The spread of COVID-19 has placed a halt on so many things in our lives, especially our ability to travel, causing many to cancel the vacations they had planned. But while we may be stuck inside, that doesn’t mean we can’t have some new experiences in the meantime. So we’ve put together an ultimate list of 75 world-class museums that offer virtual tours that 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 of us who want to imagine the joys of travel again!
We’ve broken our list down 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!
Google Arts and Culture
Many of the virtual exhibits mention in this article are offered through a collaboration with Google Arts and Culture. If you’re not familiar, Google Arts and Cultures is an online platform that showcases high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from over 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, all from the comforts of 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 Google Play.
Art Museums with Virtual Tours
Albertina (Vienna, Austria)
Year Opened: 1805
The Albertina 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 (Chicago, Illinois)
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, like 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, Greece)
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 the prehistorical to the 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 (Los Angeles, California)
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 its incredible Infinity Mirror room paired alongside some beautiful music to provide a deeper level of immersion.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Centre Georges-Pompidou (Paris, France)
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 second largest in the world. The museum has over 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.
The Dalí Theatre-Museum (Figueres, Spain)
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 (Detroit, Michigan)
Year Opened: 1972
With over 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 an “At Home With DIA” to offer school field trips at home, weekly film screenings, senior resources, and home projects. DIA also has a partnership with Google Arts and Culture to provide 4 online exhibits:
- 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
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Frick Collection (New York City, New York)
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 like Bellini, Rembrandt, Vermeer, as well as numerous works of sculpture and porcelain.
Fortunately, the entire museum can be viewed virtually.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Galleria dell’Academia (Florence, Italy)
Year Opened: 1784
The Galleria dell’Accademia, despite being on the small size compared to other museums featured, is still the second most visited museum in Italy, 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 O’Keeffe Museum (Sante Fe, New Mexico)
Year Opened: 1997
The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum is dedicated to the artistic legacy of Georgia O’Keeffe and her work on 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 6 virtual exhibits available through Google Arts and Culture:
- Georgia O’Keeffe
- Modernism
- Oil Paint
- Canvas
- American Modernism
- United States
To view the online exhibits, click here.
Grand Palais (Paris, France)
Year Opened: 1900
The Grand Palais is a large historic site, exhibition hall, and museum dedicated to the organization of exhibitions, publishing of 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 37 different online exhibits to life, from the construction of the building to the masterpieces that lie within it.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
High Museum of Art (Atlanta, Georgia)
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 4 online exhibits for viewing:
- 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
To view the online exhibits, click here.
Hermitage Museum (Saint Petersburg, Russia)
Year Opened: 1764
The Hermitage Museum is the second-largest and eighth-most visited art museum in the world. The Hermitage has over 60,000 pieces of artwork on display, including works like 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 galley, and 9 different exhibition projects.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
The J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, California)
Year Opened: 1953
The J. Paul Getty Museum is made up of 2 campuses — the Getty Center and Getty Villa — that receive over 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 5 online exhibits:
- 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 (Zürich, Switzerland)
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 like 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 6 of the museum’s best collections for viewing.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
La Galleria Nazionale (Rome, Italy)
Year Opened: 1883
La Galleria Nazionale displays about 1,100 paintings and sculptures of the 19th and 20th centuries — the largest collection in Italy. It features work from famous Italian artists like Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Alberto Burri, and foreign artists like Cézanne, Monet, Pollock, Rodin, and Van Gogh.
It has teamed up with Google to offer 16 different virtual exhibits for online viewing.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (Los Angeles, California)
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 has completely rebranded to include a virtual tour, soundtracks and live recordings, online teaching resources, and courses.
To view the LACMA’s online virtual tour, click here.
Mauritshuis (The Hague, Netherlands)
Year Opened: 1822
The Mauritshuis is home to some of the best of 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), View of Delft by Vermeer, and The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt Van Rijn.
