the collections and develop skills in critical thinking, visual analysis, public speaking, and leadership. This program is supported by the Ho Family Student Guide Fund.

Tuesday, June 30 “Spirituality in Secular Art,” with Adam Sella Adam Sella ’22 considered how different ideas of spirituality are reflected in artwork we might not immediately think of as spiritual. 

Saturday, June 27 “Silent Dialogue,” with Twyla Kantor Twyla Kantor ’22 discussed storytelling in art and explored how the use of pose and body language can change an object’s narrative.

Tuesday, June 23 “Make It New,” with Tommy Mahon Tommy Mahon ’20 focused on four artworks embodying aesthetic, political, and spiritual transformations.

Saturday, June 20 “Nostos and Nostalgia,” with Laura Murphy Laura Murphy ’22 delved into the ideas of home, memory, and longing in this journey through the collections, looking at works that evoke the natural beauty of a pre-industrial era.

Tuesday, June 16 “The Golden Globe,” with May Wang May Wang ’20 considered works from across the collections that include or evoke gold in the context of global exchange.

Saturday, June 13 “Anti-Gravity,” with Gavin Moulton Gavin Moulton ’20 explored artworks that question the laws of nature and break orbit with the stylistic rules of their time.  Tuesday, June 9 “Model Worlds,” with Paul Tamburro Paul Tamburro ’21 looked at the ways artworks can either construct or deconstruct visions of an ideal society and examined the literal models that objects are based on. 

Saturday, June 6 “Looking Inside, from the Outside,” with  Emilė Radytė Emilė Radytė ’20 led a conversation about how and to what effect interiority is represented in art, and how art can become a medium for expressing both frustrations and hope of the spirit.  

Tuesday, June 2 “Visions of the Future,” with Cecilia Zhou  Cecilia Zhou ’22 examined how three works of art, spanning approximately 700 years, position themselves vis-à-vis the future. 

Saturday,  May 30 “The Art of the Everyday,” with Paul Tamburro  Paul Tamburro ’21 explored distinctions between art and everyday objects and the relationship between art and mass production.

Thursday, May 28 “Decay and Regeneration,” with Mei Tercek  Mei Tercek ’21 considered how decay can be a destructive and revitalizing force in art.

Tuesday, May 26 “Architecture as Art,” with Gavin Moulton Gavin Moulton ’20 explored the theme of architecture as art in a discussion focused on several works in the collections spanning a thousand years of art history.

Monday, May 25 Celebrating the Class of 2020 Emilė Radytė, May Wang, Gavin Moulton, and Tommy Mahon, our Ho Family Student Guides from the Harvard Class of 2020, shared their favorite artworks from the Harvard Art Museums collections in this special, celebratory tour.

Saturday, May 23 “Spirituality in Secular Art,” with Adam Sella   Adam Sella ’22 considered different ideas of spirituality and how these are reflected in artwork we might not immediately consider to be spiritual.   Thursday, May 21 “The Golden Globe,” with May Wang May Wang ’20 considered works from across the collections that include or evoke gold in the context of global exchange. Tuesday, May 19 “Make It New” with Tommy Mahon Tommy Mahon ’20 focused on four artworks embodying aesthetic, political, and spiritual transformations.

Saturday,  May 16   “Decay and Regeneration,” with Mei Tercek   Mei Tercek ’21 considered how decay can be a destructive and revitalizing force in art, focusing on several works from the collections.   

Thursday, May 14 “Art in Exile,” with Vlad Batagui Vlad Batagui ’21 explored the relationship between art and the origins of its creation, looking at different ways in which art objects and artists get removed from their original cultural contexts.

Tuesday, May 12 “Constructing Nature,” with Sinead Danagher Sinead Danagher ’21 discussed several works of art that use or invoke nature in their media, imagery, and style.

Saturday, May 9 “Visions of the Future,” with Cecilia Zhou  Cecilia Zhou ’22 examined how three works of art, spanning approximately 700 years, position themselves vis-à-vis the future. 

Thursday, May 7 “Spirituality in Secular Art,” with Adam Sella   Adam Sella ’22 considered different ideas of spirituality and how these are reflected in artwork we might not immediately consider to be spiritual.  

Tuesday, May 5 “Decay and Regeneration,” with Mei Tercek  Mei Tercek ’21 discussed whether decay can be both destructive and revitalizing in art.  

Saturday, May 2 “The Golden Globe,” with May Wang May Wang ’20 considered works from across the collections that include or evoke gold in the context of global exchange.

Thursday, April 30 “Constructing Nature,” with Sinead Danagher Sinead Danagher ’21 discussed several works of art that use or invoke nature in their media, imagery, and style. 

Tuesday, April 28 “The Art of the Everyday,” with Paul Tamburro Paul Tamburro ’21 explored distinctions between art and everyday objects and the relationship between art and mass production. 

Thursday, April 23 “Architecture as Art,” with Gavin Moulton Gavin Moulton ’20 explored the theme of architecture as art in a discussion focused on several works in the collections spanning a thousand years of art history. 

Tuesday, April 21 “Reality and Artifice,” with Emilė Radytė Emilė Radytė ’20 explored the theme of reality and artifice in an interactive discussion focused on several works in the collections. 

Want to learn more from our Student Guides? Browse our past Student Guide Tours on our Vimeo channel  and follow @harvardarthappens on Instagram.

Related articles

A small terracotta figurine with an oval headpiece.

The Bamum Kingdom, Colonialism, and German Expressionist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

German expressionist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff included a clay pipe bowl ( Ki-kuet pue ) from the Bamum Kingdom (modern-day Republic of Cameroon) in his painting. How did this object become part of his private collection?

This plaster fragment is unevenly shaped and is partly covered in dirt. The top half is bright red. The lower half is light brown and is decorated with darker-colored geometric shapes and a small red ornament in the form of a heart.

A Painted ❤️ in Ancient Rome? A Brief Artistic History of the Heart Symbol

Why is there a ❤️ on an ancient Roman wall painting fragment? Former graduate student intern Vivian Jin takes a deeper look at a series of objects at the museums that trace the symbolic evolution of the heart symbol.

virtual art museum tours for students free

Visitor Guide

Welcome to the Harvard Art Museums! We are three museums—the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler—all in one building. Have fun exploring our galleries; just ask any staff member for help finding your way.

