9 must-experience virtual tours
Posted 18 November, 2020
Samuel Smith
There’s never been a better time to make yourself comfortable, turn on your laptop and travel the world from the comfort of your couch.
First it was Google Maps, then it was Street View. Now, virtual tours are taking the world by storm, allowing e-tourists to traipse through museums, galleries, national parks and even private homes (with owners’ permission, of course), from their living rooms.
With our world temporarily shrinking, now’s the perfect time to travel the globe from home.
Coming to your computer screen, direct from all 4 corners, here are some of the most impressive virtual tours you’ll have the pleasure of laying your eyes on.
1. The Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Lace up your hiking boots and embark on a breathtaking tour of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Its main attractions include the Kīlauea and Mauna Loa active volcanoes.
Follow the expert lead of a real-life park ranger who grew up with the national park on her doorstep. The tour will have you navigating craggy lava tubes, exploring dense rainforest, peering over towering volcanic cliffs and flying above an active lava vent. You can even travel back in time to 1959, and view footage of the earth-shattering Kīlauea Iki eruption.
Experience it now.
2. Museums of Vatican City
Musei Vaticani’s virtual tours are absolutely stunning, bringing you crystal-clear vision of 6 museums as well as the Sistine Chapel and its glorious ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512.
The Musei Vaticani’s virtual tours are all self-directed, so you can explore at your own pace.
For a fully immersive experience, perhaps you could pair your online adventure with a period-correct soundtrack. Claudio Monteverdi, anyone?
Experience it now.
3. The Kenai Fjords National Park
Alaskan park ranger, Fiona North, brings a once-in-a-lifetime tour to your keyboard with the Kenai Fjords National Park virtual experience.
Both guided and interactive, this tour encompasses gigantic fjords, icy glaciers and glassy meltwater lagoons. Hear your harness creak in the howling Alaskan wind as you descend below the surface of a 30-foot glacier. Climb down into the depths of a crevasse, ice-pick in hand, then jump into a kayak and slalom through icebergs.
Experience it now.
