Popular Museums Offer Tours From Your Couch

By FPL_Emily

Many museums have closed their doors to the public but there is still a way to get inside. Thanks to Google's Arts and Culture collection, you can take a virtual tour of famous museums around the World right from your couch. 

Stay in and check out these online tours and exhibits.

British Museum, London

Located in the heart of London, visitors can tour the Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. You can also find hundreds of artifacts on the museum’s virtual tour, opens a new window.

Guggenheim Museum, New York

Tour the Guggenheim’s famous spiral staircase using Google’s Street View, opens a new window. Discover works of art from the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Modern, and Contemporary eras right from your couch.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

This famous American art museum features two online exhibits, opens a new window through Google. The first is an exhibit of American fashion from 1740 to 1895, including many renderings of clothes from the colonial and Revolutionary eras. The second is a collection of works from Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer.

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

You can virtually walk through, opens a new window this popular gallery that is the home of dozens of famous works from French artists between 1848 and 1914. View artworks from Monet, Cézanne, and Gauguin right in your home.

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul

One of Korea’s popular museums can be accessed from anywhere around the world. Google’s virtual tour, opens a new window takes you through six floors of Contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.

Pergamon Museum, Berlin

This historical museum is home to plenty of ancient artifacts including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and the Pergamon Altar.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Explore the masterworks from the Dutch Golden Age, including works from Vermeer and Rembrandt. Google offers a Street View tour, opens a new window of this iconic museum, so you can feel as if you’re actually wandering its halls.

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

See the works of Van Gogh (almost) up close by virtually visiting this museum – the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters.

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

European artworks from as far back as the 8th Century can be found in this California art museum. Take a Street View tour, opens a new window to discover a huge collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, and photographs.

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

This less well-known gallery houses the art collection of one of Florence, Italy’s most famous families, the de'Medicis. Anyone can wander its halls from anywhere in the world, opens a new window.

MASP, São Paulo

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is a non-profit and Brazil’s first modern museum. Artworks placed on clear perspex frames make it seem like the artwork is hovering in midair. 

National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City

Built in 1964, this museum is dedicated to the archaeology and history of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic heritage. There are 23 exhibit rooms, opens a new window filled with ancient artifacts, including some from the Mayan civilization.