  • CORE CURRICULUM
  • LITERACY > CORE CURRICULUM > Into Literature, 6-12" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Into Literature, 6-12" aria-label="Into Literature, 6-12"> Into Literature, 6-12
  • LITERACY > CORE CURRICULUM > Into Reading, K-6" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Into Reading, K-6" aria-label="Into Reading, K-6"> Into Reading, K-6
  • INTERVENTION
  • LITERACY > INTERVENTION > English 3D, 4-12" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="English 3D, 4-12" aria-label="English 3D, 4-12"> English 3D, 4-12
  • LITERACY > INTERVENTION > Read 180, 3-12" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Read 180, 3-12" aria-label="Read 180, 3-12"> Read 180, 3-12
  • LITERACY > READERS > Hero Academy Leveled Libraries, PreK-4" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Hero Academy Leveled Libraries, PreK-4" aria-label="Hero Academy Leveled Libraries, PreK-4"> Hero Academy Leveled Libraries, PreK-4
  • LITERACY > READERS > HMH Reads Digital Library, K-5" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="HMH Reads Digital Library, K-5" aria-label="HMH Reads Digital Library, K-5"> HMH Reads Digital Library, K-5
  • LITERACY > READERS > inFact Leveled Libraries, K-5" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="inFact Leveled Libraries, K-5" aria-label="inFact Leveled Libraries, K-5"> inFact Leveled Libraries, K-5
  • LITERACY > READERS > Rigby PM, K-5" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Rigby PM, K-5" aria-label="Rigby PM, K-5"> Rigby PM, K-5
  • LITERACY > READERS > Science & Engineering Leveled Readers, K-5" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Science & Engineering Leveled Readers, K-5" aria-label="Science & Engineering Leveled Readers, K-5"> Science & Engineering Leveled Readers, K-5
  • SUPPLEMENTAL
  • LITERACY > SUPPLEMENTAL > A Chance in the World SEL, 8-12" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="A Chance in the World SEL, 8-12" aria-label="A Chance in the World SEL, 8-12"> A Chance in the World SEL, 8-12
  • LITERACY > SUPPLEMENTAL > Amira Learning, K-6" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Amira Learning, K-6" aria-label="Amira Learning, K-6"> Amira Learning, K-6
  • LITERACY > SUPPLEMENTAL > Classcraft, K-8" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Classcraft, K-8" aria-label="Classcraft, K-8"> Classcraft, K-8
  • LITERACY > SUPPLEMENTAL > JillE Literacy, K-3" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="JillE Literacy, K-3" aria-label="JillE Literacy, K-3"> JillE Literacy, K-3
  • LITERACY > SUPPLEMENTAL > Waggle, K-8" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Waggle, K-8" aria-label="Waggle, K-8"> Waggle, K-8
  • LITERACY > SUPPLEMENTAL > Writable, 3-12" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Writable, 3-12" aria-label="Writable, 3-12"> Writable, 3-12
  • LITERACY > SUPPLEMENTAL > ASSESSMENT" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="ASSESSMENT" aria-label="ASSESSMENT"> ASSESSMENT
  • MATH > CORE CURRICULUM > Arriba las Matematicas, K-8" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Arriba las Matematicas, K-8" aria-label="Arriba las Matematicas, K-8"> Arriba las Matematicas, K-8
  • MATH > CORE CURRICULUM > Go Math!, K-6" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Go Math!, K-6" aria-label="Go Math!, K-6"> Go Math!, K-6
  • MATH > CORE CURRICULUM > Into Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, 8-12" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Into Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, 8-12" aria-label="Into Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, 8-12"> Into Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, 8-12
  • MATH > CORE CURRICULUM > Into Math, K-8" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Into Math, K-8" aria-label="Into Math, K-8"> Into Math, K-8
  • MATH > CORE CURRICULUM > Math Expressions, PreK-6" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Math Expressions, PreK-6" aria-label="Math Expressions, PreK-6"> Math Expressions, PreK-6
  • MATH > CORE CURRICULUM > Math in Focus, K-8" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Math in Focus, K-8" aria-label="Math in Focus, K-8"> Math in Focus, K-8
  • MATH > SUPPLEMENTAL > Classcraft, K-8" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Classcraft, K-8" aria-label="Classcraft, K-8"> Classcraft, K-8
  • MATH > SUPPLEMENTAL > Waggle, K-8" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Waggle, K-8" aria-label="Waggle, K-8"> Waggle, K-8
  • MATH > INTERVENTION > Math 180, 5-12" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Math 180, 5-12" aria-label="Math 180, 5-12"> Math 180, 5-12
  • SCIENCE > CORE CURRICULUM > Into Science, K-5" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Into Science, K-5" aria-label="Into Science, K-5"> Into Science, K-5
  • SCIENCE > CORE CURRICULUM > Into Science, 6-8" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Into Science, 6-8" aria-label="Into Science, 6-8"> Into Science, 6-8
  • SCIENCE > CORE CURRICULUM > Science Dimensions, K-12" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Science Dimensions, K-12" aria-label="Science Dimensions, K-12"> Science Dimensions, K-12
  • SCIENCE > READERS > inFact Leveled Readers, K-5" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="inFact Leveled Readers, K-5" aria-label="inFact Leveled Readers, K-5"> inFact Leveled Readers, K-5
  • SCIENCE > READERS > Science & Engineering Leveled Readers, K-5" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Science & Engineering Leveled Readers, K-5" aria-label="Science & Engineering Leveled Readers, K-5"> Science & Engineering Leveled Readers, K-5
  • SCIENCE > READERS > ScienceSaurus, K-8" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="ScienceSaurus, K-8" aria-label="ScienceSaurus, K-8"> ScienceSaurus, K-8
  • SOCIAL STUDIES > CORE CURRICULUM > HMH Social Studies, 6-12" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="HMH Social Studies, 6-12" aria-label="HMH Social Studies, 6-12"> HMH Social Studies, 6-12
  • SOCIAL STUDIES > SUPPLEMENTAL > Writable" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Writable" aria-label="Writable"> Writable
  • For Teachers
  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT > For Teachers > Coachly" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Coachly" aria-label="Coachly"> Coachly
  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT > For Teachers > Teacher's Corner" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Teacher's Corner" aria-label="Teacher's Corner"> Teacher's Corner
  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT > For Teachers > Live Online Courses" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Live Online Courses" aria-label="Live Online Courses"> Live Online Courses
  • For Leaders
  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT > For Leaders > The Center for Model Schools (formerly ICLE)" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="The Center for Model Schools (formerly ICLE)" aria-label="The Center for Model Schools (formerly ICLE)"> The Center for Model Schools (formerly ICLE)
  • MORE > undefined > Assessment" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Assessment" aria-label="Assessment"> Assessment
  • MORE > undefined > Early Learning" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Early Learning" aria-label="Early Learning"> Early Learning
  • MORE > undefined > English Language Development" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="English Language Development" aria-label="English Language Development"> English Language Development
  • MORE > undefined > Homeschool" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Homeschool" aria-label="Homeschool"> Homeschool
  • MORE > undefined > Intervention" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Intervention" aria-label="Intervention"> Intervention
  • MORE > undefined > Literacy" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Literacy" aria-label="Literacy"> Literacy
  • MORE > undefined > Mathematics" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Mathematics" aria-label="Mathematics"> Mathematics
  • MORE > undefined > Professional Development" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Professional Development" aria-label="Professional Development"> Professional Development
  • MORE > undefined > Science" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Science" aria-label="Science"> Science
  • MORE > undefined > undefined" data-element-type="header nav submenu">
  • MORE > undefined > Social and Emotional Learning" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Social and Emotional Learning" aria-label="Social and Emotional Learning"> Social and Emotional Learning
  • MORE > undefined > Social Studies" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Social Studies" aria-label="Social Studies"> Social Studies
  • MORE > undefined > Special Education" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Special Education" aria-label="Special Education"> Special Education
  • MORE > undefined > Summer School" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Summer School" aria-label="Summer School"> Summer School
  • BROWSE RESOURCES
  • BROWSE RESOURCES > Classroom Activities" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Classroom Activities" aria-label="Classroom Activities"> Classroom Activities
  • BROWSE RESOURCES > Customer Success Stories" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Customer Success Stories" aria-label="Customer Success Stories"> Customer Success Stories
  • BROWSE RESOURCES > Digital Samples" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Digital Samples" aria-label="Digital Samples"> Digital Samples
  • BROWSE RESOURCES > Events" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Events" aria-label="Events"> Events
  • BROWSE RESOURCES > Grants & Funding" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Grants & Funding" aria-label="Grants & Funding"> Grants & Funding
  • BROWSE RESOURCES > International" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="International" aria-label="International"> International
  • BROWSE RESOURCES > Research Library" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Research Library" aria-label="Research Library"> Research Library
  • BROWSE RESOURCES > Shaped - HMH Blog" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Shaped - HMH Blog" aria-label="Shaped - HMH Blog"> Shaped - HMH Blog
  • BROWSE RESOURCES > Webinars" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Webinars" aria-label="Webinars"> Webinars
  • CUSTOMER SUPPORT
  • CUSTOMER SUPPORT > Contact Sales" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Contact Sales" aria-label="Contact Sales"> Contact Sales
  • CUSTOMER SUPPORT > Customer Service & Technical Support Portal" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Customer Service & Technical Support Portal" aria-label="Customer Service & Technical Support Portal"> Customer Service & Technical Support Portal
  • CUSTOMER SUPPORT > Platform Login" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Platform Login" aria-label="Platform Login"> Platform Login
  • Learn about us
  • Learn about us > About" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="About" aria-label="About"> About
  • Learn about us > Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" aria-label="Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion"> Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Learn about us > Environmental, Social, and Governance" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Environmental, Social, and Governance" aria-label="Environmental, Social, and Governance"> Environmental, Social, and Governance
  • Learn about us > News Announcements" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="News Announcements" aria-label="News Announcements"> News Announcements
  • Learn about us > Our Legacy" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Our Legacy" aria-label="Our Legacy"> Our Legacy
  • Learn about us > Social Responsibility" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Social Responsibility" aria-label="Social Responsibility"> Social Responsibility
  • Learn about us > Supplier Diversity" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Supplier Diversity" aria-label="Supplier Diversity"> Supplier Diversity
  • Join Us > Careers" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Careers" aria-label="Careers"> Careers
  • Join Us > Educator Input Panel" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Educator Input Panel" aria-label="Educator Input Panel"> Educator Input Panel
  • Join Us > Suppliers and Vendors" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Suppliers and Vendors" aria-label="Suppliers and Vendors"> Suppliers and Vendors
  • Divisions > Center for Model Schools (formerly ICLE)" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Center for Model Schools (formerly ICLE)" aria-label="Center for Model Schools (formerly ICLE)"> Center for Model Schools (formerly ICLE)
  • Divisions > Heinemann" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="Heinemann" aria-label="Heinemann"> Heinemann
  • Divisions > NWEA" data-element-type="header nav submenu" title="NWEA" aria-label="NWEA"> NWEA
  • Platform Login