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 (New York City, New York)
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 over 6 million visitors each year. The permanent collection contains over 2 million works from classical antiquity and ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from nearly all the European masters (like 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.
While it may be some time before people can visit again, the museum currently has 26 different online exhibits available for viewing through Google.
To view the Met’s online exhibits, click here.
Musée du Louvre (Paris, France)
Year Opened: 1793
The Louvre Palace, which houses the museum, began as a fortress by 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 the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, and Hammurabi’s Code.
The Louvre currently has 7 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 (Paris, France)
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 Nacional del Prado (Madrid, Spain)
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 (Mexico City, Mexico)
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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain)
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 6 different collections of artwork at the Reina Sofía through its partnership with Google Arts and Culture.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
Museu de Arte de São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil)
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 6 different online galleries the museum has to offer:
- 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
To view the online galleries, click here.
Museum of Broken Relationships (Los Angeles, California and Zagreb, Croatia)
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 love relationship came to an end.
The virtual tour includes a close-up collection of dozens of the museum’s most interesting pieces.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Museum of Fine Arts – Boston (Boston, Massachusetts)
Year Opened: 1870
Categorized as 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 receives over 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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Houston, Texas)
Year Opened: 1900
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.
The museum has 12 online exhibits available for viewing in collaboration with Google Arts and Culture.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (New York City, New York)
Year Opened: 1929
Often spoken of 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, like Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans or Van Gogh’s Starry Night, in addition to approximately 22,000 films and 4 million film stills.
MoMAs 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, England)
Year Opened: 1824
The National Gallery features over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900, including works like Sunflowers by Van Gogh, The Virgin on the Rocks by Da Vinci, and The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck.
Its website offers 3 different virtual tours, 1 showcasing 18 different rooms in the museum, 1 showcasing the Sainsbury Wing, and a Google Virtual tour.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)
Year Opened: 1937
The National Gallery of Art and its attached Sculpture Garden are located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Open to the public and 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 like Jackson Pollack’s Number 1, Leonardo da Vinci’s Ginevra de’ Benci, and Degas’ Little Dancer Aged 14.
The museum has put together collection of educational resources on its website for teachers, families, and children; and the museum features 2 online exhibits through Google Arts and Culture:
- 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 (Victoria, Melbourne, Australia)
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 the following exhibits:
- Kaws: Companionship in the Age of Loneliness
- Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines
- Petrina Hicks: Bleached Gothic
- Top Arts 2020
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
National Museum of China (Beijing, 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 2 virtual exhibits available for 360-degree viewing:
- Resplendence of the Tang Dynasty
- Sunken Silver
To view the online exhibits, click here.
National Museum of Korea (Seoul, South 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 8 different exhibits including 1,000 years of Korean design and 500 years of the Joseon Dynasty.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
National Museum New Delhi (New Delhi, India)
Year Opened: 1949
The National Museum in 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 7 online exhibits to life:
- 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
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul, South Korea)
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 includes 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.
To view the online gallery, click here.
National Palace Museum (Taipei, Taiwan)
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 15 different exhibits.
To view the virtual tours, click here.
National Portrait Gallery (Washington, D.C.)
Year Opened: 1962
The National Portrait Gallery has a collection of over 21,000 works of art that focuses on images of famous Americans and how they’ve shaped U.S. culture. A main 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 museums has 10 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.
Pergamonmuseum (Berlin, Germany)
Year Opened: 1910
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.
To view the online gallery, click here.
Picasso Museum (Barcelona, Spain)
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 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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
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 its total collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200–2000. The museum features masterpieces like 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. To view the museum’s masterpieces tour, click here.
San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, California)
Year Opened: 1935
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 re-opened 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 online virtual tour, click here.
Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Museums (Vatican City)
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 allowing you to marvel at Michelangelo’s ceiling from the comfort of your couch.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York City, New York)
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.
The Guggenheim From Home webpage offers tours of its Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building, artwork from its collection, family-friendly programs, teaching materials, and more.
