With residents and visitors of Vermont encouraged to stay home, it’s easy to feel cooped up and a bit “cabin feverish,” especially when the weather isn’t so nice. While warmer, sunnier days will inevitably arrive, before they do take advantage of time and travel virtually to see parts of the world you’ve always wanted to visit. Here are 10 great virtual tours to get you started on your journey:
1 Yellowstone National Park
“Ready to explore Yellowstone? This virtual tour takes viewers to some of the main attractions around the park. “Included with each tour is additional information about visiting in person,” the website states. See a mud volcano and tour around the Upper Geyser Basin.
Visit: nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm
2 Yosemite National Park Virtual Tour
See Half Dome from the top or the bottom, witness the splendor of Tuolumne Meadows and feel the thundering sounds of Nevada Falls, all from the comfort of your living room.
Visit: virtualyosemite.org/virtual-tour
3 San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo has a website for kids with videos, activities and games. With cameras set up throughout the zoo, check out the ape and baboon cams, tiger cam and the penguin cam, plus many more.
Visit: kids.sandiegozoo.org
4 Monterey Bay Aquarium: Animal Live Cams
“Be delighted by the antics of our sea otters or mellow out to the hypnotic drifting of our jellies. With ten live cams to choose from, you can experience the wonder of the ocean no matter where you are,” the website boasts.
Visit: montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams
5 Mars (via the Curiosity rover)
“The real surface of Mars. Recorded by NASA’s Curiosity rover. Now in your browser,” states the website. On Nov. 26, 2011, NASA launched the Curiosity rover on its mission to find out if Mars is, or ever was, suitable for life. It traveled 352 million miles to Mars, and more than eight months later, it landed.
Visit: accessmars.withgoogle.com
6 Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego now?
This website filled with educational resources includes more than just virtual field trips and information about cities across the world. Broken down by grades, resource type or subject, Carmen Sandiego can help children explore the world from home.
Visit: carmensandiego.com
7 The Louvre, Paris: Virtual Tour
Though it was one of the first major locales to close due to COVID-19, the Louvre’s art collection remains second to none. View Egyptian antiquities and the exhibition titled ‘The Advent of the Artist’ where you’ll discover artworks from Delacroix, Rembrandt and Tintoretto and more. Visit: louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne
8 Vatican Museums: Virtual Tours
Take a 360 degree stroll through the Sistine Chapel, Pio Clementino Museum, the New Wing and more, to see the incredible architecture and art housed within.
Visit: museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/tour-virtuali-elenco.html
9 American Battlefield Trust: 360-degree battlefield tours
20 historical battlefields from the Civil and Revolutionary wars are available to tour, including Antietam, Gettysburg, Fredricksburg and more.
Visit: virtual-tour.battlefields.org
10 National Museum of Natural History, US: virtual tour
The Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum. In addition to permanent and current exhibits, visitors can also access past exhibits no longer on display.
Visit: naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour.