SOCIAL STUDIES

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Activities & Lessons

Virtual Museum Offerings to Keep Kids Learning Year-Round

Brenda Iasevoli

Museums across the country that were shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic have opened their virtual doors to the world. Kids can create their own art using a masterpiece as inspiration, tour Anne Frank's secret annex, spend some time with a skink, and so much more. The best part? The offerings we highlight are free, and they'll be available even after museums open once again. Here’s a sample of what's available from art, science, and history museums.

Free Virtual Museum Tours for Students

Virtual art museum tours.

virtual art museum tours for students free

Image courtesy of the artist. © LeUyen Pham.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has launched its first online exhibition, Art in Place: Social Distancing in the Studio , giving viewers an up-close look at the many ways creativity is sustaining picture-book artists around the world during the pandemic. As co-curator Mo Willems writes in the exhibit's introduction: "Science will get us out of this. Art will get us through this."

Stepping into the the studios of children's book illustrators LeUyen Pham (pictured above), Sandra Boynton, and Dan Santat, to name just a few, students are treated to a sneak peek of each illustrator's most recent work. Pham's illustrations reference the pandemic, showing what happens on an "unremarkable day" when "everyone who was outside...went inside." The 21 illustrators featured also share how they're coping in lockdown. Santat built a ukelele out of cardboard and plays it every day! "I wanted to create something beautiful during a stressful time," he says. "A symbol of sorts, to show that I used my time to create something truly precious, so that despite any hardships that were to happen, I could look fondly at the instrument and know my spirit wasn't defeated."

The Whitney Museum of Art’s Kids Art Challenge offers a series of art projects based on works in the museum’s collection. Students look closely at a single work by artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jacob Lawrence, Edward Hopper, Nick Cave, and many others. Then they use that work of art as inspiration to create their own. For instance, after learning about Nick Cave’s Soundsuit #20 and how the noises it makes are associated with protest and creating positive change, students are invited to make some noise of their own in support of a cause they care about using everyday household items.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art invites kids to explore its vast collection by clicking objects on a huge illustrated map . Each click produces a photo of the object, fun facts, background information, and a couple ways to engage with the art. Most also include a video of kids’ own art creations based on the object. For example, kids who click on the illustration of Edgar Degas’ “The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer” see a photo of the sculpture along with this fun fact: “When the original version of this sculpture was first displayed, it wore a wig made of horsehair.” Students can read about the history of the sculpture, do a hands-on project based on it, and even watch a video animation kids created, “The Dance Class,” that was inspired by the sculpture.

Virtual Science Museum Tours

virtual art museum tours for students free

Image courtesy of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County

At the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County , kids can get a close encounter of the skink kind . Animal care team member Leslie Gordon introduces young viewers to the museum’s "favorite lizard," Tallulah (Lulu to her friends). From its tiny teeth to its scaly tail, Lulu’s full of surprises that kids discover as Gordon alternates between show-and-tell and invitations to viewers to play along with her. Explore more of Los Angeles’s wildlife with these “ Walk on the Wild Side ” videos.

The Museum of Science, Boston brings its exhibits and experts to kids everywhere with a new digital experience called MOS at Home . Virtual exhibits allow kids to explore the science behind Pixar films , watch leafcutter ants in action , and so much more. Live presentations with question-and-answer sessions give young audiences the inside scoop on topics including dinosaurs, space, reptiles, lightning, and even COVID-19.

Kids can get a look inside NASA’s Glenn Research Center and go on virtual tours of a supersonic wind tunnel, zero-g, a ballistics impact lab—and that's just for starters. Students simply have to click on the tour of their choice and tap the icons to view videos, images, and see testing in action.

Virtual History Museum Tours

virtual art museum tours for students free

In the online exhibits offered by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center , students can learn about the life of an enslaved person named Rachel Young; reflect on the trauma experienced by the men, women, and children held in a slave pen as they waited to be sold off at auction; and read the near-daily letters Cincinnati native Charles Lewis wrote to his wife while serving in a segregated unit of the Army Air Corps, in 1943. The museum also offers free downloadable lessons on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, and other related topics for students in Grades K–12.

On the National Women’s History Museum website, visitors can take virtual tours of exhibits highlighting the women who have shaped American history. Students can meet African-American women of the civil rights movement; champions of the right to vote as well as early Olympic champions; NASA’s so-called “human computers"—including mathematician Katherine Johnson—who were instrumental in landing a man on the moon and executing successful spaceflights in general; and many others. The museum also offers free teaching resources , including virtual read-alouds of books like Sofia Valdez, Future Prez , plus minute-long videos introducing trailblazers, like the first Native American to become a prima ballerina, Maria Tallchief, and Edith Clarke, the first woman to earn a degree in electrical engineering.

The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam lets virtual visitors take a look around the Secret Annex , where Anne Frank wrote her diary in hiding for more than two years during World War II. Students can also explore the Frank family hiding place in virtual reality using the free ‘Anne Frank House VR’ app. And a new 15-episode video series introduces Anne Frank to young people around the world. The series is in Dutch, with subtitles in German, English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

More Virtual Field Trips for Kids

Have your students taken any free online museum tours? We'd love to hear about their experiences! Share them with us on Twitter ( @LeadAndLearn ) or email us at [email protected].

HMH Field Trips , powered by Google Expeditions, offers 360-degree virtual excursions that allow students to travel through history, explore the world, and witness scientific wonders without ever leaving the classroom. Download a free HMH Field Trips Teacher Guide Sampler .

