Museum Virtual Tours

We are all looking for things to do right now as most of the state and the country remain locked down to try to prevent the spread of the corona virus. Being locked in the house doesn't mean you only have to watch TV or movies. There are some very interesting other activities you can do right now that are both entertaining and educational. When you need a break from a TV binge or need something for your kids to do, there are some very cool museum virtual tours available on line from some of the greatest museums in the world. It's not as good as being there, but given the situation we are all in right now, it's something different and worth checking out.

Smithsonian Museum of American History

America's museum. The Smithsonian is home to more than 1.8 million objects and more than three shelf-miles of archival collections. There are over 90 exhibits from the museum available online to view and tour. You can see America's founding documents or view American cultural treasures. There are hours and hours of things to see here. You can visit the exhibit here.

The Museum of Flight

This is one of my personal favorite museums. If you ever get the chance to go in person, it's incredible. The museum is located next to the Boeing complex just outside of Seattle and is considered to be one of the world's best air and space museums. On the virtual tour you can browse the 150 aircraft in the museum's collection or take a virtual walk-through of a dozen aircraft including a B-17 and The Concorde. Aviation enthusiasts can burn a lot of hours on this virtual tour. You can experience the tour here.

National Women's History Museum

In partnership with Google, the virtual exhibits cover 27 various topics of not just women's history in America, but American history since the two are one in the same. There are hours and hours of tours to explore the enormous impact that women have had on the history of this country. In addition to the virtual tour, there are hundreds of detailed biographies you can search by topic, or era, or by location as well as a wide assortment of digital classroom resources for education. This is an excellent museum tour for adults and kids. You can experience the tour here.

Natural History Museum of London

One of the most famous museums in the world and despite it being located all the way across the ocean in London,  you can tour it virtually from lock down in your own home. There are nearly 300,000 items digitally archived for you to browse in the online collection in this museum so you are sure to find something that interests you or something you've never seen before. There are also two Google views of the museum. You can view the entrance area or you can take a virtual walk around Hintze Hall. Experience this amazing tour here.

National Gallery of London

Another world-famous museum in London that you can visit from your home. The National Gallery of London has 2,300 publicly owned paintings, watercolours, drawings, and other European art from the 13th to the mid-20th century. The virtual touring pages allow for a 360 degree view of seven different exhibition spaces of Renaissance art and the Central Hall. For any fans of art and art history, this is a tour that you will not want to forget about. You can experience the virtual tour here.

The Museu de Arte, São Paulo, Brazil

Not many of us will ever have the chance to visit São Paulo to see the Museau de Arte so having the chance to tour this museum virtually might be the only way we ever get to see it. This museum has collections from the 14th to the 20th centuries available to tour in the virtual gallery. There are over 1,000 items in the virtual gallery as well as six different story exhibits to see on this tour. You will be able to take up more than enough time away from TV here visiting this museum. You can experience the virtual tour here.

There you have it. These museum virtual tours are sure to provide entertainment and education to fill countless hours while we do our part to end this awful crisis that we are in. We may have to be at home, but at least we can explore the world from our computers to let us feel a bit like we are free again. Enjoy the tours and be sure to let us know if you find something really amazing or discover a new favorite museum.