To view the Guggenheim From Home page, click here.
Tate Modern (London, England)
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 like the Andy Warhol exhibit and the Aubrey Beardsley exhibit.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid, Spain)
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 like Rembrandt and Dalí.
The virtual tour includes a detailed look at the permanent collection, along with exhibits like the Rembrandt and Impressionist galleries.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo, Japan)
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 as to what the museum has to offer.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
Uffizi Gallery (Florence, Italy)
Year Opened: 1581
The Uffizi was designed by Giorgio Vasari for Cosimo I de’ Medici, whose family 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 like 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 4 online galleries:
- 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
To view the online galleries, click here.
Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Year Opened: 1773
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.
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 like school lessons and coloring pages.
To view the online gallery, click here.
Victoria and Albert Museum (London, England)
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 11 different online exhibits ranging from fashion to surrealism.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
Natural History Museums with Virtual Tours
American Museum of Natural History (New York City, New York)
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.
To view the virtual tour, click here.
The British Museum (London, England)
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 2 virtual galleries on display:
- Oceania
- Prints and Drawings
To visit the British Museum’s virtual tour page, click here.
National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico City, Mexico)
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.
Fortunately, the museum has made some 140 items available for Google visitors to explore from their homes.
To view the museum’s online collection, click here.
National Museum of Natural History (Washington, D.C.)
Year Opened: 1910
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.
Luckily, you can view all of these things 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, England)
Year Opened: 1881
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 10 other galleries.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Science and Technology Museums with Virtual Tours
London Science Museum (London, England)
Year Opened: 1857
The London Science Museum holds a collection of over 300,000 items, including famous items like 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 one of 5 different curator gallery guides on the museum’s YouTube channel.
To view the virtual tour or videos, click here.
Museo Galileo (Florence, Italy)
Year Opened: 1930
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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
The Museum of Flight (Seattle, Washington)
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 t 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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium (Brussels, 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 5 virtual exhibits for viewing:
- 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 (Boston, Massachusetts)
Year Opened: 1830
The Museum of Science, Boston, receiving over 1.5 million visitors annually, is a museum and indoor zoo with over 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.
To view the museum’s virtual tour, click here.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (Washington, D.C.)
NASA, founded in 1958, was created by the federal government to develop the civilian space program, as well as conduct aeronautics, space, and astrophysics research. Since its inception, NASA has been responsible for historic space missions like the Apollo moon-landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the space shuttle.
NASA has partnered with Google Arts and Culture to bring 35 online exhibits life to showcase the beauty of space exploration.
To view the online exhibits, click here.
National Air and Space Museum (Washington, D.C.)
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.
To view the museum’s virtual tour, click here.
National Museum of Computing (Bletchley Park, England)
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.
To view the museum’s virtual tour, click here.
National Museum of the United States Air Force (Riverside, Ohio)
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.
To view the museum’s virtual tour, click here.
Oxford University’s History of Science Museum (Oxford, England)
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 been offering 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.
To view the museum’s virtual tour, click here.
History Museums with Virtual Tours
Acropolis Museum (Athens, Greece)
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 on the 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!
To view the online exhibits, click here.
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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum (Hyde Park, New York)
Year opened: 1941
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum holds the records of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd U.S. president (1933–1945). 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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
National Museum of African American History and Culture (Washington, D.C.)
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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
National Museum of American History (Washington, D.C.)
Year opened: 1964
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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
National Museum of Scotland (Edinburg, 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.
To view the virtual tour, click here.
National Women’s History Museum (Alexandria, Virginia)
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 a context of world history.
Its website currently features 29 different online exhibits!
To view the museum’s online exhibits, click here.
Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an at Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum (Xi’an, China)
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 210-209 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.
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, D.C.)
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 the strengthening of 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.
To view the online virtual tour, click here.
Final Thoughts
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.
bluesyemre 
thanks for this – I’ll check some of them out!
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By: My Mashed Up Life on June 15, 2020
at 17:47