  • Social Studies
  • Remote Teaching
  • Grades PreK-K
  • Grades 9-12

Related Reading

WF1529100 Shaped 2022 Blog Post Reading Intervention Strategies for Struggling Readers Hero

Reading Intervention Strategies for Struggling Readers

Dr. Amy Endo Education Research Director, Supplemental & Intervention Language & Literacy

March 5, 2024

Easter Classroom Activities hero

9 Fun Easter Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students

Alicia Ivory Shaped Editor

March 4, 2024

Three educators talking hero WF1807234

NGSS and the Dimension of Crosscutting Concepts: Setting the Stage for Student Sense-Making in Science

Peter McLaren Executive Director of Next Gen Education

February 29, 2024

PureWow logo

12 Virtual Museum Tours for Kids You Can Do Right This Second

Author image: purewow author

Being stuck at home can be frustrating, but it’s even more so if you have young kids running around looking for something to do. Luckily, in this digital era many museums have put their collections online or created virtual tours that can help alleviate that boredom. Google Arts & Culture (which also has an app) has digitized the collections of numerous big museums, from the Van Gogh Museum to New York’s MOMA. Not all of them will be totally appealing to kids, but some museums are ready with online entertainment for all ages. Whether you need a trip to the aquarium or want to check out some mummies, here are some virtual museum tours your kids will enjoy. (Plus, all of these visits can lead to further reading or Googling, which means even less boredom.)

15 Great Indoor Games for Kids

virtual musuem tours for kids the lourve

1. The Louvre

Best for: Kids obsessed with ancient Egypt or medieval architecture

The Louvre may be closed, but you can still access its many treasures online. The French museum’s virtual tour takes you to some of its galleries, including into the basement ruins of the building’s original moat, which dates back to 1190. Don’t miss the Egyptian antiquities, where you can learn more about the pharaonic period. While the entire museum isn’t available as a tour, much of the collection is available as images on their website, so you and the kids can search for the most memorable works, including the Mona Lisa .

virtual musuem tours for kids the british museum

2. The British Museum

Best for: Kids ready to explore a more interactive experience

Ever wanted to see the Rosetta Stone or a real-life mummy? Look no further than the British Museum, which you’d usually have to seek out during a vacation in London. The tour is interactive, with artifacts searchable by era, region or type, and you can discover all sorts of interesting objects, including a bank check from Barclays and a papyrus poem from ancient Egypt.

virtual musuem tours for kids the met

3. The Metropolitan Museum Of Art

Best for: Future time travelers

New York’s Met Museum has an entire section of its website dedicated to young ones called MetKids. The online-only experience features a time machine, where you can search by time period, idea or location to uncover objects and artwork from the museum’s rooms. The “Big Ideas” search tool allows kids to look into topics like inventions, fashion and battles, and see all the relevant artifacts—a cool way to learn without it really seeming like you’re learning. There are also videos, as well as an interactive map of the museum that allows you to check out various exhibitions around the building.

virtual musuem tours for kids van gogh

4. Van Gogh Museum

Anyone who’s been to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam knows how amazing it is to view all of the artist’s works in one place. Since you can’t actually jet off to Amsterdam, take your kids on a virtual journey through the collection via Google Arts & Culture. Don’t miss Almond Blossom, one of Van Gogh’s most delightful oil paintings, which is calm and transportive. It’s also a good way to discuss the history and culture of other countries, as Van Gogh painted in Japan and has a few relevant pieces in the collection.

virtual musuem tours for kids bostons childrens museum

5. Boston Children’s Museum

Best for: Mimicking the real thing

A children’s museum would be the best place to take the kids when they’re off from school, but a virtual experience will have to do for now. The Boston Children’s Museum welcomes online visitors into its exhibits (no lines!) and you can supplement the images with your own at-home activities and games.

virtual musuem tours for kids natural museum of natural history

6. Smithsonian National Museum Of Natural History

Best for: An all-encompassing educational experience

Take yourself on a tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, whether it’s through the temporary exhibitions or the permanent collection. Along the way, check out dinosaur skeletons, animals from around the globe and even past exhibits that are no longer on display in reality. It’s a great way to keep your kids learning about the world around them even when they can’t be in school, and there are plenty of follow-up activities or readings you can do after the tour. While you’re there, stop by the Smithsonian Castle and the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, both of which have adjoining virtual tours.

virtual musuem tours for kids national gallery of art

7. The National Gallery Of Art

Best for: Taking advantage of online-only exhibits

Another Smithsonian museum, the National Gallery of Art has thousands of items and paintings online via Google. You can explore the current exhibition Fashioning a Nation to learn about American fashions from 1740 to 1895, or search through the various periods, from baroque to modern art. The National Gallery is home to some very important works, so look for Vermeer’s Woman Holding a Balance , Cassatt’s Little Girl in a Blue Armchair and Gauguin’s Words of the Devil . It’ll make you want to visit the real thing, so look into a trip to D.C. when this is all over.

virtual musuem tours for kids uffizi

8. Uffizi Gallery

Best for: Kids or teens studying European history

Florence’s Uffizi Gallery can be explored on Google Arts & Culture, and there’s a lot of art to see. Most of the works are from the Renaissance (be prepared to explain all the naked ladies) and there’s an emphasis on paintings by Italian artists. It’s not just about the paintings—the collection tells you a lot about Italian history and the country’s past rulers, which can be really helpful if you have a teenager studying European history this year.

virtual musuem tours for kids easter island

9. Easter Island

Best for: Getting some “fresh air”

Take things outside to Easter Island, where Google has created a virtual tour of the island’s famed statues. There’s also a short video of the island and its massive ancient creations, which could make for a good opportunity to discuss world geography with your kids.

what is tamari monterey bay aquarium

10. Monterey Bay Aquarium

Best for: Aquatic exploration with a side of meditation

Who doesn’t want to look at peaceful videos of undersea life when they need a break from reality? The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s live web cams will delight both you and your young ones, especially the adorable penguin cam. To find something soothing, watch the hypnotizing moon jelly cam or the kelp forest cam, which showcases leopard sharks moving among the kelp. When the live cams aren’t running (they operate during specific hours), there are pre-recorded videos to fill in.

virtual musuem tours for kids roald dahl museum

11. Roald Dahl Museum And Story Centre

Best for: Kids who devoured James and the Giant Peach

Start your day off with a virtual tour of the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, which is located outside London, before having a marathon day of reading The Witches or The BFG to your kids. You can search through the exhibits and even learn more about the picturesque countryside outside the museum in Buckinghamshire. While it can be easy to feel like you’re missing out by only seeing something online, this museum is a great opportunity to delve into the fantastical world of an author who can really help with escapism right now.

Tour the Roald Dahl Museum

virtual musuem tours for kids nasa

12. Nasa Glenn Research Center

Best for: Future space cadets

Take a virtual tour of the NASA Glenn Research Center or the Space Telescope Operations Control Center, which houses the Hubble Telescope. At NASA Glenn, delve into the ballistics impact lab or the supersonic wind tunnel, which could, of course, lead to a discussion about physics that you might not be that equipped to have. Don’t worry, NASA has a lot of stuff online, making it a great resource during this time at home.

How to Work from Home With Kids, According to the ‘Toddler Whisperer’

purewow author

Free virtual museum tours: Experience arts, culture, history, and science

Museums offer unique educational experiences, and now, thanks to the internet, they’re more accessible than ever before. Seeing art or fossils digitally is undoubtedly a different experience then seeing them in real life, but virtual museum tours open up a world of wonder that you ordinarily might need a passport or long flight to see. You can now tour a museum on your schedule, seeing exactly what sparks your interest. It’s also a good idea to check for any virtual events your favorite museum offers to find lectures, behind-the-scenes opportunities, and to hear inspiring stories about the people, places, and things that have made this world what it is.

Virtual art museum tours

Learning about art is essential for understanding history and culture, fostering empathy and critical thinking . Art aficionados can view the works of well-known masters such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Da Vinci as well as modern and contemporary creators like Basquiat and Picasso — all through virtual museum tours.

