Step into some of the world’s most iconic collections without leaving your home, thanks to immersive virtual museum tours that bring art, history and architecture straight to your screen.
With a solid WiFi signal and a comfortably claimed corner of the sofa, you can wander the halls of the world’s most celebrated museums in your comfy pyjamas. Think blockbuster masterpieces, ancient civilisations and ceiling-gazing architecture, all available at a click.
Sit back, relax, and let these iconic museums come to you.
The Louvre Museum in France is the world’s largest art museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. Art lover or not, this is one museum that should be on your list of places to visit. Want a taste of what you can see? If you head to the museum’s official website, you’ll be able to take a virtual tour. Not only will you be able to visit the museum’s many exhibition rooms and galleries, you will also be able to explore details of the beautiful Louvre’s facade and check out a VR experience of the Mona Lisa, too.
Almond Blossom by Vincent van Gogh
While you won’t be able to catch Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night here (don’t worry, you will at the MoMA – the Museum of Modern Art, up next), you will be able to spot plenty of his other masterpieces. In fact, this museum houses his largest collection including 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters. Paintings include Branches with Almond Blossom, Sunflowers, The Bedroom, Wheat Field with Crows (believed to be the last painting he ever did) and much more.
The Persistence of Memory – Salvador Dalí
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), in New York, houses one of the world’s finest collections of modern and contemporary art. It is dedicated to the conversation between the past and the present, the established and the experimental. Apart from Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, you will also be able to look at artworks by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and many more modernist artists.
artsandculture.google.com/partner/moma-the-museum-of-modern-art
The Smithsonian in Washington DC, USA
If you love the Big Bang Theory, then you’ll love The Smithsonian. The museum seeks to understand the natural world and our place in it. This museum holds about 155.5 million objects, which include artworks, cultural artifacts and scientific specimens spread across three floors — but, not all of these are visible on the 360-degree tour. Items you can get a closer look at range from a Neanderthal reconstruction, to earth rocks that are about 3.96 billion years old to a 195-carat sapphire, and much more.
artsandculture.google.com/partner/smithsonian-national-museum-of-natural-history
*Ready, set, stream: What to watch in the UAE right now*
The Getty Museum in California, USA
The Abduction of Europa – Rembrandt
You might want to set some time aside for this one, as the virtual exploration of the Getty Museum’s rooms seems endless, with one room leading to the next. Nonetheless, don’t rush through it — there are more than 15,000 items to check out. The collection spans European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European, Asian, and American photographs. When checking out the information provided on some of these masterpieces, don’t forget to scroll all the way down, as some come with additional videos that dwell deeper on on the artwork.
British Museum in London, UK
A Scene at the London Museum Piccadilly
The British Museum in London is dedicated to human history, art and culture. The collection here has been sourced through the era of the British Empire and is dedicated to human history, art and culture. Its permanent collection spans eight million works, making it the largest and most comprehensive collection in existence. On the website, you can navigate between The Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania from 2000AD to 2,000,000BC. You can even narrow down your experience and select from art and design, living and dying, power and identity, religion and belief and lastly, trade and conflict. Navigation can be tricky, so be patient with it as there’s lots to explore and learn.
Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy
Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci
The Uffizi Gallery is essentially the Renaissance in high definition. It was originally designed as offices for the Medici dynasty and you can scroll and explore its corridors virtually, lingering over brushstrokes from some of the greatest painters the world has ever seen.
Expect to explore some stunning paintings including Leonardo’s Annunciation, Michaelangelo’s Doni Tondo, Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch and other must-see paintings by Caravaggio, Titian, Botticelli, and so much more.
