Here in the UK lockdown measures are slowly lifting. However, travel is very much still up in the air (unfortunately not literally in this case). Will it even be this year we can hop on a plane? If it is, what will travel look like? Having travelled extensively all our lives, it’s a strange feeling now not been able to go anywhere, even overnight at this point. Therefore, we are doing what we can at home and in our local area to try to quench our wanderlust as much as possible. One of the ways we are doing that is to take virtual tours of attractions. Therefore we have put together a list of 10 top museums offering virtual tours for you to check out if you are missing your art, history or culture fix.
We love museums and always visit as many as we can whenever we visit somewhere new. We have also been known to return to some of our favourites over the years – the British Museum, we’re looking at you!
British Museum, London, England
As it is one of our favourites we are happy to see that the British Museum in London is one of the museums offering ways to explore it from home. The British Museum has over 8 million works from around the world. Even though we have visited the museum on a number of occasions, we are yet to see everything that it has to offer. There are 11 ways you can visit the British Museum from your computer during these unprecedented times. From Podcasts to YouTube videos and not forgetting virtual museum tours with Google Street View.
Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
Established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1939, the museum is home to impressionist, post-impressionist, early modern and contemporary art. It is also one of the most visited museums in New York, with more than 1 million people visiting it every year. The Guggenheim is offering a number of different ways you can explore the museum while it is closed. This includes a number of options and resources for families with children including at-home art classes. Perfect for occupying the little ones.
Hermitage Museum, St Petersburgh, Russia
Often topping the polls as the number 1 museum in the world, the Hermitage is a very impressive museum. It consists of five buildings – the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage and Hermitage Theatre. It opened to the public in 1852 and now has over 3 million items (of which only 1/3 of them are on display), including the largest collection of paintings in the world. Until travel to St Petersburg is openly possible again, why not take a virtual tour of The Hermitage Museum?
J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
J Paul Getty Museum (The Getty), consists of two buildings. The main museum, the Getty Center, located in Brentwood, Los Angeles which features pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture and decorative arts, together with photographs from the 1830s through present day. And the Getty Villa located in Malibu and displays art from Ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria. You can currently explore 6 exhibits online via Google Arts & Culture with more to be added soon.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Another extremely popular museum in New York is the Museum of Modern Art, more commonly known as MoMA. Many consider it to be one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world. Located in Midtown Manhatten, over 2.5 million art lovers and visitors pay a visit to this museum every year. Unlike other museums, MoMA only offers free virtual views into their exhibitions and collection every Thursday through video stories and curator Q&As, as well as audio playlists and feature articles.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France
Located on the Left Bank of the Seine opposite the Tuileries Gardens, the Musée d’Orsay is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station. It’s one of the largest art galleries in Europe and predominately displays French impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces. Artists include Monet, Renoir and Gauguin. With 3.9 million visitors in 2019, it is one of the most visited attractions in Paris. You can take a brief virtual tour via Google Arts & Culture, allowing you to see/learn about some key pieces.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Rijksmuseum, located in Amsterdam is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history. It’s the largest art museum in the country and has 8,000 items on display. These include some masterpieces by Dutch artists Rembrandt, Hals and Vermeer. With over 2 million visitors every year it is one of the most popular museums in The Netherlands. With puzzles and Masterpieces Up Close, Rijksmuseum From Home and the Rijksmuseum From Home allow you to visit the museum from the comfort of your own living room.
The Louvre, Paris, France
One of the most iconic museums in Paris, possibly the world, The Lourve is offering online tours allowing you to visit the museum from home. The largest and most visited art museum in the world is offering a number of activities for all the family which give you the opportunity to “visit” and learn more about the pieces on display. These include the Mona Lisa VR experience, videos from YouTubers at the Louvre and One minute in a museum. Together with detailed room descriptions which allow you to see each individual room.
The Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Italy
The Vatican Museums are art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City. They display artwork collected by the Roman Catholic Church and the Papacy over the years. The museums’ house approximately 70,000 works with around 20,000 pieces on display. This includes a number of masterpieces of Renaissance art and famous Roman sculptures. You can take a virtual tour of some of the amazing rooms located within the museums, including the renowned Sistine Chapel where you can see Michelangelo’s famous ceiling for yourself.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
Located in the historic centre of Florence, The Uffizi is one of the most visited museums in Italy. The museum holds a collection of priceless works, particularly from the Italian Renaissance period. Pieces from artists such as Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo, Raffaello, Michelangelo and Caravaggio can be found on display here. You can learn all about the artists and their works together with taking a virtual tour of the Uffizi Gallery which we highly recommend.
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