V is for Virtual Visits #AtoZChallenge

The Blogging from A-Z Challenge continues today. Every day throughout April (except Sundays) I’ll be posting a range of ideas and tips for keeping your family entertained at home. It will include arts and crafts, games, learning ideas and imaginative activities for all ages. I thought it would be particularly useful while we’re all self-isolating or socially distancing, though it can be used for any time of year.

Letter “V” is for Virtual Visits. Although tourist attractions are currently closed to the public, many museums and galleries are offering free online experiences so that you can visit them virtually from the comfort of your sofa! These events are a fantastic way for all the family to learn new things and stave off lockdown boredom. Below is a list of all the virtual tourist attractions I’ve come across online so far.

Art Galleries

• Enjoy Pollock and Monet at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
• See Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Caravaggio’s Medusa, and Titian’s Venus of Urbino at the Uffizi in Florence, home to an amazing collection of Renaissance art.
• Check out Van Gogh and Cezanne masterpieces at Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
• Visit London’s Tate Britain to see the works of J.M.W Turner and more.

History & Science Museums

• Experience The British Museum, which is home to incredible artefacts from ancient cultures.
• Visit the Egyptian collection at the Louvre.
• The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the London National History Museum are both fantastic places to explore dinosaur bones and fossils.
• Take a virtual tour of ancient Rome.
• Explore over 325,000 fascinating objects and archives at the Science Museum Group.
• Take a virtual trip to the National Space Centre and discover interesting space objects.

For more galleries and museums, check out Google’s arts and culture collection, which has virtual tours of 500 top attractions around the world, and even the Eiffel Tower. 

Other Tourist Attractions

• Take a trip to the theatre or opera! See my T is for TV and Theatre post for all the links.
• See the Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibition at the British Library.
• Take a virtual walk through America’s national parks.
• Explore the haunted Winchester Mystery House online.
• Stay tuned for my letter Z post on Thurs 30th April when I’ll be sharing a list of zoos, wildlife parks and aquariums with live cams and virtual events.

Have you gone on any virtual visits during the lockdown? Have you visited any of the places mentioned before in real life?