  • The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City is a world-class museum, and has more than 90,000 works of modern and contemporary art, film, and sculpture available to view and experience on their website. Check out the Virtual Views page for specific events, including guide virtual experiences from museum curators and artists. Currently, MOMA offers a Virtual View of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, allowing you to explore the masterpiece in 3D and listen to a theatrical reading of letters between Van Gogh and his brother Theo.
  • The Louvre Museum in Paris also offers online tours. Most notably, they offer a virtual reality (VR) experience of the Mona Lisa . The experience comes in the form of a free, downloadable app, and includes an immersive experience that details the latest research on Leonardo da Vinci.
  • You can explore the Rijksmusem in Amsterdam using an app that includes multimedia experiences. The app offers set routes through which to explore the museum, and also allows you to customize your own exploration. The up-close views of Dutch masters such as Vermeer and Rembrandt are a must-see.
  • Tour the Brant Foundation Art Study Center’s Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition in a 360 VR exploration of this prolific artist’s unique work.
  • Go room by room in the Museu Picasso in Barcelona with their free virtual tour, created by the museum’s head of security. The in-depth and personal look at Picasso’s artwork details his growth as an artist and his work through the years.

Virtual natural history museum tours

Natural history isn’t just about dinosaurs (though, obviously, those exhibits are dino-mite). When you take a virtual tour of a natural history museum, you’ll also likely learn about human history, animals, oceans, geology, and much more. Museums in your area may also have exhibits dedicated to the natural environment and history specific to where you live.

  • The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. offers virtual tours of current and past exhibits, including narrated tours to guide your learning along the way. Explore their expansive collection of fossils or the ocean hall. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture is also a must-see, detailing the civil rights movement, hip hop and music, and literature.
  • The Natural History Museum in London offers a variety of unique virtual tours, from a guided exploration of their Hintze Hall exhibit (with Sir David Attenborough narrating!) to 3D modelling fossils found by Charles Darwin.
  • The American Museum of Natural History offers a free app to download, allowing you to explore the museum and learn about it’s contents with videos, quizzes, and augmented reality (AR). They even have prerecorded virtual field trips for kids to experience and learn about animals and human life throughout history.
  • The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles offers virtual tours of their award-winning Dinosaur Hall in English, Spanish, Korean, and Mandarin.

Virtual science museum tours

Technology has come a long way. From advancements in medicine to flight to predictions for the future, exploring how science has moved our world forward is important and inspiring — especially for young minds. Many science museums include fun experiments that you can try at home to take your learning even farther. It’s time to get inspired.

  • With the online tours offered by the Museum of Flight , you can explore 360-degree tours and panoramas, experiencing the interior of Air Force One and a NASA space shuttle trainer.
  • The Smithsonian National Space and Air Museum includes a vast video library, live events, and explores the science in fictional stories in their Science Fiction online exhibit, like Star Trek and Star Wars.
  • And the National Museum of Computing offers a virtual museum tour to explore the world’s largest collection of working historic computers.

Other virtual museum tours and experiences

The Google Arts & Culture project takes virtual museum tours a step farther. Partnering with over 2,500 museums and galleries, Google provides a window into some of the most popular museums on the planet using their Google Maps functionality (which allow you to click through a panoramic view). The project also brings you unique virtual experiences. You can color your own version of famous works of art, take art selfies, play games , and more. Finally, Google offers the Street Art project, exploring graffiti and street art all over the world.

Many museums also have YouTube channels, like the Broad Museum , which includes interviews, videos of exhibits, and DIY art projects. Others have Pinterest boards to collect pieces that inspire you, like the Fashion and Textile Museum . Social media is a great way to experience the arts from your mobile device, so be sure to check if your favorite museum has a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even a TikTok account .

The benefits of virtual tours

While a virtual visit can’t duplicate the experience of seeing a work of art up close and in 3D detail, or take the place of standing before a looming skeleton of a T-Rex, it can provide in-depth, behind-the-scenes, and interactive views that you can’t get in person. Virtual visits can also provide benefits for visitors who normally have difficulties navigating popular attractions, making these top spots more accessible to everyone.

Explore other virtual experiences:

  • National parks
  • Zoos and wildlife parks

With CenturyLink internet, you can stay connected to the big world out there.

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

Kirsten Queen

Tech & Learning

Best Virtual Field Trips

A s school budgets continue to shrink and classroom time is at a premium, virtual field trips have become a great opportunity for educators to help students experience places around the globe without getting on a bus, or even leaving their classroom.

Being able to see and experience a significant cultural institution, historic site, or natural landscape with the help of immersive technology, such as virtual or augmented reality, can help make lessons more engaging and exciting.

Here are the best virtual field trips for education, organized by art museums, history museums, civics-related sites, aquariums and nature sites, STEM-related experiences, and more!

Virtual Art Museum Tours

- Benaki Museum, Greece Showcasing the development of Greek culture, including more than 120,000 artworks from the Paleolithic Era to modern day. 

- British Museum, London Explore more than 4,000 years of art and historical objects from around the world.

- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C Features more than 40,000 American works of art, including paintings, works on paper, and etchings. 

- Musee d’Orsay, Paris Displays art created between 1848 and 1914, including works by van Gogh, Renoir, Manet, Monet, and Degas

- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea The representative museum of modern Korean visual art, plus architecture, design and crafts.

- Pergamon, Berlin, Germany Features sculpture, artifacts, and other items from ancient Greece. 

- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands Home to the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh in the world, including more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 750 of the artist's letters.

- Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy A dynastic collection of ancient sculpture, artwork, and artifacts, established by the renowned Medici family.

- MASP, Sao Paolo, Brazil Brazil's first modern museum, displaying 8,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, objects, photographs, and costumes from a range of periods, encompassing Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. 

- National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City, Mexico Devoted to the archaeology and history of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic civilizations.

- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston A comprehensive collection that ranges from prehistoric times to modern day, featuring world-renowned paintings by Rembrandt, Monet, Gauguin, and Cassatt, plus mummies, sculpture, ceramics, and masterpieces of African and Oceanic art.

- The Frick Collection, New York Distinguished Old Master paintings and outstanding examples of European sculpture and decorative arts.

- J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Works of art dating from the eighth through the twenty-first century, including European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European, Asian, and American photographs.

- The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois Thousands of artworks—from world-renowned icons (Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Hopper) to lesser-known gems from every corner of the globe—as well as books, writings, reference materials, and other resources.

- The Metropolitan Museum of Art A colossal collection of art, cultural objects, and historical artifacts from over 5,000 years of human history. 

- The Louvre Museum Packed with iconic works of art, from da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and other renowned artists.

Virtual History Museum Tours

- National Museum of the United States Air Force The oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world features dozens of vintage aircraft and hundreds of historical objects. 

- Smithsonian Museum of Natural History One of the largest repositories of natural history on the planet, featuring more than 145 million artifacts and specimens. 

- National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Home to an internationally renowned collection of Western art and artifacts, including paintings, sculpture, photographs, and historical objects. 

- The Prague Castle, Czechoslovakia Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, consisting of palaces and ecclesiastical buildings of various architectural styles, from the remains of Romanesque-style buildings from the 10th century through Gothic modifications of the 14th century. 

- The Colosseum, Rome One of the most iconic structures in world history.

- Machu Picchu, Peru Explore the 15th-century mountaintop citadel built by the Inca. 

- The Great Wall of China One of the wonders of the world, stretching more than 3,000 miles across multiple provinces of China

- The National WWII Museum’s Manhattan Project virtual field trip A cross-country virtual expedition to discover the science, sites, and stories involved with the creation of the atomic bomb.

- Discovering Ancient Egypt In addition to stories of the great kings and queens, learn about the ancient Egyptian gods and mummification, pyramids, and temples through interactive maps, photos, drawings, and paintings. 

- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock Virtual Tour  Through personal stories, interactive media, and pop culture artifacts, explore seven decades of history, from the dawn of the nuclear age to the significant policy questions of today.

- U.S. Capitol Virtual Tour  Video tours of historic rooms and spaces, some of which are not open to the public, research resources, and teaching materials.

Civics Virtual Field Trips

- Virtual Field Trip to the Census Bureau A behind-the-scenes introduction to the U.S. Census Bureau, featuring exclusive interviews with subject matter experts.

- National Constitution Center Virtual Tour A virtual interactive multimedia tour of the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

- Virtual field trip to Ellis Island Hear first-hand stories told by those who came through Ellis Island, see historical photographs and films, and read fascinating facts.

- The City of U.S. Virtual Field Trip A virtual field trip of Washington, D.C., hosted by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.

- I Do Solemnly Swear: The U.S. Presidential Inauguration Featuring questions submitted by students and answered by experts, this virtual field trip travels to our nation's capital to explore the Presidential Inauguration, past and present.

Aquariums & Nature Parks Virtual Field Trips 

- National Aquarium Home to 20,000 animals covering 800 species, from the depths of the ocean to the canopy of the rain forest. 

- Georgia Aquarium Live webcam feeds for aquatic creatures, such as beluga whales, penguins, alligators, sea otters, and even underwater puffins.

- San Diego Zoo Live looks at koala, baboons, apes, tigers, platypuses, penguins, and more. 

- Five U.S. National Parks Explore Kenai Fjords in Alaska, volcanoes in Hawai'i, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Bryce Canyon in Utah, and Dry Tortugas in Florida.

- Yellowstone National Park (live cams) Nine webcams—one live-streaming and eight static—provide views of around the North Entrance and Mammoth Hot Springs, Mount Washburn, the West Entrance, and the Upper Geyser Basin.

- Mystic Aquarium One of three U.S. facilities holding Steller sea lions, and it has the only beluga whales in New England. 

- Monterey Bay Aquarium (live cams) Ten live cams, including sharks, sea otters, jellyfish, and penguins.

- Son Doong Cave  The world's largest natural cave, located in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park in Vietnam.

- PORTS (California Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students)  K-12 students can connect with live interpretive staff and learn academic content standards within the context of California’s dynamic State Park System. 

STEM Virtual Field Trips

- NASA at Home Virtual tours and apps from NASA, including tours of the Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, International Space Station, and Hubble Space Telescope Mission Operations Center, plus excursions to Mars and the Moon.

- California Science Center Build your own virtual field trip for grades K-5 with NGSS-aligned content, in both English and Spanish.

- Carnegie Science Center Exhibit Explorations Students in grades 3-12 explore the science behind Carnegie Science Center's most popular exhibits, with an interactive focus on engineering/ robotics, animals, space/astronomy and the human body.

- Stanley Black & Decker Makerspace Students can see and experience first-hand how math, science, technology, creativity, and teamwork can lead to technological advancements.

- Slime in Space Take students 250 miles above Earth to the International Space Station to learn along with astronauts how slime reacts to microgravity compared to how water reacts. 

- Clark Planetarium Virtual Skywatch Free for schools, virtual versions of the live “Skywatch” planetarium dome presentations that directly correlate to 6th grade and 4th grade SEEd astronomy standards. 

- Alaska Volcano Observatory Alaska's active volcanoes offer superb opportunities for basic scientific investigations of volcanic processes.

- The Nature Conservancy’s Nature Lab virtual field trips Designed for grades 5-8 but customizable for all ages, each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide, and student activities.

- Great Lakes Now Virtual Field Trip  Learn more about the importance of coastal wetlands, the danger of algal blooms, and a deep dive into lake sturgeon. Designed for 6-8th grade.

- Access Mars Explore the real surface of Mars, as recorded by NASA's Curiosity rover.

- Easter Island The story of a team of archaeologists and a 75-person crew who sought to unravel how the hundreds of giant stone statues that dominate the island's coast were moved and erected.

- FarmFresh360 Learn about Canadian food and farming in 360º.

- Virtual Egg Farm Field Trips  Visit modern egg farms across the United States.

- Online agriculture education curriculum The American Royal Field Trip features a virtual tour of production agriculture; innovation and technology; and the food system. Lesson plans, activities, and short quizzes are also provided.

Miscellaneous Virtual Field Trips

- American Writers Museum new live Virtual Field Trips feature a guided exploration of AWM’s permanent exhibits or two online exhibits; staff-led interactive gameplay and pop quizzes about major literary works; and Writer Wednesdays, offering students a weekly opportunity to connect with a published author about the craft of writing.

- Kahn Academy Imagineering in a Box Go behind the scenes with Disney Imagineers and complete project-based exercises to design a theme park.

- Google Arts & Culture  Explore galleries, museums, and more.

Exploring Machu Picchu in Peru, via You Visit

  • Articles   >

The Moscow Metro Museum of Art: 10 Must-See Stations

There are few times one can claim having been on the subway all afternoon and loving it, but the Moscow Metro provides just that opportunity.  While many cities boast famous public transport systems—New York’s subway, London’s underground, San Salvador’s chicken buses—few warrant hours of exploration.  Moscow is different: Take one ride on the Metro, and you’ll find out that this network of railways can be so much more than point A to B drudgery.

The Metro began operating in 1935 with just thirteen stations, covering less than seven miles, but it has since grown into the world’s third busiest transit system ( Tokyo is first ), spanning about 200 miles and offering over 180 stops along the way.  The construction of the Metro began under Joseph Stalin’s command, and being one of the USSR’s most ambitious building projects, the iron-fisted leader instructed designers to create a place full of svet (radiance) and svetloe budushchee (a radiant future), a palace for the people and a tribute to the Mother nation.

Consequently, the Metro is among the most memorable attractions in Moscow.  The stations provide a unique collection of public art, comparable to anything the city’s galleries have to offer and providing a sense of the Soviet era, which is absent from the State National History Museum.  Even better, touring the Metro delivers palpable, experiential moments, which many of us don’t get standing in front of painting or a case of coins.

Though tours are available , discovering the Moscow Metro on your own provides a much more comprehensive, truer experience, something much less sterile than following a guide.  What better place is there to see the “real” Moscow than on mass transit: A few hours will expose you to characters and caricatures you’ll be hard-pressed to find dining near the Bolshoi Theater.  You become part of the attraction, hear it in the screech of the train, feel it as hurried commuters brush by: The Metro sucks you beneath the city and churns you into the mix.

With the recommendations of our born-and-bred Muscovite students, my wife Emma and I have just taken a self-guided tour of what some locals consider the top ten stations of the Moscow Metro. What most satisfied me about our Metro tour was the sense of adventure .  I loved following our route on the maps of the wagon walls as we circled the city, plotting out the course to the subsequent stops; having the weird sensation of being underground for nearly four hours; and discovering the next cavern of treasures, playing Indiana Jones for the afternoon, piecing together fragments of Russia’s mysterious history.  It’s the ultimate interactive museum.

Top Ten Stations (In order of appearance)

Kievskaya station.

virtual art museum tours for students free

Kievskaya Station went public in March of 1937, the rails between it and Park Kultury Station being the first to cross the Moscow River.  Kievskaya is full of mosaics depicting aristocratic scenes of Russian life, with great cameo appearances by Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin.  Each work has a Cyrillic title/explanation etched in the marble beneath it; however, if your Russian is rusty, you can just appreciate seeing familiar revolutionary dates like 1905 ( the Russian Revolution ) and 1917 ( the October Revolution ).

Mayakovskaya Station

Mayakovskaya Station ranks in my top three most notable Metro stations. Mayakovskaya just feels right, done Art Deco but no sense of gaudiness or pretention.  The arches are adorned with rounded chrome piping and create feeling of being in a jukebox, but the roof’s expansive mosaics of the sky are the real showstopper.  Subjects cleverly range from looking up at a high jumper, workers atop a building, spires of Orthodox cathedrals, to nimble aircraft humming by, a fleet of prop planes spelling out CCCP in the bluest of skies.

Novoslobodskaya Station

virtual art museum tours for students free

Novoslobodskaya is the Metro’s unique stained glass station.  Each column has its own distinctive panels of colorful glass, most of them with a floral theme, some of them capturing the odd sailor, musician, artist, gardener, or stenographer in action.  The glass is framed in Art Deco metalwork, and there is the lovely aspect of discovering panels in the less frequented haunches of the hall (on the trackside, between the incoming staircases).  Novosblod is, I’ve been told, the favorite amongst out-of-town visitors.

Komsomolskaya Station

Komsomolskaya Station is one of palatial grandeur.  It seems both magnificent and obligatory, like the presidential palace of a colonial city.  The yellow ceiling has leafy, white concrete garland and a series of golden military mosaics accenting the tile mosaics of glorified Russian life.  Switching lines here, the hallway has an Alice-in-Wonderland feel, impossibly long with decorative tile walls, culminating in a very old station left in a remarkable state of disrepair, offering a really tangible glimpse behind the palace walls.

Dostoevskaya Station

virtual art museum tours for students free

Dostoevskaya is a tribute to the late, great hero of Russian literature .  The station at first glance seems bare and unimpressive, a stark marble platform without a whiff of reassembled chips of tile.  However, two columns have eerie stone inlay collages of scenes from Dostoevsky’s work, including The Idiot , The Brothers Karamazov , and Crime and Punishment.   Then, standing at the center of the platform, the marble creates a kaleidoscope of reflections.  At the entrance, there is a large, inlay portrait of the author.

Chkalovskaya Station

Chkalovskaya does space Art Deco style (yet again).  Chrome borders all.  Passageways with curvy overhangs create the illusion of walking through the belly of a chic, new-age spacecraft.  There are two (kos)mosaics, one at each end, with planetary subjects.  Transferring here brings you above ground, where some rather elaborate metalwork is on display.  By name similarity only, I’d expected Komsolskaya Station to deliver some kosmonaut décor; instead, it was Chkalovskaya that took us up to the space station.

Elektrozavodskaya Station

virtual art museum tours for students free

Elektrozavodskaya is full of marble reliefs of workers, men and women, laboring through the different stages of industry.  The superhuman figures are round with muscles, Hollywood fit, and seemingly undeterred by each Herculean task they respectively perform.  The station is chocked with brass, from hammer and sickle light fixtures to beautiful, angular framework up the innards of the columns.  The station’s art pieces are less clever or extravagant than others, but identifying the different stages of industry is entertaining.

Baumanskaya Statio

Baumanskaya Station is the only stop that wasn’t suggested by the students.  Pulling in, the network of statues was just too enticing: Out of half-circle depressions in the platform’s columns, the USSR’s proud and powerful labor force again flaunts its success.  Pilots, blacksmiths, politicians, and artists have all congregated, posing amongst more Art Deco framing.  At the far end, a massive Soviet flag dons the face of Lenin and banners for ’05, ’17, and ‘45.  Standing in front of the flag, you can play with the echoing roof.

Ploshchad Revolutsii Station

virtual art museum tours for students free

Novokuznetskaya Station

Novokuznetskaya Station finishes off this tour, more or less, where it started: beautiful mosaics.  This station recalls the skyward-facing pieces from Mayakovskaya (Station #2), only with a little larger pictures in a more cramped, very trafficked area.  Due to a line of street lamps in the center of the platform, it has the atmosphere of a bustling market.  The more inventive sky scenes include a man on a ladder, women picking fruit, and a tank-dozer being craned in.  The station’s also has a handsome black-and-white stone mural.

Here is a map and a brief description of our route:

Start at (1)Kievskaya on the “ring line” (look for the squares at the bottom of the platform signs to help you navigate—the ring line is #5, brown line) and go north to Belorusskaya, make a quick switch to the Dark Green/#2 line, and go south one stop to (2)Mayakovskaya.  Backtrack to the ring line—Brown/#5—and continue north, getting off at (3)Novosblodskaya and (4)Komsolskaya.  At Komsolskaya Station, transfer to the Red/#1 line, go south for two stops to Chistye Prudy, and get on the Light Green/#10 line going north.  Take a look at (5)Dostoevskaya Station on the northern segment of Light Green/#10 line then change directions and head south to (6)Chkalovskaya, which offers a transfer to the Dark Blue/#3 line, going west, away from the city center.  Have a look (7)Elektroskaya Station before backtracking into the center of Moscow, stopping off at (8)Baumskaya, getting off the Dark Blue/#3 line at (9)Ploschad Revolyutsii.  Change to the Dark Green/#2 line and go south one stop to see (10)Novokuznetskaya Station.

Check out our new Moscow Indie Travel Guide , book a flight to Moscow and read 10 Bars with Views Worth Blowing the Budget For

Jonathon Engels, formerly a patron saint of misadventure, has been stumbling his way across cultural borders since 2005 and is currently volunteering in the mountains outside of Antigua, Guatemala.  For more of his work, visit his website and blog .

virtual art museum tours for students free

Photo credits:   SergeyRod , all others courtesy of the author and may not be used without permission

Expedia Rewards is now One Key™

Electrostal history and art museum tours.

  • Things to do

I only need accommodations for part of my trip

Visit Electrostal History and Art Museum

Elektrostal , home to Electrostal History and Art Museum, has so much going for it. Once you've paid the admission charge and fully explored this collection of precious artworks, see what else the region has to offer. Noginsk Museum and Exhibition Center will also delight the avid sightseers in your group.

Popular places to visit

  • Noginsk Museum and Exhibition Center

You can spend an afternoon studying the exhibits at Noginsk Museum and Exhibition Center during your travels in Noginsk. Take in the museums while you're in the area.

Shirokov House

You can spend time browsing the exhibits at Shirokov House during your trip to Pavlovskiy Posad. Take in the museums while you're in the area.

  • Pavlovsky Posad Museum of Art and History

You can spend time studying the exhibits at Pavlovsky Posad Museum of Art and History in Pavlovskiy Posad. Take in the museums while you're in the area.

  • History of Russian Scarfs and Shawls Museum

You can enjoy some culture when you stop by History of Russian Scarfs and Shawls Museum in Pavlovskiy Posad. Take in the museums while you're in the area.

  • Central Museum of the Air Forces at Monino

You can enjoy some culture when you stop by Central Museum of the Air Forces at Monino in Monino. Discover the area's theater scene and churches.

  • Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

Enjoy the collegiate vibe at Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center during your visit to Star City. Make time to visit the temples and monuments while you're in the area.

Best Lodging Options Near Electrostal History and Art Museum

Check availability on hotels close to electrostal history and art museum.

  • Vacations and getaways similar to Electrostal History and Art Museum
  • Hotels near popular Elektrostal Attractions
  • Expedia's Latest Trends
  • Peter the Great Military Academy
  • Pekhorka Park
  • Balashikha Arena
  • Drama Theatre BOOM
  • Balashikha Museum of History and Local Lore
  • Bykovo Manor
  • Ramenskii History and Art Museum
  • Malenky Puppet Theater
  • Saturn Stadium
  • Fairy Tale Children's Model Puppet Theater
  • Hotels near The Kremlin in Izmailovo
  • Hotels near Kolomenskoye Historical and Architectural Museum and Reserve
  • Hotels near Mega Belaya Dacha
  • Hotels near Izmaylovsky Park
  • Hotels near RZD Arena
  • Hotels near Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
  • Hotels near Stalin's Bunker Museum
  • Hotels near Komsomolskaya Square
  • Hotels near Garden Ring
  • Hotels near Taganka Theatre
  • Hotels near Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh
  • Hotels near Theater of Russian Drama
  • Hotels near Commonwealth of Actors of Taganka Theater
  • Hotels near Dream Island
  • Hotels near Ugresha Monastery
  • Hotels near Catherine's Palace
  • Hotels near Retro Auto Museum
  • Hotels near Peter the Great Military Academy

Additional information about Expedia Group

IMAGES

  1. 50 Free Virtual Museum Tours For Homeschooling

    virtual art museum tours for students free

  2. 50+ Amazing Free Virtual Museum Gallery Tours You Can Take At Home

    virtual art museum tours for students free

  3. Virtual Museum Tour Using Google Slides

    virtual art museum tours for students free

  4. Virtual Museum Tours for Kids: The BEST ONES

    virtual art museum tours for students free

  5. Virtual Art Museum Field Trip Assignment [Free Download]

    virtual art museum tours for students free

  6. Virtual Museum Template Using Google Slides Presentation. Have your

    virtual art museum tours for students free

VIDEO

  1. Art Museum Family Fun in Singapore!

COMMENTS

  1. 18 Free Online Museum Tours To Enjoy Without Leaving Your Couch

    15. MoMA, U.S.A. The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, MoMA. New York's leading institution on modern and contemporary art is also offering free online museum tours and resources. There is a comprehensive virtual tour of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) available on Google Arts and Culture.

  2. Best free virtual tours for art students

    The Sand Museum is an open air museum showing sand sculptures, strategically located at the Tottori Sand Dunes. Another two museums to check out while in Japan — but really from your own home — are Adachi Museum of Art and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum. From MoMA to the Rijksmuseum, a roundup of our favourite free virtual tours of art museums ...

  3. Best Art Museum Virtual Field Trips for Kids & Families

    5. The Louvre. One of our favorite art museum virtual field trips—and the world's large museum—is the Louvre with options for some of their best exhibition rooms and galleries. Explore rare Egyptian artifacts, iconic paintings, the beautiful structure of the building, and much more through their 360-degree viewing feature.

  4. The 75 Best Virtual Museum Tours

    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.

  5. Virtual Museum Tours for Students

    The Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg, Russia, is one of the most illustrious museums on the planet. Its collection includes over 60,000 works of art by many of the world's greatest artists, such as Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and da Vinci. The online tour is extensive, which makes this online visit suitable for older students.

  6. 31 free 360 virtual tour of the best art museums in the world

    The museum of art of Sao Paulo - Brazil. The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is a private, nonprofit museum founded by Brazilian businessman Assis Chateaubriand, in 1947, as Brazil's first modern museum. The online art exhibits, created in collaboration with Google Art and Culture, is a tribute to Italian, French, and Brazilian painters most of ...

  7. 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.

  8. Virtual Field Trips

    live experiences with trained educators. Read more below, or reach out to us at 803-343-2163 or [email protected]. Title 1 Schools. The Art for All program is designed to offer Title I schools the opportunity to enjoy a field trip to the Columbia Museum of Art free of charge, whether in-person or virtually.

  9. Visit Us Virtually

    From personal reflections to scholarly discoveries, our various written offerings will keep you learning, thinking, and growing. Watch and Listen. Enjoy virtual visits to the galleries, go behind the scenes, and engage with art from anywhere with our virtual events, videos, and themed audio tours. Public Programs K-12 Educator Resources Teen ...

  10. 12 Museums From Around the World You Can Visit Virtually

    These 12 Famous Museums Offer Virtual Tours You Can Take on Your Couch ... This famous American art museum features two online ... 24 Fun Things to Do in Los Angeles That Are Totally Free. 20 Best ...

  11. Free Virtual Museum Tours, Livestream Concerts, and Classes

    Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. In addition to online exhibit tours, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan is giving free public access to more than 200 art books from its digital archives (until the museum reopens). Available titles focus on a range of renowned artists from late 19th-/early 20th-century abstract painter Wassily Kandinsky to contemporary conceptual artist Jenny Holzer.

  12. The World's First Entirely Virtual Art Museum Is Open for Visitors

    Launched just last week, the Virtual Online Museum of Art (VOMA) is the world's first museum of its kind. More than just an online gallery, VOMA is 100 percent virtual, from the paintings and ...

  13. 10 of the world's best virtual museum and art gallery tours

    J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. With more than 6,000 years worth of creative treasures, the Getty is one of the best places for art on the west coast of the US. Go from neolithic clay figures to ...

  14. Virtual Museum

    Baltimore. Explore seven millennia of art from cultures around the world anywhere online. The Walters Art Museum was a leader among museums in digitizing our collection and manuscripts. As an open access institution, we believe that making our artwork available digitally extends the reach of our museum. Free access to the Walters Art Museum ...

  15. 12 Virtual Art Museum Walk Throughs for Free

    The Van Gogh Museum is home to the largest collection of works by Vincent Van Gogh including over 200 paintings. Four virtual tours of the museum are available for free, one tour of each floor of the museum. You can also view the art by collection (based on the material used,) popularity, time, and color.

  16. Free Virtual Art Museum Tours

    3. Smithsonian Museum Move over Night at the Museum and try the Smithsonian Museum virtual tour! The format is a bit like Google Maps, and you can move around and get a 360 degree view. National Air and Space Museum. 4. The Louvre. Located in Paris, France, the Louvre is the largest art museum in the world.

  17. The 13 best virtual museum tours in the world

    Manhattan 's awe-inspiring museum of modern art has a huge online display of work, from paintings and design to sculpture, architecture and film, including virtual views of Van Gogh's Starry Night, the Surrealist Women exhibition and the gallery's Sculpture Garden. The New York, Open City video is a must for an immersive and historic NY ...

  18. Virtual Student Guide Tours

    The free, 30-minute tours will be offered live via Zoom. The Ho Family Student Guide Program at the Harvard Art Museums trains students to develop original, research-based tours of the collections. Participants come from a wide range of backgrounds, including art history, visual and environmental studies, the sciences, history, and literature.

  19. Free Virtual Museum Tours for Students

    The museum also offers free downloadable lessons on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, and other related topics for students in Grades K-12. On the National Women's History Museum website, visitors can take virtual tours of exhibits highlighting the women who have shaped American history. Students can meet African-American women of ...

  20. 12 Virtual Museum Tours for Kids

    The 19 Best Cooling Comforters For Hot Sleepers, Vetted By PureWow Editors. The 10 Best Patio Umbrellas with Lights to Make Your Backyard Feel Magical. Museums have put their collections online or created virtual tours that can help alleviate that boredom. Here are 12 virtual museums you can visit right away.

  21. Free virtual museum tours

    The Louvre Museum in Paris also offers online tours. Most notably, they offer a virtual reality (VR) experience of the Mona Lisa. The experience comes in the form of a free, downloadable app, and includes an immersive experience that details the latest research on Leonardo da Vinci. You can explore the Rijksmusem in Amsterdam using an app that ...

  22. Best Virtual Field Trips

    Here are the best virtual field trips for education, organized by art museums, history museums, civics-related sites, aquariums and nature sites, STEM-related experiences, and more!

  23. The Moscow Metro Museum of Art: 10 Must-See Stations

    Take a look at (5)Dostoevskaya Station on the northern segment of Light Green/#10 line then change directions and head south to (6)Chkalovskaya, which offers a transfer to the Dark Blue/#3 line, going west, away from the city center. Have a look (7)Elektroskaya Station before backtracking into the center of Moscow, stopping off at (8)Baumskaya ...

  24. Electrostal History and Art Museum Tours and Activities

    Explore Electrostal History and Art Museum when you travel to Elektrostal! Find out everything you need to know and book your tours and activities before visiting Electrostal History and Art Museum.